Painted Desert/FlagstaffJul 7, 2010
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At the Painted Desert
As far as the eye can see
Tee Pees
| We left Santa Fe on Thursday the 1st and spent an unexciting night in Gallup, NM. Highlight was the Cowboy BBQ the RV park offered, complete with entertainment by a cowboy with a black hat, an eye patch and a Johnny Cash baritone voice that was actually pretty good. He was on sabbatical from his usual gig at the Golden Nugget in Tombstone. No pictures because his cranky wife wouldn't allow it. We left early the next morning and drove through the Painted Desert/Petrified Forest National Park. Scenery was awesome, pictures don't do it justice. Our Camp in Flagstaff is small and filled with very friendly people, about half live in hotter parts of Arizona and come here for the Summer. It's been sunny and warm (low 80's in the day and in the 60's at night) My heart goes out to all of you suffering through the heat waves back east. One thing we enjoy about the RV'ing is meeting people from all over, enjoying their company for a night or two, sharing some stories and trip adventures, things to see, then we all move on. Lot's to do around here. We are trying to hike for 45 minutes to an hour each morning to get acclimated to the altitude. The mountains that surround Flagstaff offer lots of trails through ponderosa pine forests, so we don't have to go far. We toured Sunset Crater volcano. It erupted sometime around 1040, no one seems worried about it popping off again, but the lava and cinders are still all over for miles around. The remains of the pueblos that housed the people who lived and farmed the area at the time of the eruption were still standing. (For those of you who crave details they were called the Wupatki and are the ancestors of modern Hopi's, Zuni's and Navajo.) We took a day trip down to Oak Creek Canyon and Sedona, beautiful Red Rock country about 30 miles south of here. It was 4th of July weekend and Sedona was a zoo of traffic, road construction, and what seemed like endless shops. We just drove on through and spent most of our day in the surrounding area enjoying the scenery instead of the crowds. (Sorry Paula no pics of town and shops, and Hil-Dee, never found that Gallery) We were going to stop at Morman lake on our way back but were told there is no longer a lake, just a dried patch of weeds. ( Mark and Ellen, didn't see your cousin). We spent some time at Lowell Observatory. Lots of exhibits and tours of their facilities all centered on Astronomy and outer space. (They discovered Pluto among other things.) Got to look through their original telescope, built in 1894. Saw a star cluster (M5 for you detail freaks) some 26,000 light years away. Not bad for an old telescope. Also saw Jupiter with it's rings and moons. Also pretty neat. In between we've watched World Cup Soccer (go Spain?), done laundry and relaxed. We are also trying to hit as many of Guy Fierri's Diners, Drive in's and Dives as we can find en route. (Those of you who do not know who I am referring to are living sheltered culinary lives.) We found two in Santa Fe (Tecolote and Harry's Roadside) and right now I have to go get ready to go to Salsa Brava... Check it out HERE. Tomorrow it's The Grand Canyon North Rim. No internet, no electricity but lot's of scenery. |
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