Arizona Family Road Trip- Flagstaff National Monuments- Sunset Crater Volcano, Wupatki and Walnut Canyon (Part 6)

We checked out of our hotel and ate a delicious brunch at the hotel restaurant. We left this day open to either explore more of Flagstaff or head to Sedona to hike. The kids had been looking at their National Parks passport book and asked if we could go to some of the nearby national monuments. 

Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument was only a 10 minute drive from our hotel and the kids really wanted to visit. Patrick's 4th grade America the Beautiful pass allows the whole family to visit National Parks and Monuments for free, so we gave it a try. It ended up being a really cool experience and something none of us had seen.

We hiked the Lava Flow Trail which is about a mile around the base of the volcano. The volcano erupted in 1085 by splitting in half and spewing lava for miles. 

Can you spot us down there at the base of the volcano?

I didn't take many pictures because we had so much fun exploring. The kids loved looking at the black sand and lifting the lava rocks. They were all amazed to learn that the lava rocks are so much lighter than they look. The kids had so many questions we couldn't answer that we tracked down a volunteer Park Ranger and let the kids ask all of their questions. It was a really neat experience for the kids and I am glad we took the little detour. 

In the same loop and about 20 minuets from Sunset Crater Volcano was Wupatki National Monument. We were going to skip it and head to a brewery to watch some March Madness, but the park ranger convinced us to give it a try. The 20 minute drive to the monument was my favorite part. There were amazing views of the painted desert. The painted desert runs from the Grand Canyon to the Petrified National Forest. We didn't have time to stop at the overlooks this time, but the view from the car was pretty amazing. 

It was pretty hot, so we quickly explored for about 15 minutes. It was neat to see, but it wasn't one of our favorites. 

We also very quickly explored Walnut Canyon National Monument, which are ancient cliff dwellings. We made it just before closing and only had about 15 minutes to explore. Patrick, Peyton and I hiked the Walnut Canyon Island Trail, which is really only a half of a mile to see an overlook. The main trail looked really cool, but we were too late to be able to hike it before closing. We didn't have a chance to take a picture with the National Park sign and this is one we would definitely want to explore again. 

We were all a little hungry so we went to Beaver Street Brewery to have a late lunch/dinner. Then we made the 45 minute drive to Sedona. We were able to have a late afternoon swim in the pool in Sedona. It was freezing and I was shivering by the pool in a sweatshirt, but the kids didn't seem to mind in the heated pool.

We had a great day exploring Flagstaff and learning a lot of new things!

Arizona Family Road Trip- The Grand Canyon South Rim (Part 5)

Today was our Grand Canyon day. Since this trip was a little last minute, we weren't able to find a hotel in the Grand Canyon. Flagstaff was the closest nice option and is about an hour and a half drive to the Grand Canyon. We had talked about waking up early and trying to be at the Grand Canyon at sunrise, but we were all so tired we slept in. We arrived at the Grand Canyon around 10am and it worked out really well. All the people that had come for sunrise were leaving or checking out of their hotels, so we found a great parking spot right next to the visitor's center. We started at the visitor center to get our stamps in our National Parks passport book and then made our way to Mather point. 

Our first glimpse of the Grand Canyon! Michael and I flew into the Grand Canyon from Las Vegas for our first anniversary, but neither of us had seen this side of the Grand Canyon or seen it from the rim. It really is amazing to see. 

Unfortunately, the shuttles were not running because of Covid so our options for hiking with small children were pretty limited. We decided to hike the Trail of Time, which starts at Yavapai Geology Museum. The path from Mather point to Yavapai Geology Museum is a little under a mile. We stopped multiple times to enjoy the gorgeous views. We were enjoying this view when another visitor offered to take our picture. 

I love love this picture of my littles!!

Michael was a little too comfortable on the edge!

We hiked the Trail of Time to Grand Canyon Village to eat lunch at Fred Harvey Burger at the Bright Angel Lodge. It was the restaurants first day being open since Covid began a year ago. We really enjoyed our lunch and sat for a little longer than normal to rest our legs. We attempted to hike the first switchback on the Bright Angel trail to see the inside of the canyon, but decided it wasn't the best idea. One side of the trail was icy and there are not railings. It made us too nervous with small children to continue. It will definitely be on our list for next time!

We hiked the Trail of Time back to Mather point and took our time stopping at the various viewpoints. 

We made it back to the Visitor's center! All in all it was about a 5 mile walk, which was a big stretch for the little ones! Caitie walked almost the whole way and the boys did really great with no complaining!

We had planned to go to the Desert View Watchtower and watch the sunset, but unfortunately it was still closed. If it wasn't covid, it would have been so fun to grab an ice cream and watch the sunset from the watchtower. 

We still had amazing views of the Grand Canyon from the lookout area at the watchtower. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but it also provides great views of the Colorado river.  The boys thought it sounded so fun to raft the Colorado river inside the Grand Canyon. It's definitely on our list for next time!

We stopped for a picture with the National Park sign on our way out. We actually woke up Caitie for this picture. She had fallen asleep in about 3 minutes in the car :)

We ended up staying in the Grand Canyon from 10am-6pm and it was the perfect amount of time for our family and the ages of our kids. I definitely think the two big boys could have done more hiking, but it was a good amount for the younger two. 

Patrick had been really interested in the planning of our trip from the beginning. One of our options had been to stay in Williams, Arizona and take the train to the Grand Canyon. Williams, Arizona was one of the small towns that was the inspiration for the movie Cars. It was on our way back to Flagstaff, so we decided to drive through it and look around. Patrick really loved seeing all of the inspiration from the movie. It was also fun to compare it to Carsland in Disneyland.

We arrived back in Flagstaff around dinner time and tried a few places to eat, but all were over an hour wait. We ended up back at our hotel for dinner and it was a nice relaxed meal. We were all so tired from our full day of exploring. 

Grand Canyon was definitely a bucket list item for our family and I am so happy we decided to go. I think the children will remember this trip for a long time.

Arizona Family Road Trip- Papago Park/ Montezuma's Castle/ Flagstaff (Part 4)

We started the morning with a hike up to Hole in the Rock. It was a little slippery, but we made it to the top.

Gorgeous rainbow from the way the light was hitting

We were traveling to Flagstaff today, but wanted to make a few stops on our way. It was Saint Patrick's Day, so we stopped for an early lunch at Fibber Magee's in Chandler, Arizona to celebrate with an Irish meal. 

We also stopped for dessert at Rock Springs Cafe. The kids got ice cream and the adults had chocolate cream pie and cherry pie. 

We also stopped at Montezuma's Castle to explore for a little while. The kids were amazed.

We arrived late afternoon in Flagstaff at Little America, the hotel we were staying at for the next two nights. 

The hotel backs up to Coconino National Forest and there is a trail that starts in the backyard of the hotel. It is a little over 2 miles long and is gorgeous. Since we had been traveling for most of the day, we decided to hike before dinner. 

We had just enough time to complete the hike before the sun went down. We weren't prepared for how cold it was and were all a little frozen by the end. It was definitely worth it for the views though.

We were a little tired and decided to try the hotel restaurant since they had a St. Patrick's Day menu. I went with my Arizona favorite of Prickly Pear Margarita and Michael celebrated Saint Patrick's Day with a Guinness. We all enjoyed our meals!