24 Hours In and Around the Grand Canyon and Flagstaff

Wow! It has taken me a while to get to this post, but finally I have, and I am so happy to share with you my whirlwind GRAND CANYON ADVENTURE. 

We went to the Grand Canyon for just one day, and stayed in nearby Flagstaff, AZ. While it wasn't a goal at all to hit every spot, we did hit a few good ones, so let me tell you about them. 

It started on a Friday, when I woke up and went to yoga in Santa Fe, with one of my favorite teachers. Afterward, me and my sweetie packed up our pugs and hit the road in our car. Westward on I-40! Pugs in my lap! Let's go! 

In Grants, NM, we paused and had a picnic, because I had thoughtfully packed slices of chocolate cake. Here's the recipe

After a few hours and a few small cities, we arrived in Flagstaff, Arizona. Since I'm into craft beer now, we checked out Mother Road Brewery, where I tried their Black IPA. I later used it to make a cake. Good stuff! 

Then, we went to my favorite store, possibly in the world, Black Hound Gallerie. I'll show you just one of the things I've purchased there over previous visits to illustrate the total awesomeness of this establishment:

Then, we had an awesome dinner at Criollo, a Latin american restaurant. This bread pudding was for dessert. 

The next morning, we had my favorite new coffee drink the Flat White at Firecreek Coffee. It was also here that I discovered the existence of something called barista milk, which is gently homogenized to create the most stable texture for frothing. It really is special!

We also observed that they had this, a pretzel breakfast roll among their offerings:

Then we hit up Macy's Coffee Shop, a unique shop featuring all vegetarian food. I got a towering quiche, which was seriously about a foot tall...

and we got cinnamon rolls, which were croissant-like in their flakiness.

And an almond danish. Because, don't do breakfast halfway.

Afterward, we went to...the Grand Canyon! Here I am with one of my pugs, Olive. I know, I know, you can't get over how remarkably good-looking we are. 

What everyone says about the Grand Canyon is true: you can't grasp its amazing-ness until you actually see it. I am so glad I finally got to see it!

On the way back, we passed this establishment. I wonder what they do there?

We headed on back, and snacked on some of the homemade candy corn I made (I told you I'm a bit delayed with posting this trip roundup!). When we got home, we were exhausted but happy.

When is the last time you took a road trip?