Vacations Blog

The red, sandstone buttes of Sedona are picture perfect.

There’s no escaping the overwhelming awe one experiences during a visit to Sedona, Arizona. The majestic red sandstone buttes in contrast with a vast blue sky combined with the mystical aura of the region have been a place of wonder since the days of the Wild West.

Take in the tranquility of Sedona's landscape in a private, creek side cottage.

Today, the cowboys and Indians of the past have been replaced by throngs of tourists eager to experience one of Mother Nature’s most remarkable landscapes. Whether enjoying an exhilarating off-road adventure, exploring many of the area’s hot Vortex spots, shopping for one-of-a-kind gifts in its abundant gift shops and art galleries, or tasting the unique flavors of its many dining options, Sedona has everything necessary for an exciting family vacation.

There are many places to stay during a Sedona vacation, ranging from the small, no-frills motel to the luxury resort and spa. One of our family’s favorites is the quaint L’Auberge De Sedona Resort. Nestled at the bottom of a cliff and situated on the banks of Oak Creek, guests are invited to stay in The Lodge, The Creek House or in a one or two-bedroom private cottage. The cottages, in particular, offer an opportunity for guests to truly experience the natural beauty of the region from their private front porches.

Restaurant on Oak Creek offers an incredible fine dining experience.

L’Auberge De Sedona is also home to one of our favorite restaurants, the famous Restaurant on Oak Creek. Hugely popular with visitors and locals alike, the restaurant offers an unparallel outdoor dining experience along the trickling creek side. Its seasonal menu of French-inspired American cuisine is an outstanding epicurean treat and its vintage wine selection is superb. Wine Spectator has awarded the restaurant a “Best of Award of Excellence” for 14 years in a row. It’s a “can’t miss” during a Sedona vacation.

Tlaquepaque Village

A great place to find a variety of dining and shopping options is the nearby Tlaquepaque Arts & Crafts Village‎. It’s always on our list of places to visit. Resembling an authentic Mexican village, Tlaquepaque is an epicenter for the Sedona experience, with eclectic live entertainment, artisans and flavors all in one beautiful, natural setting. If you love Mexican food, a “must try” is El Rincon. Their food is influenced by the Navajo and is “muy delicioso.”

Tlaquepaque is also a great starting point for an off road tour of the area’s majestic landscape. Sedona Off Road Adventures offers Hummer and Jeep tours at the Village as well as from The Adventure Store located in the Uptown Mall. Many tour options are available and the vehicles can accommodate groups of up to 12 at a time and always offer an adrenaline-filled trip. Off road tours are very popular, so reservations are encouraged. Also, don’t forget your camera as the panoramic views are absolutely breathtaking. You’ll want to capture the experience.

Get up close and personal with the Sedona landscape with an exhilirating jeep tour.

Sedona Off Road Adventures, as well as other tour operators, also offer wilderness horseback tours as well as mountain bikes rentals for the extreme outdoor enthusiasts.

While in Sedona, you can also hike the rugged terrain in search of the area’s many purported spiritual Vortices (Vortexes). Sedona has been labeled as a spiritual center for many generations, because power emanates from vortexes producing some of the most remarkable energy on the planet. This energy is the reason why Sedona is home to a lot of people that are “on the path” of spiritual growth. It is also the reason that a large New Age community and tourism industry has sprung up in the Sedona area, bringing with it a variety of spiritual practices and alternative healing modalities. Sedona is now often referred to as a spiritual Disneyland. Popular Vortex spots include Bell Rock, Airport Mesa, Cathedral Rock, Boynton Canyon, and Schnebly Hill. Maps of these locations can be found at all of Sedona’s New Age shops.

If you do decide to hoof it into the Sedona wilderness, as always, please take proper precautions, like packing plenty of water, a map and a cell phone. You wouldn’t want to become a permanent part of the landscape.

