Photo courtesy of granitecreekvineyards.com

Take a break from your daily duties by taking a peaceful vacation to the Granite Creek Vineyards in Chino Valley, a family owned & operated vineyard and winery.

The vineyards are surrounded by rugged granite peaks and high elevation rolling prairie. The vines surrounding the area truly bring everything together. The Chino Valley Vineyards is a family owned and operated vineyard and winery.

The vines bask in the intense sunshine, with hot days and cool nights that last late into the fall. This provides the perfect ripening conditions. Organically farmed granite soil and pure well water help develop the truly delicious fruit.

This vineyard is the first farm in Arizona to be Certified Organic. Granite Creek Vineyards is one of only a handful of wineries in the United States that makes Certified Organic Wines without any added sulfates.

See this and more at the Granite Creek Vineyards website by clicking here.

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Every city and town has a unique feeling and energy to it. Step into some and you feel right at home, others may not feel like the place for you. Sedona’s energy might be the most unique of any city or town out there, though. The energy, which is largely the product of its vortexes, truly empowers you.

There are four main energy vortexes in Sedona: The Airport vortex, Red rock Crossing/ Cathedral Rock Vortex, Boynton Canyon Vortex and Bell rock Vortex. Each vortex strengthens a unique part of those who traverse its grounds.

Stand at one of Sedona’s four main vortexes and the energy will flow into and through you. You may find that you feel more confident, more empathetic, or more at peace depending on the vortex you step into. Each vortex helps with a specific energy.

Travel Tip: Don’t be closed off to the workings of the vortex, the more sensitive you are during your vortex excursion, the better the experience.

Image courtesy of sangres.com

Winding through the evergreen pinion-covered Coconino National Forest, this byway, designated as Arizona’s first “All-American Road,” gives way to several scenic views.

Along the byway is a diverse ecosystem where people can bask in the glory of the buttes, cliffs, desert expanses and canyons.

This landscape has inspired and shaped people for over 10,000 years.

Travelers are encouraged to enjoy the scenery, go picnicking, hiking, biking, wildlife watching, and take photos along the way.

The Sterling Canyon Spur leads to two of the most spectacular rock formations in the area. Devil’s Bridge and Vultee Arch are each just a short hike off the road. The Boynton Canyon Spur leads to a trail into an area described as one of Sedona’s new age vortexes. The Loy Butte spur will put travelers in the middle of some of the area’s more sweeping vistas. The Sycamore Canyon Spur takes travelers past  Robber’s Roost, where horse thieves once hid their contraband and to Sycamore Pass, the gateway to the Sycamore Canyon Wilderness.

Image courtesy of greatsedonahikes.com

The Dogie Trail is a step back into the days where Cowboys ruled the land. Dogie is cowboy slang for motherless calf, alluding to the area’s ranching history. Cowboys once herded cattle along this route through Sycamore Canyon. Evidence of this history remains in the form of stock tanks that sit along the path. The trail is covered with crimson-and-cream colored bluffs topped with junipers and pinon pines. Hikers may find pools that linger from recent rains shaded by cottonwood and willow trees. The hike ends at junction with the Sycamore Basin Trail in the Coconino National Forest. The trail is hailed as a rugged beauty that has been unspoiled and untamed by man.

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Granite Basin Recreation Area is the perfect hike for those who wish for an adventure beyond hiking. The public can camp, bike, fish, have a picnic and go horseback riding. Trails of the recreation include Balancing Rock Trail, Cayuse Loop, Clark Spring Trail, Hokaygon Trail, Metate Trailhead, Mint Wash Connector Trail, Surprise Spring Trail and West Lake Trail.

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Hiking is, naturally, a very hot activity in Arizona. Kinder Crossing allows you to take a break from the heat with its picturesque access to East Clear Creek. Hikers of this trail can have a picnic and go swimming in the cool pools of water that align the hike.

Hikers of Kinder Crossing also get an awe-inspiring view of the Mogollon Rim. Limestone and sandstone steps offer the hikers footholds along a series of switchbacks.

Photo courtesy of jeromegrandhotel.com

Jerome, Arizona, was once a copper mining camp. It saw as many as 10,000 residents. But, during the Great Depression, ore deposits were exhausted and mines were shut down. The population dwindled quickly and was made up of less than 100 people by the 1950s.

The city now resides as a National Historic Landmark. Within it, at one mile high stands the Jerome Grand Hotel. As guests walk through the hallways of this historic hotel, they’ll not only get a glimpse into the Jerome past but also have the chance to experience something paranormal.

The hotel is said to be haunted. This is because, before it was the Jerome Grand Hotel, it was the United Verde hospital. Guests of the hotel have said to have heard coughing, labored breathing and even voices coming from their empty rooms. Some have even reported light anomalies and the television sets turning themselves on with no explanation.

Those who wish to stay at the Jerome Hotel can choose the hotel’s ghost-hunting package. In this package, guests are invited to help with the hotel’s ongoing investigation of the supernatural and paranormal activities. The hotel provides ghost hunters with an MET meter, IR thermometer and digital camera to help the hotel document the spirits, orbs, ghost sightings and haunted happenings.

On December 8, 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt celebrated the passage of the Antiquities Act by declaring four sites of historic and cultural significance as our nation’s first National Monuments. Among these was Montezuma Castle, which the President identified as a place “of the greatest ethnological value and scientific interest.” Although very few original artifacts remained in the structure due to intensive looting of the site, Roosevelt’s decision assured the continued protection of one of the best preserved prehistoric cliff dwellings in North America. Montezuma Castle National Monument quickly became a destination for America’s first car-bound tourists. In 1933, “Castle A”, a 45-50 room, pueblo ruin was excavated, uncovering a wealth of artifacts and greatly enhanced our understanding of the Sinagua people who inhabited this riparian “oasis” along Beaver Creek for over 400 years. Early visitors to the monument were allowed access to the structure by climbing a series of ladders up the side of the limestone cliffs. However, due to extensive damage to this valuable cultural landmark, public access of the ruins was discontinued in 1951. Take a stroll through time, while enjoying the canopy of trees that shade the walkways, as you gaze at the amazing cliff dwellings, or walk over to the adjoining creek to learn how the Sinuagua people relied heavily on this precious water source for survival. Now, approximately 350,000 people a year gaze through the windows of the past during a visit to Montezuma Castle. Even 600 years after their departure, the legacy of the Sinagua people continues to inspire the imaginations of all.

Located off of I-17, in Camp Verde, the World’s Largest Kokopelli sits in front of a souvenir shop luring travelers and tourists in to the parking lot of the Trading Post.

The giant statue is made from hand shaped and welded steel. Lowell Johnson, then owner of what at the time was the Montezuma Trading Post, came up with the idea to build the kokpelli. Prior to the kokopelli sat a hot pink 1920’s automobile in effort to attract tourists. Johnson, a local business man, and owner of the Oak Creek Terrace Resort, brought in an experienced blacksmith/artist and sketched out the design right on the sales counter. Made of 1/4 inch plate steel, the hand shaping and welding of the structure took weeks as the 12 cubic yard cement foundation cured. The statue’s instrument houses a speaker that plays music to visitors at they shop. By the end of the project, it had cost more than $25,000. For a while, there was a price tag hung in the event an interested buyer came along.