Touring Arizona - Cacti, Golf & Mountains

For spectacular scenery drive highway 179 through Sedona. The dramatically sculptured geological formations change to breathtaking colours in the late afternoon. A paradise for photography buffs.

To view a cacti "forest", route 87 to Winslow is worth the drive.

Tombstone is a must for any fan of the old west.

The Legacy golf course was beautiful and in incredible condition. For variation, we golfed at Stoneridge, a mountain course in Prescott. The elevation changes must be experienced to be believed!

Quick Tips:

To avoid the afternoon heat, book your tee time for early morning. Shop wisely as green fees are expensive. To avoid the heat, golf the mountain courses, which are within 2 hours from Phoenix.

Best Way To Get Around:

Rent a car. It is very easy to get around Arizona by car. We found the highway system to be very user-friendly.

Best Things Nearby:
For shoppers, the Arizona Mills mall is 5 minutes from the resort. Skyharbour Airport was only 10 minutes and the interstate was only 5 minutes away.

Best Things About the Resort:
The golf course. We spent little time at the resort as the purpose of our trip was to golf and tour Arizona.

Resort Experience:
We exchanged a week from our home resort for a studio unit at the Legacy. Using the RCI Passport club, we able to upgrade to a one-bedroom suite. Upon arrival, the concierge staff was extremely knowledgeable and helpful in providing information about the Phoenix area and providing an overview of the must-see attractions.

The resort had a very Spanish/Mexican flavour. The suite was immaculate and was fully equipped. The bed was comfortable and the resort provided good pillows. The bathroom was large and luxurious, with a Jacuzzi.

The resort is located minutes from Sky Harbour Airport and the interstates. We had no difficulty getting to the resort from the airport.

Although we didn't use the onsite recreational facilities other than the golf course, the pools and other facilities were very appealing.

• Unit Type: 1 Bedroom
• Activities: Excellent
• Amenities: Very Good
• Unit Satisfaction: Excellent
• Family Friendliness: Excellent
• Service: Excellent

The restaurant has a very nice decor and friendly staff. The meals came in large portions. Very popular place. Located at the Arizona Mills shopping mall.

The service was excellent. We received ball marks, repair tools, tees, and cool wet towels.

The course was well-manicured, with lush fairways and fast multi levelled greens. The course was well-bunkered. Some greenside bunkers were so deep that you couldn't see the green when you were shooting from them! The fairways were generous, but if you missed the fairways, the desert was punishing. The course was very scenic with interesting desert plants.

We loved the course so much that we played it twice. I would suggest leaving your cell phone in your suite. It went off on the third hole and I was on it for two holes. I ended up picking up my ball and passing until the phone call was done.

This course is a must play. The holes are carved along ridges and valleys, with extreme elevation changes. The fairways are undulating, as are the greens. If you miss the fairway, take a stroke . . . there is little hope of finding YOUR ball.

The scenery in the Prescott area includes everything from cacti to mountains, providing a spectacluar backdrop for your round.

Take a cart -- you are ill-advised to walk this course.

A beautiful mountain course. Well-maintained with some very scenic holes. Where do they get the water from? Fairways were lush, greens 11.5 on the stimp meter. Good elevation changes. A very enjoyable round.

The casino lacked the atmosphere of Las Vegas, but had lots of slot machines and tables. The casino is approximately a 20-minute drive from the resort. Had a little trouble figuring out the parking! It was dark and we turned into what appeared to be the parking lot entrance, but it was a one to the service entrance. I am sure I got a few looks driving across the pedestrian walkway to enter the parking lot.

It was a very quiet casino; the slots only pay out credit slips, not coins. That took away a bit of the atmosphere. All in all, if you like gambling, check it out, but if you want the excitement, well, that was lacking.

So what is a hockey team doing in the desert anyway? The old Winnipeg Jets moved here years ago from the frigid tundra of Canada to the scorching desert of Arizona. Good thing they've built a new arena -- this one was a less than ideal place to watch a game. I had to cheer for the Maple Leafs -- Canadian, eh! And they won. Great fans, good time. I can add another city's NHL game to my resume.

Unlike the desert, in Canada you are expected to have grass in your backyard!

But we don't!

It was off-season for many plants, so we didn't see a lot of blooms. But the diversity of plants presented was astounding.

They have also recreated different desert farms as part of the exhibit. It was very interesting to see how natives lived and thrived in the desert years ago.

You could certainly spend a few hours here and is well worth the price of admission if you have an interest in gardening, especially if you've never been exposed to desert plants.

They also have tours available, call them first to find out when, as with most things we were too late to take one.

Since we seem to love driving we took a day and travelled south from Phoenix. Our ultimate goal was Tombstone. On the way we stopped at an active Spanish Mission, in Tuscon at the visitor centre (we plan on going to Tuscon next time we go to Arizona), and for fresh pecans on the way. Add in a couple of stops for pictures, so what is a 2 1/2 hour drive became a 5 hour drive.

We got there later in the day, so the first thing we did was get roped into a 15-minute guided horse-and-wagon tour. I'm personally not sure it was worth the $5, but it did update our local history a bit.

They have done a good job of preserving a few blocks of the old town; most of the buildings are either souvenir shops or food/beverage establishments. After a long day on the road we had to stop and have a couple of beers at Big Nose Kate’s Saloon, which was fun. We found out that the bartender was from Toronto, Ontario. Small world -- we're in Toronto often. We didn't really get the story of how he ended up there, though it had something to do with the ‘60s!

Visit Boot Hill – it’s free, but don't plan on spending too long I was really surprised at how small it was. Most of the Tombstones were from the early 1860s.

The town museum is in the old courthouse, but I was told it was an hour to go through it. It was too close to closing for us, but from what I could see it looked interesting.