Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Forests of Flagstaff and My Daddy
We had been through Flagstaff before on the I40, but we had never come in from the north on the 180. What a gorgeous sight! There was snow on San Francisco Peak and it was cold. We saw some great looking campgrounds and some nice parks. I would love to go back and hang out more in this area. It is hard to believe all this greenery is right smack in the middle of a very desolate looking desert.
A major problem was that from the Grand Canyon down to practically the center of Flag, there was no cell phone reception whatsoever. We kept asking ourselves, over and over again, how can people live without cell phones out here? There was NO wifi to be found, no cell service AND no road-side assistance hard-line phones incase of emergency. We were truly baffled.
I had called my dad the day before, while we were at the Grand Canyon on a pay-phone of all things. Yes, pay-phones do exist, though they are elusive creatures. I let him know we would be in Flag the next day so that we could meet for lunch. I was supposed to call him when we were on our way but I was unable to reach him until we got into the inhabited areas of Flagstaff. Thankfully he was already in town and said that he had the same problem with his cell phone.
We had stopped at a +Sam's Club to get more water for our long trip back home through the California desert, so he said he would meet us there. As I waited for him in the jam-packed parking lot, I was amazed to see his car come into the drive way at Sam's and head straight for our rental car. I joked with him and asked him how he did that, and did he have a G.P.S. tracking device on us. He laughed and said he did. I don't know if he was joking or not. If he did, that would explain a lot!
We made our lunch quick, as the weather changed for the worse right before our eyes. It became very dark. Knowing the altitude and strange weather everyone had been having lately we decided to head on down the hill for an overnight stay in Kingman. We barely made it down and out of the storm alive. The winds and rain were horrible, the worst winds I had ever driven through and I have driven through some major winds in SoCal, with our Santa Ana's and had recently been through some bad winds in Oklahoma and New Mexico. Driving down hill with semi's swerving beside you, everyone clinging to the road only by a wing and a prayer. And I mean angels wings, or maybe raven's wings in this case, did we make it into Kingman safely. We found a cheap hotel to hang-out in for the night, so that we could get an early start and get back home before noon.
Flagstaff is another place I would really love to explore more in late spring or early fall. I have been through Flag when snow was on the ground, and I really do not like driving in the snow. Flagstaff is a beautiful place and I will forever remember it in connection to my Daddy! Though it was short, we had a great time. Memories are wonderful things!
Labels:
altitude,
Arizona,
baffled,
campgrounds,
cell,
cell service,
desolate,
Flagstaff,
Grand Canyon,
Kingman,
San Francisco Peak,
snow,
water,
weather,
winds
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