May 29: SW Road Trip Day 20: Taliesin West

We spent a cozy night in Wickenburg and awoke refreshed. Today we head to the biggest metro area in Arizona, Phoenix. (We are actually headed right next door, to Scottsdale.) The next question: when? We consult the iPhone weather app and find that today will be hot, peaking in the mid to late afternoon. Leaving earlier, therefore, is better. We pack up and head out.

On our way to the highway, we notice a sign for the Wickenburg House, so we pull off and take a look.

Henry Wickenburg House

Amy thinks the house looks sort of modern. There’s a reason: the sign in front of the house states that it was built in 1903. That’s the same time as a lot of the houses on Queen Anne. This was actually the last house that Henry built in his life; he died two years later (at age 85 or 86). I believe that we have now seen everything that Wickenburg has to offer.

We get back on the road and head the 65 or so miles to Scottsdale. We are finally, truly, in the desert. The saguaro cactus are impressive.

The Desert on the Way to Phoenix

The closer we get to Phoenix, the more traffic there is. We complete the highway portion of the trip and are in the midst of wide arterials with stop-lights every quarter of a mile. We still have several miles to cover to the Holiday Inn Express, but the Scottsdale Traffic Department is just as good as Seattle’s and we get caught at every light. In Seattle, they intentionally do this to "encourage" drivers to stop driving. I don’t know why they do it here in Arizona, as there doesn’t seem to be any alternative. It's too hot to either walk or bike. I also don’t know why I am thinking about this. Perhaps the heat is making me grumpy?

We find the motel and check-in. We also get a suggestion for lunch, The Village Tavern, and have a decent meal. During the meal, we discuss what we are going to do. Since we are here early, we decide to take the tour of Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Winter Home and School in the Desert. (This is the main reason we have stopped in Scottsdale.)

We relax in the room after lunch, then head out to the school and join our scheduled tour. This place is fascinating. The tour talks about The Architect focusing on his later life, when he was active here in the desert. Photos show that there was no city when the school was established. Living in tents was part of the education for aspiring architects under Mr. Wright. If you are interested at all in architecture, and you are in the area, this is a must-see.

Taliesin  West

More of Taliesin West

Taliesin West Decor

After the tour, we head back to our hotel and rest some more. The temperature is now north of 100 degrees. It is so draining. During our rest, it cools down a few degrees, and we have been cooped up in air-conditioned bubbles most of the day, so we walk the two blocks to dinner. Inchin’s is a pan-Asian grill. We find that there is even a branch in Redmond, but we are interested in a change of food and want to take advantage of being in a city. We have Cashew Chicken and Mongolian Chicken. Very tasty. It is 6:00 and there is nobody else in the restaurant. Turns out at this time of year, it won't get busy until 8:00 or so. Reminds me of Spain.

The walk back to the Motel was more pleasant as the sun was setting and the temperature was really falling. All the way down to 90. The Weather app says it will be hotter tomorrow.

May 28: SW Road Trip Day 19: Wickenburg

We arise on the Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend. The day is fair and after some initial packing, we head downstairs for breakfast at the Forest Villas Hotel. We have an enjoyable meal. We try to drink a lot of water since we are heading down toward the Valley of the Sun and hotter temperatures.

After a leisurely morning, including some nice piano music in the lobby, we pack the car and head out for Wickenburg, AZ, about 65 miles away. I am a little puzzled that the GPS says it will take us an hour and a half to get there. There are no red traffic marks on the GPS’ map. What gives?

We quickly find out! As we pass through Prescott, we turn south just before the Court House area. (It is a lovely little neighborhood of picturesque houses.) Then the road starts to climb just as we leave the town proper. The road twists and turns just south of town. The posted speed limit is 25 MPH.

Hills South of Prescott

We drive over a pass and start descending. I am thinking how nice it is that there is very little traffic when we come upon a stretch of road with about a dozen motorcycles parked on the opposite side of the road, facing towards us, and also one Arizona Highway Patrol Car. A man is carrying a woman, completely conscious, toward the Patrol Car. He puts her down to get her into the car and it is clear that something is wrong with one of her legs. As we look at the scene, I can’t help thinking that there was an accident, but with the steepness of the verge, it could have been a lot worse.

We continue descending, and after about 20 miles of pretty slow driving, we bottom out near the town of Wilhoit. We have made it to the desert and it's getting hot. At the start of the day, we were at about 5,400 ft. elevation. We are now just a bit above 2,000. As we drive into town, the temperature is north of 95.

