We stayed in these cute little cottages in Williams, Arizona when my mom graduated from Northern Arizona University this May.
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We stayed in these cute little cottages in Williams, Arizona when my mom graduated from Northern Arizona University this May.
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It’s not every day that your mom gets her master’s degree. So if her graduation is in another city, you make travel plans.
After getting back from our last big extended-family trip to my cousin’s wedding in Virginia, we started planning for Mom’s Northern Arizona University graduation in May. We were looking for somewhere that everyone making the trip to Flagstaff could stay.
Cast of Characters:
My mom (a.k.a. Graduate with honors) and dad (vital support system and expert pancake maker)
My brother Ian, sister-in-law Christine, niece and nephew (yep, they flew in from Seattle!)
My aunt (Sister of the Graduate), uncle, and their dog
Phillip and me
Turns out that, even four months ahead, we were a little late. Flagstaff hotels were filling up for graduation weekend, and the rooms that were available tended to cost double or triple their regular rates. We looked at cabins and Airbnb and weren’t finding anything that could accommodate all of us well. (Some of these places have like a million bedrooms but one bathroom. #badideas)
We were excited to find The Canyon Motel and RV Park, which fit what we were looking for:
The motel is not actually in Flagstaff but in Williams, about 30 minutes away.
Williams, Arizona’s claims to fame:
Canyon Motel is minutes from historic downtown Williams one direction and Bearizona animal park the other.
The motel part is actually a series of renovated 1940s cottages with exteriors made from the local flagstone. There are 3 separate rooms next to each other in each building.
Besides the cottages, you have the option of staying in a vintage train car or caboose, pulling up your RV or tent camping.
There are fire pits and grills near the picnic tables, a heated indoor pool, and a “hidden patio” (for rent).
The office doubles as a general store selling snacks and Route 66 souvenirs.
While each room is different, the whole place is decorated with a kitschy Route 66 / railroad theme. There are vintage travel posters, benches with backs made from Chevy truck tailgates, and lots of railroad and road signs.
All rooms include kitchenettes. Some also include sofa beds. Ours had shelves near the mini-fridge and also in the bathroom, which is nice. We didn’t have a closet but there was a clothes rack and hangers.
Plot twist: A few weeks out, my aunt realized they wouldn’t be able to make the trip.
When she called to cancel their reservation, the motel couldn’t find it in the system. Which is disconcerting. If they had come with us, they may not have had a room when they arrived.
Although the motel had the rest of our reservations, our arrival still wasn’t exactly smooth.
Act I
Intermission.
Act II
And…scene.
Of course, not all the check-in drama was the motel’s fault. (They did not, for example, ask my niece to get sick.) Actually, every employee we spoke with was friendly and helpful.
There are just a lot of things design- and policy-wise that make the place itself feel unwelcoming.
Besides the confusing parking, there are baffling rules about all kinds of things, like which picnic tables to use. There are do-and-don’t signs posted all over the place.
More importantly, even though our bed was comfortable, not everyone’s was. The sofa bed where my niece was slept was basically all springs. Fortunately, she’s small enough she could curl up on the one useable corner. (My even smaller nephew slept on a cushion. Awww…)
Our stay wasn’t all bad, but it was a mixed bag. It was great for multiple families to be close together, still have our own individual space (and bathrooms!), and room for the kids to run around. They loved the playground, and the picnic tables were a good gathering spot.
If we were to do this trip over, I’d probably still stay there, because it worked for what we needed at the time. In other circumstances, though, I’d probably opt to stay somewhere that made me feel less like an intruder – or a hassle – and more like a guest.
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We received a media discount for our stay from The Canyon Motel and RV Park.
Travel writer Sherry Ott posted a list of “Most Unusual Destinations for Viewing Fall Colors” and suggests “While everyone heads east, why not just head North” to Minnesota or Alaska or across the ocean to walk the Camino de Santiago in Spain or trek the mountains of Nepal.
