Adventures Atop Airport Mesa

After two busy weekends back-to-back, Corey was ready to spend some time with his family. We really haven't seen much of him while his work has been jamming. When he is at home, he's on the phone or entering orders, or emailing confirmations, or scheduling drivers, or calling clients....you get the idea. So now that there is a slight lull between events, he can take a few minutes to go out to eat with the family, as well as plan a little adventure.

We wanted to try something new for breakfast, and so we started brainstorming on possible eats. One of the places that was suggested was Mesa Grill. We have only ever been out to eat there once as a family after they remodeled the restaurant. We tried this location when my parents visited a couple years ago right after Lily was born. It was good, but not a place we wanted to venture back to with two small children. Their main dinning room has a bit of an echo, and until just recently, our children were not exactly quiet diners. Now we are at a point where they can sit, color, play on their "devices" if necessary and eat their food with relative grace.



The kids put the outdoor dance floor to
good use after breakfast at Mesa Grill.

So this morning, for our family time, we decided that we needed to try something new. Our usual breakfast outings at Wildflower and Café Jose seemed tired; we were on the lookout for an breakfast adventure! Where else could there be more adventure than at a noisey eatery on top of a mesa next to an airport? Watching planes take off and land, helicopters chopping overhead, and the top of the Red Rocks in view were all a part of our breakfast experience. Mesa Grill is located on top of the central mesa in Sedona, Airport Mesa. Airport Mesa is also home to  a scenic overlook, several trail heads, Sky Ranch Lodge, as well as a teeny-tiny airport that mostly specializes in private charters and commercial tours around Sedona.

As we were heading back home after our delicious breakfast, Corey called Sky Safari, one of the tour companies that operates off of Airport Mesa. Corey had just finished working with a big tour group that experienced the helicopter tours as a part of their Sedona visit. He was eager to take the entire family up into the blue yonder in Red Rock Country after that. I was shocked that Lily was even able to go on the tour. (When he first asked me, I tried to use her as an excuse, "I'm pretty sure Lily will be freaked out by the helicopter, so maybe I'll just stay back while you and Carrick go up." His reply to this was, "Nonesense. You're going."

I was terrified to the point of having sweaty feet in my flip-flops after taking my position inside the helicopter. It didn't help matters that I was assigned the seat next to the pilot, in the front seat,

complete with a plexiglass floor at my feet. My husband and children were in the back, blocked from view by our seats, but we could all talk to each other via headset. When the pilot asked us for silence on the headset just before takeoff Carrick replied, "Roger that," and I burst out laughing. His momentary bit of comedic relief distracted me enough that I didn't notice we were leaving the ground.

All of a sudden, the earth was getting further and further away from me and I could only feel a slight jostling. There was really no point of reference for my body, it felt like being on a really smooth roller coaster. It reminded me of being on a loop-de-loop; feeling like my body was being pressed against the seat of the roller coaster, and the earth just shifting beneath me. That's sort of the sensation I felt while up in the air. The earth would move, and I would just jostle. Very strange.


I had to manage my breathing and not hyperventilate during our 15 minute sky ride around Sedona. I managed to stay completely still in my seat, and not freak the pilot out. I am really glad I went on the tour, scared though I was. Now I can check that off my bucket list: Helicopter ride. Add that to venturing out to a potentially kid-unfriendly restaurant, and I was ready to call it a day. Adventure Complete.

My half of breakfast at Mesa Grill- $22.00
(Sky Safari was part of our Family Fun budget.)

Balance this pay cycle: $57.00
Happy Spending!

P.S. That first picture of the Sedona landscape was taken from my vantage point inside the cockpit, just in case you were wondering.

P.P.S. Some of you might have caught my mathematical error in my previous post. I changed my balance for the pay cycle from $89 to $79 to reflect the actual balance.