Transition to Desert

Another half an hour finds us approaching our destination: Wickenburg.

Wickenburg has had two promising economic developments in its history. First, gold was discovered in the nearby Vulture Mine in the 1860’s. That development was dampened by hostile relations with the local Native Americans. After many years of strife, the locals settlers convinced the Federal Government to relocate all the Natives to a Navajo Reservation to the Northeast. The output of the mine was not very successful, either.

The second positive development came in 1913 with the opening of the first “Western Guest Ranch”. This development yielded more success than the Gold Mine; the town subsequently became the “Dude Ranch Capitol of the World”. That explains the Welcoming Art coming south on Highway 93:

Welcome to Wickenburg

More recently, one of the Dude Ranches has been converted into the nation’s largest eating disorder treatment facility and is now the largest employer in the town.

It is close to lunch time, but we decide to stop at our hotel first. It’s a cute little place and we appreciate hospitality as we check in.

Our Room at the My Place Suites

Having checked in, we go downtown for some lunch and find Anita’s Cocina. We wish Eliot was with us because he would surely appreciate the tasty, authentic food. After lunch, we walk around town and stumble upon “The Jail Tree”.

The Jail Tree

Back in the early days of the old west, it took a lot of work to build a jail. In Wickenburg, they decided that those who needed to be detained could just be chained up to an old mesquite tree. It wasn’t too cruel as the detainees at least had a lot of shade.

This town takes its cowboy heritage seriously, as we can see as we cross from the Jail Tree to visit the Desert Caballeros Western Museum, containing both History and Art displays.

Desert Caballeros Western Museum

The History section has a lot of really interesting stories, but none are sadder than that of Arizona Hero Pat Tillman. A football player at Arizona State University, he was drafted by and played 3 years for the Arizona Cardinals until 9/11. He enlisted, was sent to Afghanistan, and was killed in action under less than completely understood circumstances. This little museum had a very moving tribute to him, with a video containing pictures and clips of tributes to him from teammates, coaches and friends.

We next moved on to the Art Wing and were treated to some fun Cowboy and Native American art displays. Even more fun was the basement of the Wing, which houses artifacts from about 100 years ago showing how people actually lived. This is the kind of stuff that Amy most appreciates. For example, to run the house/kitchen of one of the storekeepers of the city, about 50 pounds of firewood was consumed each day. It was usually a boy’s (son’s) job to bring that wood into the house from where it was stored outside.

Back outside, we headed back to our car. The vegetation of this town is quite different from what we are used to. Along the side of the road, just east of the Museum, we find this along the side of the road:

Cactus in the City Strip

Amy Shows Us How Tall the Cacti Are

We continue on toward our car. At one point, preparing to cross a street, we notice a gentleman, late 30s or early 40s, at the opposite corner of this, one of the heavier trafficked intersections. He is waving an American Flag. He stands between us and where we want to go, and he doesn’t appear to be doing anything besides waving the flag, so we figure he is just being patriotic on this Sunday before Memorial Day. We cross to his corner. As we pass him, I notice that strapped to his right thigh is a holster with a fairly lethal looking modern side-arm in it. Oh, yes, this is Arizona, I thought as we quietly passed by him.

We stopped at a local market to buy some groceries, went back to our Inn, and “ate in”.

This was an interesting little town to visit, but we were definitely grateful for the A/C!

May 27: SW Road Trip Day 18: Prescott

I am told that the proper pronunciation is rhyming with biscuit. Accent on the first syllable.

Amy rises first, as usual, and heads out for a 3 mile run. We debate breakfast and come to no conclusion. But no conclusion means that we have coffee and skip food. Actually, during coffee, Amy eats her leftover Flatbread from last night.

We get organized for repacking the car. Check out time is noon and the FA Cup Final starts at 9:00, so we seek the FS1 TV feed. Can’t get it on our room’s TV. We walk to the clubhouse and even though the staff is most helpful, the feed cannot be found there, either. We believe it will be on at 11:30 AM in Prescott, so we decide to head out.

We call for a Valet and it is Brian, who helped us into our room when? Seems like a week ago, but was only two days. Check-out is completely painless. (The pain will come when paying the credit card bill...)

