Author Topic: Dreams of Flight - Hummingbirds and Arizona (Read 11836 times)

PBaruch · « **on:** August 07, 2015, 12:44:03 PM »

Howdy. Here is a trip report from our recent trip to Arizona. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy.

First off, thanks to my good buddy for helping me book my cheap airline tickets. Your help was greatly appreciated.

We arrived in Phoenix, Arizona on a Wednesday evening and stayed that first night at the Phoenician Resort in Scottsdale. We chose the Phoenician because it is a very nice SPG property and is fairly close to the airport. The following day we relaxed and swam in the pool. We then went to Kitchen 18 for lunch (one of the best burgers I ever had - highly recommended restaurant) and drove to Grand Canyon National Park.

Here are some pictures taken at Mather Point. These particular pictures were taken from our 2013 trip (the lighting was better in 2013 than when we went recently as we arrived late in the day).

DSC_4072_HDR by P Bryan, on Flickr

DSC_3973 by P Bryan, on Flickr

DSC_3833 by P Bryan, on Flickr

Enjoying the view (2015 pictures):

DSC_3362 by P Bryan, on Flickr

DSC_3308 by P Bryan, on Flickr

After enjoying the Grand Canyon, we drove to Flagstaff where we stayed for the next three nights at the Doubletree by Hilton. We chose this hotel due to its close proximity to the Chabad shul. Although we had a nice time with Chabad in 2013, our experience this trip was way different. We called asking to buy challah rolls and maybe some kugel for Shabbos and were told that none were available. We ended up finding uncut pretzel rolls which we used on Shabbos. In short, if you are in Flagstaff for Shabbos, make sure that you have everything you need in advance and do not rely on Chabad.

On Friday morning, we drove to Sedona for the annual Hummingbird Festival. The folks from the Hummingbird Society were banding and releasing Hummingbirds. My older kids were able to hold and release hummingbirds after the banding. Both said that this was their favorite part of the trip. This was our second trip to the festival.

Here are pictures taken of the banding:

DSC_3429 by P Bryan, on Flickr

DSC_3430 by P Bryan, on Flickr

Here are pictures of my daughter holding a hummingbird before it fluttered away:

DSC_3438 by P Bryan, on Flickr

DSC_3441 by P Bryan, on Flickr

DSC_3444 by P Bryan, on Flickr

Pictures taken of the hummingbirds:

DSC_3418 by P Bryan, on Flickr

DSC_3453 by P Bryan, on Flickr

DSC_3591 by P Bryan, on Flickr

A beautiful butterfly:

DSC_3510 by P Bryan, on Flickr

Here is a video I took in 2013:

direct link (can be viewed in HD) https://youtu.be/6vjTT7XzbXY

After the banding, we drove to Wupatki National Monument to see the ruins of the Pueblo Houses. Here are some photographs taken of the Pueblo Houses:

DSC00010 by P Bryan, on Flickr

DSC00015 by P Bryan, on Flickr

We then drove to Sunset Crater National Monument. Here are some pictures taken of the volcano and surrounding lava field:

DSC_3472 by P Bryan, on Flickr

DSC_3469 by P Bryan, on Flickr

DSC_3487 by P Bryan, on Flickr

DSC_3480 by P Bryan, on Flickr

This year my kids had a chance to see lava fields in Hawaii http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=1646.345 , Iceland http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=9572.180 , and now Arizona.

On Sunday we went back to the Hummingbird Festival for a garden tour, although we only went to one particular garden, one of our favorites from the 2013 trip. Afterwards, we drove to Walnut Canyon and then to Petrified Forest National Park, which was absolutely gorgeous. Here are some pictures taken at Petrified Forest National Park:

DSC_3606 by P Bryan, on Flickr

DSC_3615 by P Bryan, on Flickr

DSC_3609 by P Bryan, on Flickr

DSC_3616 by P Bryan, on Flickr

Someone is getting very serious about photography:

P1000979 by P Bryan, on Flickr

After Petrified Forest National Park, we drove to Scottsdale for dinner at Kitchen 18. Then it was back to Phoenix for our flight home. We arrived Monday morning and I was back at work Monday afternoon. Can't wait till next year.

PS: BI still rocks.

coralsnake · « **Reply #1 on:** August 07, 2015, 12:46:28 PM »

Amazing pictures, WOW!

Thanks for sharing!

TimT · « **Reply #2 on:** August 07, 2015, 12:49:34 PM »

Enjoyed, thanks. That last pic is really cute

@Yehuda · « **Reply #3 on:** August 07, 2015, 12:57:25 PM »

Nice, quick TR! Thanks for sharing. Great pics!

Something Fishy · « **Reply #4 on:** August 07, 2015, 01:16:13 PM »

Awesome report, great pics! (Especially the last one

)

PBaruch · « **Reply #5 on:** August 07, 2015, 01:20:04 PM »

Quote from: Something Fishy on August 07, 2015, 01:16:13 PM

Awesome report, great pics! (Especially the last one )

I wish I could take credit for the pictures, but it was the baby who took most of them.

ChaimMoskowitz · « **Reply #6 on:** August 07, 2015, 02:28:05 PM »

Nice pics, especially the little one. What happen to all the trees in the forest?

Yaalili · « **Reply #7 on:** August 07, 2015, 02:36:21 PM »

Good pictures, make me want to go back.

lunatic · « **Reply #8 on:** August 07, 2015, 02:39:11 PM »

Nice TR, thanks for sharing

lyla · « **Reply #9 on:** August 07, 2015, 03:44:46 PM »

Thanks PB for the great tr and pics. I'm glad you all had such a good time. I hear Scottsdale is beautiful but I guess at 107 degrees its kind of hard to explore it.

rediplus · « **Reply #10 on:** August 07, 2015, 04:56:43 PM »

great stuff... want to go in the winter..how many people fit in to a room at the phoenician ?

Super Speed · « **Reply #11 on:** August 07, 2015, 05:18:43 PM »

Great TR! Really enjoyed the pictures!

3yummyboys · « **Reply #12 on:** August 07, 2015, 05:31:27 PM »

Looks like fun. Thanks PB

Moes Tavern · « **Reply #13 on:** August 08, 2015, 02:08:05 PM »

Great TR. Awesome pics.

morgs · « **Reply #14 on:** August 08, 2015, 06:27:10 PM »

Nice TR-thanks for writing up! (I love how people are getting really creative w/ their tr titles on DDF

)

VacationLover · « **Reply #15 on:** August 08, 2015, 07:34:24 PM »

Which trail did you do at the GC? Please cover some more details about it. TIA!

Welder · « **Reply #16 on:** August 08, 2015, 08:53:20 PM »

Amazing photos!

PBaruch · « **Reply #17 on:** August 08, 2015, 11:20:31 PM »

Quote from: rediplus on August 07, 2015, 04:56:43 PM

great stuff... want to go in the winter..how many people fit in to a room at the phoenician ?

We fit 2 adults, 2 kids and a baby into one room with two double beds. They offered me a free upgrade to a suite but the upgraded room only had one king size bed so I declined.

Quote from: VacationLover on August 08, 2015, 07:34:24 PM

Which trail did you do at the GC? Please cover some more details about it. TIA!

On both trips we were quite limited in the amount of time we had so we stayed at the rim by Mather Point and walked around for a few hours. We hope to take a longer trip and spend more time at the Grand Canyon in the near future.

sam28 · « **Reply #18 on:** August 08, 2015, 11:33:11 PM »

Nice report and pictures .

shoobi · « **Reply #19 on:** August 08, 2015, 11:33:18 PM »

Nice TR- first few pics are stunning