One of the perks of my new job (okay, not that new, I’ve been there since October 2024) is that I get to work remotely most days. This summer, we decided to take full advantage of that flexibility and head back to a VRBO we previously enjoyed in North Naples, Florida.
We flew down on a Wednesday evening, right after I wrapped up my workday. My plan was simple: log in from the house for two days, enjoy the Florida sunshine from my laptop, and then roll straight into a vacation. The house has its own pool and hot tub, complete with a lanai, so I could set up my workspace in the kitchen overlooking the pool. While I worked, Travis and Jack lived their best pool life, hopping in and out of the water all day long.
By knocking out two full workdays remotely, I only had to take two additional days off to stretch a long weekend into a full week of Florida sun. We flew home early the next Wednesday, and I was logged back in that morning. So yeah, I’m loving the work/life balance!
What We Did:
When I say we had the laziest vacation ever, I mean it. Most days we alternated between reading on the couch (me and Travis), playing video games from a bed nest (Jack), checking out the local thrift stores, eating all the food, going in and out of the pool, and walking along the nearby beach. One night, we enjoyed both a rainbow AND a sunset at the Delnor-Wiggins beach.
Where We Ate:
We revisited: Turco Tacos, Michaelbobs BBQ and Kilwins for ice cream. New places we enjoyed: Steamers Seafood, Mystic Lobster Roll Company, and Naples Brunch Restaurant.
Where We Shopped:
Most of our thrifting luck was had at the nearby Goodwill locations. However, I also found a couple fabulous scores at the St. John’s Shoppe consignment store.
I barely changed out of my swimsuit all week and it was PERFECT. I actually ended the week feeling rested and refreshed!
I’ve done yoga in a studio. I’ve done yoga in a greenhouse. I’ve done yoga while following along with a Peloton instructor while Ollie tries to tackle me. But this weekend… I did yoga with alpacas.
Yes. Alpacas.
And it was fun. And a little stinky.
I signed Travis, Jack and me up for a yoga class at Black Barn Alpacas, which is exactly what it sounds like… yoga surrounded by fluffy alpacas. Typically, the class is offered outside in their fields; however, since it was a rainy day, our class was held in a large indoor alpaca barn.
Before class started, we had some time to mingle with the herd and get over the initial ‘why does it look like every middle school boy’ feeling.
Then, we rolled out our yoga mats and a nice instructor put a little pile of alpaca food at the end of each mat to encourage them to chill with our group.
Spoiler alert: They were NOT interested in us.
Instead, we enjoyed an hour-long yoga class and the group of alpacas that they let out of their pens just kind of swarmed around and moved from side to side of the barn. It was a weird mix of relaxing into stretches and hilarious when you’d accidentally make eye contact with an alpaca.
Fun fact: it’s a little hard to do deep breathing through your nose and out your mouth when it smells like alpaca poo. Just saying.
Anyways, Jack lost interest about halfway through the class, so he went and played with the alpacas. Which was SO MUCH better than having to listen to “is it almost over yet” a million times while trying to hold yoga poses. 5 out of 5 stars… highly recommend!
After the class, they handed out little cups of alpaca feed and let us go wild hanging out with the alpacas. We were allowed to go in any of the pens, feed them, pet them, and laugh at their silliness.
Family Verdict: WE LOVED IT! It was a fantastic, slightly ridiculous way to spend a Saturday afternoon and I highly recommend trying it out!
For part three of our Arizona Family Adventure series, let’s talk about Prescott! Why did we decide to stay in Prescott? Well, Sedona is expensive. Instead of staying in Sedona like we did last time, we looked for a spot that was within easy driving distance to both Phoenix and Sedona — with a bit longer (but totally manageable) drive to the Grand Canyon for a day trip. Prescott quickly rose to the top of our list, and I narrowed our VRBO searches to Prescott and nearby Prescott Valley.
We ended up renting a house perched on the side of a mountain in Prescott, complete with absolutely gorgeous views from the deck and hot tub. If you’ve only ever stayed in hotels, let me wax poetic about the magic of renting a VRBO for just a moment:
You get your own house, which makes it feel like you’re truly part of the community.
You can be as introverted as you want! No hotel registration lines. No awkward elevator small talk. No sharing walls with strangers and listening loud conversations as people walk down the hallways while you’re trying to sleep.
A full kitchen and laundry room are a must. We always make sure our rental has both, so we can eat meals at “home” and travel with just carry-on suitcases — doing laundry halfway through the trip.
