Thursday – April 6 – Well, we woke up to a winter wonderland, lots of snow on the ground and only about 28 degrees at 8 a.m. Fortunately the sun came out, the snow melted and it turned into a beautiful day.

We left about 9:30 and headed for the Sedona area. We took the Interstate to Flagstaff and then took 89A south to Oak Creek Canyon which features dozens of natural pools and falls as Oak Creek winds its way down 16 miles of sheer rock walls rising 2500 feet. What magnificent views, we stopped at the main overlook and it was breathtaking looking out over the Canyon. There were a number of native persons with tables set up selling their wares – mainly jewelry and pottery but some very nice stuff.

We continued our way down Oak Creek Canyon, with its many awesome views to Sedona, which lies at the bottom of the canyon and is known as the “Red Rock Country”. Many western movies have been filmed here and the red rocks are amazing and in such contrast to the rest of the rocks in the area.

Sedona is home to many artists and there are dozens of interesting looking shops, art galleries, etc. Parking was a problem as there were so many other tourists, but we finally found a parking spot and toured a few of the shops and had a wonderful lunch at the Cowboy Corral Restaurant. We also managed to find a couple of gifts we have been looking for since Benson.

On from Sedona to Tuzigoot National Monument which is a pueblo of a hundred or so rooms built by the Sinagua Indians during the 13th century. The pueblo is amazing, a number of rooms can still be seen and there is one room that has been recreated with a roof and all and we could go through this room and on up to the roof top. It is on the roof top that they would have done a lot of their work and dry their skins etc. The Sinagua Indians all of a sudden left the area for no known reason and it is unknown what happened to them. Archeological digs have uncovered some of the tools they used as well as their pottery etc. It was a very interesting place and with our National Park pass we didn’t have to pay to tour it.

From there it was on to Jerome (which we could see from the pueblo). Jerome was once a roaring mining town which was built clinging to the slopes of Cleopatra Hill. It was once called “The Wickedest Town in the West” but now has many restored buildings and historic sites and, being built on the side of the hill it has many magnificent views. The roads in Jerome are very narrow and looking at how the houses are situated on the sides of the hill we wonder how people can walk out their back doors and not fall down the side of the mountain!! Unfortunately we got there too late to visit many stores, most were closed, but hopefully we will get a chance to return.

Time to head home and it was 8 p.m. when we got back. We had a wonderful day, with many breath taking views and absolutely wonderful scenery. The only downside was that I have had a plugged ear for the last couple of days and today it was really bugging me. On the way home we stopped at Walgreens in Flagstaff and got some ear wax remover and it seems to have worked, thank goodness. After our large lunch we weren’t interested in dinner so had a few nachos and salsa and that was it.

It is really interesting visiting the two different Arizona’s, the land of heat and desert and then this part with its wonderful mountains and canyons, tall Ponderosa Pines, and no desert or dryness. The other difference is that at Yuma and Parker we had to buy all our drinking and cooking water as the water there has a very high saline content. Here the water is good and no saline content.

Well, I must get off to bed as it will be an early morning tomorrow to get ready for our tour to the Grand Canyon.
 
Snow Capped Mountains in the Background Posted by Picasa
 
Cute Eh! Posted by Picasa
 
Jerome Posted by Picasa
 
Tuzigoot Pueblo Posted by Picasa
 
More of Sedona's Red Rocks Posted by Picasa
 
Wonderful Shapes Posted by Picasa
 
Red Rocks of Sedona Posted by Picasa
 
Red Rocks Posted by Picasa
 
Creek Bottom & Mountains Posted by Picasa
 
Coming Down Into Sedona Posted by Picasa
 
Oak Creek Posted by Picasa
 
Oak Creek Canyon Posted by Picasa
 
Snow Covered Mountain Posted by Picasa
 
Can You Believe this is Arizona! Posted by Picasa
Wednesday – April 5 – It is 9 a.m. and we are having a snowstorm!! Everything is white out there and it just started about a ½ hour ago, hopefully this is not going to last for long. I have just booked a tour to the Grand Canyon for Friday, we are being picked up between 7:30 – 8 so will be a real early start that day and we are counting on the weather network which is saying it will be a nice, sunny, warm day.

