My parents take the winter to drive around the United States in a camper with their cat named Kitty. As retired empty-nesters, they have the luxury of packing it up and hightailing it out of rural New Hampshire to go wherever their hearts desire. As a senior in college out of state, that meant I got the opportunity to go stay with them for spring break wherever they ended up going that week, since our house is locked up and closed off for the post-New Year season. This year, they were mapped out to be in Sedona, Arizona during break along with my aunt and uncle, where I had the luxury of spending the week with them as well.
I flew into Phoenix on Friday to settle in my parents’ camper after 13 hours of traveling, two plane rides, and a time change later. The plan was to spend Saturday in Wickenburg, Arizona and drive to Sedona on Sunday. In Wickenburg, we drove a few minutes down the road to the Hassayampa River Preserve to do a short and easy hike.
The River Preserve gives life to huge cottonwood trees and greenery, creating a remarkable valley in the land of dry desert and saguaro cacti. Let it be known though that the saguaro cacti became one of my favorite and most notable aspects of this whole trip. They weren’t even in Sedona, and I only saw them until midday Sunday, but they were so amazing. While there, we had the rare opportunity to catch a Joshua tree in bloom, and were lucky enough to see a Gila monster up close! Later that day, we took a short drive around Vulture Peak, located in an area famous for gold mining during the Gold Rush. The afternoon was spent reading, barbecuing, and watching a movie (The Hills Have Eyes) with a few drinks. It was the perfect first day.
On day two, we spent the day focused on getting to Sedona. The drive wasn’t excessive by any means, but a lot of prep and post-work goes into moving a 40-foot camper from one place to another. At our new campground, we were parked, and set up in the spot directly next to my aunt and uncle, who live in their camper full-time. Afterwards, we spent our evening grabbing dinner in town at a restaurant called Hideaway House. We had a few drinks, some great Italian food, and a fantastic view of a red rock cliff basking in the descending sun. I even tried pizza with peaches on it, and it was delicious! We finished off the night sitting outside and sipping on IPAs, just catching up and enjoying each other’s time.
Monday was our first day in Sedona and the last day of the extreme heat wave Arizona saw, so we made the decision to sightsee to avoid a hot and sweaty hike. There are some more notable spots located throughout Sedona known for having fabulous lookouts of the giant red cliffs, where we managed to get parking at a few of them. We stopped to see Amitabha Stupa and Peace Park, a Buddhist spiritual site open for all to come visit. Afterwards, we drove up towards Flagstaff, Arizona to see the Oak Creek Overlook Vista, where we bought some jewelry and a bookmark for me at the artisan market. Ending that night, we barbecued!
On day four, Tuesday, we set out for our first big hike: the Red Rock Secret Mountain Wilderness in Coconino National Forest. The hike was six and a half miles long with multiple sites to stop and see along the way. The trail we did (Soldier Pass Trail) gave access to Devil’s Kitchen, Seven Sacred Pools, and Soldier’s Pass Caves/Arch. Devil’s Kitchen is an immensely big sink hole that’s hundreds of feet deep. Humans look like ants compared to this thing.
Not far from it was Seven Sacred Pools, which are seven small cascading pools of water. Since there had been a heat wave with no rain leading up to our stay, they were shallow, and there was no interflow between pools. Subsequently, we arrived at Soldier’s Pass Caves/Arch, a cave system located up and within the red rock with a big open arch. Climbing up into the cave gave me the heebie-jeebies, as the ledge underneath the arch, which we sat on, was roughly 50-60 feet above the ground. Everything about it was terrifying. We looped around and hiked another four miles to the end of the trail, and finished off the day with dinner at The Javelina Cantina, a delicious Mexican restaurant.
On Wednesday, we were slightly exhausted from our hike from the previous day and decided to first drive out to the Tuzigoot National Monument — a 1,000-year-old preserved pueblo built by the Sinagua people. After, we kept driving out to Jerome, Arizona to eat lunch, and walk around the town. We immediately followed that up by driving over to Clarkdale, Arizona to see the Gold King Mine Museum and Ghost Town. While it was cool to see old cars and blacksmith tools, I was only there for the petting zoo. I’d much rather hang out with pigs, goats, and donkeys. That night, we ate a delicious mac and cheese, courtesy of my mom, and watched Old School with some drinks!
Thursday was day six, and we set out to see Montezuma’s Castle, a preserved Sinagua dwelling built into the side of a cliff. I was quite excited for this, as I had been there once before around the age of 10. Right afterwards, we drove to Montezuma Well, a separate unit of Montezuma’s castle with more cliff dwellings and a large well full of toxic water. We walked around for a bit to check it all out and ate some lunch there. We had stopped at the Chapel of the Holy Cross on our way back home also. We aren’t religious people, but this is an old and beautiful church that was essentially built into the red rock cliff, so we stopped to see it anyway. We had dinner at a beautiful restaurant called The Hudson, with views of the red rocks and amazing cocktails.
On our last day in Sedona, we decided to hike up to Devil’s Bridge. Hiking up to Devil’s Bridge is a relatively short hike, only four miles in total, but it can get intense. While the beginning of the hike seems relatively easy, with just a red sandy trail surrounded by desert nature, the last mile is quite challenging. With a bit of rock climbing involved, the trail suddenly gets very steep, and often requires hikers to lift and hoist themselves onto large rocks. Lookout spots emphasize just how high your elevation is, with the valley thousands of feet below you. The bridge itself is a thin strip of rock with nothing but drop-off on each side, and has become a popular spot for obtaining some of the coolest photos, with the accompanying long wait lines.
While many hike to see this natural phenomenon, only few are brave enough to actually walk out there. I was the only member of our unit of six to walk out there. I have a rather intense fear of heights, and I can honestly say that it’s not as bad as it seems, as it looks much slimmer from afar than it is in reality. When turning back around to walk off, I stumbled a bit, and heard the line of 40 people watching gasp in horror (obviously I was fine). We finished our day by walking around Tlaquepaque Village, a charming town center meant to resemble a beautiful traditional Mexican village. We got dinner at a local restaurant, and said goodnight afterwards.
That Saturday, we got an early start to the day to drive nearly six hours to Albuquerque, New Mexico. I was set to fly out of there the next morning. Upon arriving, my parents set up the camper in their new spot and we relaxed for the evening with leftovers and The 40-Year-Old Virgin. I packed up my suitcase, and left for the airport the next morning.
I knew going into this trip that it would be astonishing. Sedona, Arizona itself is breathtaking, and spending that time there with my parents as well as my aunt and uncle made it so much more entertaining. While most college seniors may not be too thrilled at the thought of spending their last spring break with their parents, I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. The joy of spending time with them bleeds into anything we’re doing, and it only elevated this trip to new levels. This was one of the best weeks of my life!