We like to add a little extra luxury, renting places with a spectacular view, hot tub, or private pool whenever possible. Honestly, it’s amazing how much further your money can go renting a whole house instead of a hotel room!
On our Spring Break 2025 trip, we spent 2 ½ days in Prescott – day 2, day 4 (Easter) and the afternoon of day 5.
Day 1: A Donut Stop before the Grand Canyon and Red White Brew After
Okay, I’m going back in time a bit. We already talked about our Day 1 adventure to the Grand Canyon. However, I wanted to make sure to tell you all about Outlaw Donuts. We stopped there for breakfast and ordered coffee, homemade donuts, and even a breakfast wrap and everything was delicious. If you are staying in Prescott (or even driving through), it’s a fantastic hole-in-the-wall that needs to be added to your itinerary!
After our Grand Canyon visit we pulled back into town hungry, so we stopped by Red White Brew because the menu looked good and they were open until 9pm. I ordered the chicken parmigiana to share with Jack and Travis ordered the chicken marsala. The food was great and the portions were so huge that we not only enjoyed dinner, but had plenty for lunch the next day.
Day 2: Shopping and All the Weather
After a long drive to the Grand Canyon and back on Day 1, we decided to take it easy on Day 2. The weather forecast was calling for chilly temps and a bit of rain, so it felt like the perfect excuse to throw on our comfiest clothes and spend the day exploring downtown Prescott.
We drove to Courthouse Plaza on South Montezuma Street, where there was lots of free parking and easy access to a bunch of stores, restaurants and bars. We then wandered around and poked our heads into pretty much every store around. Some of our favorites were: Prescott Trading Company, the shops in Whisky Row, Arts Prescott Gallery and Drawn West.
We headed back to the house to heat up our leftovers from Red White Brew, watched a little TV and then decided to head out to explore some thrift stores. We ended up checking out a Goodwill and two different locations of the Disabled American Veteran’s Thrift Store (DAV). You can learn more about the DAV thrift stores and their mission here. The thrifting in Prescott was excellent with great items and really low prices. You can see my thrift scores here, but Travis also ended up with some tee shirts, a super soft plaid flannel shirt and an Under Armour hoodie.
When we were driving around thrifting, we were SHOCKED when the rainy weather turned into giant flakes of snow! We decided to check out a nearby tapas restaurant, El Gato Azul, and had a delicious dinner while watching the snow float down. I love a fun, tapas menu and it’s a great opportunity for us all to taste some different things (even Jack). We ended up ordering: artichoke & spinach dip, Mediterranean nachos, fried artichokes, and carnitas.
It actually ended up snowing a few inches, so we woke up to a winter wonderland the next morning… before it all melted and it was 70 degrees again.
Day 4: Hiking The Granite Dells at Watson Lake
Day 4 was Easter and I knew that we wanted to stay away from the ‘touristy’ areas like the Grand Canyon or Sedona, so we planned to have a Prescott hiking day. I was really excited to see the Granite Dells at Watson Lake, and the hike did not disappoint. In fact, it may be one of my favorite hikes that I’ve EVER done!
We parked at the Flume Trailhead and then hiked the Flume Trail to the Watson Dam Trail. Basically, on our way out every time we got to a split in the path we would stick to the right. The path was marked extremely well with white dots to follow. Some of the hike was sticking to a path, but then other parts were climbing over gigantic rocks or up the side of a mountain. It was surreal and it felt like we were on another planet. We saw less than a dozen people out and about while we were hiking and it was absolutely beautiful. Once we got to the top of the trail, we were able to look down into the Watson Lake.
I cannot stress how much I loved the hike. In fact, when we were trying to decide what to do on Day 5 (Sedona or another Granite Dells hike on the South side of the lake), I was kind of leaning towards a second Dells hike.
Since that evening was Easter, we didn’t want to depend on a restaurant being open to feed us, so we stopped by Trader Joes to pick up some more food and ended up having some delicious home cooked steaks for Easter dinner.
Take a ball and throw it around on the courthouse lawn. Jack had an oversized hacky-sack and had a great time stretching his legs on Day 5 after the ride home from Sedona.
Bigger kids/teens – Jack LOVED the Granite Dells hike. I mean, there was not one complaint from him the entire time!
Here are some photos from hiking the Granite Dells at Watson Lake:
This is the end of my three-part series on our Arizona Family Adventure – Grand Canyon, Sedona and Prescott. Let me know if you have any questions or need any other tips!
