Flagstaff, AZ

Tucson, AZ - Flagstaff, AZ
4/28/24 - 4/29/24

Miles Traveled   255
Trip Total          2756
Travel Time       4:38

States visited: FL, GA, AL, MS, LA, TX, NM, Arizona

What an incredible drive, we knew that Flagstaff was 6800 feet above sea level, verses Tucson at 2300, but we did not know how many mountains we would go up and down between the two.  Passing through Phoenix we were at 1028 feet above sea level, in the next 120 miles we would climb almost 6000 feet. Once we hit about 5000 feet, the landscape turn to ponderosa pine trees.  It has been many miles since we saw so many trees!

Once again we stayed on the outskirts of town at Black Bart's RV Park.  As with many of the RV parks near large cities this park had many long term residents, but there were many "transient" sites available and we were given three "pull through" sites right next to each other.  Pull Through sites are where you pull into your site head on, and when you leave you just drive straight out.  We were there for two nights.

We had two sites we wanted to see while we were in Flagstaff, Winslow AZ, and Meteor Crater. Both were close enough to do in one day.   

We started by going to Winslow.  Winslow was the inspiration for the Eagles song  "Take It Easy".  The focal point of Winslow is the "Standing On The Corner Park" where there is a bronze statue of Jackson Browne, and a Flat Bed Ford.  The old Route 66 runs through the center of town.  It is estimated that about three people a day come to visit this corner.  

On our way into Winslow we saw at least four long trains (at least a mile long each) stopped on the
tracks that paralel route 40.  In the train yard in Winslow there were also several trains stopped there including one with military armoured vehicles and tanks.  That train stretched as far as I could see in either direction.  When I was taking pictures there was a  women that lived in Winslow, that told us that the train with the army tanks, has been there for several days due to a train derailment in New Mexico.  After we finished exploring the town we enjoyed lunch at a local cafe.

Our next planned stop was Meteor Crater.  On our way to see it we stopped at a rest stop where Mark, Ken and I did a little rock climbing!  Meteor Crater was formed over 50,000 when a 150 diameter meteor struck the earth outside of Flagstaff.  The collision caused a carter almost a mile wide and 550 feet deep.  The property the crater is on, is privately owned.  Once we got there and found out what they were charging none of use felt it was worth going to see it.  As much traveling that we are doing, and with so many things to see we do have to pick and choose what we do.

On our way back to Flagstaff, Karen found Walnut Canyon National Park, for us to check out.  There are two hikes you can take at Walnut Canyon. The first is a 3/4 miles hike along the rim of the canyon.  it is a fairly flat easy trail, the second is the Island Trail that is almost a mile and has 750 very steep stairs.   We all walked the Rim Trail, then Mark, Ken & I walked part of the Island Trail.  It was easy going down the trail but each stair we took we knew we had to come back up.  We did not go very far!

One of the attractions of Walnut Canyon is the remains of over 300 cliff dwellings.  These dwellings were homes built into the face of the cliffs, using the natural openings in the cliffs with stone walls built in front to enclose them.  It is amazing think how these were built by hand.  I had trouble walking up the cliffs with stairs, and people built houses there.

Our next stop is only 30 miles away, Williams AZ.  Because we are not planning our stop very far in advance (We made our reservations 3 days ago) this was as close to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.