My wife and I will be departing on a road trip next Monday from our place in central CA and heading south.

Currently, we’ll spend the first night in Bullhead City, AZ and I see the casino resorts right across the river in Nevada are darn cheap. They ok as a place to bed down in?

Tuesday will be spent visiting friends in Bullhead City. My wife will spend al day gabbing with her friend and her friend’s husband will be home mid day and we might go shooting in the desert, i hear. Any suggestions on how to spend my morning?

Tuesday night we’ll head back to the same hotel and in the morning our tentative plan is to head to Gallup. My bride really wants to check off New Mexico so, I guess we’ll do that. Anything in Gallup to do in the evening?

Wednesday night it seems we’ll sleep in Gallup. Recommendations?

Thursday morning we turn back west and will check out Petrified Forrest NP and spend a few hours or half a day, as appropriate. Then on to the primary destination of Flagstaff/Sedona. We can stay a few nights and don’t really have plans… but everyone I’ve talked to says Sedona is beautiful. Looking for ideas of things to do and places to stay.

Phoenix doesn’t seem to be on the agenda this trip. Though, if it does I have a friend who can *probably* arrange a helicopter tour with a LE agency, which would be pretty awesome. I just don’t think we’ll get down that way.

After a few days (2-3?) in the greater Flagstaff area we’ll head home and either drive the whole way or potentially split up the trip by staying another night in Bullhead cheap casino hotels, assuming they aren’t terrible.

Ideas??

i stayed at the riverside for years, the 1st casino + car museum is slick.

Sounds like you have a somewhat flexible schedule.

If you're in Flagstaff, if you're so inclined and have never been and also have an extra day or two, perhaps detour to Page and do one of the wave hikes (Antelope?); may need some luck to get a ticket though. Or if there is water, kayak on Powell.
https://www.blm.gov/programs/r.../coyote-buttes-north

And/or consider the slot canyon hike near Kanab (Peek a Boo); need a decent 4x4 for the deep sand road. And then spend a day/night in Springdale/Zion NP. Or lots of other places to go - other members here know best. Oscar's for dinner, Park House for b-fast/brunch.

Then hit Valley of Fire SP before Vegas on the way back home.

I stayed in Bakersfield on the way back - broke up the drive nicely.

First time I ever heard of and tried sopapillas was in New Mexico (about 30 years ago). Fond memories....

Sedona is one of the most beautiful places in the country. If you like to hike, there are literally hundreds of hiking trails. The trails range from easy enough to take a small child up to a 6 hour hike ending high enough to look down on the mesa the airport sits on. Stop at the Ranger station on 179 for maps and advice. If you just want to sightsee the red rocks, take a Pink Jeep tour. My wife and I recommend their Broken Arrow tour.

There are a number of good restaurants, depending on what you like. Mariposa is Latin fine dining, great service and views, with prices to match. There are a number of Italian places, a really good French place (Rene’s), Creekside and the Hideaway for casual dining, and there is a really good microbrewery upstairs in the Tiaquepaque (pronounced ta laca paca) Plaza, but you may want to keep your wife away from there, too many pricey shops.

Downtown Sedona is a tourist trap with little parking and terrible traffic.

Sedona. Don’t miss it.

Think carefully about the Jeep tour. My choice was sub-optimal. Instead of a grin-inducing perilous up and down route, we had a leisurely drive through the desert with a guide pointing out scrub bush, road runners, and telling us Indian ghost stories. Do your research.

The creekside restaurant is wonderful. Allow time for the meal. Make reservations to get on the creek.

You can drive to sightseeing venues, such as Jerome.

If you are able to hike, do so. But, really pack the right clothes and water containers and shoes.

Near Flagstaff I think Walnut Canyon is a hidden gem. It's a park containing a Cliff Dwelling community. The hike is not too strenuous but does contain several stairs. Really pretty area and historically interesting.

Re: the Casino's for a bed. Downsides are the omnipresent "Resort Fee's" and smoke smell. I used to use them when passing through Reno, just understand the ground rules going in. They usually try to hide the resort fee's.

Honestly, there isn’t much in Gallup. You can go check out Red Rock, but there is much more in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. Granted, I’ve only driven out there to shoot a few fireworks shows for the rodeo, so maybe another member can add more for Gallup.

