Visit the Musical Instrument Museum, it's amazing. Even the building is striking.

Cosanti Bell Foundry in Paradise Valley

Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin. A bit pricey, but interesting.

There's a desert botanical garden near the airport I think that is nice. And, to be honest, the zoo is pretty nice, too.

The Desert Botanical Garden in Scottsdale is very nice, they have one or two permanent Chihuly pieces and often have another sculpture exhibit going on. I was there in December.

Scottsdale is great for galleries and window(or other) shopping, it also has amazing restaurants. The garden followed by Scottsdale for walking around and a meal will be a great day.

The drive to Flagstaff will take you through Oak Creek Canyon which is beautiful and to Sedona. In Sedona, look for the Chapel Of the Holy Cross which is carved into a rock face and truly lovely.

Meteor Crater is interesting and, IMO, worth a stop(but I am a geek).

I also highly recommend Painted Desert and Petrified Forest Parks. Less visited, worth the trip.

It's not cheap but a helicopter ride around the Grand Canyon is spectacular. And no hiking involved.

If the shuttles are running, no hiking needed for GC.

Montezuma Castle Nat'l Monument is pretty neat--maybe not enough to make a special trip, but if you do drive by it, turn around and visit. There's a short walk but nothing difficult or long and--especially in spring--it's a lovely bit of nature in an ecosystem you don't expect to find right there.

Thank you all this community is so generous. I will give a more detailed response tonight. I truly appreciate all the suggestions.

Oh, yes, Montezuma Castle is worth a stop.

Canyon de Chelly is pretty neat, too, but probably out of your way.

Lucky you! We went to the Musical Instrument Museum, the Botanical Garden with the Dale Chilhuly glass art and also went to Sedona and the Grand Canyon. It was cold so we went only to the South Rim of the Canyon. Somewhere we fit in a trip over the Hoover Dam. I can't recall any restaurants, but I did buy some nice turqoise jewelry in Scottsdale.

The north rim is really weather dependent and can be snowed in until late. But that's where the bison are!

Thank you everyone. I had thought about a helicopter ride and if my friend is up for it so am I. We are staying in lower priced hotels so we can splerge on some fun things. I know we are going to the Botanical Garden and I am a huge Chilhuly fan. We are only spending two night is Flagstaff so I hope we have time to do more than a quick look at the Grand Canyon. Note it was snowing two days ago in Flagstaff. The Musical Instrument Museum looks neat and hope to get there. I love jewelry so may have to make some purchases. I would love to fit in a trip to the Hoover Dam but might have to do that on a return trip. The Montezuma Castle sounds great. Meteor Crater is just up my alley, not sure about my friend. I will be on the look out for the Chapel of the Holy Cross.

I'm making a list and checking both Groupon and Trip Advisor for any discount coupons. I can't thank you all enough for your great suggestions. I will check back here for any additional suggestions and will post a new thread when I return with a few photos and let you know how wonderful this trip was. I know with your suggestions it is going to be great and very busy.

Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff occasionally has night time star gazing “classes”. It was something fun to do after dinner and if I remember correctly no sign up was required. You can also ride the train from Williams AZ (~30 miles from Flagstaff) up to the GC. Too hokey?

The Heard Museum in Phoenix is one of my favorites. They have a great gift shop and a nice luncheon cafe.

Oh star gazing is right up my alley and so is a train ride. I love hokey.

I will look at the Heard Museum website. I think that may be the museum my friend said she must go to on this visit.

I also found a site for really hokey sky walk and a zip line. I may try both but boy they are expensive.

Thank you all I can't tell you how much I appreciate the help. I usually research a trip for weeks, but my life is spinning to fast to do much research.

Thank you everyone. I am back from Arizona where I had a great time. It was warmer than usual for this time of year, 80 during the day in Phoenix and 40 at the Canyon.

The Grand Canyon is amazing and may return in the next few years to really spend sometime exploring. While walking along the rim in the very crowded National Park 4 elk walked right in front of me as if I wasn't even there. I was awed to say the least.

The next day we visited the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument and Bonito Lava Flow. That is well worth the drive. It felt like I had landed on another planet. Black lava as far as I could see. Then we drove to the Wupatki Pueblo which was very interesting.

In Phoenix we visited the Botanical Gardens which was great. I love gardens and this was my first visit to a desert garden. The next day we visited Taliesin West and took a tour. The tour was great and I learned a lot and enjoyed the beautiful home/school.

When I return I will plan better and for a little longer period of time. I do want to try some hiking and of course some of the silly tourist thing like a train ride and mule rides etc.

Again thank you everyone for your suggestions. I will be back soon with questions about my next trip. I am still trying to choose which continent.

I've been close to the Grand Canyon but have never visited. We did go to Zion in Utah, however. I mostly go to southern Arizona (have close friends in Tucscon), and I especially like Chiricahua National Monument. It's like being on the set of a Roadrunner cartoon.

It's 80° here today in L.A. Glad you had a good time, but I'm a bit surprised that the Grand Canyon was crowded at this time of year, since it is rather cold there now.

I'm sure in the summer the Grand Canyon is wall to wall people. I felt like I was walking along a path in Central Park with someone around every corner, not the experience I expected. Granted we didn't go down the Canyon as my friend can't walk far and it was icy. I would not visit in summer but may come again in fall or spring. Next time I visit I probably will head to Tucson as my friend has family there.

I love visiting LA and do so every few years as I have several friends who moved west from NYC.

While ~2hr south of Phoenix, it is my absolute favorite place to go in AZ. if you hike the entire "trail" it is ~2m, but I don't usually as I run out of time. Since many of the best exhibits are near the entrance, should not be a problem for you.

https://www.desertmuseum.org/

I bought this vase at the gift shop at the desert museum