'U' are preaching to the choir here...

bnice--If you want to stay near Grand Canyon take a look at the Grand Hotel in the village of Tasayon (not sure of sp)its right outside the entrance to Grand Canyon. Cute little village and there are also other hotels--I think a Holiday Inn across the street.We had reservations at the El Tovar in the park and arrived 1 day early so we had to stay at the Grand Hotel and it was nice. big lobby--hunting lodge look. Sedona was charming, picturesque, but the drive in and out are interesting. Other than that --the food was good, artsy craftsy shops. I agree with Devorah, Flagstaff was interesting but not memorable. My son lives in the Phoenix area so we visit Arizona often. You can check to see if there are Indian sites you can visit, we have done that and some are interesting. No question, Grand Canyon is the place to spend some time. there are paths, shuttle buses if you don't want to walk. Places to just sit and look at the view. We enjoyed staying at the El Tovar, we are trying to stay at the National park lodges one by one and you do have to book over a year ahead. My favorite is the Ahwanee in Yosemite NP. wow!

The nothern Ca coast is perfect for a road trip, with many sights along the way. To make it easy on yourself, fly into the small Santa Barbara airport(if possible), and rent a car from there. Santa Barbara itself is a lovely, wonderful, bustling little village with plenty of shops, great food, the pier, and of course the magnificent beach! Oh, and USB is right on the ocean. You'll only be about an hour(a gorgeoous drive!)from San Simeon where Hearst Castle is located, but you would need to book your tours online beforehand~we dId two, one after the other, but don't recall which. I swear the views from the estate are a look into heaven! You will also be close to San Luis Obispo, a great little village with a ban of fast food chains. There's a tree~lined street you can't miss, which is reminiscent of a scene out of Gone With the Wind with the mighty Oaks and also the college with it's gorgeous grounds. I can't remember how far you will be from Solvang, but it's a short drive and well worth seeing this bit of Sweden-in-America! Monticeido and Summerland, are other small villages worthy of a bit of time, and close to each other. As an aside, i'm also somewhat of a 'food snob' and was happy to learn the majority of the small restaurants along the way have their own organic gardens and if not, the produce is bought locally from organic farmers/farmers markets. It's definitely a trip i'm planning to do again, and will take in Monterey and Carmel, possibly as far as San Fran/Sausilito. As for San Diego, I lived there for 27 years before moving to Austin, and it can get crazy on the freeways. Parking places at the beach are rare, restaurants can be a 2 hour wait, and if there's a baseball game, traffic can be at a standstill in every direction. The Del Mar Fair is in late June ending on July 4th, but two weeks later horse racing season starts~all this creates more traffic, etc in SD. Just a heads up, as it can become frustrating(and overwhelming!)and may be more than you bargained for. Just something to keep in mind if you plan a visit. Looking forward to your decision. You've been given some great ideas!

If you really want to experience the Grand Canyon you could do what a coworker did. He started on one side, ran down, then ran up the other side. Once there, the group thought maybe doing the reverse as they intended might not be a great idea since one of the guys had a cold. They found someone willing to give them a ride back to the other side but then discovered it would be a four hour drive. So they decided they might as well run back. So they did. They had started the trip at about 1 AM (lighting their way with head lamps) and figured on 13 hours. Took more like 16. Actually, I do not recommend this at all! lol Among other reasons - the park rangers, apparently, really frown on this running down and up and down and up adventure.