Adventures By Disney--Sedona to the Grand Canyon

Day 3 of our Adventures By Disney tour began with breakfast and a trip airport mesa, an energy vortex, in Sedona. The views were beautiful on the mesa as you can see in the photo below.

We had checked out of the tranquil Amora Resort and Spa leaving our magical luggage in our room. The next time we will see our luggage is in our room at the Grand Canyon at Thunderbird Lodge. Click here to read about our day at the Grand Canyon.

We left airport mesa and headed to Red Rock State Park for a little nature hike. We were divided into two groups, each with a naturalist, and began our hike. Our naturalist is in the photo below.

We hiked throughout the park noticing the variety of plants. The tree in the photo below is the Wedding Tree also known as a cotton wood. It is growing along the banks of Oak Creek, which also ran behind our resort.

We hiked to the top of the hill to where a house had been built by a former millionaire and left abandoned. The house is said to be inhabited by wildlife now, so it is not safe to go inside. We gathered around the fire ring outside of the house.

After our hike in the park, we headed back to Sedona for lunch. Lunch was on your own, so we found a fast food place and took one last look at the alien store. Then it was back on the motor coach for our ride to the Grand Canyon.

The motor coach climbed the switchbacks along Oak Creek to get to the main highway. You could look outside the bus at the hundreds of feet drop just beside the road. Adventure! We also went by Slide Rock Park, another attraction just outside Sedona that features natural waterfalls and pools so you slide down rocks.

We had snacks and a Disney nature movie on the bus. Let me just note here that whenever we had a long ride--this day and one more day later in our trip--there would be Disney features offered that were themed to the trip. Today's show was a narrated feature--"The Living Desert" which I believe won an academy award.

When we got to the Grand Canyon, the temperature was much more mild, almost chilly. We all got off the motor coach, took care of any urgent business, and then gathered. Our guide Tiffany wanted us to walk to the edge of the Canyon holding hands with our eyes closed, then open them together. We did just that. We walked to the road just across from the viewing location with our eyes open. We still couldn't see anything yet. Then, we made a line, held each other's hands and walked across the road to the viewing station. Tiffany counted down and we opened our eyes in unison. What a sight! Goosebumps!

Here is one of our guides, Tiffany, directing the group before we viewed the canyon.

We had more adventures that evening once we arrived at the Canyon and got settled at Thunderbird Lodge. Ahh . . . another entry.

Click here to read about Day 1 of our Adventures by Disney Tour.

Click here and here to read about Day 2 of our Adventures by Disney Tour.