Flagstaff to Phoenix
It’s hard to believe the week is over for us. It’s 2:30 AM here. I slept about 4 hours and I’m wide awake now. I’m feeling a little feverish. Probably just too much sun yesterday. So I’m just sitting out in the hotel lobby keeping the night clerk company and writing to you. It’s been an amazing trip. Even though I’ve been to the Grand Canyon 4 times now, I still can’t get over the magnificence and beauty of that place. And then finally getting over to Monument Valley was like icing on the cake for me. It brought me back to all those old (and some new) movies that have been shot on that location. It’s the quintessential old west. But then to top that off was spending the night and part of the next day in Flagstaff, the old frontier town, now a college town (Northern Arizona University). Looking down the street from our 1926 built hotel is another, Hotel Weatherford, built in the late 1880’s. 
It has been host to a number of celebrities including the legendary Wyatt Earp. Today the hotel still seems to carry some of it’s late 19th century charm, including the large safe located in the front lobby. The Monte Vista in turn still maintains it’s 1920’s visage. Its was great to stay in this historic location as our vantage point to explore the sights and sounds of Flagstaff. Could have easily spent a few more days there.
However, we needed to move on, so we started out about 11:30 AM toward Sedona, our final “red rock” visitation point. To get there we had to drive down through Oak Creek Canyon. It’s envelopes yet another world of concave mysteries. The canyon road (Router 89) loops it’s way down the walls of the canyon, at each turn revealing another white stone vista. 
Once we got down into the canyon, we were greeted by a clear water river with various camp sites, parks, quaint resorts and hiking trail heads. As we worked our way down, the red rock cliff walls begin to appear. Once we were finished with the 23 mile drive we arrived in Sedona. Sedona itself is nestled between red rock canyons and buttes. But with the lower elevation (somewhere between 3000 – 4000 feet, the air is much warmer and inviting to walking about. We stayed about 3 hours in the down, just going from shop to shop and taking in a awesome view from the rear of the restaurant where we have some lunch. Afterwords it was time to head on to Phoenix. Along the way we stop to see the Red Rock Chapel, a Catholic Church that is built right into the cliff side of a red rock mesa. And then finally, we stop for a short hike up to Cathedral Rock. It was a nice finish to our Red Rock country tour.
This morning, we’ll have a easy morning getting our things packed and then head to the airport for a 12;07 flight. I hope you have enjoyed looking over our shoulder during our trip. This is easily my most favorite area of the USA to visit. The contrasting landscape, natural wonders and timeless beauty makes this are of the country a must see on anyone’s list. Once I get home, I’ll spend a little more time cleaning up the site and posting so more pictures, so stop in again to view more of the photos.
All the best and God bless you!
Bill
FYI, click on any of the pictures to get a larger detail view!