Well, the snow had melted by 11 but it was still cold and VERY WINDY. About 1:30 we decided to drive up to Flagstaff and check it out, it is about 30 miles, and just after we got there it started to hail like crazy so we decided we wanted to get out of there in case it got really bad. By the time we got back on the interstate and went a couple of miles the sun was shining! We came back to Williams and John and I got our hairs cut, then we went to the visitor’s centre, and then checked out a store downtown, which had lots of neat stuff. I figured with such a cold day I would be kind to John and not have him barbecue tonight, so did spaghetti sauce in the slow cooker. We are looking forward to a good feed of comfort food on a cold night. The wind is still very gusty and strong, hopefully by tomorrow it will be better.
Tuesday – April 4 – This morning was still warm but mainly overcast. We moved to Williams which is called the Gateway to the Grand Canyon. Williams is at an elevation of 6800’ so it is much cooler here than at Kingman. After we got set up we drove into town to check it out and saw snow on the sides of the hills – YIKES!! John set up the satellite TV again so we will be able to keep in touch with what is happening at home – he didn’t bother setting it up at Kingman so we have been out of touch.

Tomorrow is supposed to be overcast with showers and only in the high 40’s so think we will just drive to Flagstaff and check it out and save the Grand Canyon for Thursday or Friday when the weather is supposed to be sunny and warmer.
Monday – April 3 – Today was another gorgeous day, sunny and warm. We went into Kingman to get fuel and a few odds and ends then came back and I did laundry. Quite a lazy day actually, but after all the touring the last 3 days it felt good to kick back and relax today.
Sunday – April 2 – Well, we found out watching the news last night that Arizona doesn’t do daylight saving time, now we have a 3 hour time difference from home, what a pain.
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Today was absolutely gorgeous, warm and sunny. We drove up to the Hoover Dam, what an incredible structure. The drive was pretty, for about the first 40 miles we were driving through plains with the mountains in the background, then all of sudden we were in the mountains and the scenery was incredible. We could see snow capped mountains in the distance, but where we were there was no snow. We had to go through Home Land Security before we got to the dam, and both coming and going we had to pull over and open the tonneau cover on the truck. We crossed the dam but just drove on to Las Vegas.

We found the strip in Vegas and eventually found a place to park and then got out and wandered around and checked out the lobbies of a few of the hotels. I have never seen so many slot machines in my life, but we were quite surprised as there were a lot of people walking around like us but the machines weren’t all that busy. It is quite the place to say the least, but seemed to be very pricey for meals etc.

We went back to the dam and parked on the Arizona side and walked back across the dam to the Nevada side. If you don’t get out and walk you can’t see the Colorado River side of the dam and that is the most impressive side. The dam was built between 1931 and 1935 and is 726.4’ high and weighs more than 6,600,000 tons and generates more than 4 billion kilowatt-hours a year of hydroelectric power. From where we parked we had to walk down 100+ stairs to get down to the top of the dam, and of course what goes down must go up so we had to go back up all those steps to get back to the truck. Between the walking around in Las Vegas and then at the dam we sure got our exercise for the day.

It was about 7 when we got back to Kingman so we stopped at Chilli’s for dinner.
 
View from Scenic Lookout Posted by Picasa
 
This is the Hoover Dam Posted by Picasa
 
Looking from Dam Down to Colorado River Posted by Picasa
 
Looking Towards Lake Mead Posted by Picasa
 
Hoover Dam and Lake Mead Posted by Picasa
 
More Mountains Posted by Picasa
 
Mountains Near Hoover Dam Posted by Picasa
Saturday – April 1 – Today was a really nice, sunny day so we decided to take I-40 to Seligman then drive Route 66 back to Kingman. It was a beautiful drive on the Interstate, lots of mountains and many areas where the road has just been cut through. Route 66 runs north of I-40 and we were surprised to find that it wasn’t as mountainous as the Interstate, in fact there were many miles of flat land and it appears that there are a lot of ranches in the area, still it was a nice drive.

We stopped in Peach Springs for lunch then came back into Kingman - that is the only way back as between Seligman and Kingman there are no roads that we could see that would get us back to the Interstate. We stopped at Wal Mart and while John went in and got some grease he needed I stayed in the truck and called the girls as there is cell phone service there.

John has been having trouble with one of the bars on the Hensley hitch but now has it fixed, so he is happy.
 
Also Route 66 Posted by Picasa
 
Along Route 66 Posted by Picasa