April 16, 2008 by Rick and Tinka.

If I didn’t know that we were in Arizona, I’d swear we were somewhere in the northwest. 

One summer back in the middle of the last century, Tinka was in college in Flagstaff.  She said that she would go down toward Sedona, AZ to what is now Slide Rock State Park.  In those days it was an apple farm but Oak Creek ran through the middle of it.  It was also before water slides, but Slide Rock is a natural 75-foot butt-ride down the hill.  The weather was a little to cold for Tinka to relive an old experience, but others weren’t so chicken.

The apple farmer that owned the area prior to it becoming a state park, Frank L. Pendley, built a few tourist cabins on the property in 1933.  Sorry, they aren’t renting them out any more.

Heading south on Hwy 89a toward Slide Rock we were treated to a beautiful drive through the pine-covered mountains.  Happily we did not have our 5th wheel with us on this trip.  One stretch of the road drops about 1800 feet in about a three mile stretch of switchbacks.  There are three of them in this photo.

From up on top, we could look down at our road on the valley floor.

Once we made it down, here’s a look back at the hill we descended.

After not sliding on the rocks, we headed another 8 miles south to the town of Sedona.  Sedona was made popular by more than 40 movies that were filmed in the area between 1931 and 1985.  The first was the filming of Zane Grey’s novel, “Riders of the Purple Sage”.   Once the famous panorama hit the screens it was hard to keep people away. (CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO ENLARGE)

The town of Sedona has grown into quite a tourist area.  The homes are spread out around the hills.

Shops line Hwy 89a.

On our return trip back up the hill toward Flagstaff, we spotted some Indian art and jewelry vendors.  Like we haven’t seen enough vendors lately.  Anyway, we stopped and escaped unscathed.

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April 16, 2008 by Rick and Tinka.

About this time last year we experienced truck overheating when we scaled almost any incline.  After several attempts to have the system checked and flushed the problems continued.  Of course, nobody could duplicate the problem because they weren’t towing anything.  Before heading into Mexico we made a decision to replace the radiator.  That decision has proven its wisdom on numerous occasions.  None more than yesterday. 

The short, 160 mile, trip began just north of Phoenix at an elevation of under 2000 feet and passed through elevations of 7330 feet.  Most of the climb took place over a 30-mile stretch of I-17.  There were several 6-mile stretches of 6-percent grades.  The climb plus wind gusts up to 60 MPH made for an interesting day but no overheating issues.

The elevation wasn’t the only change.  The landscape changed from the normal desert brown …..

To pine trees, snow capped mountains, and even patches of snow in shady spots under trees.

The mountain in the distance is Humphreys Peak that stretches skyward some 12,633 feet.

We’ve apparently broken our rule on staying where it is warm.  Williams, Arizona (Elev. 6766) is located about 30 miles west of Flagstaff and we’ve chosen this spot as our base for the next few days of exploration.  We’ll be visiting Sedona, Flagstaff, the Grand Canyon, and Meteor Crater.

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