CONGRESS AZ TO THE NAVAJO NATIONAL MONUMENT WEST OF KAYENTA AZ

We did forego our usual pre-dawn departure & took our time tying up last minute loose ends until well after daybreak.  Trying to get ourselves off on a nice slow & easy relaxed pace.  A last walk around the property & a last walk through the house saying goodbye to everything.  My comfy chair, the TV, my favorite porridge pot, my bedroom, my shower, our shed, our front porch, our front yard cactus garden, & all my clothes I leave here hanging in the closet for the summer, not to mention my socks & underwear drawer.  Said goodbye to my favorite drinking glass & Roy Rogers coffee mug as well.  Gonna miss all you guys.  Yes indeed it was quite an emotional experience for me again & if I wasn’t one of these darn supposedly unemotional Man things I might even have got myself teared up a bit:((  Relax fellas, you will all be happy to know I kept up my end of the great Charade:))

 

A FEW LAST GOOD-BYES

It was finally time to go & we rolled through our South gate at 8:49 a.m.  Bye bye house.  It was actually hard to comprehend we were finally on our way.  Nice clear cool start to the day with a high thin cloud cover & diffused sunlight made for a good driving day.

OK DAD, ME & DUCKY ARE READY TO GO

IN MINUTES THE YARNELL HILL AHEAD TWISTINGLY LEAD US ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP OF THE WEAVER MOUNTAINS

With Kelly along there is no getting through Yarnell without stopping at the bakery.  Four donuts found their way into the coach but no coffee.  We knew we could pick up coffee later at McDonald’s in Chino Valley & that is exactly what we did. 

ROLLING INTO QUAINT & SLEEPY LITTLE YARNELL

 

I CAN SEE MOM GETTING THE DONUTS DAD:))

ROLLING NORTH THROUGH THE SERENELY PEACEFUL PEEPLES VALLEY

A fuel fill-up in Chino Valley as well & we were on our way heading for Ash Fork at I-40.  Always a relaxingly pleasant drive between Chino Valley & Ash Fork.

Been about five & a half months since we last traveled I-40 & not much has changed.  Traffic was lite as we rolled into & through forests of Pine trees at Flagstaff.  Nice to see the San Francisco Peaks snow covered. 

ON I-40 HEADING EAST FOR FLAGSTAFF ARIZONA

 

AND YES WE DID SEE A BIT OF SNOW ALONGSIDE THE ROAD, BUT ONLY A BIT

Picked up highway 89 on the East side of Flagstaff & headed off in a North-Easterly direction.

THIS WAS THE LAST WE SAW OF THE SAN FRANCISCO PEAKS AS WE SWUNG AROUND TO THEIR EAST SIDE & HEADED NORTH

 

SOME SNOOZIN & SCMOOZIN ALONG THE WAY

How nice to be traveling through country we had never seen before.  I always like that.  A long slow & very straight 6% grade easily descended us from Flagstaff’s 7,300 foot altitude into warming temperatures & a completely different landscape.  Pine trees quickly gave way to wide open plains of yellow grass.  & we could see for miles & miles.  Buttes & mesas on distant horizons.  Color & texture began appearing in rock formations & once we turned off 89 onto highway 160 we found ourselves entering red rock country.  Nice.  Reminded me of Utah & some of the red rock around Sedona.

HEADING NORTH FROM FLAGSTAFF ON 89

 

A DOGGY PIT STOP IN RED ROCK COUNTRY

 

NORTH EAST OF TUBA CITY

We knew Tuba City was the last place for cheaper gas in the direction we were headed so we topped off our tank & picked up a few area brochures.  Distance can be a factor between gas stations out here as well.  After a bit we turned off 160 onto road 564 leading to the NAVAJO NATIONAL MONUMENT a short scenic 9 miles from the highway.  We were encouraged on our way to the campground at the monument by the fact we never passed another single vehicle either coming or going.  In our books that is always a good sign of things to come.  And we weren’t disappointed.  A quick stop at the Visitor Center soon pointed us to Sunset View campground.  It was 2:45 p.m.  RV SUE had recommended ‘Canyon View’ campground but it was not open for the season yet.  Luckily there were only 2 other RV’s here in the Sunset campground & they were far enough away not to bother us. 

‘Sunset View’ is a small campground & definitely not a place to be in peak season with it’s closely spaced small sites.  There is a 28’ RV limit here & I can see why.  No problem to drive around the loop but the ‘pull over’ sites are definitely meant for 26’.  Our Jeep hangs out a bit but we’re OK & things aren’t crowded right now in the campsite anyway.  By the way it is free here & the campground is clean as a whip.  No water or electric but they do have a nice central washroom facility.  We have 3 bar Internet but no antennae TV stations. 

 

RV Sue also recommended some trails & we are close enough to walk to them.  We will stay here tonight & tomorrow night unless the campground fills up with week-end Warriors. 

  

It has been so nice to be back on the road going somewhere again today.  Just love all that great Western scenery rolling by the window mile after mile.  Snow capped mountains, sweeping panoramic vistas, gently rolling grasslands, red rock canyons, mesas & buttes.  It’s just always so great to be out here traveling anywhere in the great American West:))))))))

WE KINDA EAT WHEREVER WE CAN IN HERE

 

NOT OFTEN WE GET TO BOONDOCK ON PAVEMENT

Now back to my Thursday post for a minute..I’m the only one I ever met who once got 8 out of 100 in a high school math exam.  Guess that might explain how I had the numbers wrong in my Thursday post about the $40 Kelly gave me.  Thanks to a comment from sharp eyed & math guru BOB for pointing that out.  Actually I would like to think it was a typo error but maybe 8 out of 100 tells the true tale eh.  With Kelly’s smarts I have made the correction:))

VIEW FROM OUR CAMPSITE

GROANER’S CORNER:((  Ever wonder what all those advertising terms really mean? ----------------------------

NEW - Different color from previous design.

ALL NEW - Parts are not interchangeable with previous design.

EXCLUSIVE - Imported product.

UNMATCHED - Almost as good as the competition.

FOOLPROOF OPERATION - No provision for adjustments.

ADVANCED DESIGN - The advertising agency doesn't understand it.

IT'S HERE AT LAST - Rush job. Nobody knew it was coming.

FIELD TESTED - Manufacturer lacks test equipment.

HIGH ACCURACY - Unit on which all parts fit.

FUTURISTIC - No other reason why it looks the way it does.

REDESIGNED - Previous flaws fixed - we hope. DIRECT

SALES ONLY - Factory had a big argument with distributor.

YEARS OF DEVELOPMENT - We finally got one to work.

BREAKTHROUGH - We finally figured out a use for it.

MAINTENANCE FREE - Impossible to fix.

MEETS ALL STANDARDS - Ours, not yours.

SOLID-STATE - Heavy as hell.

HIGH RELIABILITY - We made it work long enough to ship it.