With a check-in time of 4:00, we had 8 hours to spare. We headed North on Interstate 17 into Flagstaff for a stop at the Beaver Street Brewery for lunch. Next it was East on Interstate 40 to the exit for Walnut Canyon National Park. Had we been 30 years younger we could have taken the staircase with 240 steps to the bottom of the canyon to explore the cliff dwellings. Actually, we could have made it to the bottom, but the climb back up at 6,600 feet was a little out of our current endurance. We did get some pretty good view of some of the dwellings from the top of the canyon, and the visitor center was good.
With still time to spare it was further East on Interstate 40 to the La Posada Hotel in Winslow, Arizona, so Barb could to a little shopping. And a little shopping she did.
Back in Flagstaff we had dinner at a very good small, hole-in-the-wall, strip mall Italian restaurant. Excellent food and great opera music.
To be continued...
Day 2 started with breakfast at the hotel that was part of the room package. Free is not always good and this breakfast proved the point. We will pass on this freebie tomorrow and head to Chick-Fil-A.
Our destination for the day was the Grand Canyon and that started with heading West on Interstate 40 to Williams, Arizona. Williams was important because the Safeway there has a Starbucks and we run on Starbucks. Another 59 miles took us to the Park. The Grand Canyon is in Arizona, but you would think you were in California from all the license plates. Out of 10 cars 7 would be from California, 1 from Arizona and 2 from some other state. Even though the Park was packed we did manage to find a few parking spots that got us views of the Canyon. Pretty impressive hole in the ground.
We didn’t spend as much time in the Park as planned. Perhaps we will go back when kids are in school and most vacations are over. Rather than head back to Williams, we decided to Desert View Drive to Cameron, Arizona. Interesting drive. Once out of the Park we began to see vendors alongside the road where ever there was room to put up a stand. Finally decided we must be on an Indian reservation and sure enough we were. Yes, a Navajo reservation. If you want to see poverty, this would be a good place to start.
Lunch in Cameron was very, very good. McAlister's Deli doesn't exactly sound Navajo, but the ladies working the counter were and I guess that counts.
Heading South back towards Flagstaff we could see rain ahead. As it turned out we encountered some very heavy rain, which meant we really were into monsoon season in Arizona. Before we got into the rain the temp of 97 degrees. Four miles into the rainfall the temp had dropped to 59 degrees. Worked better than our misters at home. Managed a shopping stop at Dillard's, where I purchased a new wallet to replace the current one that seems for fall apart a little more every day.
Dinner was better than average fajitas at one to the many Mexican restaurants in Flagstaff. Back at the hotel I tried unsuccessfully to exchange wallet stuff and finally decided the new one will be returned.
To be continued...
Day 3 started with the same breakfast as yesterday. I know, we were going to pass, but the urge to get on the road home was too much for us.
The drive home was uneventful. The Interstate headed North was packed with traffic. I suppose people heading for someplace cooler, while we were headed for a toasty 107 degrees. Traffic generally moved along slightly about the 75 MPH speed limit, so we made good time. We did manage two stops before home. First to pick up a few groceries and the second to return the wallet.
All in all it was a nice three-day getaway. Unfortunately, we are back in the heat with two 111-degree days coming up.
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