Arizona Day 4- Hiking /Tlaquepaque

On Tuesday, Mark, Luke, and I left the resort early for a hike in Sedona while Leah rested.  We hiked the Bell Rock trail and it was a crisp, clear morning. The colors were breathtaking, and it was one of those picture perfect days with bright blue sky as a backdrop to the gorgeous Arizona red rocks.  Mark and I commented at every turn how beautiful the scenery was, which finally caused Luke to respond, "I don't see the big deal... Rocks really aren't my thing."   We howled with laughter at our surly teenager, who was so unfairly subjected to his parents' wonder and awe. 

After our hike, we visited Tlaquepaque Village.  This Sedona landmark contains galleries, shops, and restaurants, and is fashioned after a traditional Mexican village.  The cobblestone walkways, stucco walls, colorful tiles, and lush landscaping add to the beauty of the grounds.  The village is bustling during peak hours, but we planned our visit just as it opened so it felt like we had the place to ourselves:

After shopping, we drove back to the resort to pick up Leah and headed to Phoenix to catch our evening flight.

I need to mention how much we loved our accommodations in Sedona.  We stayed at the Hilton Sedona Resort at Bell Rock.  It was gorgeous, and we had a 2-room suite with a living room and kitchen.  Mark and I enjoyed cocktail at the outdoor firepit and our room had beautiful views:

Note teenager looking at his phone instead of the outdoor vistas.

One of our favorite things about the hotel was that I upgraded our package the week before our trip to include the "Hilton Honors" breakfast package.  I wasn't sure what that meant, but it was worth it to me not to have to find a grocery store and deal with shopping/storing food for our several days on vacation.  When we checked in, we were told that breakfast was served at the formal restaurant at the resort, and that we could order as much as we wanted each morning (and that all food and gratuity was included in our package):

Each day, our breakfasts were delicious and fancy.  We were able to take Starbucks coffee, bowls of fresh fruit, chocolate croissants and bagels to go, so we had treats for our daily excursions.  It truly was a special part of our vacation. 

  We had a wonderful few days in Arizona and we are so glad we were able to fit this trip into our busy fall!