Sibling visit part 2 (with a Grand Canyon excursion and some Sedona hiking!)

I think we left off at a brewery (of course) but I’m back with the second part of yesterday’s post about my brother and sister visiting me (aka, I now return to your regularly-scheduled outdoors and hiking content).

On Monday, we all grabbed brunch at Tourist Home, and then David unfortunately had to work. While he did that, Ryan and I took Kelly (and Ochi) up to the Grand Canyon.

David had visited it before on a previous trip to Arizona, so he wasn’t too upset, which is good!

We’d originally planned on doing a quick hike, but after dealing with unrelenting work calls, emails and Teams meetings (even though we all three using vacation time/ on annual leave… love it here) we didn’t get to the canyon until the early afternoon.

I had to be back in Flagstaff to teach my 6 p.m. yoga class, so we really only had time for a quick stop at the visitor center, a walk along the Rim Trail to see the views, and a drink on El Tovar’s porch.

We got back to Flagstaff just in time for my 6 p.m. yoga class, which Kelly decided to take. Ryan and David went to a sports bar to watch Monday Night Football during my class, and then afterward, we all met at Historic downtown for dinner and drinks.

Tuesday was the last day of my family’s visit. David’s flight left a little earlier than Kelly’s, because — while my brother will always pay extra for comfort and convenience — my sister is a little more like me in that she’s broke but not poor.

(Sup Spirit Airlines!)

She booked an 11 p.m. redeye flight out of Sky Harbor because it was the cheapest option. Since my brother had to return the rental before his 2 p.m. flight, I volunteered to drive my sister down to Phoenix for her flight, figuring we could take the long way down.

Which we did.

We packed up her stuff and then grabbed breakfast at Toasted Owl before walking around downtown Flagstaff.

She bought a bunch of stickers at Black Hound Gallerie in the Old Town Shops and a bunch of crystals at Crystal Magic.

And — of course — if you buy crystals… you have to charge them in Sedona.

So that’s what we did. We picked our vortex (Cathedral Rock) and took 89A down through Oak Creek Canyon.

Cathedral Rock is one of those trails that’s been on my list for years, but I’ve just never gotten around to actually doing it.

I’ve been to the trailhead and parking lot a few times, but I’ve never actually made my way up the trail.

So, it was exciting to get to do it!

We went on a Wednesday afternoon when highs were close to 100 degrees, so it was nice to have ample space to park and a mostly-empty trail…

…even if the hike was brutally hot.

After our hike, I made Kelly down a bottle of electrolytes and reapply sunscreen (yes I am the older sister), and then we hiked a short portion of the Airport Loop trail.

We stopped at the Hudson to grab wine, appetizers and bruschetta before getting back in my Jeep and heading down to Phoenix.

We made our way down the hill and I dropped Kelly off at Sky Harbor with plenty of time to spare before her flight.

I’m a little bummed because — while she got to see the radiant glow of golden hour during Sedona’s sunset — it was dark for most of our drive down Interstate 17 and she didn’t get to see the saguaro cacti begin their southward-facing appearances, which is one of my favorite parts of the drive.

Fingers crossed though that hopefully, she (and my brother) will be back to visit again!