Me and the family (3 of us) are flying out to Arizona for a week-long vacation in a few weeks. We need some recommendations on things to do and see while we are there.
I lived in Tucson back in the early 90's and traveled all over the state installing and maintaining weather stations for the government and got to see much of the state and lots of interesting things and places. But, I would like some reminders and tips on what to be sure to go see while we are there.
We will be flying into Phoenix and the first full day plan to drive to Tucson to revisit our old stomping grounds, see the Arizona-Sonora desert museum, and possibly drive to the top of Mt. Lemmon. Then back towards Phoenix and up through Sedona, Flagstaff, and eventually to the Grand Canyon. I would like to show my daughter some of the cliff dwellings such as Canyon de Chelly or similar while we are out there. Of course, we WON'T be heading down to Nogales like we used to do in the 90's due to the cartel b.s. that is rampant along the border nowadays. Even in the 90's it could get sketchy at times.
What are some must-see things that we should do while we are out there?

Titan missile museum

Heard Pima air museum is good

San Xavier del Bac mission, always mean to stop in there too.

Meteor Crater was awesome, went as a kid.

Great cliff dwelling at Montezuma's Castle on the way to Sedona. Jerome is nice to see. Drive up Oak Creek Canyon from Sedona to Flag. Grand Canyon, meteor crater up there. Etc, etc, etc..

If you stay in the Tucson area there are the caverns, Tombstone, the wine country outside of Tombstone, etc.....

I don't remember the caverns in Tucson (maybe there was something just southeast of the city? I can't recall).
And I thought Tombstone was the lamest trip I ever went on.
Thanks for reminding me of Montezuma's Castle - like you say, it's on the way to Sedona and I remember going there way back when.

Dude. It's July

Walk around the Superstition Mountains looking for a gold mine.

Visit Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, for World-Class Stargazing
video description:
"Named one of “The World’s 100 Most Important Places” by Time Magazine, Lowell Observatory is a world-class destination for stargazing and astronomical advancement under the International Dark Skies of Flagstaff, Arizona, just two hours south of the Grand Canyon. Lowell has been a pillar of research since 1894, leading to the discovery of Pluto; evidence of the expanding universe; lunar mapping for the Apollo missions; and new research with its Lowell Discovery Telescope, the 5th-largest in the continental US. Its historic campus allows guests to enjoy science talks and demos, six advanced telescopes, the historic Clark telescope and Pluto dome, and private stargazing."
video posted to YouTube on Apr 11, 2023



video posted to YouTube on Jan 13, 2023


Lowell Observatory
https://lowell.edu/

Cheers! Bob F.

IF you are in the NEIGHBORHOOD, Painted Desert, Petrified Forest!

July

Arizona

As they say, BUT it's a dry heat.

Joking aside, STAY HYDRATED.

This is what I was thinking. I’d be looking for some sub-80 degree weather.

The Walnut Canyon National Monument about 10 miles southeast of downtown Flagstaff off of I-40 is a pretty cool place.

After getting to Phoenix, head north and stay north...

Kent

Bearizona in Williams is pretty cool. Drive through wildlife park. I’m a little biased as it is my brother in law’s business. Black bears, grizzlies, wolves. Great otter display. Jaguars. He has put his entire life into the place.

Haha, know it well. Just below there was "make out point". Spent quite a few nights there in the cab of a 76 Datsun and 84 toyota pickup getting more action than I probably should have! Fun times. Pluto was discovered there. As were the benefits of bench seats in a pickup!

THIS. It was 117 on July 4th in Mesa.

Understood. Like I said, I lived in AZ 30 years ago so I'm familiar with the climate there. And I'm a retired meteorologist.
Having suffered through the past week's 95+ temps and sweltering humidity here in eastern North Carolina, I'm actually looking forward to some dry heat for a change.

Guys, I'm a retired METEOROLOGIST, and worked in Arizona as a meteorologist.
I have to go in the summer because my wife is a school teacher and has the summer off and my daughter is on summer break from college. Plus, it's less crowded this time of the year.

I'll give you one tourist trap to avoid: that glass walkway over the Grand canyon run by the tribes. Total ripoff. Not only are the tickets expensive, but you can't drive to it. They force you to park a couple miles away and then ride an expensive bus to the thing.

Thanks a bunch for that advice. 👍

The Heard Museum in Phoenix is worth a visit. The restaurant there is quite unique also.

BEST suggestion yet. Bisbee is interesting if you like artsy. Wickenburg is pretty nice (old west vibe) and I personally like Prescott. Handloader and Rifle used to be headquartered there. A LOT of gunshops and not a few custom makers.

My daughter is an art student, so it sounds like we'd better put Bisbee on our list.

https://azstateparks.com/Kartchner They recommend reservations for tours.

