Friday, June 30th
Left CO and headed toward Flagstaff today. Hit 4 corners and did a quick 4 state tour, hot. Some great jewelry and Svea got some fun stuff. As we drove W it got hotter and hotter. We stopped at the Navajo reservation to get a guided tour of the dinosaur tracks – really cool! T-Rex track was impressive and the pterodactyl skeleton too. Arrived at Corey and Becky’s while Steph got her hair done. We had drinks and dinner and hiked up a hill behind their house for a backcountry swing. Shady and cool in their neighborhood, no AC needed.
Saturday, July 1
We piled in the van, grabbed a tandem and single inflatable kayak as well as two paddleboards and headed to Winslow, AZ for a day on the water at Clear Creek Canyon. What a day! Paddled a few miles up this canyon, deep cool water and cliffs on each side. We jumped off some spots, had a great lunch spot. Everyone took turns on boards, Svea was the pacesetter when on her board with her cooler mounted. We stopped across from the “corner in Winslow, AZ. Such a fine sight to see” and had ice cream. We grilled burgers and had a great fresh salad. Oh yeah! Got Steph’s tire and brought it in to Absolute Bikes where a guy from MN, last name Svenson, got it all switched out. Dialed in, shifts and runs like it should…finally.
Sunday, July 2
Once again the name of the game was get on the water. We drove down Oak Creek Canyon through Sedona to get to our day’s hike to a swimming hole. Beautiful drive, but holy man was the canyon packed! Every single possible parking spot and more were taken, people were walking on the highway like it was a sidewalk. Fascinating. Holiday weekend and everyone was escaping the heat up high. It was 105 at the trailhead and the sun was HOT. Everyone was carrying their dogs out, when asked it was because the dogs were burning their feet. We went ahead, Barry wouldn’t dare stay back. Soon he was favoring the shade and we all were getting cooked. We dropped down to the creek for some ‘creekin’. Good fun and we all got wet and cooled down in the shade. Even Barry got in on the action. We caught blue crawdads and finally got out to make the hike to the hole. We stopped a bit short at a nice deep spot with the weir. Water was chin deep and very cool. Jumped in with all my clothes on knowing the 3 mile hike out would dry everything…it did. We were one of the last cars in the lot, cooled off a solid 10f by the time we got out. Hit the Lumberyard for beers and dinner, solid fare.
Monday, July 3
The kids had to work, so did we. Steph did laundry and she and Svea detailed the van out. We reorganized our bins and roof storage as well. After a morning of working we drove out to Sunset Crater and the Watpaki pueblo ruins just north of Flag. Hot black volcanic ejecta in the shadow of this really pretty cinder cone. The ruins were fun to tour, still well over 100, can’t imagine how anyone lived here back then. Water, hunting, farming? Hiking was slow, heat just wearing us out.
Back at Corey’s the grill master did up brussel sprouts, bbq chicken and potatoes with a Steph built salad. We so appreciated our time at Corey and Becky’s, total fun and a chance to catch our breath for the next leg.
