Tag Archives: arizona

Taking a ski lift up into the clouds…

August 17, 2016 suzy 4 Comments

We work five days a week with two days off right now. So on those two days, we like to become tourists and visit something fun in the area.

I mean, who wants to stay in the RV all day?

Fortunately, there is so much to choose from around here that I doubt we will have a single weekend without some place new to see.

This photo was taken in May, shortly after we got here. We were very surprised to see snow capped mountains right in our back yard. This mountain range is called The San Francisco Peaks.

The tallest mountain in the range, Humphreys Peak, is the highest point in the state of Arizona at 12,633 feet in elevation.

We took a ride out to the Arizona Snowbowl, a ski resort located on the San Francisco Peaks. Opened in 1938, the Arizona Snowbowl is one of the longest running resorts in the West having been open for 75 years.

You see, we heard that they will take you up on the ski lift for a nominal fee.

And we totally couldn’t pass that up!

The chair lift officially opened for the summer right after Memorial Day. We were very excited to check it out.

Dave and I were skiers in our younger days. We choose not to break any bones at this stage in our lives, so we have to settle for a summer ski lift. But I have to tell you, that it brought back great memories!

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Camping Life

Of hail storms, tumbleweeds and crazy looking squirrels…

August 10, 2016 suzy 22 Comments

We have been here in the high desert about three months now. Time is certainly flying by! We are half way through our season at the Circle Pines KOA in Williams, AZ already.

I want to talk about a few unusual things that we have discovered here in this beautiful place. Things like extreme weather, tumbleweeds and funky squirrels.

Oh my!

Northern Arizona was really not what we were expecting. Having never been to Arizona before, I figured we would be living in a desert. And true to form, much of Arizona is just that. But the towns of Williams and the Flagstaff area sit at about 7300 feet above sea level.

And that makes all the difference in the world!

At such high altitude, we often have folks showing up at the campground with altitude sickness. It takes at least three days for your body to adjust.

You also have to think about things such as adding flour to your baking recipes and the fact that water boils much slower.

But I’d have to say that the biggest thing to get used to was the quick and dramatic changes of weather that are so common here in the high desert.

Monsoon Season

When visiting the town of Sedona a few weeks ago, we took a bunch of photos of the beautiful rock formations and the gathering clouds behind them. It was in the 80’s that day. Sunny and warm.

And then we went into a restaurant to have lunch.

We came out to several inches of pea sized hail and temperatures in the 60’s! Freak storm? Hardly.

It seems that at this altitude, these types of storms are quite common.

Especially during the Monsoon season of mid July through August. Most days are sunny and temperate. Most afternoons are full of interesting surprises.

We are right in the clouds. Thunderstorms can be very dangerous. The weather here can kill those that do not properly respect it.

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Places to Go

Wupatki National Monument and Sunset Crater

August 3, 2016 suzy 11 Comments

One of the great things about traveling the country is that wherever we stop, our family will eventually join us! My sister and her husband arrived for a long weekend and stayed in a cabin at our campground.

We took them on an adventure to visit Sunset Crater and Wupatki National Monument.

Lynda and Jeff are very familiar with this part of the country. Having done many road trips in Arizona and New Mexico, they knew exactly what they wanted to see again.

They suggested that we take the 73 mile Sunset Crater/Wupatki National Monument loop. This scenic loop would take us through the vast lava fields of Sunset Crater and then onto the ancient pueblos that make up Wupatki National Monument.

Located about 15 miles north of Flagstaff, this was a fun day trip for all of us!

Sunset Crater

Our first stop was the amazing lava fields at Sunset Crater. You see, nearly 1,000 years ago a fiery volcano destroyed the landscape and the tiny settlements that used to call this area home.

New mountains were created and where there used to be grassy meadows, there remains acres and acres of lava fields.

These photos truly do not do it justice. There was hardened lava as far as the eye could see.

The lava and cinder rocks seem frozen in time, almost as if they had just cooled down last week.

There is a one mile self-guided loop trail located at the base of Sunset Crater, but hiking to the summit is no longer permitted. Unfortunately, the trail to the summit and crater was closed in 1973 because of excessive erosion caused by hikers.

The wildflowers in the area were just beautiful. These are called Apache Plume. It is a drought resistant plant that is located mainly in the southwestern US.

A thousand years ago, this land was desolate and barren. Now nature rules again.

Our next stop was the Wupatki National Monument…

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Places to Go

Arizona Destinations: Meteor Crater in Flagstaff

July 21, 2016 suzy 10 Comments

We love to go on mini vacations on our two days off each week. In fact, we spend a lot of time doing research, trying to decide what we would like to visit each week. This week, based on a cool billboard off the interstate, we decided to visit the Meteor Crater.

And to make the adventure even more fun, we took the motorcycle. It was a particularly windy day, with gusts of 20 plus miles per hour, which made the ride to the crater a little nerve racking. But we were in for the adventure, right?

The crater is about an hour drive from the campground, which worked well for me, as I have about an hour butt-limit on the motorcycle.

Seriously.

But this was worth the wind and the tender rear end. You see the crater is a huge, huge hole located smack in the middle of the flat high desert of Northern Arizona. In fact, it is 3/4 of a mile in diameter and about 600 feet deep. A heck of a hole.

So how big is this hole? Well check it out!

Fifty thousand years ago, a giant meteor streaked across North America and struck the earth in what is now northern Arizona, exploding with the force of 2.5 million tons of TNT. It is thought that the meteorite weighed about 300,000 tons and was traveling at a speed of 26,000 miles per hour.

