ariz trip advice

I have a series of questions that are related. Why would you abbreviate Arizona to ariz? How much extra time does it take to type ona? And if you’re lazy or short on time, why not just use AZ?

You’re welcome! Even though you didn’t answer my questions.

Serious answer - if lsunurse responds, I’d trust her advice. She knows her stuff.

that looks awesome but unfortunately we have kids under 8. i would like to do that. great suggestion

Skip Phoenix area. Stay in Flagstaff/Sedona. Grand Canyon is obviously cool but might be closed with corona. Sooooo much stuff to do in Flag and Sedona. Sedona is definitely geared towards families so I’d do a quick google search for family activities there and you’ll be on your way.

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anyone have opinions on saguaro east vs west?

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are you driving up from tucson on 10? because that's where saguaro NP is. it's honestly just a bunch of cactus, i think the loop in the east is longer. but getting to the west side takes you through gates pass, which is a pretty mountain pass, and will take you past the arizona sonoran desert museum (which may not be open, but worth a visit if it is). honestly if i'm stopping in tucson, i'm going up mount lemmon.

sedona and oak creek are a zoo on the weekends in the summer, and might actually be hot. consider a hike like the west fork of oak creek (shadier and runs along the west fork of the creek) but it will be crowded and the parking lot fills pretty quickly. a lot of the other iconic hikes in sedona are in the red rocks and are going to be warmer.

flagstaff will be nice and cool, but also packed on weekends. if you can avoid driving north on 17 on friday afternoon, and avoid southbound 17 on a sunday evening, you will be okay. otherwise be prepared for a bit of traffic.

they *just* reopened snow bowl road, so you can get to the humphreys summit trailhead. 10 miles roundtrip, about 3000 ft of climbing. totally worth the time if you are into hiking and nominally fit. tough, but not impossible. if you get above the treeline and there is weather, start heading down. there have been a few fatalities due to lightning strikes up there.

if you have time, driving up to lockett meadow and the inner basin in flagstaff iis a beautiful area, but the drive up is on a pretty gnarly dirt road with exposure.

and the south rim of the grand canyon is open, but i don't think things like shuttle busses are running, and i am not sure if visitor centers or museums are open. pretty sure they have reopened the trails.

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Meteor Crater and Walnut Canyon

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Bearizona

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awesome suggestions! thanks!

I looked into making a trip out there and was about to book, as it's got very few restrictions. However I'd look into their COVID rise, they've been hit very hard for the first time in the last week, and their hospitals are nearly full which may cause some shutdowns even if you're not personally concerned. We were looking at 2 nights in Scottsdale and 3 in Sedona, both without much limitation that we could tell for COVID. The South Rim of the GC is open.

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This is true. We've had cases spike since Ducey reopened in mid May.

I don't think he'll want to shut down again, but the news has not been great lately.

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i have been scouring the news but haven't found any analysis of the recent spike in cases. is it because of delayed tests that all came back positive, is it because an entire prison population was tested, multiple nursing homes, or was it something else? we see the headlines and the numbers, but not a deep dive into the data.

and the fact that banner has higher numbers of patients in ICUs has to have at least something to do with the fact that they are accepting COVID patients from new mexico.