My dad, brother and myself are headed out there in a couple months to see family.. dad wants to see some of Route 66 so we are driving... Will be staying in Apache Junction.. So will be looking for things to do/places to eat. We will be hitting up the Grand Canyon and checking out Tombstone.. other than that... What else do we need to try and see/do?

While up north seeing the Grand Canyon, add Walnut Canyon to the list.
It's far less touristy. And if you are interested in survivalism , much more educational.

A landslide or washout?  I think it is still closed.

Still closed but can drive as far as the Fish Creek Hill overlook.  Worth the trip.

Wildfire and flooding have severely damaged the road.

Closures listed here. The road is closed between Canyon and Apache lake
https://azdot.gov/projects/southeast-district-projects/state-route-88-apache-trail

On my first visit to AZ in '97, I took a daytrip to Tortilla Flat to explore while my girlfriend went to a waterpark or something with her cousins.  Promised her I wouldn't go "up in the mountains" or anything.  Had a nice little visit, and then sure enough when I start heading back to town there was a tractor trailer or something stuck on one of the long bridges leading up to, I think, Canyon lake.  Long line of cars all stuck in a parking lot, told it would be hours.  I pulled out a roadmap and turned the rental car around.  Took the old dirt trail past Tortilla Flat all the way to Roosevelt Dam, found my way through Globe, and finally rolled into the driveway in Mesa just after dark.  No cell phones for me then so no one knew where I was and everyone was freaking out.  I will *never* forget driving what seemed like a one-lane dirt trail clinging to the side of a precipice somewhere past Tortilla Flat.  I was sure the roadway was going to collapse....

Bottom line, glad I knew how to read a map so I didn't have to sit and wait for hours for the bridge to clear, and I've got a nice (?) memory of the adventure.

A year prior this was first trip into the ‘back country’. Stopped at both Fish Creek and Fish Creek Hill, before the overlook area was developed. Being a young man who had never ventured far beyond the DFW area I felt like reaching the top of Everest wouldn’t be much more challenging, just cooler weather and that whole O2 thing. When clambering up a hill near the creek I needed to reach down into some vegetation to steady myself. Being August I knew to look before reaching in somewhere like that I’m glad I did. Found a NAA 22 that someone else must have been carrying for what I was looking out for. Great country out there compared here where it seems you can test levels everywhere.

Check out Desert flame ….

Just googled that...

Handlebars for really good grill food. Momo No Hana for legit Japanese.

If you are doing the GC, there are lots of other things off interstate 40.
Dinosaur Monument, Painted Desert, Meteor Crater, Walnut Creek (my wife kept asking if it was some kind of diorama).

AZ tourist spots

Thanks for that link.. Sedonia looks like a pretty nice place to visit. Might have to check it out.

Getting ready to leave out next weekend.. Hoping the red states out yalls way arent closing everything down.. Looks to be a shit show in the blue states lol

Wide open here.

Lots of dancers there who smoke parmesan cheese

Can't agree.  It's a straight-up tourist trap.  The food sucks, and there's really nothing there except a little kitsch.

Hold your breath, and pee while driving through New Methicko.  I keed you knot.