How The West Was Fun: An Arizona Roadtrip Guide

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The most important thing you must know before reading this travel guide is that my best friend is also a girl named Jo. Jo & Jo. The Jos. That should clear up any initial confusion! Jo and I met as 5 year olds in kindergarten, went to school together for 13 years, but truly blossomed as best friends in high school. Jo is a brilliant medical student at Rutgers University interested in pediatrics, and lucky for me, she also has a bit of a travel bug! Jo knew she would have 2 weeks of free time this March and after throwing around a bunch of different destination ideas.. we landed on Arizona!

One of the best things we did was to start a shared google doc right away so that we could start planning! We settled on a few destinations for our roadtrip, found a bunch of possible Airbnbs in the major towns we were traveling through, and agreed upon a rough itinerary so that we could book it all! A one hour phone call, a mess of venmo transactions, and we were booked! All we had to do was pack our bags and catch our flight…or so we thought.

Day 1 – PHL to DTW to PHX

Our direct flight to Phoenix, Arizona was scheduled to depart from Philadelphia International Airport at 5:50 pm on Tuesday. I was planning to get a decent day of work in. Jo was planning to pack, dry her clothing in the drier, and get her nails done. But when I woke up at 7 am to a text from American Airlines announcing that our flight was cancelled due to an impending nor’easter, the trip started a little differently. I called a-very-asleep-Jo 5 times before she finally answered and I told her I would be there in 20 minutes with coffee in hand to get ourselves a flight to Arizona. The storm was projected to last through Tuesday and all the way into Thursday, so going early was our only hope of going on vacation. Unfortunately that meant Jo had to carry on a plastic bag of wet clothing. (And no, it did not count as a liquid and we did get through security.)

Excitement was high when we were told we were #1 and #2 on the standby list for the next flight to PHX leaving at 11 am, but we soon found out that those lists are a bunch of crap and somehow ended up #26 and #27 on the list. Needless to say, we did not get a seat on that flight. Hearts were a little broken but we were still hopeful. We were moved onto the next standby list for a flight leaving at 1 pm. But on our way to the gate, we decided to stop in on a secret American Airlines help desk with no line. A sweet woman helped us book a connecting flight to PHL to Detroit and from Detroit to PHX. The only issue…we could only get one ticket from Philly to Detroit. Another standby list!

I can’t really begin to describe the agony and anxiety we were feeling, but I’ll spare you the tension and remind you that there would be no “Arizona Travel Guide” if we didn’t get on this flight. As the last few people boarded the plane, we were left standing (read: sweating, pacing, crying, ripping our hair out) and they finally called out… “JOANNA!” We literally jumped for joy, both cried, hugged, and ran on that darn plane. Detroit never sounded so good!

After a happily uneventful layover and second flight, we landed in warm, amazing, no nor’easter Phoenix and went straight for Tex Mex at Gallo Blanco Cafe in the Historic Garfield District of Downtown Phoenix. The margaritas and chips and salsa were like manna from heaven. Our eyes were drooping, so we jetted off to our adorable guest house Airbnb for a very solid night sleep.

Day 2 – Sedona, Arizona

I awoke on our first full AZ day at 5:45 am to Jo (my marathon runner) fully dressed and ready to embark on a run through the neighborhoods of Phoenix. Although bed sounded better, I couldn’t miss out on our first chance to spot some cacti and get a feel for the city. We were in a very residential part of town, so as we ran (read: I chased her) we had the opportunity to really take in the adorable ranch style houses, fun colors, and fully cacti covered yards. As we ran by, we made sure to yell “we like your cactus” to as many cactus owners as we could.

After spending some time relaxing in our beautiful home away from home and taking the best shower ever, we popped into be Coffee + Food + Stuff for breakfast and arguably the best chocolate chip cookie we’ve ever had and started our journey to Sedona. It’s incredible how amazing just driving in your car can be out there. On the highways we saw fields of cacti just waiting to be posed with and over each little hill there was a new breath-taking landscape to take in. Two hours later we arrived in Sedona and continued to gasp as the beauty of the red rocks popped into view.