Our destination today is Prescott, about 70 miles down Hwy 89. We listen to a couple of Podcasts while on the road and simultaneously enjoy the high desert scenery. We leave the Sedona area through the same Verde Valley that we took the Pink Jeep Tour to, but a little more to the south and east of that trip. It is a beautiful drive with little traffic to bother us.

As we approach Prescott and the Prescott Valley, however, the highway becomes really crowded. We get stuck in a long line at every stoplight. What is going on? Oh! It is Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend! It seems that some substantial portion of Phoenix has driven north to enjoy a long get-away in the northern hinterlands!

We finally reach a Sports Bar in “downtown” Prescott to catch the match, but find that I have messed up time zones again and the match is almost over. It is the third minute of 4 minutes of added time at the end of the match. Chelsea is down a man (thanks, Victor Moses) and a goal to Arsenal. Looks like Arsenal has earned the win and we watch the last minute. I wonder whether this makes Hunter happy or sad? Will Wenger go (happy) or will the win mean that he stays (sad)?

This has actually worked out OK – I don’t have to suffer through watching an uninspired loss! We get back in the car and head to Courthouse Square. We arrive to find an Arts and Crafts Fair in full swing. First, though, we must have some lunch. After checking out possibilities, we settle on The Devil’s Pantry. Amy has a turkey sandwich and I have a burger. Tasty!

We briefly stop by the Palace Saloon to make reservations for dinner, then take in the Fair. Everybody from miles around seems to be here. Lots of Cowboy and Native American artists of all types. Some really interesting stuff to see. It’s all western themed. Some artists heavy into animals, others into abstract or realistic impressions of natural beauty. We like a lot of the presentations that we see; some very accomplished techniques, but we don’t see anything particularly relevant or striking to us.

We head back up the Highway to The Forest Villas Hotel, our abode for the next 24 hours. It is a nice hotel with a good mix of hominess and quality. The view out our balcony gives you an idea of what we have been driving through today:

The High Desert from our Balcony

Yeah, they even have Costco’s in Prescott! The pool calls to us, so we settle our gear into the room, then walk down to the pool. We have it to ourselves except for three women who are enjoying the sun. We are in the shade.

But today is the day the Sounders host Portland and even though I am recording the game, and I willingly left Seattle and miss the game, I can’t resist knowing the result. I dial up the match on my iPhone: it is 1-0 our advantage well into the 2^nd half. A tense 25 minutes later, the boys in rave green are victorious. (Later that night, I enjoy watching the replay through our Comcast account. Great 2^nd half.) The pool is really nice, but it is warm, so we head inside.

After an hour or so, we are hungry, so we get back in the car and head back downtown. Destination, The Palace Saloon, the oldest bar in Arizona.

The Palace Saloon

The interior of the bar is really delightful. Historic photos line the walls. The wait staff is dressed in semi-period pieces.

Interior of the Saloon

Our waitress arrives to take our order. We’re in an old west bar. Can I have a Martini, or even a Manhattan? I cannot! I order a whiskey! Jack Daniels! Amy orders an Iced Tea and we return to consulting on the evening’s meal. We decide to share a steak and get a couple of appetizers:

Crispy Sprouts and Pancetta

Arizona Artichoke Hearts

We have a wonderful meal, both appetizers are yummy and the steak is perfectly cooked.

On the way out, we acknowledge the bar:

The Bar in the Palace Saloon

I am really happy we have visited this place. We head back to the Forest Villas and a good night’s sleep.

May 26: SW Road Trip Day 17: Sedona Day 4

We rise to another beautiful day. We decide to hike up Boynton Canyon before the temperature gets too high. From our room, we walk downhill, to Enchantments Road, then across the creek bed and past the spa. We turn north and after a few minutes, Amy stops me and quietly points to my left. I just walked right past a deer, grazing, about 6 feet away.

Deer Grazing

Successfully avoiding startling the deer, we continue on to the trailhead and head up Boynton Canyon.

Boynton Canyon

Red Rock Walls

After a half hour of hiking, we turn around and head back to the trailhead and the lodge. We hit the Grab and Go Stand for coffee. Amy has a granola parfait, Wayne has a croissant. We next head back to the room to clean up from our hike and figure out what to do next. Bocce or Croquet? Tennis? Swimming Pool!

We spend most of the next 4 hours at the pool. Lunch was a sushi bowl for Wayne and a Salad with Chicken for Amy. It is really lovely by the pool, but the wind picks up a bit and the attendants have to remove all the smaller portable umbrella shades. Sad, because now Wayne has to find shade. Life can be really tough, sometimes.

