The Road Home from Sedona
Jun. 7th, 2022 10:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerSedona Travelog #19
Back home! Tue, 31 May 2022, 8pm
Yesterday we called an audible on our travel plans for today. I'd originally booked us on a 9pm flight home from Phoenix. It'd land close to 11pm, and we'd be home-home sometime between 11:30 and midnight. Ugh. Not a great way to get ready for working the rest of the week!
The audible call was to switch to a 4:15pm departure out of PHX. The flight would land just after 6pm, and we'd be home-home by 7. In exchange that meant we'd have to wrap up our time in Sedona around 12, to drive to Phoenix with a stop for lunch and arrive around 2:30, to make that 4:15 flight without rushing.
Well, being done in Sedona around noon is part of why we got up at 6am again today and started our Cathedral Rock hike just after 7. (The other reasons were avoiding the crowds and midday heat.) Plus, starting the hike just after 7 meant we finished the hike— the amazing hike— at 10:15... which meant we could return to the hotel to clean up & pack our bags. Going back to the hotel after the hike felt so... civilized!
At the hotel we showered, dressed in casual clothes instead of hiking duds, and packed our bags in our spacious hotel suite instead of in the trunk of the car in a trailhead parking lot. By the time we rolled from Oak Creek Village we were nicely relaxed. ...Okay, we were also kind of tired and sore from the hike, but it was a good balance.
We stopped for lunch in the next town after Oak Creek. (We were already bored/frustrated with Oak Creek eats.) It was about 30 minutes away. We weren't too worried about travel time, having allocated plenty of it. That allocation was tested right after lunch when highway construction left us crawling at 5mph for 45 minutes. I lead-footed it a bit after that so that we arrived at the airport without a need to rush through security, etc.
Our flights were mostly on time. Baggage claim took a while though. Southwest Airlines giveth with one hand and taketh with the other. "Hey, your flight's landed early! But oops, the gate's not available yet, so we'll sit here on the tarmac for 15 minutes. And, oh, there's only one baggage crew serving 5 flights that just landed. So it'll be an extra 20 minute wait if you foolishly checked a bag. Come fly with us again soon!"
Well, the timings all worked out well enough. We were home-home just after 7pm. Hawk made dinner for herself from food in the 'fridge. I picked up a carryout pizza for myself. At 8:00 now the plates are cleared and I've already unpacked my bag. Hawk will start on hers in a few minutes, and then maybe we'll watch some TV tonight before going to bed at a reasonable hour. Travel success!
Back home! Tue, 31 May 2022, 8pm
Yesterday we called an audible on our travel plans for today. I'd originally booked us on a 9pm flight home from Phoenix. It'd land close to 11pm, and we'd be home-home sometime between 11:30 and midnight. Ugh. Not a great way to get ready for working the rest of the week!
The audible call was to switch to a 4:15pm departure out of PHX. The flight would land just after 6pm, and we'd be home-home by 7. In exchange that meant we'd have to wrap up our time in Sedona around 12, to drive to Phoenix with a stop for lunch and arrive around 2:30, to make that 4:15 flight without rushing.
Well, being done in Sedona around noon is part of why we got up at 6am again today and started our Cathedral Rock hike just after 7. (The other reasons were avoiding the crowds and midday heat.) Plus, starting the hike just after 7 meant we finished the hike— the amazing hike— at 10:15... which meant we could return to the hotel to clean up & pack our bags. Going back to the hotel after the hike felt so... civilized!
At the hotel we showered, dressed in casual clothes instead of hiking duds, and packed our bags in our spacious hotel suite instead of in the trunk of the car in a trailhead parking lot. By the time we rolled from Oak Creek Village we were nicely relaxed. ...Okay, we were also kind of tired and sore from the hike, but it was a good balance.
We stopped for lunch in the next town after Oak Creek. (We were already bored/frustrated with Oak Creek eats.) It was about 30 minutes away. We weren't too worried about travel time, having allocated plenty of it. That allocation was tested right after lunch when highway construction left us crawling at 5mph for 45 minutes. I lead-footed it a bit after that so that we arrived at the airport without a need to rush through security, etc.
Our flights were mostly on time. Baggage claim took a while though. Southwest Airlines giveth with one hand and taketh with the other. "Hey, your flight's landed early! But oops, the gate's not available yet, so we'll sit here on the tarmac for 15 minutes. And, oh, there's only one baggage crew serving 5 flights that just landed. So it'll be an extra 20 minute wait if you foolishly checked a bag. Come fly with us again soon!"
Well, the timings all worked out well enough. We were home-home just after 7pm. Hawk made dinner for herself from food in the 'fridge. I picked up a carryout pizza for myself. At 8:00 now the plates are cleared and I've already unpacked my bag. Hawk will start on hers in a few minutes, and then maybe we'll watch some TV tonight before going to bed at a reasonable hour. Travel success!
