January was scheduled to be a pretty busy month for Bill in regards to work. Therefore, Bill and I took advantage of the the long weekend over the New Year holiday and drove up to Flagstaff, AZ. This was a much needed trip as it allowed Bill and I to spend some quality time with one another before the pace of the New Year picked up.
Flagstaff is about a 5-6 hour drive north from Yuma, so there was quite a bit of difference in temperature. There WAS snow on the ground, so it was nice to spend some of the winter holidays with a little bit of chill in the air (I never thought I would say that!!).
We drove up on New Year's Eve and got there a couple hours before dinner. We stayed at The Little America Hotel which was an older hotel, but one of the cutest I have ever seen. They had redone it with almost a french/antique feel. Hard to explain, but I would definitely recommend staying here if ever in the Flagstaff area. They put on a fantastic dinner followed by a New Year's Eve party with a Jazz/Blues band. Now, granted, we happened to be just about the youngest couple to attend by far, but it was nice to catch up and share a drink, or two, or maybe several with one another :)
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| getting into the spirit... |
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| Obviously, we were getting close to midnight |
Since we only had a short time in Flagstaff, we got up pretty early the following day and set off to explore. We checked out a couple of places on Trip Advisor and got some good recommendations in regards to top attractions in the area. With that being said, our first stop was Walnut Canyon.
Walnut Canyon is known for the remaining cliff dwellings that were occupied by the Sinagua (meaning Without Water) Indian Tribe more than 800 years ago. These cliff dwellings were occupied for a little over 100 years, but eventually the people of this land moved on. It is believed that they moved onto neighboring villages and eventually integrated into the Hopi Indian culture. Though this was a relatively quick tour, we got to tour some of the cave dwellings, which gave us the opportunity to see how these people may have lived way back when. Let me tell you, I probably wouldn't have survived very long, it looked pretty uncomfortable! However, it seemed they had it down to a science with sectioned off rooms for sleeping, fires, and etc.
Here are some of the shots we took:
Our second stop was the Sunset Crater Volcano. Who knew there were volcanos in Arizona?? I am not too sure of the actual year that this Volcano erupted, but I do know that the eruption caused the land to become very fertile afterward, which later attracted the Sinagua Tribes to occupy the cave dwellings in Walnut Canyon and for another tribe by the name of Wupatki to make its presence. They returned to farm on these lands.
While visiting Sunset Crater Volcano, Bill and I were able to hike up a cinder cone, which gave way for some fantastic views of the nearby San Francisco Peaks and the volcano itself.
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| Bill with San Francisco Peaks |
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| Walking around the top |
We also got to hike around some of the lava beds at the base, which also gave us a good view of the Volcano.
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| Sunset Crater Volcano |
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| The Lava Beds |
Once we finished our tour of the lava beds, we hopped back in the truck and took a scenic drive through the desert. We have both agreed that the Northern Desert is much prettier than the Southern Desert. It was much more colorful and what you "imagine" the desert to look like, in my opinion. Lots of reds and oranges.
Here is some of our drive out to the "middle of no where":
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| the vast desert |
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| The Never Ending Road |
We did eventually come across an old Wupatki Pueblo and got to tour that as well....
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| Pueblo |
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| inside looking out |
By the time we came across the Pueblo and eventually made our way out of the desert, we were beat. We grabbed some dinner at The Cottage Restaurant, which was very quaint and had received rave reviews. After visiting, I would concur. Another great recommendation if you are ever in the Flagstaff area. They served me my first tamale:)
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| The Yankee |
During his quick trip home, we got to take advantage of some of the area surrounding us and we took a quick hike through the Kofa National Park or Reserve. We wanted to hike Castle Dome, but didn't due to lack of time. We hope to make it back out there at some point before our time in Yuma is up.
Bill challenged us both to hike up a nice steep cliff side....
We made it though!! Here are the views from the top:
At this point, Bill has completed most of his conversion to the Yankee. However, he still remains out of town quite a bit as he is trying to complete all of the necessary flights needed to officially finish the conversion. This week he remains in 29 Palms....
As for my job, it continues to go very well. The pace has started to pick up a little bit, which makes me happy because I like to be productive when I go to work. Though, I can't deny enjoying a relaxed work environment!
As we reach the end of the month, I am happy to say I have officially started running again. All's it took was a new pair of running shoes! Also, I look forward to running a couple of races this spring. There are a couple of events up in Lake Havasu that have caught my eye. We'll see where that goes.
For now, I will just enjoy getting back in shape and some "me" time as I look forward to Bill coming home to stick around for awhile:)
