SUNSET CRATER

(and WUPATKI NATIONAL MONUMENT)

 8-29-2012

J. got her three months gym membership. Our bedroom’s French door is facing east, so we have early morning sun waking us up pretty early. It is pleasant (for the most part). Somewhat after ten o’clock we left and were heading towards Sunset Crater National Monument. The weather was fine (so far it is mostly sunny, with couple of hours of clouds and some rain). We left town (we stopped by Ranger’s station to get some more information about area) and head north.

Small visitor center and quick drive to the first trail. It started to rain. The surroundings were incredible; there were rugged rock formation from volcanic activity, hills and mountains as a background.

We figured that the rain would not last long, so we started to climb the hill.

It was uphill with the rain. Cloudy sky, fog partly covering the mountains in the distance. It was really nice and interesting walk. One would not believe how Arizona is beautiful. I thought, it was just desert. After getting back down, we drove for a minute before stopping at another trail. There were some people, but it was not bad. Relatively flat terrain next to Sunset Crater. Sometimes in 1970’s (or so) they prohibited climbing on the Crater, because the damage was getting too great. Still, without seeing actual crater, the area was amazing. And we met older couple, that we met climbing down the first trail. Small world. (Very small, because we met them again couple of times on the next attractions.)

Sunset Crater and Wupatki Monument (collection of ruins and pueblos) and connected by really nice Loop road. After leaving Sunset Crater, we were heading towards those ruins. The road was going through semi desert, relatively flat land with volcanic hills and rocks. Really interesting landscape. And for a while sight of Sunset Crater with different sides (some vegetation, one side almost completely bare).

And … some really incredible views going into the plains of desert and red rock formation.

The dark cloud stayed behind us, so we got some sunshine. There was intersection going into Wukoki ruins. Why not. Few miles of desert and mainly red rock. And then we saw red ruins standing on the red rock formation, while the most of the visible area was flat. It was really impressive look. We got off the car just to discover, that it was much hotter there. (Later in the evening I as well discovered, that I got sun burned.) We walked through the ruins, to enjoy the view and unbelievable craft to build something like that. When we were leaving, we again saw some of our “friend”, other people that we met on our previous stops.

Next stops were on actual Wupatki ruins (whole park is called Wupatki Monument). Those were much larger and laid in the valley (more less).

Following those, there was Citadel ruins. From the road, it looked like pile of rubble on the smaller rock formation. All those ruins were within very short distance of road (0.3 miles), so it was really pleasant walk. From the Citadel, there was incredible view across whole area. J. broke her flip flops (even every time I was telling her to wear normal shoes).

On the way to the top of Citadel, there was this interpretative sign:

Maybe, even those people 1000 year ago knew the rule of real estate “Location, location, location.”

After this stop, we just got on the road and head back to Flagstaff. We stopped by the store to get few things and then just spent lazy evening at home.

AND LET’S KEEP DREAMING!

PHOENIX

(… and quickly back)

8-28-2012

J. had to get her Arizona nursing license, so we had to drive to Phoenix and had over all the documents in person (to get temporary license as soon as possible). We figured we would leave early and try to be there around 8 am. We left our place around 5.30 am and got on the road. It is quite easy, as Flagstaff is relatively small. Pretty cool and still dark.

For the most part, we just stayed on freeway all the way down to Phoenix. We were told that current temperatures in mid 100’s are not bad. (Hard to believe.) We were hitting elevation markers (7000 down to 4000) and enjoying ride “down”. The sun was coming up and making the drive more pleasant. Half way to Phoenix, I finally saw big cactus. I pictured Arizona as a desert with tons of those big cactuses (showed on most of Arizona pictures). Yet, I did not see any around Flagstaff. So I was glad (and enjoyed) to see them. And then they got more plentiful and covered whole hills or plains.

We finally started seeing civilization. For the most of the drive, there was almost nothing. Few bigger towns and desert. Not long after we entered Phoenix, we got into traffic. It was getting worse and worse. Luckily, there was commuter lane, which we drove for about 12 miles, while the rest of the freeway was stopped. At the end, we did not really loose any time and got to the board of nursing around 8 am.

It was pretty easy. We saw some boards showing temperature around 97 degrees (8 am!!!!). When we got off the car, it was horrible. Really hot. The process of handing over the documents was pretty quick and easy. We were done much earlier then we thought we would be. Our plan was visit Desert botanical garden, maybe see downtown Phoenix, do some shopping, and go home. The heat crushed our enthusiasm to do anything. Well, we still drove towards the garden.

That part of city was boring and very bland. Nothing special. Well, except heat. We found the garden in about 12 minutes. # Our old GPS device is in glove box in the car, but we do not use it. After J. got her phone, we sometimes use that; otherwise, we have hand drawn maps or atlas. We found it more adventures and normal, then just follow small box telling us where to go. And … obviously, sometimes we get lost. #

We found parking in shade, got off the car, and felt really hot. We put some sunscreen on and walked towards the garden. It was pretty, there were plenty of cactuses before the entrance, and it looked really interesting. J. was complaining about the heat from the moment we got off the car, and she did not stop until we got back in the car.