For travel a little later in the season, you could look another direction: Southwest. Season-seekers in Phoenix are used to heading to Flagstaff and Sedona to get their fall color fix, but Northern Arizona isn’t on the radar for most people.
In Sedona, the fall color is set against the backdrop of its gorgeous red rocks. The peak color is on the later side. A lot of times we’re in Sedona over Columbus Day weekend, when the leaves are just beginning to turn.
Do the leaves change where you live? Have you ever travelled for fall color?
Here’s a travel story for you [from my dad, Marty, during a day trip last fall. –S]:
We were cruising through Prescott, looking for a dinner place and found a family diner called SueAnn’s Apple Pan.
It usually closes at 2pm, but we just happened to hit PJs and Eggs night, which is a charity event supported by Hickman’s Family Farms. All the staff and most of the customers were dressed in jammies, and they were serving breakfast only.
We felt like we crashed a happy, boisterous family meal. Very cool. Might need to put this on calendar for next year!
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Photo credits: 1. Marty 2. The American Egg Board
Phillip made an offhand comment one day several months ago that was something like “You know, we should just head to Sedona for breakfast sometime.”
He didn’t have to ask me twice.
I said “Let’s go this weekend!”
We both love Sedona and the surrounding Verde Valley, and we head up there regularly. We hatched a plan to go to our favorite omelet place, The Coffee Pot, the Saturday before we’d start our gluten-free experiment.
Since they serve breakfast until they close at 2pm, we decided to stop on the way to see Arcosanti and have a light first breakfast in the cafe (closer to Phoenix = food sooner) and then drive up to The Coffee Pot to split an omelet and pancakes for a breakfasty lunch.
The Coffee Pot is kind of an old-school diner-style joint named for the nearby Coffee Pot Rock, as well as (I assume) the carafe of coffee they plunk down on your table, so you can refill your mug at will. It’s frequented by both locals and tourists. They serve 101 kinds of omelets. The ones we’ve tried have been delicious. Next time, I’ll skip the pancakes and stick with those.
After second breakfast, we rolled out of the restaurant and drove towards Oak Creek Canyon. We contemplated hiking. But the rain had turned from a sprinkle to a downpour and the creek was already absolutely raging.
I worry about flash floods. (Am I being overly cautious? Or smart? Hard to say.) So we opted to take in the Oak Creek views from the car, and then head back to town to do our walking under storefront awnings.
By the time we got as far as Canyon Breeze, I was ready for a pit stop. When you’re wandering around Uptown Sedona and you need a bathroom and/or you can’t agree on getting coffee vs. ice cream vs. an actual meal vs. continuing shopping and/or you’re with a big group, Canyon Breeze is a good bet.
It’s less like a single restaurant and more like a nicer version of a food court. Inside is a Starbucks, an ice cream counter, a souvenir shop, a bar and grill, and, yep, it has its own restrooms. There are lots of tables inside and outside with a fantastic view. Of course, the patio was drenched that day, but I managed to score a table next to the floor-to-ceiling windows.
I sipped hot tea, watched dark gray clouds roll across the tops of craggy red mountains, and did a little crafting at the same time – tearing the cardboard sleeve from around my cup into roughly the shape of the mountains in front of me to add to an art journal.
After that, we started working our way home to unwind with some Downton Abbey.
Of course, this isn’t a list of must-do things in Sedona for someone going the first time or even on a (much more common) sunny day. But it worked for us.
To me, the essential thing to do in Sedona is take in the beauty of the red rocks. You can do that on a hike, on a jeep tour, or even through a restaurant window.
Side note: Awhile ago, I posted a close-up photo of my torn cardboard mountain range, so you could guess what it was. The day I posted it, the Slide Fire broke out, which seemed crazy after the same area had been soaked with rain earlier in the year. In any case, I didn’t think it was an appropriate week for a lighthearted post about fun in Sedona. As far as I know, there were no casualties from the fire. By the time it was out, I had a whole bunch of other things to tell you about, so it’s taken me this long to circle back around. Sorry to keep you hanging!