Seeking Advise for Western trip

About to head out on our first trip out west for one month. Plan to take I-40 from Tennessee to Arizona.  Would appreciate anyones feedback on what not to miss, what to skip, or other general, etc.    Plan mostly southwest this time and some Utah.  Wife cannot do long days due to health issues..  Thanks.

If you are going to Flagstaff, Sedona is a very scenic area less than an hour south. Very scenic town and the road going there is awesome. Take some side roads and enjoy the scenery. The main town is set in a red rock backdrop and is beautiful. Take the car from Flagstaff as the road to Sedona is not suitable for your mh. From Flagstaff you are under an hour the opposite way to the south rim of the grand canyon. The canyon has a lot of walking, but you can take a bus around the loop. We had the dogs with us the day we went, and couldnt take the dogs on the bus. It added up to a lot of walking. There are some roadside views as well to the east of the main visitors center. Hover dam is in Arizona, but if you want to stay in the Grand Canyon area, Page Arizona is only a few hours from Flagstaff. It has the Glen Canyon Dam which is only a few feet shorter than the Hoover Dam. Page also has the slot canyons and the horseshoe bend on the Colorado River. Monument valley is close to Page as well and is in Utah. I absolutely love the area and will return when I have more time to concentrate on the Sedona, Flagstaff, Grand Canyon,and Page area. Was the nicest scenery we saw in our 6000 mile tour of the western and southwestern states. We didnt have time to investigate Zion National Park, and Bryce canyon which are also in the southern Utah area. Looks spectacular as well. Have a good trip.

Since there are health issues, you should keep in mind that Flagstaff is about 7,000 feet, and even Albuquerque (en route on I-40) is just over 5,000, with something over 7,000 in Tijeras Canyon just before ABQ. In fact, once near ABQ, you'll be spending most of your time along I-40 at 5,000 or higher, until near California. Phoenix is about 1500, but there's lots of high stuff before getting there.

So if altitude is a problem, I-10 is a better route west, once you're into New Mexico and states west.

But if altitude isn't a problem, then I-40 is a fine route. Just west of ABQ, about half way to Grants, is "Sky City," more properly Acoma Pueblo, which is a complete pueblo on a mesa, that is, up high, which gave it its nickname. Just a little past that is Grants, NM, sitting at the foot of Mt. Taylor, where you can see the malpais (Spanish for bad rock, or the lava there), with extensive lava beds even along the highway.

And in eastern Arizona you'll encounter the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest national parks, plus Meteor Crater a bit further west. That's all before getting to Flag, a beautiful town. North of Flag, of course, is the Grand canyon. One nice way to get there is to stop in Williams, AZ, a bit west of Flag along I-40, and take the Grand Canyon Railroad to the canyon -- it's a very nice trip. You'll have about three hours before the train returns to Williams, but if you have reservations, you can also stay overnight (or more than one night) in the park and catch the return train another afternoon.

We have driven this route several times going out to visit our son and grand son.  Much very good advise.

My list:  Petrified Forest / Painted Desert.  This is basically one park.  Easy off the interstate, through the park and back on the interstate an exit or two later.
Meteor Crater is an unbelievable sight!  Just a few miles off the interstate.
Flagstaff is a nice town, but its claim to fame is as a gateway to Sedona and the Grand Canyon.  Both are must see.  As noted the road to Sedona is NOT RV friendly at all!  If you do not have a toad, take an alternate route, like the interstate south.
Hoover Dam is an interesting sight!
I loved Bryce Canyon in Utah.

We stayed in Flagstaff last year for over a week, here are some of our suggestions.

There's a quaint old mining town, around an hour, hour and a half drive, called Jerome. It is higher up and streets a bit hilly, but fairly manageable. It is now inhabited by artists,  lots of art galleries and a few potteries. A must see for me is Nellie Bly's, a shop selling hundreds of kaleidoscopes. They also have a workshop where you can make one. The price is the same as if you bought one. Workshop only on in October though.

http://www.nellieblyscopes.com/events---scope-week.html

Tuzigoot is close to here, another Indian dwelling site well preserved.

Also within an hours drive - Walnut Canyon where you can see the Indian cliff dwellings and you don't need to go a long way to see them. Montezuma's Castle which you can see with a very short flat walk. Montezuma's well is close by too, a flat walk, there is another slightly steeper one too so you can choose.  Indian Petroglyphs can be seen on a relatively short, flat, but hot, walk at the V Bar V heritage site, also in this area.

Sunset Crater is very pretty with a flat walk.  That road leads to more Indian ruins called Wupatki National Monument which we were too late to see but looked very well preserved, we will go back here. We also saw a bear run across the road close to there!

The Lovell Observatory is very interesting and worth a visit. Your ticket let's you go back at night too.

Seligman is a quaint Route 66 town and 40 minutes away.

If you decide to go to the Petrified Forest stop in Winslow Arizona to "stand on the corner" and get your photo taken.  Look out for the Hopi Mesas in the distance, they are pretty, we were told they weren't worth visiting but if anyone has a differing opinion I'd be interested to hear it.

Sedona is very busy so expect delays when driving through it, particularly in town centre. Chapel of The Holy Cross is nice to visit with great views.  Palatki is another Indian dwelling, a slightlytougher walk though and if you go get a stick at the entrance as it helps. There are 2 sites and you need to book this.

Red Rock State Park has easy walks and some hummingbird feeders out the back where you can sit and watch them feeding. We saw our first proper sight of them here.

Crescent Moon Park is nice for a picnic, there are swimming holes here.

Also if you can manage a 4x4 drive up Schebly Hill gets you some incredible views. It is a proper 4x4 road from Sedona side though. The do jeep tours so that might be an idea if you don't want to do it yourself.

Look for the milky way at night if it's dark.

Good sunset from the airport road, but it's busy.

Busy Mexican,  Elote Cafe, is fantastic but doesn't take reservations so get there before opening time to get a table. Food awesome as arequested the margaritas.  They provide blankets if your seat is on the patio if it gets chilly. If you go here you must try their signature starter Elote - Fire roasted corn with spicy mayo, lime, and cotija cheese, yummy!

Have a great time!  8) 

View from Schnebly below.

Just reread your post.  Also consider Bisbee a mining town with some history. Lavender Jeep Tours was good. It's near Tombstone which was a bit touristy but nice to see. Chiracahua National Monument is fantastic with a couple of easy walks. Looks like you can camp there too. You can see the head of Cochise lying down from one of the view points. Beautiful place. We got great photos of some little birds there.

https://www.nps.gov/chir/planyourvisit/index.htm

Sonoita mountains beautiful also.

Couple of drives to do in the car -  Coronado and Apache trails. Check them on Google.  We didn't own our TT when we did these and one definitely not for rvs.

I forgot about Tombstone. Really nothing special but the history is cool. Makes for some great photos for your album. Boothill graveyard is there as well with some famous graves. Seems like they 20 buck you to death there. Was still worth the visit. Was just O.K. (corral).pardon the pun. I you do go there, there are caves close by called Kartchner caves. They were pretty interesting as well. You have to walk the cave, but it was handicap accessable with concrete paths throughout. A shuttle takes you from the main entrance up to the caves.

We thoroughly enjoyed Meteor Crater last month.

From the Grand Canyon Visitor's Center it is 25 miles to Desert's Edge. This is the far eastern end of the South Rim. Very enjoyable drive with lots of lookouts with ample parking and signage about what you are looking at. Stop in the Visitor's Centrr for a free map.. Once at Desert's Edge you can visit the Watch Tower.