Day 51 - March 2, 2024

With only about an hour drive to do between Sedona and Flagstaff, I decided to take the long way around. I ended up going south, then west then north, ending up on Route 66, west of Flagstaff. So, I got a few shots in Ash Fork which has not done well since the interstate highway arrived. Williams, however has done much better due to the railway to the Grand Canyon. I wish I could buy gas at that price! Then, the drive eastward into Flagstaff with a shot of a store that opened in 1906 and a stretch of the old road that is now just gravel.

Once I checked into our home for the next week I got some shots of the condo. Nice place.

Day 52 - March 3, 2024

A quiet day today. We just took a short drive, about 30 miles west to Williams where the Grand Canyon Railroad is based. Yes, I was there yesterday but decided to go again. Bud E. had fun posing at Parks, the store on Route 66 from 1906 and again in Williams. Then this evening I went to Buffalo Park in Flagstaff to try to get a few sunset pictures.

Day 53 - March 4, 2024

The day started off with a visit out our window of a Red Breasted Nuthatch. Then we decided to go to Sunset Crater National Monument and Wupatki National Monument. Good decision. Except the accidental photographer shadow selfie.

Sunset Crater is a volcano that erupted only 940 years ago and change the landscape forever. The eruption according, to signs in the park, was twice the size of the Mt. St. Helens eruption. Yes, it changed the landscape and the lives of the people living in the area forever. There are several easy hikes along the lava flow, a few trees have been able to grow and there are some stunning views. If only I could keep Bud E. out of the trees!

Next up, the Wupatki (the “t” is silent) National Monument is a series of pueblos dating back to just after the eruption, about 900 years. One sign indicated that there are pueblos that number about 100 per square mile, and there is evidence of human habitation going back 13,000 years. Amazing to walk around and into these old ruins.

The mountains are the San Fransisco Peaks. The tallest, Humphrey’s Peak is over 12,600 feet. At one time it was over 16,000 feet. The Sunset Crater National Monument is over 8,000 feet. To put that into perspective, Banff is about 4,500 feet.

Again, the landscape is amazing. Look for all the different colours. Black rock and sand (lava), red rock (sandstone), green and white (limestone), the different colours of the foliage (sparse though it is) and of course the blue of the sky and the white of the clouds and the snow in the mountains.

Day 54 - March 5, 2024

I have a problem with the Grand Canyon. There should be warning signs saying, “look away occasionally to catch your breath!” Breathtaking, spectacular, awesome, beautiful are all ridiculously inadequate. You stand and stare, look away, come back to the same spot 5 minutes later and the light has changes, clouds have moved, the colours have changed, and the view is different and even more beautiful.

For the many of you that have been to the south rim of the Grand Canyon, this post may be boring. It may be for everyone else too, but hopefully, you will enjoy. My biggest problem was not what photo to take, but which ones to post here. I had to narrow down 260 photos to what you see here. 65 is too many, but it’s the best I could do.

Just a couple minor notes. People are nuts. Climbing over walls and out onto rock, leaning over backward to get a selfie. I wonder how many are lost each year. (Side note: In the photos of Bud E. Bear and Trisha Joy, no one is overly close to the edge. You don’t need to go there to make it look that way.) The squirrel obviously has been fed (bad) as he came up to me and begged like a dog. I tried to show some of the people on the trails to show some of the perspective. As the sun goes down the light changes again, and the colours become even more dramatic.

Day 55 - March 6, 2024

After the trip to the Grand Canyon yesterday, today was a much easier day. The morning was taken up with editing the Grand Canyon photos, then lunch and a nap. But I can’t stay in all day, so a drive was in order.

There are three routes to Sedona from Flagstaff. I took the east route going to Sedona and the west route coming to Flagstaff so today I drove the centre route. It’s only a 40-minute drive, each way, if you don’t stop or take detours. No fun there. The drive has a very winding section of road and then I found a beautiful stream (Oak Creek), to spend some time with. A few shots just outsider Sedona, then back the same route.

Once back in Flagstaff it was almost dark, so I went into old downtown and got a few night shots of a few of the old hotels, a theatre, a few bars, etc. Then a few shots of some of the surviving neon signs along old Route 66. It runs through the middle of Flagstaff. Pretty cool.

Day 56 - March 7, 2024

A very light day today. The weather was poor, so I did some laundry, then in the afternoon I just did a quick drive out to a couple ruins on Route 66 and the Arizona Meteor Crater. First the ruins. Twin Arrows was a gas station and attraction on the Mother Road, Route 66. Unfortunately, time has not been kind. The gas station is in ruins and vandalized and one of the two arrows that were here is gone. Next, Two Guns, just a few miles up the road was also an attraction, but it had a zoo (of sorts). Apparently, it was not well run, and the animals were not well taken care. It has met the same fate as Twin Arrows. There is an old bridge from the old road and a couple other shots of what remains of what once was the main road across the U.S.

Next up, what is described as the best-preserved meteor crater in the world. About 50,000 years ago a large meteor struck the plain. It is estimated to have been about 150 feet across, weighing several hundred thousand tons and traveling at 26,000 miles per hour. Most of it vaporized on contact but there are small pieces scattered up to 7 miles away. The crater is almost a mile across, and 700 feet deep. They say you could put 20 football fields in the bottom and have 2 million people seated watching the games in the bowl.

A few prairie shots with some amazing skies and then back to the condo.

Day 57 - March 8, 2024

Too long a read today but….

Every day is an adventure and today did not disappoint. I decided to drive the old Route 66 from Ash Fork to Oatman, AZ. The road is in pretty good shape on this stretch and is quite scenic.

Seligman is the first stop, and this town not only has plenty of Route 66 sights such as a 1930 Chevrolet dealership (now a souvenir store, Roadrunner in the photos), but it is home to Angel’s Barbershop. When the interstate opened, traffic through the town disappeared but Angel was determined to save the town and the road. He founded the “Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona”, and this led to similar groups in every state the road passes through. It is said he helped inspire the movie “Cars”. An article on his life can be found here (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_Delgadillo).

When Joy and I drove Route 66, end to end (Chicago to LA) in 2017 Angel was 90 years old and still working his barbershop doing haircuts. We thought it was amazing, but never met him. Today I went and asked if he was still around, and he is! He retired from cutting hair just 2 years ago in 2022 at the age of 95! And today I met him. He is amazingly spry, walking just fine meeting tourists in his shop, and chatting with them. I had a long talk with him, told him about Joy and I driving the road, and Bud E. He seemed genuinely interested and told me how thrilled he was to meet people from all over the world who now drive the road that he helped save. BTW, his wife Velma is still going strong too at 93.

Then back on the road I found several old big rigs. Very cool. Hackberry is a little old store and car repair shop, then on to Kingman where we found a 1965 Rambler for sale for $20,000 (I used to own a 1965 Rambler station wagon), an old car dealership that sold some very cool brands, had lunch in what used to be a gas station/diner and then on to Oatman.

The road to Oatman is 23 miles, half of which is flat and dull. But the second half is spectacular. When you arrive in Oatman it’s like you stepped onto the set of Gunsmoke. Complete with a gunfight! And wild burros everywhere. They were released by miners into the wild over a hundred years ago and still thrive today. But don’t get in their way. They look gentle but they can be mean.

What should have been a 3-hour drive turned into 7 getting to Oatman, and then the 3 hours back to Flagstaff.