Mid-afternoon, we head back to the room to rest up from our exertions before dinner. Then we head back to the Tii Gavo restaurant to enjoy a low-key meal of Tacos for Wayne and the Margherita Flatbread for Amy. We share a generous portion of chips and guacamole. It is going to be tough to leave this place tomorrow.

May 25: SW Road Trip Day 16: Sedona Day 3

Our third day (second full day) in Sedona will include a relocation to The Enchantments. This exclusive luxury hotel/spa is in Boynton Canyon. We passed by the canyon on our Pink Jeep expedition yesterday. The Canyon is adjacent to the desert, but it is lush with trees and other plant life.

Check-in is not until 4:00, so we will have an easy leisurely day – no hurrying. We have a full breakfast in the backyard restaurant of the Casa Sedona Inn. Amy has a Yogurt and Fruit Parfait and I have Huevos Rancheros:

Huevos Rancheros

Breakfast is very tasty. Our table is in almost full shade and it is 7:30AM, but we can already tell that it’s going to be another hot day. The meal done, there is no more putting it off. We must pack and head out. The plan is to visit the Airport Road scenic view, then visit Tlaquepaque Village, off Hwy 179, and see if any of the arts or crafts strike our fancy.

Photo Ops: Amy’s “36 Hours” book is clear that we should stop at the lower site off Airport Road, but all the parking is taken, so we continue up to the Airport and pay the $3 fee. There is a hiking trail down to the lower spot, which has a 360 degree view, so we walk down and take lots of pictures. Here are a few:

Sedona from Above Airport Road

Amy Atop the Scenic Viewpoint

Another Cactus in Bloom

Having enjoyed the view, we return to our car and drive to Tlaquepaque Village, a high end Arts & Crafts Shopping Center. There is some interesting stuff, but I didn’t feel like paying $79 for a very small salt and pepper shaker set, even though they were quite cute. There were some large garden mobiles that were very cool, but we managed to leave empty handed.

Back in the car, we head for The Enchantments, figuring that we can read our books if the room isn’t ready. We arrive and figure out that we are in a separate kind of place. Everyone on the staff is so polite and helpful. We check-in and get the full rundown on facilities from Brian, our valet. Each Casita is a separate building with one to 3 guest rooms. The Casitas are spread out over a wide area, but getting around is by foot or by golf cart. A 6-foot-wide paved path allows access to all of the rooms. Brian shows us where to park the car, loads up the golf cart, including us, and drives us to our room. We thank Brian for his attention and start to settle in. Suddenly, a knock on the door:

Sparkling Wine & Chocolate Covered Strawberries!

Amy Enjoying the Surprise

Refreshing, but it wasn't Toques et Clochers.

We relax and really enjoy the room. The bed is large and as comfortable as any I have lain in.

After a rest, we head to the pool. Above average pool, but in one of the most stunning locales of any we have experienced.

The View from the Swimming Pool

Back to the room, we clean up for dinner at Che Ah Chi. This restaurant is one level above the pool. We are seated on the deck in the outside area of the restaurant. We enjoy the unobstructed view.

Cocktails To Start Dinner

Amy had the Lobster Bisque, Roasted Beets and Vegetable Linguine. Wayne had the Duck and Kale Salad and the Housemade Pasta, a wonderful concoction of long thin noodles in a bowl with cheese, vegetables and a light sauce. Stuffed again, we skipped dessert and successfully navigated our way back to our room.

May 24: SW Road Trip Day 15: Sedona Day 2

Our first full day in Sedona. This morning, we drive into the desert in a jeep. We will visit Diamondback Gulch and the Ancient Ruins at the Honanki Heritage Site. After a restful morning, we head to the Uptown District to check-in for our 10:00 Pink Jeep Tour.

Pink Jeep

The tour takes us into the Verde Valley, west of Sedona. We drive for about 10 miles on asphalt, then turn onto dirt road. The scenery is exquisite.

Three Camels Mesa

There is so much to look at, I’m really glad I’m not driving.

Cactus in Bloom

Agave in Bloom

The Desert

After a lot of bouncing around, and a surprising amount of elevation change, both up and down, we head to the Honanki Heritage Site. The Jeep is parked and a short walk brings us to the ruins. Our guide tells us about the various rooms, the construction of the walls, and so on. This is another example of the types of ruins we have seen several times before on this trip. (Sorry about the picture quality.)