Our first stop was the Devil’s Bridge hike. Your gps will take you to a hill with a bunch of cars parked at the bottom. You can park there or drive up the hill to a parking lot. The hike is about 7 miles roundtrip, but very worth it and not super difficult and it is free. The hardest part was about a half of a mile climbing a natural staircase basically. We ended up climbing 41 flights of stairs that day by my iPhone’s count. The views were incredible and the grand finale at the top was the best part. The bridge looks way skinnier in the photos and I felt way better about “getting the shot” when we finally got up there. Everyone there takes photos for each other and knows to stay out of the shot.

We really overexerted ourselves this morning so the rest of the day was so relaxing. We stopped into Local Juicery for acai bowls (amazing), drove through town to see some touristy shopping, went to Slide Rock State Park (a natural waterslide in the rocks; $20 well worth it), and finished off our day at Pisa Lisa for a sunset pizza dinner. One important thing to note is that we saw every sunrise and sunset on this trip. Pretty incredible.

If we had more time in Sedona, we would’ve liked to see Cathedral Rock, Red Rock State Park, and the Chapel of the Holy Cross. Our last stop of the day was our “Star-Gazing Capsule”. The bubble tent, with space heaters, wifi, heated blankets, and…wolf hats. Pictures are the only thing you need. And just look at those stars!

Day 3 – The Grand Canyon & Cameron, Arizona

Not much to do in a bubble tent in the morning, so we got on the road early and headed towards the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, after a quick stop at Creekside Coffee for avocado toast and a cappuccino and this breakfast view! The 2 hour drive to the Grand Canyon included a terrifying switchback mountain, which I drove and my hands didn’t stop sweating the rest of the day. I think I have developed a fear of heights in my old age. We drove straight to the visitor center at the south rim for our first view of the canyon and were obviously astounded.

After a few more stops on the rim, we drove over to El Tovar for a snack and a drink and to write some postcards to our loved ones. We had set a goal to be to our next Airbnb before sunset to get the lay of the land, so we started our journey to Cameron, Arizona, with a pit stop at the Desert View overlook. And boy were we glad we got there before sunset… As there was no real address, our directions included gps coordinates, instructions to not cross ‘the river’ if it was running, and to turn at a small road-side reflector. Not sure we would have ever found our little hut, 3 miles off the main road, in the dead of night. We took a look around and made a very serious assessment to ensure that we were both comfortable sleeping there. And then had a photo shoot for good measure.

A Male Hogan is a traditional Navajo one-room earth home used for ceremonies and blessings. There is no running water or electricity. Two outhouses sit a few hundred yards from the home. The room is outfitted with cots, pots and pans, a first aid kit, a potbelly stove, firewood, warm blankets, and a sturdy door that locks. We were warned that there could be coyotes howling at night and that we should know how to keep a fire going to stay warm. It was so windy that we never heard any animal noises and it was warm enough to not need a fire. But we built one anyway and made tea, just for the experience. Thank you to our host, Shanna, for discounting our stay for our honest review!

The night was pitch black. You couldn’t see a light anywhere and we were too scared to even go to the outhouse. We took one brave trip outside to see how dark and silent it was and then tucked away for the night, talking, and giggling, and tricking each other into thinking that the other wasn’t scared at all. (We promised each other to not talk about scary things.) We passed the time by listing all the things we want in our dream houses and then by deciding how we would decorate the Hogan if it was our apartment. And then Jo fell asleep (a theme in this trip), and I laid awake for most of the night just a little bit scared.

Day 4 – Antelope Canyon & Page, Arizona

We set our alarms for sunrise the next morning and popped our heads out into the darkness. The experience was indescribable. Wild horses ran by as the sun rose over the Painted Desert. We were wrapped in blankets, taking in the peace, and just so happy to have experienced this place. Peep our #trendy sunrise shoe-sock combo below.

An interesting thing about Arizona, is that time can be very difficult to figure out for travelers. Our Airbnb was on the border of two time zones, the state of Arizona and Navajo nation follow two different times, and one of them does not recognize daylight savings, AND on day 4 we had the ONE timed event that we had planned and booked in advance. My phone, Jo’s phone, and our car all said different things. We had no idea what time it was. We even dead seriously texted a few trustworthy friends from home and asked, “what time is it?”

