Oak Creek Canyon - Williams, Arizona - Route 66

 ♫Well I'm a-runnin' down the road, tryin' to loosen my load
I've got seven women on my mind
Four that want to own me, two that want to stone me
One says she's a friend of mine
Take it easy, take it easy
Don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy
Lighten up while you still can
Don't even try to understand
Just find a place to make your stand, and take it easy♫

♫Well, I'm a-standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona
Such a fine sight to see
It's a girl, my Lord, in a flat-bed Ford
Slowin' down to take a look at me
Come on, baby, don't say maybe
I gotta know if your sweet love is gonna save me
We may lose and we may win, though we will never be here again
So open up I'm climbin' in, so take it easy♫

Listen to the Eagles here.

On our first day in Sedona we decided to check out the resort's swimming pool where we met an older couple.  They told us all about the Sedona area and recommended we go to Williams, AZ as it was a quaint little western town.  Since we were looking for something to do, we decided to take the hour and 15 minute drive which also passed through Flagstaff, AZ.

I really wanted to stand on a corner in Winslow, Arizona and get Aileen to take a picture of me but Winslow was in the opposite direction of Williams and it was a bit further than we wanted to go.

The road out of Sedona towards Flagstaff runs along Oak Creek Canyon.  The road is a bit treacherous with several hair pin turns and 15 mph zones.  There were many points on the route where you would be going a long way down into the canyon if you run off the road.  It would be like those dreams you have when you feel like your falling.... Freaky!

We stopped at a view point in the canyon and the scenery was gorgeous. Oak Creek Canyon is thought of as the smaller cousin of the Grand Canyon.  At one point we were at 7600 feet in elevation.  Aileen can always tell when we are at a high elevation because she gets Fred Flintstone feet (her feet swell).  Sedona's elevation is around 4500 feet.  We don't have to worry about altitude sickness but a tour guide told us that we should drink more water while out on walks to get used to the elevation.  I read on the internet that above 7000 feet is where it is possible for some people to experience high altitude symptoms.

US Forestry shack at Oak Creek Canyon

Some info on altitude sickness

Canyon View.  Happened to catch Jackie Onassis there....

Looking down into the canyon.  Unfortunately the camera doesn't show depth too well.  It felt like standing on a sky scraper looking onto the ground below.  Not good for persons afraid of heights!

You can see the road spiraling up the canyon (3 sections).  These are where the hair pin turns are.

To view a video of Oak Creek Canyon click here.

Flagstaff was a bust.  There was not much to see there.  Apparently there is an observatory in Flagstaff but since it was in the day we figured it would not be useful to go there.  We walked around the old section of town which had some interesting stores and places to eat but in general Aileen felt it did not have much character and that it was kind of a "dump".  So cross Flagstaff off your bucket lists!

Williams, AZ was founded in 1881 and is known as the gateway to the Grand Canyon.  The Grand Canyon National Park is about an hour and a half away.  Williams was named in honor of a well known mountain man in the area - Bill Williams.  Williams still has buildings that were built in 1892 (Grand Canyon Hotel) and 1894 (Williams Court House).

Since it is also on the famed and historic Route 66, there are a lot of shops and places to eat that have the Route 66 theme.  I had heard of Route 66 but never knew its significance.  It was the main highway of America before the Interstate highway system and stretch from Santa Monica to Chicago.  It was established in 1926.

For more info on Route 66, click here

Map of US showing Route 66

Get your kicks on Route 66

Some cool neon signs on Williams main street (Route 66)

Aileen and I had lunch at Cruisers.  I had a half rack of BBQ pork ribs with coleslaw and Aileen had a burger and fries.  The men's washroom was weird.  The toilet stall just had an old tail gate from a pick up truck shielding you from view.  Anyone could walk around the tail gate and in on you while you are doing your business.

Lunch at Cruisers

It was a random day with no real plans but turned out pretty well.  We saw some great scenery and learned a few things about Arizona history and Route 66.

