Friday, Oct 21 - To Flagstaff

 We all met in the Turquoise Room of La Posada for a large delicious breakfast, Bob and I splitting an order of Beef Machacha and eggs which was very adequate.  We bid goodbye to  Margaret and Jeanette who were heading back to Tucson and then to Teri who was taking off for Green Valley.

 

La Posada Hallway

La Posada Gardens

I re-joined Bob and Hilary in her Subaru and we took off for Flagstaff, AZ, on Interstate 40, which is only 57 miles away.   The freeway went over a huge railroad train loaded with containers - a much more efficient method of transporting goods than the endless trucks on the highways.  

 

The extinct volcanic peaks of the San Francisco range began to appear as we approached Flagstaff, an attractive, small, conifer-filled city.  We drove on old Rt 66, turning off to climb into the mountains.  Hil pulled into a parking area of Arizona Snow Bowl for a nearly 3 mile hiking trail called the Aspen Loop.  

 

There were a lot of cars parked and people setting off on walks, so we were afraid we were going to be “Zion-ed”, but after a short ways, hikers spread out and it was a very pleasant walking across meadows, through groves of golden Aspens, Blue Spruce, Limber Pine, and Engleman Spruce with fine views over the surrounding countryside. 

We stopped on the way back to our car to sit on a rock and eat a delicious snack of chocolate and peanut clusters that our friend, Jim, in Fort Collins, CO, had given to Teri to deliver to us!

 

We returned to the car, and as it was only 1:30, I suggested that we drive up as far as we could go on the mountain and see if the gondola was possibly open.   We drove past several parking lots and found space at the top one, purchased tickets, got in line and soon found ourselves in a very spiffy, new blue gondola - just the three of us flying, silently up the mountainside, 2500’ to 11,500!   We got off in a little snow and walked around the area.  Bob even took advantage of the famous toilet which advertised itself as being the “highest toilet in Arizona”!!   We had great views of the many small volcanic cones scattered around the valley, before climbing aboard and descending quite rapidly and scarily at first, and in five minutes we were back down to 9000’.  

 

We drove back into town and found our hotel, High Country Motor Lodge, which has just been refurbished, and was quite comfortable.   We were scheduled to meet my friend, Sue, a high school classmate from the class of 1961, Beaver Country Day in Chestnut Hill, MA, who I had reconnected with at my fiftieth reunion some years ago.   We all met at the appropriately-named Beaver Brew Pub for a couple of hours of reminiscing and catching up.  She has lived in the area for many years and is very familiar with the American southwest, hiking, river-running and exploring, and had many interesting stories to tell.

 

We got back to the lodge and started organizing our gear for the plane ride back to Santa Barbara tomorrow.