For our short weekend, we flew into Phoenix and drove about two hours to Sedona where we stayed at the Enchantment Resort. On that Sunday, we left early and drove about 2 and a half hours to the Grand Canyon. The drive was so desolate it actually blew my mind. The scenery also constantly changed, which was really surprising. One minute we were driving through a beautiful forest running along Oak Creek, the next minute we were driving literally right on the edge of the cliff of a mountain, and then the next minute we were in the middle of a desert with nothing but the red sand in sight. It was bizarre. I still do not quite understand how the scenery of Arizona could change so quickly in such a short time span. The changing scenery certainly made the trip much more interesting. The trip out to the Grand Canyon was totally doable but definitely a whole day adventure.
Initially, Matt and I had talked about continuing on from the Grand Canyon and driving another hour north to Antelope Canyon because I really wanted to see the beautiful slot canyons. But- traveler’s tip– you need a tour guide to go down into the slot canyon and need to book your tickets ahead of time. By the time we called the different tour companies to try and book a tour of the slot canyon, all the tours were booked! Based upon reviews that we had read on Yelp, you can also just show up to Antelope Canyon and try to walk on a tour or hire someone to give you tour if you do not have a reservation. Make sure to book your tour of Antelope Canyon ahead of time if you are planning to make the trip out there. Another traveler’s tip– if you are renting a Jeep, like we did, there is a mileage limit on the rental reservation. Matt is so smart and notices all of those kind of details and made sure to have that taken off our rental car reservation but it would be so easy to miss. Every mile above the reservation limit is 20 cents a mile, if you are renting a car through Budget. You may or may not be able to negotiate that out of your reservation, but it is definitely worth a try.
^^ from the point of our trip where we drove through beautiful forests! You can see how quickly it changes and how soon we are driving through red desert
