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Vacation on a Budget: Going to the Dogs

© Mari Brodersen

Good news! You can live simply and still take vacations. In this series of articles, I will share my travels with you, along with costs and reviews of lodging and restaurants, as well as sites of local interest.

Our upcoming Australia trip has given us plenty of budgeting opportunities. We continue to love taking our short trips, however. In fact, these little trips have become almost habit.

As my birthday approached, my husband asked, "What do you want for your birthday?" At first, I had no answer. I spent a few days - perhaps a week - before the answer came to me, "I want to get out of the city and go some place cool where I can have time to read and write and relax." Ron immediately suggested the Arizona Sled Dog Inn.

Earlier in the year, we had been researching via magazines and Internet, bed and breakfast inns in Arizona. The Arizona Sled Dog Inn had interested both of us for several reaons. It's up in the North Country, not too far outside Flagstaff, a 2-hour drive from home, and -- certainly not least of all -- the inn's grounds are home to 14 Siberian husky sled dogs

I hadn't heard a dog sing (howl) since before Gypsy's passing in October, and was eager to hear canine song again. When I called to make our reservations at the Inn, I booked the room most likely to receive the full benefit of the "Siberian serenade."

Ron and I left home on a Friday afternoon, and our route took us from our smog-filled, lower Sonoran desert valley to the high Sonoran desert mountains just north of the city. This is only one of the many life-zone transitions between Phoenix and Flagstaff. We would also pass through a high desert plateau, the Verde River valley, and pinyon-juniper forest before reaching the Ponderosa pine forest that covers much of northern Arizona.

When we arrived at the inn our host, Jaime Ballesteros, gave us a tour of the grounds which included a hot tub, climbing wall, and the kennels. The inn's three patios offered views of the kennels, while the lodge housed two common areas, a dining room, and the guest rooms. The lodge building itself, built by our host, appeared to be very well-maintained and was so clean that it glowed.

Our room, The Eagle's Nest, decorated in green and scented by the Ponderosa pines outside, was also very clean. Though it was small, it suited our purposes.