Moms share: My family’s best spring break vacation

Paula Danner and her family went a bit off the beaten path — literally:

For my husband’s 50th birthday spring break last year, we took him to Las Vegas/Grand Canyon. Since my husband and I don’t gamble and my kids only a bit (kidding) this was an odd choice. Little did we know, the highlight would not be the glitz of Vegas or the grandeur of the Grand Canyon, or the razzing hubs/dad about his imminent decline, but rather a last-minute detour to the Devil’s Bridge in Sedona.

At first we were perplexed why Sedonians looked at us as if we were aliens when inquiring about the entrance road to the Devil’s Bridge. But, once we found the road and began to subject our mid-sized rental car to three miles of rocks and ruts of Grand Canyon proportion it became clear (suddenly the jeeps with huge tires winging past us all made sense).

Eventually, we made it to the parking lot dirt patch at the foot of the hiking trail with the axle amazingly still attached to the car. From there, we hiked two miles, uphill — because, at this point it was see the Devil’s Bridge or die trying. When we turned the last corner and got our first view of the Devil’s Bridge it took our breath away. And then, walking across the Bridge was all at once exhilarating, terrifying and beyond cool!

Now, if you plan to seek out the Devil’s Bridge or are turning 50, I have one very important piece of advice. When you get there, seriously, don’t look down!