Hello From Arizona!

♫ Rain dripping off the brim of my hat

It sure seems cold today.

And here I am'a walkin down sixty-six

Wish she hadn't done me that way ♫

♫Sleeping under a table at a road side park
A man could wake up dead
But it sure seems warmer than it did
Sleepin in our king size bed ♫

♫Is anybody goin to San Antone
Or Pheonix Arizona
Anyplace is alright as long as I
Can forget I've ever known her ♫

Listen to Charlie Pride here. 

Hello Everyone!  We are on Day 11 of our vacation and it has been a hectic time getting Liam settled at his new school.  I finally have some quiet time to write a blog entry so here it goes.  Grab some coffee, go to the bathroom, because it is a long one.

We started out two Fridays ago (Aug 19) on our road trip to Arizona.  We left early to get a good start but those plans were stymied by a friendly US border agent at the NEXUS line.  

Border Agent: What's the plan? 

Me: We are going to Phoenix.

Border Agent:  Take this slip and go over there.  Make sure you go in the NEXUS line for faster service.

Me:  Oh, thank you.

I tried to find some parking but the spaces were full so I back tracked and ended up going the wrong way.  A border agent saw me and gave me the WTF look.  I of course was very polite and said I was trying to turn around because the parking was full.  He turned out to be nice as well and opened up some more parking for us.  You don't want to upset border agents as they can make your life difficult.

It was a compliance check.  We had so much stuff in our car for Liam.  I hated the thought of everything getting pulled out.  Plus Aileen is known to forget about miscellaneous fruit contraband that we could get busted for.  We have smuggled a few things into the USA due to her forgetfulness.  We were first in line for NEXUS.  The regular line was huge and not moving.  It will take a couple hours for those people to get through.  We only waited about 15 minutes when an agent came over and asked us if we had anything to declare.  I said "Nope".  He asked for my car keys and told us to hang out in the waiting area.  About 10 minutes later he says, "You can go.  Have a great day".  I don't think he even looked in our car.   As I am walking out the door the agent says, "I think you'll be needing these" and hands me my keys.  Okay, I was a little anxious to get out of there.  We lost almost an hour in travel time but we felt thankful for an easy inspection process.

We had three choices for routes to Phoenix.  As you can see in the map below they each vary in duration by about an hour or so with the I5 through California being the longest.  We have traveled the I5 California route at least 6 or 7 times previously.  Since we were supposed to check into our resort in Phoenix on Saturday, we only had two days to reach our destination.  We debated whether we should go with familiarity (I5 through California) or the shorter route (through Nevada).  Although we chose the shortest route through Nevada, unfamiliarity ended up costing us time.  I somehow missed the turn just outside of Seattle to head towards Idaho. Since I missed the turn Aileen and I wondered if we should just continue on the I5 through California (longest route).  Turning back towards the quicker route through Idaho might cost us the time we would have saved anyway!  Looking on the GPS we discovered a road that cut across to the Idaho route and it would only cost us 20 minutes.  Since we really wanted to experience a different route, we decided to cut over.  

Our new route showed us a completely different side of Washington than we are used to. Southeast Washington is very agricultural and reminded us a lot of the growing areas of California.  Lush orchards and vineyards covered the rolling hills.  This must be where all of the Washington wines are produced! 

The highlighted route represents our path. As you can see, I made another wrong turn at Twin Falls, Idaho which cost us more time. Instead of going through Utah, we should have taken the middle route to Las Vegas. This would be the shorter route. Oh well. We have never been to Utah.

Hey, there's Mt. Rainier! Did you know it is the highest mountain of the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest, and the highest mountain in the U.S. state of Washington?  Also, Mt. Rainier is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world because of its large amount of glacial ice.   Mt. Rainier could potentially produce massive lahars that could threaten the entire Puyallup River valley, and poses a grave threat to sections of Seattle, (650,000 people).

