Day 2: Sedona
If you missed day 1 of this trip report, you can read that here.
This day started out with an optional sunrise hike. Because they came from the east coast, my husband said it wasn’t hard to wake up at 5:00 AM, although my daughter felt differently and decided to skip the hike and sleep.
There was a pretty good turnout, and he said it was a mild hike and very enjoyable. There were some great views, and they even saw hot air balloons!
Note the jackets and hats – it was chilly! This is the trail they hiked:
A view of the resort:
He returned to the room about 6:45 and woke up our daughter to get ready for breakfast. The group was eating breakfast together at Che Ah Chi, one of the onsite restaurants. They saw this little guy on their way.
They had the option of a buffet or ordering from the menu (since this meal was included, they could order whatever they wanted and it was put on the ABD bill). They both decided to order from the menu, with my husband getting a breakfast burrito and my daughter getting bacon & eggs. No food photos, except for the Mexican hot chocolate that they said was excellent:
The restaurant is beautiful:
After breakfast, they went back to the room to get ready for the main activity for the day: the Pink Jeep Tour!
The pink Jeeps picked up the group right at the resort. While they waited, there was some hula-hoop action going on:
When the Jeeps pulled up, the guides divided everyone into groups of 7. The guides try to group people with common interests, or kids with similar ages, etc.
Next they set off on their adventure! There are lots of tour options, and they did the “Diamondback Gulch” tour (details can be found here on the website). They thought the tour was really fun (but very bumpy!), and the guides gave them all sorts of interesting information along the way, including information about the history of Sedona.
Fun fact: you can legally camp anywhere more than 6 miles outside of Sedona for up to 2 weeks, and they saw several campers on the trails.
They went down some steep gulches and climbed some steep hills.
After the tour, the Jeeps took the group to a restaurant in Sedona, Sound Bites Grill, for a group lunch. The guides had passed around a menu and taken everyone’s orders the day before so that the service was prompt.
After lunch, they all got on the bus and then the afternoon/evening was “on your own” time, where they could either be dropped off in downtown Sedona or return to the resort. “On your own” time during ABD trips is time where you are free to explore on your own, but you also have to pay for anything you do/eat during this time, whereas all group meals and activities are included in the cost of the trip. The guides are happy to give you recommendations of things to do or even make reservations for you if you know what you want to do in advance. The guides are very good about thinking a day ahead and asking the guests for things like menu requests or activity reservations for the following day.
During their “on your own” time, they explored downtown Sedona on foot. They stopped for ice cream at Black Cow Cafe (recommended by the guides), and did lots of souvenir shopping. There were a lot of hand-crafted Native American items that they enjoyed looking at. This area is easy to explore on foot and is great for window shopping.
At the appointment time and place, they met the other guests at the bus and returned to the resort.
Back at the resort, they got cleaned up for dinner and since this was still “on your own” time, decided to have dinner at Tii Gavo, another one of the onsite restaurants. They saw some more wildlife:
Before dinner, they enjoyed some drinks on the outdoor terrace. For dinner, they had the grilled chicken sandwich and tamale bowl and thought they were both outstanding.
After dinner it was off to bed to get rested for tomorrow’s 7:00 AM breakfast.
Up next: Day 3 – Bearizona Wildlife Park and The Grand Canyon
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