All the trail of the garden was supposed to be about 1.5 miles. The sun was brutal, but the garden was really beautiful. We saw the turtle (he was pretty fast) and continued enjoying all kinds of cactuses. Finally desert (compare to Flagstaff). Even we were walking pretty slowly, we were sweating a lot. And … we were wondering who the hell wants to live in Phoenix. Very limited amount of trees, hot burning sun, and desert. I mean, it was pretty in the garden, the desert landscape had its charm and beauty, but the heat was really bad.

We still continued and walked through the whole garden. The variety of cactuses was incredible, the size of those big ones was unbelievable, and the heat was almost unbearable. It was still very enjoyable experience.

Obviously, we were both happy, when we were in the car with AC running. We drove towards downtown Phoenix. We both had almost no desire to do sightseeing or walking around, so we wanted to drive by. We got into area designated as downtown Phoenix, we saw some skyscrapers, but we could not find anything really nice or impressive. After few loops in the area, we just gave up. We got back on the freeway and head north. We stopped by Costco store, where we got some groceries and started to hate the heat. The boards along the road were showing about 106 degrees. We were happy to be back on the freeway heading towards Flagstaff.

The drive was uneventful. We stopped trying to find a place to eat, but we did not have luck with that. The sky was amazing. Less then two hours of driving to get back to Flagstaff. We were both looking forward to be back. The rest of the day was quiet and lazy.

Flagstaff - WEEK 1

(August 20^th – August 26^th)

We got somewhat settled into oversized townhouse on the outskirts of Flagstaff. The town is divided by highway and railroad. We reside on the south side (minority of town), while downtown and hospital are on the north side. It makes it quiet and peaceful, where we live. The house is fully furnished, so we got into different situation then before. On Sunday, we stopped by visitor’s center and drove by hospital, just to know where we are.

J. had her hospital orientation every day of the week. This limited our exploration and trips around, so we just kind of settled, get our stuff unpacked (some of it, some stays in the garage) and did some shopping. One day we took a walk by the golf course (we are really close to it).

Well, it looks like this will work for us. The town is smaller, but has all we need and all the surroundings seem be really great. The house is nice (too big, but better then too small) and hopefully J.’s  job will be good too.

On Saturday, we planned trip to Walnut Canyon and a bit of driving around. I found small road that was going to the Canyon. Drove around and thru the golf course and enjoyed really nice weather. Ranches, farm land and forest and dirt road. We drove for couple miles to end up on the intersection, our road changed to stones and mud. So, we changed our minds and drove back to take the highway. Meanwhile, we saw a bit more of this part of Flagstaff.

And then we were getting on the highway (I-40). Signs pointing to two very different cities and reminding us, that we moved a long way. (knock, knock, knock on the wood) So far it is good. And again (like in Washington state) the highways are pretty nice.

Less then 5 miles on the highway and another 5 miles on road going to the canyon. Nothing else in that area. Really different landscape. Parking lot, visitors center and flat land with scattered trees (pines) patches of grass and some flowers. Hot sun.

We got really useful information from the ranger. As many times before and on every brochure, we were told to take a lot of water and take it easy. The visitor center is build on the edge of canyon and offers incredible view.

There are two trails (both less then a mile). One goes into canyon to see canyon’s dwellings. It is supposed to be around 280 steps. The view and structure of canyon was incredible. It is hard to describe or capture on the photograph. And after almost a week, I saw first cactus (small, but better then nothing).

The sun was getting pretty hot, but the walk (or I guess you can call it hike) was pretty pleasant. The views were amazing and unbelievable. Deep canyon and pretty steep walls climbing up, rocks were decorated with some bushes and trees. Some cliffs then had ruins of dwellings. As the trail was made, there was a lot of ruins along it.

We saw some birds flying high in the sky and bunch of lizards running on the path. It was hot and we were sweating some. And then walk all the stairs up. I still think it was not as bad as they were making it, but who knows. We walked thru the visitor’s center, bought some postcards, enjoyed cool air and then walked the other trail. That trail was along the top of the canyon (flat) and was not so interesting. There were some great views of whole canyon and then some flowers and trees along the trail. And … ruins of pueblo.

Drive back to the highway. As it was not far, we took old route 66 to Flagstaff. There was some funny looking hill and it looked like query or mining operation. Who knows.

We stopped by visitor’s center in Flagstaff (as well Amtrak station) and picked up all the leaflets and brochures we could. (Better for planning our trips and sights.) The town was pretty busy and traffic was unpleasant for a moment. We drove thru the town and head towards Lake Mary. I still cannot believe, how the surroundings is so nice. I thought Arizona would be mostly desert. Live and learn. Nice drive, lower Lake Mary was completely dry. Upper Lake Mary was muddy looking lake with some boats on it. We took short walk around and then head back.

Overall, it was really nice day. Just confirming, that Flagstaff might be good place to spend next three months.