ARIZONA REVIEW: WHY GO; WHAT TO DO & SEE
October 2023 and many times in the past
Arizona is another one of those places that has changed quite a bit from my first visits back in the early 2000s. I focused this latest visit on seeing natural beauty rather than focusing on meditation and breath workshops combined with great food, though I did have plenty of the latter. I finally made it to the Grand Canyon and yes, it is spectacular. And I met so many great people along the trail. There was the insanely fit former Mormon who left the church and Utah after having come out and was now moving back to Salt Lake City, oh, and he hiked the entire 24 mile canyon end to end that morning, 6,000 feet down and 4,500 feet back up. Then there were the odd male friend coupling of a not super fit financial analyst and a very fit occupational therapist from Dallas and Scottsdale, respectively, with whom I enjoyed a post hike beer and dinner.
FLAGSTAFF. A cute college town though lots of traffic and not so great weather. I stayed two nights as a gateway to and from the Grand Canyon. Because of a lack of planning on my part, I arrived in Flagstaff late and then booked what I thought was a hotel in town near where I parked near all the restaurants but turned out I booked their other location and found no food nearby so went to bed without eating which is not the best way to spend the night before tackling a big hike.
GRAND CANYON. I left Flagstaff early so I could arrive at the gates by 6am and experience the sunrise. And yes, it is spectacular. I was running on a near empty stomach but was able to buy a sandwich at the little café they had to fuel what I thought would be a short 3 or so mile hike. The problem is that once you get going down the canyon, you don’t want to stop. I eventually found myself at Havasupai Gardens and wanted to at least get to where the canyon opened. I met two guys (the ones with whom I shared the post hike beer) who told me it was only about another mile so off I went until I found myself hiking through some small streams. In hindsight I should have kept going but all the signs showing people throwing up scared me so I turned around about six miles in and made my way back up to the top of Bright Angel.
SEDONA. I had been here in the past and did not find the peace that others did in the vortex. What I found were a lot of tourist shops and traffic. I tried again on this trip and felt a similar vibe (the hike I took, while aesthetically pleasing, was filled with the noise of garbage trucks on one side and highway traffic on the other). It really is a lovely area that was probably amazing at one point.
COTTONWOOD. This small town is near Sedona and much more my speed. That being said, I learned that the prices for lodging have really jumped in the last year and it is becoming more of a destination. My highlight here was the Merkin Vineyards Trattoria, which is owned by the former lead singer of Tool and has surprisingly good wine at California 2010 prices and excellent food. I was there the day they opened. You can sit at the bar and stare out at the verde valley and meet a few locals. The rest of the main town area consists of a strip with some bars, restaurants, coffee shops, lodging, and shops. Very quaint. Nearby you can visit the ghost town of Jerome, that is, if you can find parking. It is a popular place even during the week.
TUCSON. I came here with a friend to attend a meditation retreat. We ended up skipping out on part to eat and shop. The intention was to just grab lunch and return, but lunch turned into a beer, which turned into stumbling into a cute clothing boutique, both right next to our hotel. We did make it through the second day as food and coffee were available on site which were sorely missing on our first day. Turns out I need coffee to stay awake to a soothing voice. In looking up where we ate, I found that the most amazing mole I have had in my lifetime at Café Poca Cosa is no longer available as the chef/owner, Suzana Davila, had to shut down early on in the pandemic. A sad loss for Tucson.
PRESCOTT. I first came here around 2002 or 2003 for a breath workshop. While the hyperventilating to reach some epiphany only led to my falling sound asleep and not moving for the entire hour we were supposed to be in a dream state so I could only draw black on my sheet of paper for what I saw. I do remember the amazing vegan borscht. I later returned to visit a friend in the area and it had grown. This 2023 trip led to another visit and I found that the quaint square was now full of loud traffic and not somewhere I wanted to spend time so I continued driving, ending up in California near Joshua Tree.