Spring Break with a Plane, Train, and Automobile (not in that order)

I talked my husband into this vacation, we typically do beach vacations, but this trip was my idea. Let's call it: Spring Break 2022, All Around Arizona. 

The plan: 1. Amtrak train across much of the country, from Chicago, IL-Flagstaff, AZ. 2. Visit the Grand Canyon. (a 90 minute drive from Flagstaff, so a day-trip).  3. A few days in Sedona, AZ.  4. A couple of days in Phoenix, before we fly back to Chicago.

1. The train. This was our first time ever traveling on an Amtrak train.  We chose the Amtrak "Southwest Chief" train, which travels from Chicago to Los Angeles, with a stop in Flagstaff, Arizona. Leaves Chicago around 3pm on a Friday, pulls into Flagstaff at 8:30pm on Saturday.

I meant to book a private sleeper car with a bathroom, but they were sold out, so I booked 2 Roomettes for the 4 of us, (Mom, Dad, 11 year old & 8 year old). So....Roomettes are LITTLE. If you've ever seen bunk beds on a tour bus shown on TV, a roomette is that size, but with a sliding glass door and curtains for privacy. If I had to do this again, I would 100% book earlier and get the biggest private car they have available.  I'm fairly certain the comfort level of the "beds" are the same, but they do have larger private rooms available, where you don't have to share a bathroom. 

Pros: The Observation car was cool, lots of windows, tables to play cards, or seats facing the view, most times we visited, there was plenty of room.  Every meal we ate on the train was good food, (included with roomette charge), one adult beverage per meal included, even our kids ate their meals!  It was a unique travel experience, and you're not restricted to a plane seat, so there is more opportunity to move around the train, step off for fresh air for a few minutes at some stops, spend time in the observation car to play cards, read, or enjoy the view. Compared with a regular priced airplane seat, or traveling coach on Amtrak, we were able to lie down in privacy, which is all that some people require to catch some zzz's, so that was a plus.

Cons: The private space was pretty tight in a roomette. If I could do it again, I'd have booked earlier and gone for the larger family sized private rooms that include a private bathroom.  Shared bathrooms...we shared a few bathrooms with only a handful of other roomette's, but one family put their baby's dirty diapers in the garbage, in the same bathroom we're supposed to be brushing our teeth in.  That smell doesn't leave an airplane sized bathroom. Speaking of babies, they cry sometimes, and when it's in the roomette next to yours, sleeping is very difficult.  Cleanliness.  The roomette appeared clean, until you looked closely. Like many forms of public transportation, the cracks and crevices are full of dust, stickiness, and icky stuff you just don't want to see, or sleep next to.  I awoke after sleeping to find a dental pick on the arm rest, RIGHT NEXT to where my pillow was.  It wasn't familiar, so I knew it was from whoever slept there before, and must have been revealed when the Amtrak staffer "turned down" our room, (converting 2 train seats into one bed, and folding down the bunk resting on the wall above). I didn't notice it when we went to bed, so I slept right next to it and saw it first thing in the morning. So yeah.....that was super gross. 

Possible delays. This wasn't Amtrak's fault, but anyone who "rides the rails" would tell you, delays happen.  Whether it's freight train interference, mechanical issues on a train...switching issues, etc.  Our train was stopped just outside of Albuquerque for over 5 hours. Why? Oh...you know, there was a triple stabbing on another train ahead of us in Albuquerque. Yikes, right?!   The train staff never actually told us what the delay was caused by, I just sleuth investigated on my own (hello, broadcast journalism degree!) and found out online through the local TV station.   There was a man acting strange on another train, when confronted by a staff member on the train, he attacked him, stabbed him, and when other passengers tried to help, he stabbed 2 other people too. When the train stopped, he escaped, and took off, on foot, on the train tracks. The man was apprehended and arrested, he had a long record.  The main reason for the lengthy delay was, police had to complete their investigation before other trains could travel through, since both a train and the tracks were involved. Our train was due in Flagstaff at 8:30pm, but we got there at around 3am. Again, not Amtrak's fault, just a risk you run when you travel via train.