Bisbee has its own unique quaintness for a western town and there has been quite a bit of early AZ/mining history made there. The "downtown" area is somewhat tourist trappy with quite a number of those "artsy" things as noted. Then again, if your daughter is a serious art student - probably best not to oversell that aspect.

Go up to Snowbowl and take the Gondola ride up to the top. As long as there are no thunderstorms to delay, it's a nice, beautiful ride up. Tickets online are like $20 or so.

Hey triggernosis. Seems like you've had a lot of good advice so far. I'll go with the Walnut Canyon idea too, if you're up in the Flag area. Nice little walk there and you get to see a good number of ruins. Painted Desert and Petrified forest are cool too. As I recall there are some petroglyphs and ruins around there too. Are you planning on staying in Flag? And then head back to PHX? If you can spend another day getting back there a trip to Walnut, maybe the Crater, then Painted and Petrified, drive through Holbrook (see the teepee motel on old 66 if they're still there, I remember them from early 60's when we moved west) to Show-Low/Pinetop, spend a night in some cooler weather again, then drive down through the Ft Apache Rez, maybe stop at Ft Apache.Whiteriver, continue to Globe and PHX that way. See the Salt River Canyon and stop at the Mexican place krp is always recommending.

Did you install this kind of station, assuming it's weather? It was a few miles off the road from Sedona to Flag



Anyhow, enjoy your trip Out West

I would have named Tubac as more artsy than Bisbee but haven't been there recently.

Arizona Biltmore Hotel
Taliesin West - Frank Lloyd Wright's winter home

Montezuma castle and well cliffs

Sedona
Sunset crater nat. monument lava
Wupatki nat. mon.



stores
https://bnbknives.com/knife-city-outlet
7699 Sun Valley Rd, Sun Valley, AZ 86029

Dillon Precision
8009 E Dillons Way, Scottsdale, AZ 85260

There are ice caves in the lava flows west of Flag. but I couldn't tell you how to get there, now. It's been at least 60 years since I've been there. Year round ice in them.

Before you make any plans set in stone, wildfires have shut down some highways completely. Better check to be sure.

Kartchner Caverns south of Tucson. As G5M said, check for reservations.
It'll be near 100* in Sedona, so any hikes should be early. West Fork of Oak Creek is a favorite.
Wupatki National Monument just northeast of Flagstaff would be a whole lot closer than Canyon de Chelly to see ruins.

If you guys want to stay cool and get wet, try Slide Rocks north of Sedona.

If you are in Sedona, watch the evening sunset.
Sedona Airport Scenic Lookout
528 Airport Rd

There won't be much hiking as my wife has total knee replacement scheduled two weeks after we return.

Thanks for the info.

I worked for these guys:
AZMET
I operated most all of the stations shown in the photo in that link.

And here is a picture of the stations that I operated.

Benben, we are doing Bearizona tomorrow on our way to the Grand Canyon. Want me to tell your BIL hello for you?

Valdsdad, we are doing your recommended tour the following day on the way back to Phoenix.

Jerry, I think we may try the gondola ride on the way back from Grand Canyon.

Folks here bitching about the 110°+ heat and I'm basking in it, thankful to be away from the sickening humidity back home in eastern NC.

Cool beans triggernosis.

And thanks for the info/pic of the weather system you worked on.

Enjoy the rest of your travels.

It's the Californians that complain about the heat... maybe they will move back home.

Kent

Hey, Tigger, make sure to ink enough time into your schedule to attack K22 who knows a hundred times more than you about WTF is going on.

Make sure to ink in time to let us know Q and Trump are fughked as is America and to let us know Q and Trump are FOS about making America Great Again.

It's the least you can do while you're having fun vacationing, Corksucker.

Go to Flagstaff. At least it won’t be 100+ there.

Why did you come over into this thread? Because you are feeling ignored in your Connect the Bots thread or your Q thread?

Like Q said, "no matter where you go, there you are."

At least not quite 100. One source said it was 98.

We are heading that way tomorrow - currently in the Village of Oak Creek. It was 100° today in Sedona.

I can't hear you, Corksucker. You're too stupid to Connect the Dots.

But go ahead and explain why you attack and ridicule K22. Tell us what he did to you.

He never told the truth about corksucking you, like I did, did he? You jumped him in a gutless effort to fit in. Why did you need such schiett to fit in? Because you're a low life corksucker.

Lol. Have a great vacation while your country goes to hell. Just be sure to attack those who have some Discernment and are smart enough to catch a clue. Push your implications Trump is FOS and have your fun and don't worry about it.

Sounds to me like for whatever reason you are in like Flynn and don't need to worry about it. Sorry, just saying.

This^^^^