Flagstaff AZ

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Those who have read my blog, Wichita KS – Much More Than Cowboys and Cattle Drives, already know about the computer gremlins that haunted me near the end of 2015 and can skip to the next paragraph. For those new to my blog, welcome. A long story made short found all my MS Word blog files and my accompanying picture files deleted, so this blog is atypical of my standard product. It is brief and concise and is without pictures. My apologies, but regardless of the unadorned nature, I hope to provide potential travelers with some useful information that might make their trip more fulfilling. Thanks for reading, and please examine some of my pre-September 2015 blogs for a more representative sample of my work.

On Wednesday, October 14, 2015, I departed El Rancho RV & Mobile Home Park in Albuquerque to move to Black Bart’s RV Park in Flagstaff AZ – the final stop in the 2015 chapter of The Great Adventure. I have travelled through Flagstaff a few times but, like so many other cities, have never stopped to smell its own unique variety of roses. I had several attractions in my crosshairs, but the weather was totally uncooperative except for one day. That day found me taking a loop north of town with my first stop at the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. Within the park there are three trails of one mile or less and one 7-mile Forest Service trail which takes the visitor to O'Leary Peak. Backcountry hiking is not allowed in order to protect fragile geological and archeological features. I took in two of the less strenuous hikes and both were quite enjoyable.

My next stop was at the Wupatki National Monument which preserves numerous ancestral Puebloan villages. The area was once a bustling trading hub. Many of the ruins have footpaths leading to close proximity to the ruins and allow the visitor to examine what is left of the once thriving community. The two National Park Service facilities share a common border and taking a drive to explore both makes for an interesting and fulfilling day, but neither would make the A list for most tourists.

I had plans to visit the Museum of Northern Arizona, Lowell Observatory, and Walnut Canyon National Monument, all in Flagstaff, as well as Meteor Crater in Winslow AZ and, perhaps, to drive to Red Rock State Park in Sedona AZ; however, the weather dampened my motivation to get out and about. Not that it was raining continuously, it was just overcast, cold, windy and raining sporadically – the bone-chilling kinds of days it just plain feels good to stay inside. Out of necessity, I ventured to the grocery store but didn’t even get out to explore the local eateries. Fortunately, Flagstaff is an easy stopover on my departures from and/or my return trips to Phoenix metro.

I had made a five-month reservation at the same RV park where I have stayed since moving my winter headquarters west in spring 2014. I have little planned for this winter except to plan for next summer. Preliminary plans are to visit my aunt in Florida, work my way north to the “megalopolis” – the New York City, Baltimore and Philadelphia areas - and to travel westerly through Pennsylvania and Ohio as I watch the leaves provide their annual display.

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