I slept really well last night. The Enchantment Resort is a very quiet place, and has incredible beds, along with amazing bed linens. The bed was one of the best I’ve had!
This morning, we’re up early for the optional sunrise hike into the canyon. Now, normally I am not up at 4:30 am any day, especially a vacation day! But, since I’m an East Coaster and I’m out west, the time change makes it possible to get up earlier than normal without the usual side effects of grumpiness from me. We dialed “0” on the phone and had one of the resort drivers pick us up at our casita and take us to the spa area. We were meeting Doug & Diana, our Adventure Guides and the rest of our group who wanted to participate in our sunrise hike at 5:15.
It was a cool, quiet morning, and I was beginning to think that I should have brought a light jacket with me on this trip. I honestly hadn’t expected anything but really warm (or down-right hot) temperatures. As we began our hike, Doug told us to watch out for the temperature change. At a certain point on the trail, we literally took one step and the temperature rose about 10 degrees. We were basically climbing up out of the canyon and when we were high enough, the heat had risen and had definitely warmed the air! All thoughts of a light jacket were gone, and I was concentrating on breathing, and not slipping on a loose rock! The air was thin, and was getting somewhat thinner, and I could tell my body was trying to compensate. It wasn’t a hard hike, but it was more than I was used to. (Especially that early in the morning). I was thankful for my bottle of water!
Doug mentioned at the beginning of the hike that there was a strong possibility of seeing wild animals…deer, snakes, javelina could all be spotted. Wait. What?!? Javelina. I’ve never heard of that. I’ve never heard that word before. I’ve visited a lot of zoos, and love to watch Animal Planet & the Discovery Channel…and I’ve never heard of a javelina. I was so thankful when Christine piped up with, “What’s a javelina?”. Thankfully, I wasn’t the only one to have never heard of them before. Doug described them as a “baby bear pig”. He says they’re kind of like a wild boar, but resemble a bear cub in the face, and are a member of the peccary family. Okay, now I really wanted to see a Baby Bear Pig. And I wanted to see one now! Unfortunately, I didn’t see any animals going up to the area where we were going to stop to watch the sunrise, and on the way down, I was very cautious as to where I placed my feet on the path, because I didn’t want to take a tumble and hurt myself at the beginning of this vacation!
Getting up early, meeting the group, actually going on the hike…that was nothing to the reward we were given. The sunrise was spectacular.
Hiking back to the resort, I really did watch each step!
And I missed seeing a mule deer because I was busy watching my feet! Thankfully one of the guides was able to get a really good picture of it for us!
When we got back to the resort, we decided to just walk back to the room, we still had plenty of time before we had to get breakfast and meet the group for our Pink Jeep Tour! Upon returning to the room, orange juice and the morning paper had been delivered!
We had plenty of time to take our showers and get ready for breakfast and our day. Also–let me reiterate, the towels at Enchantment Resort are to die for. They’re amazing plush, and 6 feet long. Reminder: purchase huge plush towels when I get home.
This morning, and, actually every morning of our Adventure, breakfast is included in our trip. Each destination had a somewhat different set up…today, we were to go to the resort’s restaurant, let them know we are with the “Disney Group” and to charge ABD. Gratuities were, of course, included. I had an incredible dish of Crab Eggs Benedict (scrambled, not poached!) that was cooked to perfection with a side of breakfast potatoes, and a fruit smoothie. I also had a Coke and about 4 glasses of water. During today’s breakfast, both Doug & Diana dropped by our table to make sure everything was ok, and to just chat a bit. This would become the norm. The Guides wanted to make sure we were having the best vacation possible.
I was really glad that breakfast was included! Apparently, a Five Star Resort in Sedona, AZ is not the place you come to watch your budget! The food was amazing, though. I just had never “spent” so much for breakfast before.
After breakfast, it was time to meet up with the group to go on our Pink Jeep Tour of Diamondback Gulch. Since breakfast was on our own schedule this morning, the meet-up for the tour would be the first time that everyone needed to be in one place. This proved seamless. We were traveling with a great group of people, and everyone was always on time for our meetups!
While we were waiting, Doug gave a “Competitive Yoga” lesson (that’s where you get into a yoga position, then yell to the person next to you “I’m better at this than you!” (It is competitive yoga, after all!). Diana brought out the hula hoops and Doug and a few Adventurers showed off their skills, while the motorcade of Pink Jeeps assembled for our tour.
