Blogs from Flagstaff, Arizona, United States, North America - page 13

Michelle said she’d lend me her bike while I’m in Santa Cruz, but I’d have to fix the flat first, so on the first Monday after my arrival I took it down to the Bike Church. However, Monday was also President’s Day, and on the door was a note that read: “Due to Lance Armstrong’s ongoing relationship with Ashley Olsen the Bike Church will not be open today. Oh also, it’s President’s Day! :) “ This President is one I’m happy to celebrate, and the lovely volunteers at the Bike Church gave me a good chuckle along with the bad news, so it didn’t bother me that I couldn’t get my vehicle working as soon as I had been hoping to. Kevin’s work was just around the corner, so I dropped off the bike in their ... read more

Last minute travel can be awesome - I found a last minute cheap flight to Phoenix, and decided to go see the Grand Canyon. Flying in on the early flight Monday morning gave me the whole day to enjoy Arizona. I was planning on driving straight towards Sedona, but was sidetracked by a brochure I saw showing a Chihuly exhibit at the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix. I've always wanted to see a Chihuly installmant in an outdoor setting, but this was the first chance I've had. Dale Chihuly is known for his impressive glass sculptures and his work is almost always instantly recognizable. The Desert Botanical Gardens was pretty cool by itself, with more types of cacti then I ever knew existed. The Chihuly glass was beyond cool - there were so many great ones, ... read more

We had a long way to drive and so made the effort to get out of bed before 9am. We were packed and on the road by 9.30 and heading east towards Arizona. After a few hours we crossed the border into Arizona and made it to Phoenix by mid afternoon. We stopped briefly for a coffee before pushing on the last 140 miles north to Flagstaff. This was to be our base camp for visiting the Grand Canyon. When we arrived, it was getting dark so we checked into a hotel, went to Subway for our classic dinner and relaxed in the room as we were all pretty tired!... read more

Thrifty Travel Tip #6: If you can fit into a group of people that have open access to a public showering facility, 24 hour buildings, and free entertainment in the evening, say a college, you have a free place to stay... so do it. Thrifty Travel Tip #7: Stop in the welcome centers to new states and new cities. You can get free information about the cities and attractions as well as free maps. There are also drinking fountains to refill your water bottles and public restrooms that are usually fairly clean. Hey Ya'll, No sleep till LA. That's our newest theme song. Sleeping in the car for the second night in a row is the most SUCK thing in the world... well, maybe not in the world but on this trip so far, it was. ... read more

I spent my summer working odd jobs in wooster, Ohio. the tedium eroded my sunny disposition. i couldnt bear to get lost in the undulating waves of past and present. i couldnt hold on to any train of thought. i had nothing to hold on to at all. so all it took was a whim to uproot me. i have moved to the island of Kauai. but first i wanted to spend a week with Vince Mariola in Arizona. This was not my first trip to the Grand Canyon. my first time was with my brother Zach just after graduating from college. i had visited the wide gaping abyss 4 times but i had never ventured beyond the rim. That was to change. Vince had secured permits for camping on the canyon floor. Vince picked me ... read more