Road Trip Day 5

Talked to the Aussies today at breakfast—they're from Brisbane. So far, their daughter says their house is fine.

I left Holbrook around 9:00 a.m. Garmin says only two hours to Sedona—hadn't realized I was so close. Woo Hoo! I get to play and stop if things look interesting.

Milt's friend had suggested I stop in Winslow to see a restored Fred Harvey roadside diner. When I got to Winslow, there were no signs on the freeway indicating which exit I should take to get to historic Route 66 stuff. Funny, because other towns have had such signs. Decided not to wander through a wasteland of WalMarts, etc. trying to find it, so pressed on.

Milt had mentioned the meteor crater. Sure enough, there were signs for Meteor Crater National Landmark, so I turned off. When I started seeing advertising on the way in, I began to suspect that the joint wasn't run by the Park Service. Sure enough, it's a for-profit enterprise run by a ranch. They want $14 (senior price) to see their crater and a movie and whatnot. Told the fellow I would pass as I have seen far more spectacular craters for no cost at the national parks. Also told him I thought it was false advertising to style themselves as a national landmark. He's heard that complaint before.

Driving in on the narrow road there's a sign that says, “Road narrows.” Hmm. Seems to me narrow is narrow. Whatever.

Driving through the desert headed toward snow-capped mountains, I'm at a loss to describe how gorgeous this is. Yesterday's waves of golden grasses swaying in the afternoon sun were fantastic. Where is Willa Cather when you need her descriptive talents???

OK, next possibility. Walnut Creek Canyon. Which is a real national monument. Which is gorgeous, quiet, and unexpected. You can hike down 285 or so steps into the canyon, or some such astronomical number. Everywhere are signs saying you should know your limits and that this is a very strenuous hike. Well I knew my knees weren't going to go for that many stairs, both up and down, so I hiked the rim trail instead. From the place where the stairs started going down, I could spy a pueblo on the other canyon wall. There are pueblos on the canyon walls as well as at the foot of the canyon. Unfortunately, Walnut Creek is no more as they dammed it up to provide water for Flagstaff. That of course killed off the walnut trees that grew there as well.

Driving down 89 to Oak Creek Canyon on the way to Sedona, we were stopped for construction—one lane at a time was being allowed through. I happened to glance at the Garmin and the road ahead was all squiggles! The slowdown was good as far as I was concerned, forced people to slow down and enjoy the scenery.

The discovery I've made today is that I want to do more rambling and less having to push on through in order to reach a certain destination. I'm so glad I haven't pre-planned the return trip. A certain amount of planning was necessary in order that the people I wanted to visit would be home and that I would arrive in Santa Barbara on the 23^rd, when I'm scheduled to rendezvous with my college friends, but in the future, I'll try to leave more wiggle room.

Today is absolutely gorgeous—sunny and warm. Definitely the best day of the trip. It got into the 60s. Milt drove me around to all the gorgeous scenic spots in Sedona. I decided to get a hotel since the place he is renting is very small and I would have cluttered it up quite a bit. Found a great place, the Sky Ranch Lodge, recommended by one of his friends—it's 500 feet above the city overlooking all the gorgeous red rocks. It's also the place where everyone comes to watch the sunset. Beautiful red sky tonight. They gave me a great deal and I even have a fireplace in my room!

Enjoyed the sun going down on the red rocks and took lots of pictures. Then we went to dinner at a great organic restaurant. Tomorrow we are off to the Grand Canyon for the day.

Will try to add pictures later.  Have to get to bed so I can get up early.