A BIT OF A SAD NOTE TO THIS POST:
The picture you see here was taken on our little "getaway" the first week-end in June. Sometime during the second week of June, there was a forest fire that consumed thousands of acres. It was called the "Oak Creek Fire". What you see here is now nothing but blackened stumps. The fire lasted almost two weeks and burned everything in its way - homes, businesses, campgrounds. The sad part is that it was started by a human - an unattended campfire. The impact that man has on our envirenment is sometimes so confounding, confusing and downright sad. Read on to see what happens when two old ladies get a "wild hare".
It’s Wednesday night, May 31st. The girls get a wild hare and decide to take a quick camping trip to the mountains. Needing their beauty sleep they, of course, didn’t get up until 9 am on Thursday. Then if was off to the trailer yard to pick up the trailer, stop at a hardware store to have a cute guy check the connections, wash the trailer, (no WE didn’t wash the trailer, we paid some Mexicans to do it), pick up the dogs, along with some last minute things at the apartment and we’re on our way. (almost)
A “quick” stop at Discount tire to have the tires checked turned into a bit of an ordeal. Long story short, the trailer and the truck both need tires. I asked the cute guy that was helping me “if your mother were driving on these tires, would you let her go to Flagstaff?” His reply – “since it’s cooler up there, I’d let her”. OK so we’re on our way. (almost) A stop at Sonic to pick up our lunch and we’re finally on our way. We got as far as Payson before we needed gas. That’s about 185 miles on one full tank of gas. There was a Walmart close to the gas station, so we decided to get our groceries there, instead of waiting until we got to Flagstaff. Good thing – we didn’t get to Flagstaff until 6:00 pm. They were in the middle of remodeling and there was no rhyme or reason to where anything was.
The drive from Payson to Flagstaff (the “back” or scenic route”) is just a gorgeous drive. Huge Pondersa pines, clumps of Aspen, oak trees – just so green and lush. We finished setting up at 7, climbed into the front bed and watched a DVD. Needless to say – we were exhausted.
A breakfast at the Galaxy Diner on Route 66 started our day! Then we headed to red rock country – Sedona. Psychic capital of the world. The drive down is precarious to say the least. It’s a two lane, windy road with sheer drops and no shoulder in many places. The elevation was about 8,000 feet and you could look straight down. Twas terribly frightening - a two valium drive. With no valium!!! It really made us nervous when we came on a rollover accident, blocking one lane. I offered my services as an EMT but the fire department had just gotten there. You could tell that the guy was speeding, hit the shoulder and overcompensated.
In Sedona, our first stop was my favorite place – the Crystal Palace. They sell crystals, bath stuff, candles – it’s a “metaphysical”
kinda pace. Smells good and is very relaxing. I got both of us a chair massage so we’d be “fresh” for sightseeing and window shopping. The prices are just horrible but you see things that you just wouldn’t see in a metropolitan area. Really different stuff. Really expensive stuff.
Here are some pictures we took in Sedona.
On Saturday, we investigated downtown Flagstaff. It’s such a cute town. Just what you would imagine for a town near a ski resort. Of course everything was horribly expensive. So – I proceeded to look for (and found) a Ross. The skirt that was $79 in a cute little shop was $9.00 at Ross. Look how much I saved!!!
The trip back to Phoenix only took about 3 hours. We were heading down from the mountains instead of going up. At one point, some guys got our attention and told us that there was a bar hanging down from the truck. It was the sway bar that had already fallen town twice. Here we were dragging it at 65 miles an hour. I’m surprised the trailer didn’t catch fire from the sparks. I almost wish it had – I’ve got full replacement value insurance.
It was 105 in the valley when we returned. Laying on the gravel, putting the tire covers in that heat was one of the reasons I don't take the trailer out more often.
I hope you enjoyed hearing about our adventure. More later.
Carroll
The picture you see here was taken on our little "getaway" the first week-end in June. Sometime during the second week of June, there was a forest fire that consumed thousands of acres. It was called the "Oak Creek Fire". What you see here is now nothing but blackened stumps. The fire lasted almost two weeks and burned everything in its way - homes, businesses, campgrounds. The sad part is that it was started by a human - an unattended campfire. The impact that man has on our envirenment is sometimes so confounding, confusing and downright sad. Read on to see what happens when two old ladies get a "wild hare".
It’s Wednesday night, May 31st. The girls get a wild hare and decide to take a quick camping trip to the mountains. Needing their beauty sleep they, of course, didn’t get up until 9 am on Thursday. Then if was off to the trailer yard to pick up the trailer, stop at a hardware store to have a cute guy check the connections, wash the trailer, (no WE didn’t wash the trailer, we paid some Mexicans to do it), pick up the dogs, along with some last minute things at the apartment and we’re on our way. (almost)
A “quick” stop at Discount tire to have the tires checked turned into a bit of an ordeal. Long story short, the trailer and the truck both need tires. I asked the cute guy that was helping me “if your mother were driving on these tires, would you let her go to Flagstaff?” His reply – “since it’s cooler up there, I’d let her”. OK so we’re on our way. (almost) A stop at Sonic to pick up our lunch and we’re finally on our way. We got as far as Payson before we needed gas. That’s about 185 miles on one full tank of gas. There was a Walmart close to the gas station, so we decided to get our groceries there, instead of waiting until we got to Flagstaff. Good thing – we didn’t get to Flagstaff until 6:00 pm. They were in the middle of remodeling and there was no rhyme or reason to where anything was.
The drive from Payson to Flagstaff (the “back” or scenic route”) is just a gorgeous drive. Huge Pondersa pines, clumps of Aspen, oak trees – just so green and lush. We finished setting up at 7, climbed into the front bed and watched a DVD. Needless to say – we were exhausted.
A breakfast at the Galaxy Diner on Route 66 started our day! Then we headed to red rock country – Sedona. Psychic capital of the world. The drive down is precarious to say the least. It’s a two lane, windy road with sheer drops and no shoulder in many places. The elevation was about 8,000 feet and you could look straight down. Twas terribly frightening - a two valium drive. With no valium!!! It really made us nervous when we came on a rollover accident, blocking one lane. I offered my services as an EMT but the fire department had just gotten there. You could tell that the guy was speeding, hit the shoulder and overcompensated.
In Sedona, our first stop was my favorite place – the Crystal Palace. They sell crystals, bath stuff, candles – it’s a “metaphysical” kinda pace. Smells good and is very relaxing. I got both of us a chair massage so we’d be “fresh” for sightseeing and window shopping. The prices are just horrible but you see things that you just wouldn’t see in a metropolitan area. Really different stuff. Really expensive stuff.
Here are some pictures we took in Sedona.
On Saturday, we investigated downtown Flagstaff. It’s such a cute town. Just what you would imagine for a town near a ski resort. Of course everything was horribly expensive. So – I proceeded to look for (and found) a Ross. The skirt that was $79 in a cute little shop was $9.00 at Ross. Look how much I saved!!!
The trip back to Phoenix only took about 3 hours. We were heading down from the mountains instead of going up. At one point, some guys got our attention and told us that there was a bar hanging down from the truck. It was the sway bar that had already fallen town twice. Here we were dragging it at 65 miles an hour. I’m surprised the trailer didn’t catch fire from the sparks. I almost wish it had – I’ve got full replacement value insurance.
It was 105 in the valley when we returned. Laying on the gravel, putting the tire covers in that heat was one of the reasons I don't take the trailer out more often.
I hope you enjoyed hearing about our adventure. More later.
Carroll
