This was an amazing day! Our tour guide Stevie B. made sure we spent most of our time on the rim and at the Canyon. We stopped at many great view points and had plenty of time to walk around and explore each rim stop. We had lunch at the Canyon and the trip lasted 11 1/2 hours. We were picked up at our hotel in Sedona and did make a stop in Flagstaff to pick up other riders but that was quick and on the way. Really glad we decided to do this tour!
We enjoyed this tour very much. We left at 7:30 am, exactly when they said they would pick us up. We drove north on 89A from Sedona to Flagstaff, which is a beautiful drive, although we did hit some construction and had to wait a few minutes. We picked up 2 more couples in Flagstaff, which consumed some time, but we still saw everything with plenty of time. We continued up 89 to Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument where we saw the gigantic cinder cone of Sunset Crater and were able to walk on a short trail over one of the lava flows. Our tour guide, Smoky, was very knowledgeable, but didn't wear you our with constant chatter. We continued over some back roads to Wupatki National Monument, a well preserved ruin of a early pueblo. This was unexpected and very interesting. We then went on to get lunch at a great tourist trap/gift shop and restaurant in Cameron, the Cameron Trading Post. This is the kind of place that is so thoroughly touristy it's actually nice. Good food and a fun atmosphere. Just outside the main building is a terrific gift shop for authentic Indian jewelry and crafts that is almost like a museum, if you like that sort of thing.
We then went on the enter the Grand Canyon National Park at the east end of the south rim. It was less crowded here and took very little time to get through the gate, unlike the main entrance to the west. We stopped first at the Desert View watchtower which was very interesting as Smoky told us all about Mary Coulter building this tower and much of all the buildings in many of the western parks starting in the early 1900s. The view from this location shows where Marble Canyon enters the main part of Grand Canyon. We stopped two other places and ended up in the Village where we saw the most famous views and got to do the gift shop thing. And we saw the El Tovar lodge which was really impressive. We took the most direct route back to our hotels and were done in around 11 1/2 hours. Its a long day, but definitely worth the time. And I can't say enough about our guide, Smoky who kept us entertained and informed without being tiresome. Thanks for a great tour.
You can hardly go wrong with a sight as amazing as the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately, our tour was almost ruined by our terrible tour guide. This tour is so worth it, but if you take it, I advise you to call ahead and make sure that Kevin, from Ma and Pa Tours is NOT your tour guide. He is informative, but he is also rude, loud, totally unaware of his clients needs or wants, in short, a true narcissist. As we are walking up to the Grand Canyon in awe, he is yelling us to not look up, do as he says, look for snakes and listen to him. Not only were all
of us walking on egg shells, he got several people mad at him that weren't even on the tour! The tour takes you to wonderful stops along the Canyon as well as Indian Reserves and that part is done well.