Breakfast in Sedona, go to the Coffee Pot Restaurant. They are your standard breakfast place, with a rich history of Sedona, and they really make a great breakfast.

As mentioned Uptown Sedona (the downtown area) is a full blown tourist trap. Tlaquepaque Is pretty cool. It’s not as touristy as uptown. Javelina Cantina, The Hudson, Rene’s, Mariposa (any of the Dahl Restaurants) are all good places to eat.

Hiking trails are endless. There are hundreds, upon hundreds of trails to hike. You’re coming at the right time of year. Monsoons are pretty much over (pouring rain at 5:15 am as I type this) but We seem to have broken out of the miserable heat. Pack lots of shorts, but be sure to bring long pants. The desert is dry, but it can get cold at night.

Sedona traffic sucks terribly bad. 179 is a one lane in, one lane out road. Couple that with plenty of roundabouts, and tourists that don’t know where they are headed, or how to navigate a roundabout, and it can make for some bad traffic. Be sure to bring patience with you, in no short supply.

Jeep tours are awesome and will get you places you would not be able to see without an off road vehicle, or a long hike. Depending on the day (looks like you’ll be in the Verde Valley Thursday-Saturday?) I would be happy to take you out on a Jeep tour in my Jeep. It won’t be the “open air” experience like a Pink Jeep as I prefer to keep the dust out. I know the trails around here quite well, have off road Ed pretty much all of them. From a leisurely ride down dirt roads, to some pretty aggressive off roading, take your pick. I’m probably not the story teller you would get on a PJT, but I know a lot about the history of the area. I grew up here and am somewhat of a local historian.

As far as hotels, Sedona hotels are expensive. You can save quite a bit staying here in Cottonwood, and we are 15 minutes away. They just opened a Marriott Springhill Suites here that is pretty nice. You do miss out on waking up in Sedona though.

It’s a pretty awesome area. Amazing scenery, and awe inspiring nature. I feel quite blessed to wake up here everyday. Plus sunrises like this don’t suck. It’s pretty much guaranteed you’ll have an amazing sunrise, almost everyday.
This is looking at Sedona from Clarkdale.

If your already out there you should loop in Mesa Verde and maybe Durango. The train from Durango to Silverton is awesome. Then loop down through Los Alamos.

If you like floating down a river, Verde Adventures will rent you tubes or kayaks and you get to float 1.5 - 2 hours down the Verde River.

Good monsoon season so should be running great. We went earlier before the monsoons this year and loved it. Probably going back some time soon.

If you want a place to shoot, I work at a outdoor range near Prescott, and will be glad to assist.

Enjoy the trip!

My family and I spent a few days in Flagstaff and Sedona back at spring break.

In Flagstaff on night one we ate at Fat Olives. https://fatolivesflagstaff.com

It was so good that we went back on night two. Every single thing we had was delicious. But whatever you do, save room for dessert and get the s'mores pizza. It was amazing!!!

My son eyeballing the s'mores pizza.


In Sedona we rented a Jeep for 24 hours. https://sedonarentajeep.com

Jeff and Shawn were awesome to work with. I had never been off-roading and had looked up things to do in Sedona and off roading seemed like it would be a good experience. Well, let me tell you, it was beyond fun. My daughter, who was 14 years old at the time of the trip now has a Jeep at the top of her car wish list.

I googled some trails to hit, found this site; https://www.earthtrekkers.com/4wd-roads-in-sedona/ and we made some plans.

We did Dry Creek Basin so we could get to Devils Bridge. I highly recommend this option if you want to see Devils Bridge. We passed hundreds of people on foot and got right to the front of line by going this way.

We also did Diamondback Gulch and Broken Arrow. Of the three, I started with Broken Arrow but as someone who had never driven off road, that was a mistake. There were some serious obstacles on this trail. I made them all, but had I not seen other Jeeps successfully clear those obstacles, I am not sure I would have made it.

My family with our Jeep


And back to Devils Bridge, the reviews were mixed. Some said it's a must do, others said stay away, too many people. We went early, like before 9am, nothing crazy early like sunrise time, drove the road and got to the front of the line because of this. The hike was fantastic. At the top, we had to wait maybe 5 minutes for our picture and then hiked down. The difference in the amount of people hiking in and walking the road in as we were on our way out was astounding.

