Arizona Sunshine Tour
Jan. 21 – Feb. 11, 2011
22 days
A warmer climate, dry desert air, fascinating vegetation, exotic rock formations, orchards. Stay 10 nights in Mesa.
Day 1: Meet new friends on journey to Lethbridge, Alberta. Enjoy Welcome Reception at hotel. Overnight: Lethbridge.
Day 2: Depart Lethbridge. Cross the border at Couts / Sweetgrass. Enjoy fascinating landscapes, cross the Continental Divide several times. Pass Great Falls and travel through the Rocky Mountains to Butte, Montana. Overnight: Butte.
Day 3: Travel from Butte to Dillon, a cattle and hay-producing region. Drive past Idaho Falls, productive irrigated farmland, the Snake River, forests, and mountainous terrain, to Pocatello, Idaho - potato, cattle, and mining country. Pass irrigated cropland. Arrive at Twin Falls for overnight. Twin Falls is located next to Snake River Canyon.
Snake River Canyon
Day 4: Cross border into Nevada. Drive through spectacular scenery of forests and mountains, then sagebrush and desert. Pass Ely and Wells to Las Vegas area for overnight.
Day 5: Travel to Las Vegas: Morning orientation tour with a step-aboard guide. Enjoy free time in Las Vegas. Drive to Laughlin, Nevada, gambling mecca in the center of the desert. Enjoy glittering casinos and shows. Overnight: Laughlin, Nevada.
Day 6: Enjoy morning tour of unique Oatman, then afternoon cruise on the Colorado River. Overnight: Laughlin, Nevada.
Day 7: Travel to Lake Havasu City. Drive across original English London Bridge. Pass Parker, stop at Quartzsite Rock 'n Hound show & sale. Travel through rolling desert terrain / Big Horn Mountains to Phoenix / Mesa, Arizona for ten nights’ stay. Enjoy Welcome reception at hotel. Overnight: Mesa, Arizona.
London Bridge in Lake Havasu
Day 8: Morning: Tour of Phoenix with a step-aboard guide. Afternoon: Mall stop & stroll in Scottsdale Old Town. Overnight: Mesa.
Day 9: Morning: Free. Afternoon: Attend the famous Swap Meet with 1600 booths under one roof, the largest swap meet in USA. Overnight: Mesa.
Day 10: Free Day. Evening: Ice cream social in hotel. Overnight: Mesa.
Day 11: Enjoy morning guided hike along a desert trail to explore the unusual Sonoran Desert ecosystem, quiet valleys and hills. Watch for cactus varieties, trees and colorful shrubbery, reptiles and wildlife.
Tonight, experience the “Arizona Opry Dinner Theater” with hearty, home-cooked food, foot-stompin’ music, side-splitting comedy - an evening of fun with the Barleen family entertaining. Overnight: Mesa.
Day 12: Free morning. Afternoon: Travel along Apache Trail to Canyon Lake. Board Dolly Steamboat for narrated cruise with dramatic vistas. Free evening. Overnight: Mesa.
Canyon Lake Panorama
Day 13: Free Day for personal choices. Overnight: Mesa.
Day 14: Morning: Orange Grove visit. Afternoon: Visit Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World. Free evening. Overnight: Mesa.
Day 15: Free morning. Noon Meal: Experience sounds from world’s largest Wurlitzer organ plus a vast array of instruments – all controlled by one musical wizard at Organ Stop Pizza. Afternoon: Visit Phoenix Zoo, home to 1200 animals. Overnight: Mesa.
Interesting animals at the Phoenix Zoo. Can you identify them?
Day 16: Free time today will encourage personal choices. Overnight: Mesa.
Day 17: Depart Phoenix / Mesa. Drive north to explore Sedona, known for magnificent red sandstones and metamorphic rock formations. Some believe that Sedona is home to specific vortexes, or focal points of the earth's energy. Drive to Flagstaff Arizona, location of highest mountain in Arizona [12,000+ feet] for overnight.
The Red Rocks of Sedona (sandstone formations)
Day 18: Morning: Stop at the Grand Canyon, one of the seven wonders of the world, and one of the most colorful and striking landscapes in America. Drive to Cameron, through Painted Desert, past Marble Cliffs, Page, Glen Canyon Bridge, Lake Powell to Kanab, Utah for country & western wind-up show & meal. Overnight in awesome landscape: Kanab, Utah.
Day 19: Head north through mountainous terrain, valleys and forests into Salt Lake City for tour of Temple Square. Overnight: Salt Lake City, Utah.
Day 20: Drive north past Ogden, surrounded by mountains, and Brigham City, located at the foot of the Wasatch Mountain range where the city’s leading employer manufactures rocket motors and boosters for missiles and space shuttles. Travel into Idaho, past Pocatello and Idaho Falls, then into Montana, past Dillon. Overnight: Butte, Montana.
Day 21: Drive to Helena and Great Falls to the border. Travel to Lethbridge, AB. Free evening. Overnight: Lethbridge.
Day 22: Drive from Lethbridge to Saskatchewan and home with precious memories of good times with old and new friends.
Note: Itinerary is subject to change.
Contact us for a full itinerary, for price information or about any other questions you may have.
Photo Credits: cactus1 by kevinzim on Flickr, Snake River Canyon is public domain, London Bridge by Larry Page on Flickr, Canyon Lake photo is public domain, zoo sharks by CodyR on Flickr, Photo of the Red Rocks of Sedona by Norma McConaghy. All photos on this page, except for the one by Norma McConaghy, are licensed with a Creative Commons Attribution License.