A Different Kind of Crater, Frightened Trees, a Sunset Dinosaur. But first, a humble apology.

First things first: For all of you who were getting ready to send out a search party, I have to apologize for neglecting the blog for the last several weeks. For those of you who are interested in some of my creative excuses (I'm really good at them), let me know and I'll be happy to provide some. The best of them play off the themes of being busy taking amazing pictures to post (well, taking some adequate ones at least), not having good internet connections, driving cross country in a brief period of time, and just being really busy in general.

For those of you who aren't aware, we are now in the Pennsylvania and New Jersey area for the holidays and are inflicting ourselves on various family households in a pathetically parasitic manner. Good thing we haven't done so in a decade or so as we'll likely not be welcome back for another ten years after this...

In the next week or so, I endeavor to catch everyone up on our escapades, and I promise yet again not to allow things to lapse as they have. As an added bonus, I promise not to write too much- I'll try to simply post a bunch of photos, particularly of the crane festival in New Mexico.

The following three photos depict a really big hole in the ground in the middle of Northern Arizona, and a piece of what caused the hole. I had all kinds of information and facts to share with you about the crater, but it's been so long that I've forgotten them (like you really wanted to hear them anyway). Bottom line: big meteor = big hole and a pretty cool stop. Thinking about what it must have been like at the time of impact brings to mind the movie Armageddon, though without the splintering Empire State Building and other urban destruction.





The next half dozen pictures are of the afore-mentioned frightened trees. For those of you who may be pun-impaired: petrified forest...get it? yeah I know, but sometimes I can't help it. Unfortunately, we had spent too much time at the previously mentioned hole in the ground, so we weren't able to spend as much time as we would have liked here, so it makes the list of possible places for a return visit.







Just as amazing as the process by which these trees were transformed into their hardened state (via the replacement of the wood fibers by various minerals while the fallen trees steeped in their mineral bath) is the fact that this desert area was once treed to begin with, and then was covered by the water which allowed this to occur.

As we headed out of the park, the sun was setting as we once again crossed a portion of what was once the Historic Route 66. We've had the pleasure of many beautiful desert sunsets, and have been on or paralleled Route 66 for the better part of several states, but this particular confluence provided an interesting perspective of the recent dinosaurs that roamed the area.




OK, before I sign out for this particular blog, it's time for another musical related trivia question. Around this time frame of our trip, we drove through a town to check out a particular location. Name the town, the specific location and why we did this, as well as the band that made it famous. Extra credit for the author. This one's already too easy, so I can't say any more, other than the fact that the quality of your prize will in part be based upon the quality and completeness of the first correct answer (google on, Karen).

Sunset Crater, Wapatki Pueblo, and Not All Cows are Created Equal

While in the Flagstaff area, we took advantage of two nearby National Monuments, Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument and Wupatki National Monument, which abut each other and are in essence, partner parks.

Sunset Crater was formed almost 1000 years ago in a volcanic event that some of the Hopi people living in the area at the time attributed to the fact that the people were "koyaanisqatsi," or living a life out of balance. The Kachina Qa'na Katsina (Kachinas are the powerful spirits which govern the natural world around us, according to several Native American peoples)caused the eruption to serve as a warning that they needed to get back to a more principled way of life. It is said that a failure to lead that "balanced life" could cause another eruption, so given today's state of affairs, we're probably overdue for a big one...





It was really quite interesting hiking around lava flows that reminded me more of Hawaii than of the high country of Arizona. You aren't allowed up to the crater itself anymore as a measure to try to preserve it's condition, and you can actually see the remaining damage from those climbing around on it decades ago.



Wupatki National Monument preserves the remains of numerous pueblos, with the Wupatki Pueblo (pictured below) the largest in the area. In it's heyday about 800 years ago, it would have had over 100 rooms, and it is estimated that over 2000 people would have lived here or within a day's walk. This pueblo is the most significant in the region for the time period and was likely a central meeting place for the agricultural peoples of the area. There are quite a few more pueblos within the monument, some of which are accessible by the public, others that are off limits, and still more that have not been excavated at this time. It's hard to imagine that such a number of people living in a seemingly desolate landscape would be successful in an agricultural lifestyle, but somehow they made it work (although they did ultimately abandon this immediate area for even larger villages by about the year 1300).

