there was interesting desert with beautiful brown mountains and mesas. The sky was a gorgeous blue. We took the I-10 to Phoenix and I-17 to Sedona. We got up to 4800’ in elevation.
We had pre-booked at Days Inn Kokopelli (6456 Hwy. 179, Sedona, AZ 86351, tel. 928-284-1100, e-mail: daysinnkokopelli@gmail.com, web: daysinnkokopelli.com). The rate was M$112.21 per night. We had a gorgeous mountain view from our room. The room was
a good size and had a sofa. Everything worked. The included breakfast was basic and there were too many kids so it was noisy. The computer at reception had a printer which we needed to use. Everything was fine except that the towels were awful.
We had arranged before leaving Tucson to meet our traveling companions, Pia and Angeliki at that Days Inn where they would also stay. Co-incidently, our friend Mitch from Eagle, CO was also in Sedona. We decided to have dinner together that night.
But before that, we unloaded our mountain bikes and biked from the Days Inn Kokopelli in the Village of Oak Creek 7 miles to Sedona. It was all uphill and Audre was pooped by the time we got there. We stopped and had lunch at Shugrues Hillside Grill (671 Hwy. 179, Sedona, AZ 86336, tel. 817-529-9499, e-mail: email@shugrueshillside.com, web: www.shugrueshillside.com). We had one clam chowder ($4) and one Greek Pita Chicken Sandwich. ($11.50). There was nothing particularly Greek about the sandwich and the clam chowder was okay. Nicole, our server, was fine. It cost $17.17 plus tip. Audre went on greve (French for strike) and said she couldn't pedal one more inch. Fortunately, there was a family with a big van in the parking lot of Shugrues who loaded us and our bikes in their van and took us back to the Days Inn Kokopelli. Phew, Audre was relieved.
That night we drove Pia and Angeliki to the Thai restaurant we chose for dinner. The restaurant was called Thai Spices (2986 W. Hwy. 89A, Sedona, AZ 86336, tel. 520-282-0599, web: http://www.thaispices.com/).There were 5 of us and we ordered 5 dishes. While the ingredients
were correct the level of spiciness and tastiness was not. We were very
disappointed that they didn’t have Mee Grob or Sticky Rice with Mango, two Thai
restaurant stalwarts. We had the Thai Rolls and they were okay. The Pad Thai
was bland. The Tom Kah soup was not distinguished. The only good dish was the
Thai red curry dish. And Audre can’t remember the 5th dish. We would
not recommend this restaurant. Each person spent $16 which included the tip.
The first morning we had the Days Inn complimentary breakfast (augmented by our own cereals and fruit) and we didn't like it. After breakfast Dimitri and Audre went on a hike for 2.5 hours around Courtyard Butte Loop in Sedona. We enjoyed it. We had agreed to meet Pia and Angeliki for lunch at the shopping area called Tlaquepaque at 336 AZ Hwy 179 at the Bridge, Sedona, AZ 86339, tel. 928-282-4838, web: http://sedonashoppingcenter.mobi. Once we met them, we chose a restaurant there for lunch called The Secret Garden Cafe at Tlaquepaque, (336 AZ 179, Suite F101, Sedona, AZ 86336, web: www.sedonasecretgardencafe.com).
We had a lovely lunch
inside (after trying outside and being too cold even with blankets). Our server
was enthusiastic and generally attentive. Three of us had deep dish quiche ($12
each) and one had “yesterday’s soup” in
a cup ($5). We shared one pecan pie ($7). The food was good even if on the
expensive side. The place was atmospheric. The garden would have been nice if
it had been warm.
After lunch we went on the afternoon Pink Jeep Tour (204 N. Hwy. 89A, Sedona, AZ 86336, tel. 928-282-5000, web: www.pinkjeep.com). We had heard wonderful things about these tours. One of the 4 of
us had previously taken the “Oh God 1” tour and recommended it. Because of her
previous tour, each of us got a 10% discount on the $55 regular fee. We booked
the 2 hour Scenic Rim tour because it was supposed to be mellow. We drove into
Cococino National Park and up Schnebly Road for about 2000’ to Mogollan Rim. We
saw an Arizona Cypress with greens like a juniper and seeds like acorns. The
visas were beautiful but not much different than you could see from a paved
road. Schnebly Road was awful and the 4 of us were kind of non-plussed by the
tour. We think hiking around Courthouse Rock Loop and driving Hwy. 89A/179 was
equally beautiful and didn’t cost $50 plus tax.
| All of us on the Pink Jeep Tour |
We stopped to see the views and one of the other guests took a snap of the four of us.
| Pia, Angeliki and Dimitri and Audre on the Pink Jeep Tour |
Our traveling companions were tried on our second night in Sedona and didn't want to go out for a big meal. We went out by ourselves and chose India Palace (1910 W Hwy. AZ 89A, Suite 102, Sedona, AZ 86336, tel. 928-204-2300).We were pleased to see the owner at the cash register and a
pleasant décor. We ordered one Mulligataluny Soup ($3.95), one Lamb Korma
($11.95) and one Bhindi Masala ($9.95) with basmati rice ($2.95) and one plain
naan ($1.95). We also ordered one Punjabi (salty) lassi ($3.50) and one Kheer
(rice) pudding ($2.95). All of the food was spiced well and was tasty. Each of
the dishes was large and we had another whole dinner from the leftovers. We
were charged $34.10 instead of $37.20. We were happy with the meal and didn’t
notice the discrepancy.
The next morning we left Sedona for the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.
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