Where is the most unique and interesting place you’ve traveled to? Are you thinking about somewhere overseas? Maybe somewhere tropical? Or even another continent?

I was very surprised that the last trip I went on might qualify as one of the most amazing places I’ve traveled to and it’s within our own country— I’m talking about Arizona. 

It all began with one of those Facebook videos that show exotic travel destinations. This one was for Sedona. The video showed the beautiful red and orange rock structures, rivers carving out the landscape, hiking, hot air balloons, and of course, tons of cacti. I knew right away that I wanted to travel there soon. With the school year coming to an end, I told my younger brother Scott to pack his bags.

We were about to go to one of the hottest states during one of the hottest months.

We arrived in Arizona late at night and went straight to a hotel just outside Phoenix. The game plan was for us to head toward Sedona after a really early breakfast. We used our all-time favorite travel app, TV Food Maps, to find a location to eat for breakfast. We found a place called Over Easy, which was featured on Food Network’s Best Thing I Ever Ate and Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.

We got Corned Beef Hash Benedict, Chilaquiles, and some Quinoa Crunch. All three were so delicious and easy to make— the Quinoa is so easy that I have been making batches of quinoa for breakfast now. You just need to mix in some fresh berries, granola, nuts or seeds, syrup, and spice such as cinnamon or allspice. It’s one of the perfect throw-together breakfasts, and the best part is it’s really easy to switch up so it’s not the same exact thing every day.

After a really filling breakfast, we headed out to Sedona. As we were driving, the giant red rock formations began to come into view. They were so beautiful that you couldn’t look away. They looked like a sunset painted on a canvas of mountains. It’s pretty amazing that nature can create a structure like this all on its own. It is so hard to believe that something this incredible looking is right in our country, and I didn’t even need a passport to get here!

We hiked through these rocks in the dead heat to reach Devil’s Bridge. This was one of the most amazing days I’ve had in a while, and it didn’t end there. We finished the day by swimming in a river on the side of the road and going to dinner at The Cowboy Club, which was featured on Rachael Ray’s $40 A Day. We specifically decided to eat here because of the unique menu items.

We shared an appetizer sampler, which featured Cactus Fries, Buffalo Skewers, Rattlesnake Sausage, Cilantro Flatbread, Prickly Pear Sauce, House BBQ Sauce, and a Southwest Peanut Sauce. The buffalo skewers were so tender that they melted in your mouth. The cactus fries were crispy, yet soft on the inside. The rattlesnake sausage… it tasted like chicken as I expected.

After dinner, Scott and I picked up some camping gear that we rented off of Airbnb and found a spot to set up for the night. This was the first time I have ever camped at a place that wasn’t a campground. We were right in the middle of all of the mountains with no lights in sight for miles. The guy we rented our gear from recommended not even using the tent and suggested we just put down a tarp with our mats and sleeping bags on top, this way we could fall asleep looking for shooting stars.

Let me tell you, this was the most incredible sky I have ever seen in my life. I’ve been to plenty of remote locations where the sky was great, but this was unreal. There were so many stars that it was almost impossible to make out the constellations. You could actually see the Milky Way and a few planets. After a being asleep for about 2 hours, I insisted we set up the tent to avoid getting eating by the pack of coyotes I heard howling in the distance, but this was still the coolest camping experience ever.

I thought the day before was as good as it was going to get, but the following day surpassed it by a ton. We went to Walnut Canyon to see some native dwellings in the walls of the canyon, Sunset Crater Volcano and Wupatki Loop where we climbed through a lava bed and visited different pueblos.

The views at these different sites were unbelievable. We had zero expectations for the volcano and ended up being really impressed with the lava bed we hiked through. The pueblos were fascinating, Scott even found a piece of pottery in the rubble.

After the loop, we stopped at a Navajo market and bought some jewelry followed by some Navajo Tacos. If you have never seen a Navajo taco, it is a MASSIVE plate of food. The bottom is made of frybread, which is exactly what it sounds like— a flat, fried dough the size of a dinner plate. The frybread is topped with pretty much everything you would put on a regular taco. I barely got halfway through this huge meal before I was completely full! 