Honanki Ruins

The tour has been informative and interesting, this has been another worthwhile outing.

We return to town and decide to have lunch at 89 Agave Cantina, close to Pink Jeep Tours. (The food is good.) It is really hot today, so we decide to head back to the Inn. But first, since we are so close, we decide to visit the architectural wonder of Sedona, the Chapel of the Holy Cross.

Chapel of the Holy Cross

This site offers great photo opportunities. It is quite a wonder and I suggest stopping here if you are ever in Sedona.

We head back to the Inn and rest. Our dinner choice is Dahl & Diluca, an Italian restaurant co-owned by the owner of Mariposa, where we ate last night. Amy had the Pollo Piccata and I had Ravioli. We shared a Crème Brulee. Stuffed again, we called it a night.

May 23: SW Road Trip Day 14: Sedona

Today, we bid a fond adieu to Flagstaff and relocate to Sedona. Neither of us have ever been there before, so we are excited to visit Red Rock country. (As if we haven’t seen a lot of Red Rock country already!)

We enjoy a leisurely morning and finally hit the road (Hwy 89A) south at about 11:00 AM. It is gorgeous! However, it seems to be that time of year; there is more highway construction going on for this road. They are widening 7 or 8 miles (near Flagstaff) from 2 lanes to 4. There is a long section of road that is restricted to one lane of traffic only, so we get to wait patiently for our turn. The scenery is pine forest. Sort of like the eastern slopes of the Cascades in Washington.

After the construction, we enter a narrow, 2-lane section of highway that twists through the Oak Creek Canyon. After a few miles, the canyon opens up and starts to transition to Red Rock.

Highway 89A North of Sedona

Getting Close to Sedona

Finally, we are in Sedona:

Sedona

We locate our lodgings for the next two nights in the West section of town.

Casa Sedona 1

Casa Sedona 2

Cactus in Bloom in the Garden

We wander into the office area and learn that check-in time is 3:00. We’ll head to lunch and return in a few hours, but before we do, we need a “pit stop”. Amy goes first. She comes out of the restroom and declares, “you must experience this!” I take my turn, and now I feel that I really have arrived in Sedona! There is soft flute music playing. An electric candle burning sets the visual mood with soft light. I have never had such a visit to the toilet. This is the Sedona of Myth. Are we in a Vortex?

I tear myself away and we get in the car to head to the Uptown District. But as we drive along the highway, I see it! I stop and get photographic proof! There really is a McDonald’s with no golden arches! (The arches are against the building code in Sedona.)

McDonald's, Sedona Style

I have wanted to see this establishment ever since I read about it over 20 years ago! Check one more item off my bucket list!

The next order of business is lunch. Back to the Highway and back to Uptown. We park the car and head on foot toward Hwy 89. A woman is coming toward us with a plastic bag obviously carrying take-out. Since she looks every bit the local, we ask her about food and she directs us to the Outlaw Grille. Amy has a chicken sandwich and I have a burger, both very good.

After lunch, we walk up one side of the Highway and down the other, whiling away the time until we can check in. This is the first day of our trip that is truly hot. It must be pushing 90. Three o’clock comes and we check into the Casa Sedona Inn.

We get the lay of the land from the owner, Kim, and ask her about dinner suggestions, saying we are considering Mariposa. Enthusiastically seconding our choice, she offers to call the restaurant to engage their van to pick us up and later bring us back. The X3 will stay parked!

After relaxing in the room to recover from the drive and the heat, we dress for dinner and await our driver on the garden swing in the front of Inn. Eric shows up at the appointed time and whisks us to our meal. We are very early for our reservation because we want to sit in the patio, which we can if we wait our turn in the bar. After a short, but enjoyable wait, we get the call and get seated in the Patio.

Mountains in Sedona from the Mariposa Patio

Dinner was very good. The setting was superb. Amy had lemon-roasted chicken. I had steak and potatoes au gratin. We were too stuffed for dessert, so we rode (with Eric) back to the Inn. One final item for the night was to enjoy the backyard Hot Tub under the stars. And wow, were the stars out over Sedona. Life is Good!

May 22: SW Road Trip Day 13: Flagstaff

Today we are in Flagstaff, AZ, gateway to Northern Arizona. This morning we head out North and a bit East of town to explore the Loop Road around the Sunset Crater and the Ancient Ruins in the Wupatki National Monument. It is a lovely drive on Hwy 89. This will be the third day we have been on this road; the last time was when leaving the Grand Canyon for Monument Valley a week ago. That was about 50 miles north of here.

