re: Sedona/Grand Canyon Recs

Got back last night. Amazing trip. Highlights..

1. Grand Canyon - cliche to say pics don't do it justice, but it's 1000% accurate. We got to the East gate around 10:30 and made our way down to the main village area, stopping at most of the turn offs along the way. Ate picnic just before the village surrounded by elk. Hit it at a good time as the weather was pleasant and the crowds weren't bad at all.

2. Several hikes around Sedona - Cathedral Rock first thing in the morning. My son and I had the peak to ourselves for 10 or so minutes. Great experience. Devil's Bridge was crowded but still a nice hike. Boynton Canyon, Doe's Peak, Scorpion, and several others. Great place to go for hiking, and really impressed with Arizona's trail maintenance. And again, we had great weather most of the week. Highs in the low 80's until Thursday when it got hot.

3. Dinner at Elote. Rarely does a restaurant live up to the hype, especially in a tourist town. Elote did. 4 of us all ordered a different entree and we shared. Carne Asada was agreed to be the best of the bunch.

4. Grasshopper Point - popular swimming hole just north of town in the Oak Creek Valley. Water was ice cold, but we went on Thursday when the temp was around 90 so it was refreshing. Nice cliffs to jump from.

5. Jerome - really neat old mining town. Wife and daughter dug the shopping, great burger at Haunted Burger, and the museum there is pretty interesting. We ventured up the pass above town that goes to Prescott for a few miles. Some stunning views up there.

Didn't make it to Flagstaff. Pink Jeep Tour was kind of cheesy and the one we took went to places easily accessible via a hike. Wouldn't do that again. Closed out the trip with pizza and gelato at Pisa Lisa. Pizza was great, gelato was just okay. Long travel day yesterday with time change and storms in Atlanta.

Thanks for all the recs. 5 star trip for sure.