My scratching woke me up- the bedbugs had had a feast so obviously it was time to hit the road.
Very kind of you to host a needy family.
Ashfork, AZ, while you might be the Flagstone Capitol of the World
You'd think that'd be Flagstone, GA or even Flagstone Park, CO (or even Flagstone, Australia), but... noooooooo...
Whelp, okay. I guess they can have the title.
I snapped a few photos before we left town to give you an idea of how has-been Ashfork is:
Pretty... has-been, all right.
Love this photo.
“Just look for the AT&SF Welch Station which will be marked by a concrete slab. Can’t miss it.”.
We looked for the next 2 ½ hours.
Sorry... I'm sure it wasn't funny at the time, but...
I was thoroughly disappointed and will go back someday to conquer that wild goose chase.
Good luck! I'd be curious, if you ever get back there
and find it, if it was worth the effort.
Not only did we see parts of Old Route 66 that only a tiny fraction of people EVER see
Cool! Now
that's worth it.
What is that? Looks too far apart for rail?
Is
that part of Route 66??
But we spied some pretty cool wildlife too:
Ah yes. Do not disturb the sleeping flagstone, lest they swarm and overwhelm you.
Cool little critter.
Whoa! Look at the ears on that jackrabbit!
And some not-so-fortunate critters
Circle of life?
Honestly, it was one of the bigger disappointments of our trip, but nowhere NEAR the biggest one. That is coming up a couple days after this one.
Uh, oh...
I got the unlimited mimosas to go with my Croissant and jam, while Zach feasted on a smoked salmon scramble and toast.
Wow, that sounds good. Unlimited mimosas you say???
Tragically, Carmella's is now a permanently closed victim of Covid.
Well, poop! There goes my shot at those mimosas.
It has turned into a mega-tourist mecca with high-end art shops and wine boutiques.
That sounds pretty... awesome, actually.
I can’t even begin to describe how much stuff is actually there!! It is a veritable treasure trove of antiques from entire trucks and buildings to the smallest toys that kids played with at the turn of the century.
Completely different and just as awesome.
What a cool shot. Almost ghostly.
Love that hubcap. You won't see something like that anymore.
Your boyfriend pops up in the most unexpected places!
Then again, maybe you brought him along with you?
I was able to grab a photo of a replica of my new RV while I was there so I could show you!
Nice fixer-upper. A handyman's dream.
I know there may be more than one of you that enjoys car racing. How about this gem?
Took me down a bit of a rabbit hole.
Luther Johnson drove in 3 Indianapolis 500s. 1931-1933 inclusive.
He drove car #57 and crashed (finishing 20th), so this may not be that car. The next two races he drove #46. He failed to finish in '32 when he lost a wheel on lap 164 (of 200),finishing 16th, but finished the race in '33, finishing 10th.
Seriously, this guy was like the original hoarder, but this is the best kind of hoarding.
Of course. I mean... he's got an Indy car.
I started to feel a bit faintish from the heat.
Whups! You've mentioned that before. Just a tad toasty?
Going from 1900-ish to around 1000AD, the next stop was Tuzigoot National Monument. While not nearly as impressive as Montezuma’s Castle ruins, it was still quite interesting to learn of the ancient Sinagua People who lived and flourished in Central Arizona’s Verde Valley 1100 years ago.
Quite the time shift.
Plus, Tuzigoot is just fun to say.
Okay... that's pretty amazing. I've never seen anything like that.
Those the 1000 year old beams you mentioned?
Sedona wasn’t too much further at all and since we were camping, I wanted to get there well before dark so we could set up.
Hmmm...
Thinking there must be an art to camping there. Set up your tent too early and you'll turn it into an oven. Too late and it's a fridge.
Standing by to see the end result.
It never fails to be jaw-dropping when I enter the Red Rock Zone of Sedona; it’s breathtakingly beautiful- some say the most picturesque place in the US.
High praise!
But I’ll let those speak for themselves as I leave off with some mouthwatering Nature Porn for you.
I don't know if it's the
most picturesque... but it sure can't be far off! Wow! Stunning.