Laura was really in her anthropological element, and I know she wants to return to spend more time here, so we'll have to add this to the list of places to revisit.






If you've ever traveled out west, you've no doubt seen, and probably driven over, the livestock grates installed in the roads to prevent cows from wandering helter-skelter about the countryside. If you haven't, here's

Exhibit A:



Obviously, the cows can't negotiate the grates, so the road can be open, but still contain the livestock (to be completely honest, I had a hard time walking over them also, so I'm not sure what that says about me). However, it appears that not all cows are created equal, and Arizona must have some dumb ones.

Exhibit B:



Laura assures me that dairy cows are smarter and would not be fooled by white lines painted on the roadway.

Sedona

OK, since I keep bringing up various roadsigns, I thought I'd start with yet another littering sign:



And here I was with no idea that the Shakespearean influence was so strong in the Southwest...

Redrum! Redrum! ...I mean Red ROCKS! I should apologize to all those who were just struck with sudden images of Jack Nicholson and his axe proclaiming "Heeere's Johnny!" but I couldn't resist. Maybe it came to mind because of that commercial Verizon has with the freaky kids and their "dead zone," spoofing the movie. Anyway, sorry if I've pushed anyone over the edge due to repressed memories from a movie seen 30 years ago.



Unfortunately, for our visit to Sedona it was pretty much overcast, so I didn't get the warm, glowing red rock photos I was hoping for. Oh, well- I guess we'll just have to come back again...







Sedona has really exploded since my last time here about 20 years ago, but the natural beauty is much as I remembered. I just wish I had appreciated it as much then as now. One warning if you're planning a visit soon: all of the main roads seem to be under construction, and while I'm sure it'll be real nice when it's done, right about then I was hoping for one of those Pink Jeeps to off-road us around the congestion. Good thing the scenery is so spectacular.

While in Sedona, we did make it to the lone microbrewery, Oak Creek Brewery and Grill. While their ales were pretty good, they seemed to lack the punch or depth that I prefer. I have a feeling that they've toned down their beer a bit to appeal to the more sophisticated clientele of the shopping plaza in which they are located. This sophistication was reinforced for me personally when I was informed that I was purchasing a turquoise bracelet for Laura as a Christmas gift at one of those upscale shops. I had no idea I had such refined taste. Anyway, back to the beer... I don't want to give the impression that their brews were not good: they actually were, as was the food (the quesadilla on the appetizer menu was great). A few years ago I probably would have fawned over them, but at this point, I guess I just enjoy a bit more robust ale. Worth a stop, just not at the top of my personal brewery list. I guess I've been spoiled by the Pacific Northwest and those hopped-up IPAs.

Oak Creek Canyon, between Sedona and Flagstaff:



Now THAT'S a motorcycle road!

Just a few thoughts (and photos) on Flagstaff...

This was the view into the Coconino National Forest, which was directly behind the campground we stayed in while in Flagstaff:



Eugene and Meika really enjoyed their walks in the forest:



They had an odd variety of squirrels in Flagstaff (Abert's squirrels, according to those that know these things), and they about sent Meika through the roof. I think she thought they were a combination of two of her favorite woodland creatures: squirrel and bunny. Their tails were huge and looked as big as their bodies, and their tufted ears gave the appearance that they heralded from the planet Vulcan:





A sign in the store at the campground warned that any shoplifters would be fed to their "funny looking squirrels."

There are a few microbreweries in Flagstaff, and we made it to two of them: the Flagstaff Brewing Company and Beaver Street. Flagstaff brewing was a little "rustic," shall we say? They're the type of counter-culture place you'd more expect to see at the corner of Haight and Ashbury, which translates to a bit of a lackadaisical approach. The ales there were OK, and they had quite a good ESB, but they had no growlers to fill for me. Not only that, but our server didn't even know that they had no growlers left, although the service was otherwise quite good (particularly the hung over but efficient college-age bus girl who seemed to materialize mysteriously every time we had an empty glass or plate and would swoop in and remove it even as we were pulling our hand away from it). The food was good as well, so it seems that the only thing holding them back would be their lack of motivation (although, perhaps that's the way they like it...)