Finally, if the weather’s warm and you need to cool off, take the family over to the famous Slide Rock State Park. There the Oak Creek has transformed the red rocks into a natural, slippery water chute. You can take a ride down the chutes, sunbath, wade or swim in the cool waters. It’s a blast.

Getting To Sedona

Sedona is located approximately 115 miles north of Phoenix. Take Interstate 17 north to Highway 179 west. Travel time is just under two hours. Flagstaff is about 30 miles north of Sedona. The best, and most scenic route to take from there is Highway 89A south. The route will take approximately 45 minutes. And it’s a 288-mile, nearly five hour drive from Las Vegas.

The city also has a small airport (SEZ) accommodating private aircraft and offering charter flight, scenic air tours as well as car and jeep rentals.

Photos courtesy of the City of Sedona, L’Auberge De Sedona, Tlaquepaque Village and Sedona Off Road Adventures.

Orogenisis. Mountain building. Plate tectonics and erosion. A geological blink, really, but an eternity to us.

Mountains have always had a calming effect on me. I run to them like a child running to his mother with a scraped knee or hurt feelings. Mountains always reciprocate my feelings. Pulling me gently into their arms and soothing me.

Yosemite, Yellowstone, Denali. These locations are all fine specimens, steeped in history and tradition. The afore mentioned mountains are of epic proportions. A fine place to visit. Explore. Escape. But, to truly see how mountains age, I would recommend a visit to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Great Smoky Mountains Nation Park

While the winter months will keep even the most seasoned backpackers out of the high country, the views and majesty of these old, hard-luck mountains can be viewed through the now barren forest canopy.

Townsend, Tennessee, dubbed “The Peaceful Side of the Smokies” is an excellent place to get away from the hustle and bustle of more popular areas in the Great Smoky Mountains. It is my home away from home. You can warm your cold and weary bones after a long hike at Doc’s Motel. Ask for Sharron. Tell her Charles Downs, the Younger, sent you.

My stomach tells me things after a long hike. Things like, “if you don’t feed me I’m gong to make things rough on you.”  Fuel is needed after, as well as before, a good hike. While Townsend offers a myriad of dinning options; Smokin’ Joe’s Barbecue in particular is very good.  May I suggest a short 30 minute drive to Maryville, Tn. Say hello to my friend and, on occasion, Flyfishing partner, Tommy Vaughn, at Foothills Milling Company. The fare is gourmet, the atmosphere is casual, and you won’t leave hungry.

Now go. Lace up those boots. Grab a warm jacket and load the camera with film. The ghosts of spring are calling you. If you listen close, you can hear them.

Photos courtesy of nps. gov

Snow Trails Mansfield, Ohio

You wouldn’t know it by looking in my back yard or at the snow covered streets and fields that surround my house, but Ohio does not receive adequate amounts of snowfall to accommodate a successful ski resort.  Enter Snow Trails in Mansfield, Ohio.

Snow Trails opened in 1961 (Ohio’s first ski resort) relying on the technology of snow making machines that first came into use in areas of the Catskill Mountains in New York.  The machines create a fine mist that when combined with the cold dry air creates snow.

How much snow?

Snow Making at Snow Trails in Mansfield, OH

Generally, when the air temperature is at 28 degrees the machines at Snow Trails can produce enough snow to cover 5 acres with 1″ of snow in 12 hours.  Triple that amount (15 acres) with just a 4 degree drop in the temperature.

All fine and dandy, you say, but just what does this mean to those of us in the Midwest who want to get out and ski?  Simply put,  Snow Trails in Mansfield offers quality skiing close to home.  It’s not necessary to spend exorbitant sums traveling to far away destinations when there is such good skiing in our own backyard.

Snow Trails offers several slopes for skiing as well as snow boarding from beginners to advanced.  Several lift tickets and rental options are available, each designed to accommodate your specific needs.  For the freestyle junkies there are several terrain parks built from scratch each season that are sure to suit your XTreme cravings.  The Terrainasaurus Park is a beginner park and open to all–no height or age restrictions.  The Salomon is for intermediates and the Sobe, voted in the Top Four terrain parks in the Midwest, for advanced.