The force when it struck was about 150 times the force of the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.

The force of the impact not only melted most of the meteorite, but forced millions of tons of limestone and sandstone out of the hole, throwing rocks and meteor fragments for miles.

The crater and the land around it has been privately owned since the early 1900’s by the Barringer family. The family has built a nice visitor center along with a movie theater, restaurant and gift shop right on the rim of the crater.

Along the rim, there are impressive views. You can walk out on a platform that juts out over the edge. From this vantage point a sign informs you that a tiny rock on the floor of the Crater is actually as big as a house. In the center of the crater stands a cardboard cutout of a guy holding an American flag, but you can’t see him unless you’re looking through the platform’s fixed telescope.

This is a huge hole!

Click here for more photos and info on the meteor crater!

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Places to Go

A look at Monument Valley!

July 6, 2016 suzy Leave a comment

One thing that we love about the high plateau of Williams and Flagstaff is the fact that the summer is very mild. Travel two hours in any direction and you come down from the plateau into 100+ degree weather.

This week, we decided to bite the bullet and head for the amazing vistas of Monument Valley.

Yes, it was 102 degrees in the shade. But we have to tell you that the adventure was totally worth the extra heat! If you have never gotten the chance to see Monument Valley in person, be sure to add it to your bucket list.

Monument Valley is about a four hour drive from Williams. Heading pretty much due north, it is just across the Arizona/Utah state line.

Monument Valley is characterized by vast sandstone buttes, many reaching over 1,000 ft above the valley floor. It is located almost entirely on the Navajo Nation Reservation.

The drive was a long one. Once we went down into the valley, we passed from the pine tree forests into the hot desert. It wasn’t long before we started seeing red rock in the distance.

Because it was going to be a very long day, we decided to take the dogs with us.

Seems that they are not as easy to impress as we are. They spent the entire journey in the back of the car with the air conditioner running.

Look familiar at all?

Monument Valley has been featured in many forms of media since as early as the 1930s. Director John Ford used the location for a number of his best-known films, including Stagecoach, starring John Wayne.

To many, this is what the old west represented.

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Places to Go

A Yabba Dabba Doo Time!

June 21, 2016 suzy 8 Comments

On the way back from visiting the south rim of the Grand Canyon, we noticed this fabulous sign from the past welcoming us to a campground/roadside attraction named Bedrock City.

We totally had to stop.

We both grew up in the 60’s and 70’s, and like many of our generation, we absolutely loved the Flintstones. After taking several photos at the entrance, we decided to come up with the $5 entrance fee and see what was hidden behind those big brick walls.

I’ve always been a sucker for campy and fun. And Bedrock City, located smack in the middle of the dusty high desert seemed very promising!

After paying our entrance fees, we walked into a stone age ghost town.

Originally opening in 1972 at the height of the Flintstones popularity, Bedrock City once was a thriving road side attraction, offering live actors playing Fred Flintstone and the rest of the stone age crew, rides, a theater and much more.

Fourty-four years later, this little attraction is not much than a run down shadow of its former self.

Bedrock City also included a small restaurant, a dark and dusty gift shop, and a campground that has seen better days. Of course, this did not deter us much. I love a photo opportunity, and there were plenty of those to choose from.

The amusement park, while silent, was full of colorful representations of the old cartoon series. Unfortunately, the remaining structures at Bedrock City are in currently in terrible disrepair, with crumbling buildings and character replicas that need more than just a fresh coat of paint after baking in the desert sun for 44 years.

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Places to Go

Northern Arizona and the Grand Canyon!

June 14, 2016 suzy 8 Comments

We are currently living and working at the Circle Pines KOA in Williams, AZ. We arrived here about a month ago and were assigned a spot in the center of the campground.

I have to say that in our work camping career so far, this site is the best that we have had! It includes trees, a nice size yard (even when campers are around us), a huge fire pit and lots of flat space to store the motorcycle!

We love this laid back campground! It is a lot smaller than Bar Harbor, and St. Petersburg. With just 20 cabins, and about 150 pull through sites, it is not only pleasant to live here, but working behind the counter is that much easier.

We will be here until October 31, which gives us plenty of time to explore the area and take in all that we can.

And Circle Pines also owns a Go Cart track, putting a little variety into our work routines!

So why did we choose northern Arizona for the summer? Well, there were several reasons. At about 7000 feet above sea level, this area of the country does not get extreme heat in the summer. In fact, evenings are jacket weather!

But the biggest draw of the area has to be The Grand Canyon. Since neither one of us had ever seen it before, this area of the country was on our “bucket list”.

The Grand Canyon National Park

It is about a 60 mile drive from Williams to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. The drive is actually very interesting as you move from pine forests to dry desert land. Keep an eye out for deer. They are everywhere!

Along the way, you will find the occasional camper parked off the roadway. You see in this area of the state, you can dry camp off road for as long as two weeks.

Entrance to the Grand Canyon National Park is $30 per vehicle. Parking spaces are plentiful and even include areas for RVs and buses.

Once parked, you can either hike along the rim trail, or take free shuttles to restaurants, stores and view points along the South Rim.

The canyon itself is absolutely breathtaking. No photos or words actually do it justice. You have to see it for yourself to understand the magnitude of this amazing Natural Wonder.

The Grand Canyon is about 277 miles long. At its widest point it is 18 miles wide. The average width is a distance about 10 miles. The average depth is about 1 mile.

Click here for more photos and info on the Grand Canyon!

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