Beaver Street was clearly the class of the Flagstaff brewing community, and had some excellent offerings, both in the food and the beverage arena. I enjoyed most of the beers they had on tap in our sampler, but particularly their Hop-Harvest Amber. It's a nice flavorful amber, but with a hoppy kick created by dry-hopping with the hops they harvested from their own beer garden. I would have loved to have left with a growler of that, but it was Laura's turn to pick, and she really liked their Bramble Berry Brew with it's raspberry flavoring (and I have to admit, albeit reluctantly, that it was one of the better fruit beers I've had). All things considered, definitely worth the stop if you're in the area.

Next edition: Sedona

The Blog- Grand Canyon Edition

Alright, I'll save you all the tedium of reading my ramblings this time and keep my commentary to a minimum. That's easy to do when the day's subject is the Grand Canyon anyway, as there's not really adequate superlatives to describe this magnificent hole in the ground. In reality, the pictures don't remotely capture it's essence either- you truly have to experience it.



Laura, enjoying her first glimpses of the Canyon:







In the past, I've discussed all manner of road signs on this blog, including animal crossing signs such as the Schwarzenegger Moose of British Columbia, but this was the first time I've seen this particular one:

Pretty cool, huh?




For those of you who may not be aware, the vocalizations ravens are capable of are pretty incredible, and they seem to imitate just about anything they hear. Any Alaskan who has tried to re-arm their car alarm in a winter parking lot when they could have sworn they heard it disarm just after it was armed, only to look up to see a mischievous raven staring down from a street lamp can attest to this. This particular raven made a noise we can only attribute to an imitation of one of the pack mules used to ferry tourists to the Canyon floor.

...hard to believe that little ribbon of water way down there is responsible for all this...


This watchtower was built in 1932 by The Fred Harvey Company of Harvey House fame and the Santa Fe Railroad as part of the visitor facilities springing up across the West as Americans discovered the concept of tourism and sightseeing. While you can't get up to the observation point at the very top (at 70 feet above the ground and 7522 feet above sea level, it's the highest point on the South Rim of the Canyon), you can climb to the top interior level or shop the Native American crafts in it's store..

OK, I'm skipping California...

Our wifi coverage has been a bit spotty lately, and I'm once again a full state behind, so I'm just going to skip California... OK, I'll come back to it soon, but I couldn't resist posting some pictures of our experiences in Arizona.

To start with, it snowed on us a little bit in Flagstaff, and this was the view from our campground last night and this morning, respectively.




This snow has certainly helped us realize one thing: we definitely need to live somewhere with four seasons. You'd think we were little kids giddy about the possibility of a snow day from how excited we were when it started snowing (I know, I can sense you Alaskans headed to the courts to apply for an ex parte order already). We want a winter, just not one that's seven months long with interminable darkness. I had to take the middle picture just after sun-up, as the white stuff won't be here long (45 degrees for the expected high here today, and warmer down towards Sedona, where we'll be heading to today).

Prior to Flagstaff, we spent a couple days at the Grand Canyon, so I'll include a couple pics from there as well, though I'm going to do another blog soon with more photos...



Our first Arizona experience was down in Lake Havasu, which is this oasis of water in the desert, albeit a man-made one created by one of many dams along the Colorado River. If you traditionally think of a desert oasis attracting camels and other such beasts of burden, well, this one attracts fifth-wheels and all other manner of RVs.

In addition to the attraction of the lake itself, this particular oasis also features the London Bridge. OK, not the original bridge, but an exact replica built in the early seventies to reach an island area on the lake. It's a bit surreal to see this bridge with palm trees in the background.

They even have a couple dragons to denote the boundaries of this "London land," just as they do "over the pond."




Well, I have to go make a snowball before it all melts, so, more to come later...