Flagstaff, Arizona

We woke up to smoke again from controlled burning in the area. I think it may take the rest of the trip to get rid of the campfire smell in our camper! I was up at 5am because apparently my clock is still set to Central time and it would be 7am back home. I did my usual routine of banging around the camper until other people wake up. Three of us took showers this morning and one last night since no showers or water will be available at our next stop.

We said goodbye to Jacob Lake and breathed easier (literally) once we were a few miles away. The views were beautiful on the way to our next stop. From the car we saw Marble Canyon and Vermillion Cliffs National Monument. Today we were in and out of Navajo land which also meant we were in and out of daylight savings time time. The Navajo respect daylight savings time while the rest of Arizona does not. So we stopped for gas…it was 11:30. We got to our first site, it was 10:50. Back on the road…12:05, no wait 1:05…etc.

We stopped for gas and got back on the road and before we knew it, we were arriving at our first stop, Wupatki National Monument which is home to several pueblos which were dwellings made of sandstone.

The first archeological site we visited was Citadel Pueblo. This site is on a hill of lava rock. A smaller structure sits below it and there is a sign explaining that when it was initially discovered, they excavated the site then tried to rebuild it and added a roof. Later, knowing the archeologists that did this were guessing how the original structure looked when complete, it was disassembled back to the way it looked when it was found.

It was a scorching 100 degrees at this time and we were only outside for a short time (15 minutes?) but when I returned to the car my mouth was parched! 100 degrees is no joke! Next we went to the visitor center and did…guess what? Yup, the Junior Ranger Program! Everyone else went back to the car after that but I decided to walk the 200 or so feet to the archeological site. I loved the site but again in 15 minutes I regretted not having a water bottle with me and returned to the camper.

From there we went to Sunset Volcano Crater National Monument. It was only about 20 minutes from Wupatki but it was 10-15 degrees cooler there due to the change in biome from desert to forest. Everything here was covered in black cinder. This volcano last erupted 1000 years ago. The people who lived at Wupatki moved there not long after the volcanic eruption and were able to farm there due to the ash, which worked like mulch to hold moisture in the soil. Of course we did this Junior Ranger Program as well.

Next we planned to see one more National Monument, Walnut Canyon but we were only 20 minutes from Flagstaff, where Melissa and family were swimming at the aquatic center. Nole and I decided a swim would be great and headed that way. We were pretty hungry and Melissa had mentioned that there was a Culver’s in Flagstaff so we went there. Nole remembered he had a $50 gift certificate to Culver’s in the car so that was an added bonus!

The pool was at capacity so we had to wait a while before going in. We kept the fact that we might see the Yatzecks a secret and the kids were very surprised to see them.

After some pool time, some of the kids went to play basketball and air hockey. Eventually we were all out of the pool and showered. Both families needed a Walmart run so the older kids kept an eye on the younger ones at the aquatic center (playing basketball, foosball, and air hockey) while the parents did a quick grocery trip.

We said goodbye shortly after returning to get the kids. Yatzecks had a 1.5 hr drive back to the south rim of the Grand Canyon and we needed to hunt for a free spot to stay the night. On the way, we saw some Route 66 signs!

The first place we checked had signs prohibiting any camping due to fire risk and we decided to move on to a casino parking lot. Casinos usually welcome RVers to stay overnight. It’s a parking lot which has its advantages and drawbacks but a nice level spot in a patrolled, well-lit parking lot outweighed the negatives like noise and close neighbors. We picked a spot that seemed the quietest and settled in. We only halfway set up so we can make an easy getaway tomorrow morning.

Nole and I went inside to check the place out. We each spent $5 on quarter slots. I won my $5 back but spent it again. Gambling is not really our thing but it was fun to try it.

We are not sure if we will go back for Walnut Canyon. It was small and we have seen quite a few canyons but it has a Junior Ranger Program and the girls have been having fun collecting the badges, especially Esme. We also are only 15 min from there and only about an hour to our next overnight spot. We will see how we feel in the morning before deciding.

Melissa’s post from today: https://wp.me/peTbeK-Ui