Arizona Canyons

Faint-Hearted Need Not Apply
High-Octane Outdoors Adventure Activities

Canyoneering might be a new word for your vocabulary but 360 Adventures guarantees that just one experience will have you hooked. The journey takes visitors to the Roosevelt lake area on hiking, wading, swimming, scrambling and rappelling excursions through one of geology’s most impressive feats, a canyon.

Professional guides navigate guests through spectacular chasms as they encounter the stunning elements. The full-day trip is $400 for the first person and $200 for each additional participant and includes all safety gear, snacks, water and lunch.  

Visit www.360-adventures.com for more information.

Come to where the mountains meet the desert and adventure meets escape, and enjoy one of Arizona’s most natural beauties, the Upper Salt River Canyon. Guests on a guided river trip with AAM’s Mild to Wild Rafting brave the rapids of the state’s 2,000-foot deep “other Grand Canyon” as they make their way through the Sonoran Desert scenery. The day-long excursion runs $115 per person and includes a grilled lunch. Or, guests can opt for the multi-day trip that runs $375 to $750 per person and includes a catered, deluxe river camp setup.

Visit www.mild2wildrafting.com for more information.

Westwind Air Service offers scenic air tours to some of the most spectacular locations in the Western United States, including the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Lake Powell and Sedona. Tours range from one-hour sunset flights above the Valley for $199 per person to the Grand Canyon South Rim Air Tour where guests pay $349 per person and enjoy the birds-eye view of the Tonto National Forest, Red Rock formations of Sedona and unforgettable San Francisco Peaks as they make their way through the Painted Desert and Navajo Indian Reservation before arriving at the Grand Canyon.

Visit www.westwindairservice.com for more information.

Redondo Beach, California

Photo courtesy: Redondo Beach Visitors Bureau

Redondo Beach is an historic beach town that typifies the Southern California lifestyle. It is a complete resort destination, with all types of accommodations and attractions, and it provides a safe place for fun and play. Once a commercial port, the City now has a pleasure pier with unique shops and restaurants, myriad water sport activities, marinas, and a sport fishing fleet. There's an attractive sea front esplanade that has been called one of the most romantic places in the world from which to watch a sunset.

Redondo Beach is just seven miles south of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), and by contrast has the character of an exclusive beach enclave miles from anything urban. It is just 18 miles from Downtown Los Angeles by automobile and is accessible to major freeways linking it to such attractions as Disneyland and Universal Studios.

Weather is temperate, and average annual precipitation is low. Summers are dry and warm, and rarely hot. It is a great place to escape from bitter cold winters or extremely hot and humid summertime climates.

Best Time to Visit:

Many of the millions of the annual visitors to Southern California visit Redondo Beach in summer, but others select off-season for the best travel deals. With weather seldom an issue in Southern California, Redondo Beach is an attractive destination, year round.

Visit www.redondochamber.org for more information.

Flagstaff, Arizona

Zuni Cultural Insights From the Source

Photo: Young Olla Maidens, photo © 2008 Michele Mountain/MNA

Zuni artists, musicians, educators, and scholars will bring to Flagstaff an opportunity for cultural exchange at the Museum of Northern Arizona’s 19th Annual Zuni Festival of Arts and Culture on Saturday, May 23 and Sunday, May 24.

Zuni worldviews and values will be explained and illustrated in the many presentations throughout the weekend, produced in partnership with the A:shiwi A:wan Museum and Heritage Center. Insightful talks, films from the Zuni museum’s archives, and traditional dances and music will express the many practices and beliefs of Zuni life.

Opening Ceremonies

Both Saturday and Sunday mornings at 9 a.m., Zuni and MNA officials will gather at the flagpole with Miss Zuni LaCretia Lastiyano and the Zuni Pueblo Band for a flag raising ceremony in front of the Museum. The Zuni flag will be raised next to the U.S. and Museum of Northern Arizona flags, where they will remain throughout the weekend.

Returning Presentations

The Nawetsa Family Dancers bring with them the pageantry of traditional Zuni social dancing. Colorful headdresses, beaded and fringed arm bands, and traditional woven outfits and jewelry add to their magical performance of dances symbolizing the dreams, visions, and beliefs of the A:shiwi.

The Olla Pottery Maidens, decorated with turquoise jewelry and traditional woven outfits, dance while carefully balancing water pots on their heads. The pots are indented on the bottom for this purpose and in the past, these same pots were used for carrying food and water.

More information about the Zuni Festival and the Museum of Northern Arizona is available at www.musnaz.org. The Museum is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. It sits at the base of the San Francisco Peaks and is located three miles north of historic downtown Flagstaff on Highway 180.