We reach milepost 430 and turn east onto the Loop Road for the Sunset Crater National Monument. Ominous news: there is a lot of construction on this road today and we can expect delays. Further, we arrive at the Ranger Station 10 minutes before it opens, so we get to cool our heels a little.

Happily, there is little delay beyond the actual opening of the station. Our Lifetime passes grease the wheels once again and we are back on the road, headed for the Crater. We stop at the first pull-out to glimpse the area.

Sunset Crater

The volcano blew about a thousand years ago. It changed the climate for dozens of miles around this location. Perhaps it contributed to the decline of the ancient Puebloan culture in Northern Arizona. Our next stop is the Lava Flow Trail where we take a very accessible 1 mile loop trail around the Bonito Lava Flow. This is reminiscent of the area south of Bend, OR, that we visited last summer. The Lava Flow sections also remind us of Craters of the Moon, though the rest of the area is less dramatically stark than that southern Idaho site.

Bonito Lava Flow "Pot"

Southern Side of the Sunset Crater

An informational sign shows a picture of this same view from the 30’s. It’s pretty interesting how little the vegetation on the mountain has changed. The arid climate has caused a very slow recovery of plant life since the eruption.

Bonito Lava Flow (looking west)

The quiet is so pleasant! Very few people are here so early in the morning. The most noise is coming from the occasional supply truck that drives up the highway.

We return to the parking lot and our car and continue on the Loop Road. Our next destination is the Wukoki Pueblo. But first, we lose a lot of elevation and have panoramic views of the Painted Desert to the East. (This is the northwestern corner of what we visited yesterday in the Petrified Forest National Park.)

As we turn one bend in the road, we come upon some sort of beast, with a long bushy tail, trotting down the highway. We think it is a coyote. It quickly leaves the road and we look for it as we pass, but there is no further sighting.

The surrounding high forest has given way to high desert. Not very many trees and the ground cover is sparser. We go around another bend and see our first flagger. We are listening to an engaging audio novel, so it isn’t too much of an inconvenience. After a wait of about 20 minutes, we follow the pilot car for several miles, then turn off for the Wukoki Pueblo, a couple of miles east of the loop road.

Wukoki Pueblo

This structure has been here for about 800 years. It was abandoned about 700 years ago. It must have been some sort of trading post, as it sits atop a large rock and has a commanding view in most directions.

View from the 2nd Floor of Wukoki Pueblo

View East

We head back to the Loop Road and wait our turn to head north to the next site. This wait is another 20 minutes or so. After joining the single lane of traffic, we cover the final couple of miles to…

Wupatki Pueblo

This site is much larger than Wukoki. Estimates are that 250 to 300 people lived here, at its height. There are even a couple of “arena”-like structures that were constructed to allow some sort of ball game to be played. Researchers have discovered hundreds of these types of structures in northern Arizona

Eastern Area of the Pueblo & Ball Field

Getting back into the car, we have our longest wait yet, about half an hour. (It’s going to be a late lunch in downtown Flagstaff.)  We eventually are allowed back onto the Loop Road, northbound, to join up again with Hwy 89 and have an uneventful drive from there back into Flagstaff. We head to Charley’s Pub in the historic Weatherford Hotel. Satisfying lunch! Afterwards, we take a short walk around the area, scoping out dinner possibilities. (Alas, nothing definite decided.)

Back in our car, we head just a little farther east. In 1894, Percival Lowell founded this Observatory atop a hill in the western side of Flagstaff. He was obsessed with finding the “Planet X” that many scientists believed should exist to account for anomalies in the orbits of the outer planets. This observatory is where Lowell made his calculations to try to figure out where to look for the planet. Lowell died in 1916. Thomas Pickering discovered Pluto in 1930 at this site. We are here to pay homage.

Lowell Observatory, West of Town

Religious ritual completed, we head back to our hotel for a rest and a quick dip in the pool before the last great challenge of the day, where to have dinner. After many changes of mind, we decide on Collin’s Irish Pub. It was a good meal, and we got to see some of the 4^th game of the NBA Conf. Finals between Boston and Cleveland. It’s been another fun day, but we have seen what we wanted to see in Flagstaff. Tomorrow, we head for a place neither of us has ever been before, Sedona.