Flagstaff, Family at Phoenix and Scenic Sedona

We moved back to the east to Mund's Park, just south of Flagstaff for our next jaunt. We love Flagstaff with the cool temperatures, beautiful forests and mountains! Linda's niece is attending NAU and her sister lives in Phoenix, so we were able to visit while in the area. Mund's Park is listed as an RV resort, but it appears to be developing heavily with park models. We liked the recreation room and fantastic covered porch for a change of scenery while internet browsing. We had to back out of our pull through site due to space limitations, but fortunately, the park was not heavily occupied. The park was busy preparing for a busy summer season, so the pool was inaccessible due to repairs and there was some major work going on water lines. We had no problems and the site was inexpensive and quiet with a huge laundry room.

I must make a confession. As you know, the title of the blog is, "Yes dear, I'm watching the flare". Well, one morning in Holbrook I was backing away from Burger King with a bag of breakfast tacos without my co-pilot and I forgot the rule. A poorly placed light pole on a large concrete base broke the composite material rear quarter-pannel right at the flare for the dual rear wheels. We took the opportunity of this longer stay in a larger city to set up with a body shop to have the truck repaired.

Lindsey, Linda's niece, gave us a tour of downtown Flagstaff and the NAU campus. The town was very quaint and full of interesting places and the NAU campus was gorgeous. It was relatively quiet as finals week was upon the students, so no crowds of pedestrians and bicyclists.

We drove a few miles east to Walnut Canyon National Park and toured the cliff dwellings. A moderate trail descends a few hundred feet to allow close-up views of the chiseled out areas in the side of the canyon. Soot is visible from fires burned long ago and NPS staff has rehabilitated a few of the walls to envision the living circumstances of the tribes that most recently inhabited the canyon (about 800 years ago). The Indians are now labeled as the Sinaguas (Spanish for 'no water') to mark their ability to farm and survive in such an arid area. The canyon itself is quite green, but farming the surrounding area looks very intimidating with the dry, rocky soil. Across the canyon are still more cave dwellings, and a park ranger advised that those had not been disturbed. The crafstmanship of the Indians was amazing to see as it had withstood all those years!

On the weekend, we drove down to Phoenix without the trailer to stay with Linda's sister. Bless her heart, she was also welcoming home her two college age kids on the same weekend! We sampled several meals in the Phoenix restaurants and took a day hike with Patricia. Squaw Butte is within Phoenix and climbs about 800 feet in a little over 2 miles. We're new at hiking, but think this is classified as a moderate challenge. It was very challenging for us at our current fitness level and it was a good thing we got off the mountain before too much later as the temperatures in Phoenix are just beginning to get brutal!

We enjoy meeting new faces along our travels, but it was so great to visit with family (and to indulge in having a really LONG shower in a bathroom that was so much roomier than the camper)! Kids grow up so fast - wonderful to see the kids growing into adulthood and glimpse their pursuit of their future. All of them were doing so well and maturing in faith and responsibility - way to go kids! We missed capturing the boys on camera, but here's Lindsey and her roommate Megan with our guys...

We returned to Mund's Park via Sedona - gorgeous! John and Tricia guided us to a riverside resort that oozed peace, quiet and beauty then ate at a great spot with a view of the sunset painted wall of the canyon. The canyon drive is always amazing - but we couldn't help being thankful to do so without the trailer! We've seen rumors of trailer length restrictions along Hwy 89A, but legal or not - we're NOT towing along that roadway! We didn't make an intended drive to Prescott, but will return another season to do so. We likely will return to Mund's Park or Camp Verde a bit closer to Phoenix when we return to Arizona.

Back in Flagstaff, we also took an evening trek to the Lowell Observatory. We had a great time with the boys, participating in hands-on exhibits, peering at Saturn through the HUGE telescope and visiting with volunteers that had brought their own telescopes to share. The mountain top views of the city were beautiful, but couldn't compare with the sight of the stars. Add the quiet and aroma of the forest pines and you've got an evening not soon to be forgotten!

When Lindsey was free from final exams and had a day off from work, she took us to a cave called "Lava Tubes" in the Kaibab National Forest west of Flagstaff. We drove along some pretty bumpy dirt roads in the forest to get to the trail, sometimes having to slow to less than 5 mph. What a terrific way to truly explore an undeveloped cave - no artifical lights or paved paths here! We climbed across some pretty good size boulders into the cave entrance to find a frozen waterfall just a few yards from the entrance! The temperature outside the cave was around 53-80 F, but quickly sank to much colder temperatures in the protection of the earth around us. At one point, we all turned off our flashlights to experience the true darkness. It didn't take long for us to turn the flashlights back on again! We didn't make it all the way to the end of the cave - about 1 1/4 miles, but we hope to return again WITH our camera!

We'll likely be back in Arizona next winter!