Snow Trails Mansfield, Ohio

Also, whether you are an accomplished skier that needs a brush up or a total newbie Snow Trails offers lessons to suit your individual skiing level.  And for the kiddies, several options are available.  The Cricketeer Program (ages 5-9) is an all day lesson, 9:30- 3:30,  that provides instruction in a fun and safe environment.  The $89 fee includes area ticket, equipment, helmet, snacks and lunch.  The Cricketot Program ($69 for ages 3-4) is an abbreviated version of the Cicketeer.  Children must be potty trained and able to follow simple instructions.

Snow Trails also offers a tubing area perfect for the entire family.  There are no age or height restrictions.  The tube chutes follow a gentle slope down the mountain with an extended run out to slow you down.  Repeat often!  Worried about that tiring trek back to the top?

Trekking Back is Not a Chore at Snow Trails

No worries.  The tubing trail has easy access to a conveyor carpet that makes getting back to the top no harder than sitting down.

Snow Trails in Mansfield is the perfect family skiing destination and no doubt a sure cure for that nasty cabin fever that inevitably hits us all this time of year.  Hours of operation are weekdays 10:00 am – 9:30 pm (9:00 am Saturdays and Sundays).  The tubing park is open Monday through Thursday 5:00 pm – 9:30 pm, Fridays until midnight, and Saturdays 10:00 am – midnight (9:30 pm on Sundays.)

Take the Mansfield-Bellville exit (interchange 169) off of I-71 and look for Possum Run Road.  Snow Trails is located at 3100 Possum Run Road Mansfield, OH  44903.  There are several lodging options in the area.  Be sure to check the Snow Trails website for daily deals and discount coupons.

Photo credits:  Snow Trails Website, and Ed Lamaze

Snow Tubing

If skiing is your thing, there are a few nice ski resorts in Virginia that you may want to visit during your vacation. I, however, won’t be there. I’ve been skiing once in my life and that was enough. I am much too practical to stand on slippery pieces of wood and throw myself down an icy mountain at a high rate of speed. The fact that I ended up off the snow and in the mud (three times) and crashed into an unsuspecting old man at the bottom of the slope may have also affected my decision to never ski again. That beginner slope is treacherous! However, I can be found sitting on my behind while sliding down a mountain in a large snow tube. That’s good quality family fun without the risk of injuring someone’s granddad. I highly recommend it.

Bryce Mountain Resort in Basye, Virginia

There are several places in Virginia to go snow tubing. Our most frequent stop, due to its proximity to our northern Virginia home is Bryce Mountain Resort. They have 800’ lanes and a moving carpet that takes you up the mountain conveyor belt style. There is a height requirement of 42” tall to go tubing at this location.

Tuesday – Friday: $18/person
Saturday & Sunday/Holiday: $22/person

Massanutten Resort in Massanutten, Virginia

Despite having an unfortunate mountain name and an odd catch phrase “Where the rubber hits the snow” Massanutten Resort is another popular snow tubing spot. They have 900’ lanes and a towrope that you attach to your tube and it pulls you up the hill. There is a 36” tall height requirement to go tubing at this site.

Mon.-Fri., Non-holiday: $18/person
Sat., Sun., Holiday: $22/person

Tubing Lanes at Bryce Mountain

Wintergreen Resort in Wintergreen, Virginia

I’ve never been to Wintergreen Resort but it sounds like fun.

“Imagine being on top of a ten story building and looking out over a hill that’s longer than three football fields. Now imagine going downhill on a tube at speeds reaching 30 mph.” – Quote from website

They have a 42” height requirement

mid-week, non-holiday: $18/person
weekends and holiday periods: $25/person

While searching for snow tubing sites I found a link to Whitetail Resort in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. I feel a road trip coming on. Here are a few tips about winter weather and road trips for me to read before we head out.

Note: All of the resorts listed above also offer snow skiing and snow boarding.

All photos by Sherry Roberts