Grand Canyon to Holbrook Az

This morning was a rarity on the southern swing of my trip, a cool, crisp morning. Northern Arizona is so nice. I was not prepared for the evergreens and cool temps. When you think of Arizona you think desert, well I do. But places like Flagstaff, Sedona, etc get over 100 inches of snow every year. I drove through Flagstaff this morning and it is a nice town. My real destination today was the town of Sedona, which is 25 miles south of Flagstaff. The route is beautiful, going through a mountain pass. The rocks start to get more and more red as you get closer to Sedona. The town is small, but very nice. The main street is lined with shops and cafe's and spa type places. The backdrop is amazing, the red pillars and mountains line every view. You can see houses hidden throughpout the hills and valleys. Kind of like in the Hollywood hills and LA. I passed through Wislow Arizona, the place from the Eagles song, another dead town. This was a great Americana day for me, hope the pics represent that.

The trip today brought me to a few stops. Meteor crater was very cool, it is almost a mile wide, put with no perspective it is hard to imagine it is that big. The wind is brutal here today 40 mph gusts and there are fires in the area. Combine that with red dust clouds and it is a strange look out here. The smell of burnt brush is everywhere. I got to my campground, another cabin, (not gonna battle the winds in a tent) and I ventured into town for a market and drove down the old route 66. Unlike the day before in Williams this town has not embraced the draw of route 66. I shouldnt say that, all the buildings from the early era of the road are in tact, which for me is a definite draw, they just have not cashed in on the tourists. Well they are still here, the weather beaten buildings are well passed their prime and most are not used. The empty motels have names like, Sahara, Starlight, and Oasis. I actually felt sad seeing this worn out town. You can imagine what it was like in its heyday, but nothing more. I saw the wigwam hotel, which is on the list of historical places. In the morning I will head to petrified forest national park. Wood that has turned into rocks, it sounds made up.