We ended the day at the Grand Canyon. Quite a few people have told me that the Grand Canyon is boring— that you drive up to a vista point, look at it, take a picture, and drive away. Let me tell you, those people were mistaken. Scott and I both agreed that this was one of the most spectacular sites we’ve ever seen.

The depth of the canyon is so much more than I ever expected. The walls of the canyon looked like a watercolor painting. I could sit there and stare at this view all day. In fact, we decided to go to each of the viewpoints along the canyon and even went back to our first one once it was dark to look at the night sky. The view was out of this world during both day and night. If you ever get the opportunity, you NEED to see this place.

The next day, we headed back toward Sedona and passed through Flagstaff. We stopped at a small diner, Mary’s Café, we found on Yelp. We were the only ones there other than our waitress and two men at another table. Our waitress was incredibly friendly and started asking about where we were from and where we were stopping on our journey. Suddenly, the men joined in on our conversation and before we knew it, we had a new list of local destinations to visit. These locals were so friendly that they even offered for us to borrow their binoculars for the day.

We followed through with one of their suggestions and decided to hike through an underground lava tube, which was a crazy experience. You walk through the woods until you reach what looks like a pile of rocks with a big gap between them. There are no rangers there and only a few other people go inside at a time, so we felt like we were alone in this dark cave almost the entire time.

The floor was difficult to walk on without rolling an ankle, but eventually, the ground flattened out. The entire tube was made of basalt, a type of lava rock. The science teacher in me was beyond excited about this, and I couldn’t wait to bring some of these rocks back to show my students. 

Our adventure ended with breakfast at Matt’s Big Breakfast, which was also featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives and Best Thing I Ever Ate. At this restaurant, I had the best hash browns I’ve ever eaten, cut into rectangles and perfectly crispy. I will forever be disappointed by any hash browns I order from this point on.

Scott and I then went to the Desert Botanical Garden to walk around in 104-degree heat and look at various cacti and then ventured off to the Salt River to go tubing. I had never gone tubing before, so this was quite the experience and was perfect for the heat we were in. The water was nice and cool, there were horses drinking from the riverbanks, and the people were entertaining.

We ended our trip on a search for some Rocky Mountain Oysters. Unfortunately, we were unable to find any because multiple restaurants were closed when we arrived. We wound up at a sandwich shop where we had some seriously delicious subs and insane Rice Krispies treats made with various cereals.

After this trip, I cannot recommend Arizona more highly. It was definitely one of the most unique places I’ve been. The views cannot be matched and are so impressive that a camera just doesn’t do it justice. We felt welcomed by everyone that we met, and even the tourists were not your average tourists— it was like each we met was somehow the nicest person we’ve ever encountered until we met the next person. Every local that we interacted with went above and beyond to make recommendations and socialize with us.

I experienced a ton of firsts on this trip that I will never forget, including the food. The meal I had at Cowboy Club was so unique and unusual that I knew it would be something I needed to recreate when I got home, and so I did. I decided to make my own baked version of cactus fries. Check out the recipe below, and experience a little piece of my trip to Arizona through this side dish.

Cactus Fries with a Horseradish Dipping Sauce (Serves 2)

Cactus Fries Ingredients

2 Cactus Pads (Nopales)
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp Chipotle Black Pepper
1/8 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Salt & pepper

Horseradish Sauce Ingredients

1/4 cup light mayonnaise
2 tbsp light sour cream
2 tbsp horseradish
1 tbsp ketchup
1/4 tsp of garlic powder
Pinch of paprika
Salt & pepper

Directions

1) Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

2) Carefully remove the spines of the cactus pad by using a knife. Rub the blade of the knife on the side of the pad moving away from you. Be careful, it may not look like there are any spines coming out of the bumps on the cactus, but they’re there! Cut off all of the little nubs just to be safe.

3) Trim the edges of the cactus off.

4) Rinse the pad and then slice into fries.

5) Mix the flour, water, paprika, black pepper, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a bowl.

6) Coat the fries in the mixture and put on a sprayed baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, then flip and bake for another 5 minutes or so.

7) While the fries are finishing during the last 5 minutes, put the sauce together by mixing all of the ingredients in a small bowl. Taste, and add spices as necessary.

8) Serve fries immediately with sauce on the side. Be careful to avoid getting any spines in your hand while cleaning up your cooking area!

What foods remind you of your favorite trip?
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