Day 16 - Fredonia, AZ to Flagstaff, AZ

 

Saturday, May 19, 2018

Weather:  Sunny and low 70’s up north, then increasing clouds and a few sprinkles as we headed further south with decreasing temps to the mid-60’s once we arrived in Flagstaff.

Steps: Shaun - 10,229, Shannon - 10,415

Breakfast was served early at the ranch (which was fine with us since we weren’t really sleeping anyway!), so we got on the scenic route to Flagstaff earlier than expected.  It was a beautiful day, and our route took us north through Kanab and then back around through Page again.  We stopped at a seriously cool sporting goods/bookstore/coffee shop in Kanab run by some major hippy freaks, so naturally we never wanted to leave.

We drove back through the Vermillion Cliffs and then arrived at the eastern entrance to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, commonly called the Desert View. The most outstanding feature of this entrance is called The Watchtower that was designed by Mary Colter (who built several of the key architectural features at the South Rim as well).  The tower itself was constructed in 1932 to resemble a Native American buildings of a much earlier time.  Inside is a circular staircase that winds up through five levels of galleries with paintings and pictographs based on the art of the Pueblo Indians from nearby Hovenweep and the Round Tower of Mesa Verde. It was absolutely amazing, and there was a wonderful gift shop where Shaun bought a sweatshirt and water bottle with replicas of the artwork.

Desert View offered some really beautiful overlooks into the canyon that are quite a bit different than can be seen from the North or South Rims. Our favorite was called Grandview, but the light was weird when we were there because the clouds were rolling in.  It was very atmospheric though, so we enjoyed it immensely. 

On our way out of the park, we seized the opportunity to take some close-up shots of our ubiquitous friend, the raven.  These birds are so amazing, and we really gained an appreciation and an affinity for them over the course of this trip.  Finally, while sitting at a stop sign just outside of the rest area, Shaun glanced to her left and said, “What the heck is that big thing standing over there?”  Do you know what it was?  A humongous bull elk is what it was!  Seriously, he was just nibbling on the grass in the median of the entrance road with all the cars piling up on either side of him.  It was amazing!

At the junction of Highway 69 and 84, there sits a crazy store called the Cameron Trading Post.  We were moved to go in by our bladders, and 2 ½ hours and many hundreds of dollars later, we finally left the store behind.  We went away with some absolutely awesome stuff though, and we were so happy we stopped.  They had reasonably priced Native American crafts including gorgeous jewelry and handmade rugs.  Shaun bought a small rug and an earring and necklace set made from orange and purple oyster shells that she’d been lusting after at every store we went into.  Shannon bought a Navajo vase and lapis and silver earrings.

Not only did Cameron’s fulfill our retail jones, but we also had a wonderful lunch there.  Shannon had Navajo beef stew with fry bread, Shaun had a hummus plate, and we shared a guacamole to round out the meal.  The rugs hanging all over the walls and the baskets sitting on the gigantic stone fireplace were absolutely insane!  We were amazed by the craftsmanship surrounding us, and we only wished we had a boatload of money because we would have each snagged a basket and rug that would have set us back several thousand dollars (but would have been so worth it!).

It had started sprinkling when we left Cameron’s, and we were treated to a lovely rainbow. Once we got to Flagstaff, we had Thai food for dinner in the beautiful townhouse we had rented for the next 3 nights aptly called “The Nest”. It had 2 bedrooms, 1 ½ baths, kitchen, living room, dining room, fireplace, deck, and washer and dryer which we were in critical need of. It was fantastic, and we wished we could have stayed there much longer than we did. As it was, we had to do laundry really fast and get all our crap sorted out to prep it for shipping (which was no mean feat, let me tell you!).  Tomorrow we will be spending the day in Sedona.

Little Grand Canyon