My family on Devils Bridge

Try the El Rancho Hotel in Gallup.

https://elranchohotelgallup.com/

In my opinion, Gallup is not a nice place. I would get a room in the nicest hotel chain you can find, go out for supper early or get take-out, and spend the night in your room. I’m curious as to why you’re going over to Gallup in the first place. If your wife want to see New Mexico, drive further and go to Santa Fe; you’ll both enjoy that.

Drift: dang Beancooker - moment of zen much?

quote:

Originally posted by Beancooker:
Breakfast in Sedona, go to the Coffee Pot Restaurant. They are your standard breakfast place, with a rich history of Sedona, and they really make a great breakfast.

^^^^^ THIS!!!

Home of 101 omelettes!

Sedona is our go to place. Beautiful, well laid out city and managed appropriately. If you want a water adventure, Slide Rock State park is a fun place. You can water slide down the sandstone carved chutes into pools of water. Get there early, they only allow so many cars in at a time then there is a wait for a car to leave, a car to go in, etc.

My son turned us on to the Mesa Grill which is located at the Sedona airport. Nice views and totally unexpected delicious foods and drinks. This is our new Sedona go to place.

If your going thru Prescott, send a message and we can meet for a meal.

Have fun

There is no reason to go to Gallup, none, nada, zip, zero. It really is just kind of a dirty, nasty, Rez town. If your wife wants to see New Mexico, go further. Acoma Pueblo is an interesting place off of I-40, it hasn't been modernized or overly turistified yet. There's also Albuquerque and Santa Fe if you want to go further. Either go further, or spend more time in Arizona.

La Posada in Winslow is a really cool hotel. Stated by the railroad as a means to bring tourists out west. It's been renovated and their restaurant is great. Not too much else to be said for Winslow other than it's a good basecamp to explore the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest from. Don't stand too close to the statue on the corner, it gets used as a urinal and vomitorium at night.

89A between Flagstaff and Sedona is a spectacular drive. Jerome is a funky little ghost town turned artist colony west of Sedona. The drive from Prescott to Jerome on Mingus Mountain is a spectacular driver, a very winding mountain road not for the faint of heart. I have a love/hate relationship with Sedona; love the natural beauty but the populace can get on your nerves lots of love, crystals and moonbeam shit.

Drive as much of Route 66 as you can instead of I-40. Scenic drive and it's cool to seem some of the old towns like Peach Springs and Seligman.

Oatman is another funky ghost town turned artist colony outside of Bullhead City. Fun trip just watch out for the burros that run wild.

Laughlin is the town across from Bullhead City with the casinos. Way back when in nursing school when I had clinical in Kingman I'd stay in Laughling. Signed up for all of the loyalty programs and miked it for as many free rooms, buffets or anything else I could get. Aquarius is probably the nicest. Edgewater is the oldest with a cool car collection/museum.

quote:

If you want a water adventure, Slide Rock State park is a fun place. You can water slide down the sandstone carved chutes into pools of water.

My folks retired to Sedona and lived there until they passed. They told us never to get in the water at Slide Rock due to all the bad germs in the water.

It occurs to me, thumper, you might want to take US 93 S from Boulder City, Nevada to Kingman. At Kingman, take THE longest, most scenic and intact stretch of Route 66 that runs almost to Ashfork, Arizona. Stop at Delgadillo’s Snow Cap drive-in in Seligman, a Route 66 landmark. I think you and your wife would enjoy it. Look for opportunities to get off the frickin’ interstates—and that might be the best opportunity of all.

Better stop at the Museum Club (historic Rt 66 bar/restaurant) in Flag

This message has been edited. Last edited by: TMats,

Red Rock Cafe is also a great breakfast place in Sedona. It's located off AZ-179 in Oak Creek. Oak Creek Brewery & Grille in Tlaquepaque is one of my all-time favorites. Make sure to start with the pretzels and beer cheese.

For a Jeep tour, go with Pink Jeep Tours and do the Scenic Rim tour for your first one. It gives you a ton of local history.

If you like wine, go South on AZ-89A to AZ-260 E and go to Alcantara Vineyards in Cottonwood. The have tours and tastings and it's beautiful there.