There were about 34 people in our group, and each Jeep held the driver and about 5-6 people, so we did have a bunch of pink jeeps assembled. We each chose a Jeep and got in to meet our driver, who also was acting as our guide for the day. Adventures by Disney always has two Adventure Guides with each trip, and they also have what they call “Step On” Guides. These Step On Guides are very knowledgeable about local history and culture and quite literally step on our bus and tell us all about the area we are seeing! Today, our Pink Jeep driver would be our first “Step On” Guide!
Doug would be riding with us. We left the resort, and rode to Diamondback Gulch. Which actually sounds more civilized than what it was. I was amazed at the “road” we were on. This was definitely the “Wildest Ride in the Wilderness”. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad has nothing on this Pink Jeep Tour!
Our driver told us all about the area, and said that we could see some javelina or deer, although it may be a bit too hot for them the time we were there. (It was early morning, but it was kind of warm!). He said they like to get out more in the very early morning or late evening, when the temperatures are coolest.
The scenery was simply stunning. It was almost like being on a movie set. This couldn’t be real, could it? I am loving Arizona. It’s beautiful.
Before we knew it, it was time for a photo stop! We got out and stretched our legs, and was able to relax a bit from holding on and bracing ourselves so we wouldn’t fall out of the Jeep! (We were wearing seatbelts, but…) lol. What a fun excursion!
Which way back to the resort?
Near the end of our break, the Step On Guides said that there was something wrong with one of the jeeps and they had to find a part that had fallen off before we could continue. They looked under several jeeps before they found what they were looking for. This was all a ruse, as the part they found was a bag full of Disney pins! We would receive today’s pin out here in the middle of nowhere!
Today’s adventure would end in Dowtown Sedona where we were to have lunch as a group. We had pre-ordered what we wanted, and everything was set up and waiting for us when we arrived at the restaurant. We had time for a bathroom break, and when we sat down, some nachos & salsa were waiting on us.
I had a Prickly Pear Cactus Margarita with lunch. It was good, but very sweet. I think I like regular margaritas better! But, I was really glad to get to try something that I had never heard of before! (Lunch today was included with our trip, but the alcohol was “on our own”). I think I drank like 5 glasses of water with the meal. Today, I had fish tacos and they were very very good! I was hungry, so I missed taking a picture of lunch. Lol. If I were back in Sedona, I’d go to Sound Bites again. It was delicious!
After lunch, we got on the bus and drove the 1/2 mile to the center of town, we’re we could choose to get off the bus and have an hour to shop, stay on the bus and go to the Arts center of town, where we would have about an hour to shop, or go back to the resort. Christine and I decided to get off and do a bit of shopping in town. Diana told us a place where we could get our auras read, and we looked into it, because it sounded like a fun thing to do in Sedona. After seeing that it cost in the neighborhood of $35, we decided to just look around. When we got off, I thought that we should have a bit more time, as an hour didn’t seem like a lot, but it wound up to be the perfect amount of time. We were ready to get picked up a full 10 minutes before Peter showed up with our motorcoach!
And look: a javelina! I want to see a real one.
What I saw of Sedona, I loved. I want to go back. It’s a beautiful city in a beautiful state!The rest of the day was on our own, and dinner tonight would be on our own as well. Our resort was about 20 minutes away from the town center, and I enjoyed the ride back. After a bit of rest, we decided to get out and take some pictures of the resort, and then go to dinner. On our walk of the resort, we even saw a Mule Deer! So cool!
We stumbled upon a Native American musician playing in the lounge. I wish now that I had purchased one of his CD’s. The music, along with the setting & the scenery was breathtaking.
We ate at one of the resort’s restaurants this day. The name of it was Tii Gavo and it means “Gathering Place”. It maybe had one of the best views of any restaurant that I’ve been to. Stunning.
After dinner, we walked back to the room to get ready to leave Enchantment for our next stop tomorrow morning after breakfast. All we had to do was to pack up, and leave our luggage outside of our front door by 7:30 in the morning. The restaurant for breakfast opens at 6:30 and the bus will be leaving by 8:30.
I hope you’re enjoying my trip report as much as I am getting to re-live this amazing vacation! Day Four will be up in a few days!
Cleared For Take-Off! 