The most beautiful place

       Sedona was our favorite stop of our whole trip.  The Grand Canyon is the most enormous and overwhelming place I have ever been to, but Sedona is just peaceful and breathtaking.  We got to spend a little bit longer here too which we loved.  We skipped Flagstaff in the morning to let Nathan get in his morning nap on our car ride and got to Sedona mid morning.  We went to Red Rock State Park, strapped a sick little Nathan into the wrap, slipped into our tennis shoes and decided to attempt a hike with baby.  It went fabulously!  This could be because Nathan got a healthy dose of Tylenol right before our hike to help with slight fever, but either way, it was great. J We hiked the short loop and then decided that since Nathan was sleeping, we would go all the way to the top!  It was a little over 3 miles round trip, but it was worth it.  The view was spectacular.  It was so peaceful we just stood at the top and marveled as we looked at beautiful canyons and mountains as far as we could see. 

       After our hike, we had worked up quite an appetite, so we grabbed some delicious lunch at a cute little restaurant in downtown Sedona.  Side note – if you need reliable travel reviews, use the Trip Advisor App!  It never let us down.  We used it for everything from good hotels to restaurants to things to do.  It was super helpful. 

    Unfortunately, we weren’t able to stop in Phoenix either because Nathan was sleeping (notice a trend here?).  In our defense our poor little guy was really not feeling well at this point.  It was the first time he has been sick since he was born so I was a little over anxious about doing everything we could to make him feel better.  So much for the relaxing and not being so controlling thing on my part. Well, I never said I had mastered this concept or anything. J We hit another stretch of nothing and ended up staying the night in Blythe, California.  Most hilarious town ever.  It had one stoplight, about three hotels, and was in the middle of nowhere.  This is downtown.  I laugh every time I see this picture.  Who names a bank "Rob a bank?" 

The hotel where we did end up staying though was clean and felt fairly safe.  We put Nathan down early and decided to pass on eating out since one of the top choices for restaurants on Trip Advisor for Blythe was Subway.  We grabbed salads and a movie from the local grocery store and enjoyed a quiet night in, at least until we went to bed.  We woke up every 30 min to an hour that night with Nathan.  It was so awful. 

I am in even more awe of parents who deal with kids who are sick often or are seriously sick.  He had a horrible barking cough and would wake up screaming and having trouble breathing, which would induce awful coughing fits.  It was exhausting and so hard to listen to!   Thankfully, morning came and with it a Venti Starbucks.  Next stop – San Diego!