So without an idea of the time, we set out towards Page for our 11:30 tour (which we arrived to an hour and a half early). In order to see Antelope Canyon, you must book a tour since you need a permit to go on Navajo land. We booked through Ken’s Tours and had an awesome experience touring Lower Antelope. The canyon was a little chilly but the lighting was so cool. The canyon was created entirely by rainwater runoff. Every turn was incredible and jaw-dropping. At one point, Jo promised to not take any more photos. But then we turned the corner and both grabbed our phones. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and really knew how to take great iPhone photos in the canyon. Important! Thanks Rock! This is an absolute must-do in Arizona.

At this point in the trip, we arrived back to the car only to find out that Jo had left the car unlocked with the key on the seat the entire time we were in the canyon. And this is the part of the post where I roast her for that.

Moving on! Horseshoe Bend was next! It was only a mini hike, mostly walking up a large hill, but the end result was the greatest. I don’t have any more words for this view. Just look below. We followed this adventure with some Mexican food, a long nap at our hotel, sonic milkshakes for dinner, sunset over Lake Powell, and a trip to Utah (it’s only 15 miles away, so we had to). And then we slept like babies.

Day 5 – Roadtrip Round 2 & Phoenix

Saturday was our final day. We had a red eye flight leaving Phoenix at 11:30 pm, so we had the entire day to drive 4 hours back to Phoenix and hit some last minute sights. It was so cool to be able to do the whole roadtrip again in one day. We got to ooh and ahh all over again at the different landscapes and beautiful rocks as we made our way back. Over the course of the week, we drove about 600 miles.

We spend some of the afternoon in the Roosevelt Row Arts District of Phoenix, popping into coffee shops, thrift stores, and boutiques. But the real highlight of the day was the Desert Botanical Garden. Many people had recommended going there, but it wasn’t until we were feeling like the afternoon was a bit unfulfilled that we just decided to go. So worth it. It was a beautiful dry 80 degrees, the sun was setting, and we were walking around these beautiful gardens with cactus margaritas and the sounds of Frank Sinatra crooning in the background. It was so gorgeous there. And we finally got our cactus pictures! Highly recommend going if you are heading to Phoenix.

Our final stop of the trip was In-N-Out. Have you been? Unpopular opinion: it didn’t totally blow me away, but it was a great, fun way to end the trip! Plus I had no idea they were even in Phoenix! Bonus.

With full bellies and funny paper hats, we trudged off to the airport to catch our red eye back to Philadelphia. And with that, one of the best trips ever was had.

Roadtrip Travel Tips

Jo and I talked a lot on the last day about things you really need to know in order to do a trip like this, so here is our list:

• Pack strategically and bring cute outfits, but be ok with not showering for a few days. We pretty much lived out of the trunk of our car. Each morning we would stand there pulling out clothes and changing behind the car. We even brushed our teeth and got ready in a Taco Bell one morning and ran out before they noticed we hadn’t bought anything. We showered Wednesday and didn’t have shower access again until Friday.
• You will need to be generally street smart and comfortable in all situations. We had low tire pressure on the last day and Jo showed me how to fix that at the gas station. If you arrive at your Airbnb and don’t feel comfortable, go find a hotel. Be smart and think.
• Give the car key responsibility to…me and never Jo.
• Download your Spotify playlist beforehand. Bring water bottles, a hat, and sunglasses. Most used items of the trip.
• Ask for an upgrade at the rental car office. They gave us one! And we had a lot more room than we would have had with the cheaper car.
• Most towns in Arizona are up to 30 miles away from each other and between them there is….nothing. Be prepared. Fill up your tank. If you get stuck in the middle, I honestly have no idea what you’re supposed to do lol
• Always pull over when a sign says “scenic view”.
• On that note, roadside jewelry stands are totally legit and should also be stopped at.
• Never miss a sunset or a sunrise when you are in such a beautiful place.
• Bring an American flag with you because you will feel hella patriotic.
• Snakes are in hibernation in March in Arizona. Good time to travel 😉
• Airbnb is an incredible thing. Use this link to sign up and get $40 towards your first trip! And make sure to check out our Phoenix Guest House, Sedona Bubble Tent, and Cameron Hogan
• Take breaks. Enjoy. Have no schedule. It is still a vacation after all.

This was one of the best trips I have gone on in a long time. So many amazing conversations, memories, weird sleeping locations, beautiful sights, and adventures. I will never forget this roadtrip across Arizona! If you are planning a trip to Arizona or want more information, comment below or send me a message through my contact page! Thanks to other Jo for the best week ever.

xoxo,

jojo & jo

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