A lahar is a type of mudflow or debris flow composed of a slurry of pyroclastic material, rocky debris, and water. The material flows down from a volcano, typically along a river valley.

Lahars are extremely destructive: they can flow tens of metres per second (22 mph or more), be 140 metres (460 ft) deep, and destroy any structures in their path. Notable lahars include those at Mount Pinatubo and Nevado del Ruiz, the latter of which killed thousands of people.

The word lahar is the Javanese term for "flowing lava".

(Above trivia copied from Wikipedia)

I guess a lahar could happen if Mt. Rainier became active, melted the glacial ice, and then started a flow down the mountain towards the towns.

We decided to stop for lunch in a one horse town called Cle Elum, WA at a place called the Red Caboose.

Cle Elum - Main Street - A one horse town.  But they do have several cars.

Good eats at The Caboose!

Two guys making a street deal right on Cle Elum's main street!.  They have real nerve.  Pssst, hey buddy, got any Texas long horns?  Well YES I do!

It was about 10:30 pm when we reached Burley, Idaho.  We decided to stay the night and continue our journey tomorrow.  We had already put in a 15 hour day.  Unfortunately a call to several hotels indicated the town was full.  No beds left.  What do we do?  We decided to have dinner at Denny's as it was the only place open.  We then hit the road again.  

While travelling in the night, we saw a blood red full moon.  Really cool.  I have never seen one before.  I tried to take a picture but the camera would not deal with the darkness of the night and brightness of the moon.  However, Aileen took the video below while we were driving.  It shows the moon low in the sky.  The moon was much bigger and impressive later on in the drive but this gives you an idea of what we saw.

For video, click here.

One thing great about America is they are really set up for automobile travelers.  The interstate highways have frequent opportunities for food and gas and the highways are all divided.  You never have to worry about where your next available gas station is as there is usually one available within a short distance.  When we traveled the Trans Canada last summer to Regina, we found we were always checking our gas since the next station could be many kilometers away.  Also, the interstate highways have rest stops where you can sometimes get free coffee.  There are vending machines as well.  Many truckers and travelers park at them to sleep.  

It was around 1:30 am and my eyes were getting droopy so we stopped at a rest stop, parked the car, reclined the seats, and fell asleep. After a couple hours we went back on the road. An hour and a bit later another rest stop appeared so we stopped again. This rest stop was darker so we had another sleep. I woke up around 6:30 am and started on the road again. Aileen didn't even know we changed rest stops. "What? you went to a second rest stop?" "Yea, you were snoring". Fun fact: I didn't see any potatoes in Idaho.

The speed limit was 80 MPH for most of the trip!

5 MPH over.  Should be okay....

Welcome to Utah!  

Fun fact:  I didn't  see any Mormons in Utah.  

After traveling through 5 states (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and Arizona) we finally arrived at the Camelback Resort in Scottsdale around 8:00 pm.  If we had taken the route we originally intended to take, we would have traveled through Nevada instead of Utah.  We had a quick dinner at The Grille, the Camelback Resort's restaurant.  

On one of the days we were at the Camelback, a huge windstorm came upon us.  They cleared the pool and told us to go inside.  As you can see in the photo below, the mountains in the back are hard to see.  The next photo shows the same mountains on a clear day.  As you can see, the wind blew the car over one parking space (ha ha).  Wind storms are generated by twisters in the plains outside of the city.  They then generate momentum to create a dust storm.  They are common here. 

We had to take a picture of this sign.  McGuire is Aileen's Mom's maiden name.  I wonder if the town is wild like the McGuires....

Well that's it for now.  Hope you are all doing great.  We are in Sedona now.  It is an interesting place full of vortex's, psychics, crystals, artists, new agers, and visitors.  It receives 4 million visitors a year.  It is like Whistler.  An expensive resort town.  In my next entry, I'll tell you more about Sedona and where we are staying.  Take care everyone!