Poor Communication. We heard from a disgruntled, snarky snack car lady seemingly once an hour via the train speakers, throughout the train ride, but no one from Amtrak informed us that we would be awoken by staff before our Flagstaff stop, so I forced myself to stay awake, for fear of missing our stop.  I was frustrated to find out I didn't have to.

The Observation Car

Roomette

My husband and I, our 2 kids, all pulling our own luggage walked the 3 blocks (at 3AM!) to get to our Airbnb. Luckily, Flagstaff is still the quiet, safe town I remember, (I went to college here for a bit in the late 90s), so we had no issues. The home we rented was historic, gorgeous and perfect. We got a comfy half nights sleep. 

Link to the Flagstaff Airbnb we stayed at

Flag Airbnb

2. After grabbing coffee and some groceries, we packed a lunch, and drove 90 minutes to the Grand Canyon.  The forecast said upper 50s and partly sunny. It started SNOWING when we get there. We didn’t even bring winter coats. We got out for a few good looks from different spots around the main visitor area.  It was cold, so we only lasted about 20 minutes. After a giftshop stop, we drove to the bright angel trail. I wanted to at least see it, and decide if we could manage a partial hike, if not the whole thing, since we weren't dressed right for the weather.   The kids and I all had our hiking shoes on, so we hiked down for about 20 minutes, and then 20 back. The sun finally came out, so it was pretty nice and we got some different views going inside the grand canyon a little bit. My husband Matt turned back because he didn’t want to get his new Nike shoes dirty. They have very little tread, so it was the wrong shoe choice anyway. There were a couple shady spots that were icy and slippery.

Bright Angel Trail

Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon

For dinner that evening, we went to the Historic Brewing Co. in downtown Flag, which was very good. We watched crazy trick skiers competing in the Alps on TV and ate fried pickles, chili, mac n cheese, salad, and tacos with craft cocktails.

Flagstaff was just like I remember it. Mountainous views, lots of sunshine, friendly people, outdoorsy types and hippies. It’s got a great vibe. Morgan and I grabbed coffee, (her a smoothie), before buying silly cute socks for ourselves and Luke at one of the cool, but pricey, outdoor gear shops downtown.  We had lunch at the Toasted Owl, and loved it. Great funky decor, and tasty food. We drove through and around Northern Arizona University a bit, and then off to Sedona. 

3. The drive from Flagstaff to Sedona is awesome. Some don't like the winding roads, but I love it, the red rocks of Sedona slowly reveal themselves and you drive down and down into warmer Sedona. Our Sedona VRBO wasn’t as pretty, but it was larger and had a hot tub. It was also in walking distance to 2 trailheads which was awesome.

Link to Sedona VRBO

I hiked the Little Sugarloaf summit trail via Thunder Mountain area trails and it was beautiful!  I use the All Trails app, and downloaded the trail details beforehand so I wouldn't end up lost on a 9 mile loop instead of the 1 mile 40 minute hike that I had time for. This hike is categorized as easy, but I thought reaching the summit at the end was steep and challenging.

Sedona

Sedona

Sedona

We went to Slide Rock State Park (nature made waterslide & hiking) one day which was really fun, the water is COLD though! 46 degrees cold.

Slide Rock

Slide Rock

Sunset dinner at Mariposa in Sedona was gorgeous and delicious and 100% worth the monster bill.

Mariposa

Other things we did in Sedona that we enjoyed: a Pink Jeep Tour, hike to the Airport energy vortex, shopping in uptown

4. It's a 2 hour drive from Sedona to the Phoenix area.  We got a hotel in Scottsdale, resort style, with 2 pools and grounds to walk around. It was 90 degrees and perfect for lounging around the pool for a couple days before heading home. 

Double Tree Hilton

We didn't explore much in Scottsdale, but dinner at Zuzu in Scottsdale on our last night was excellent!

 

Overall, it was a great trip. Everyone had different favorite parts, but it was enjoyed by all four of us.