Travel diaries: week two
We spent some incredibly restful time at our Brother’s apartment in Henderson, NV. He never misses a comfortable detail, making it feel like a five star hotel. It would be easy to just stay there forever, wandering around “the district,” grabbing a bite to eat (their businesses for the most part were wide open). We knew we had to get back on the road though and headed in the direction of Flagstaff. We Parked for one night in Williams, at Grand Canyon highway dispersed camping. The trees and the cooler evening were such a treat! We went into town and brought a pizza back, watched a movie and then popped out of the trailer one last time to photograph the stars before going to sleep.
We packed up in the morning, made the short drive to Flagstaff and found a beautiful spot at Walnut canyon dispersed camping. We did have to drive around a bit to get this spot but the view was so beautiful, it was worth the extra effort. The Natural grocer in town met all of our restock needs and we posted up for a few days to hike and relax. Hiking in Walnut canyon area was very peaceful.
We had this incredible afternoon, with nothing to do but read our books, Riley opened a bottle of wine and the sun began to set. The light was shining in through the open door and I just couldn’t believe it, the whole time I was thinking how amazing this is. Traveling like this has many challenges but it’s worth it for these memories.
Next stop: Sedona
We can’t say enough about this area! Driving down the Oak creek canyon from Flagstaff was breathtaking. The catch: we found that arriving on Memorial day was a big mistake. The campgrounds were full, we drove outside of town to a free one that was recommended.. also full. The road there was really bumpy and we went up and down several times looking for a space. We opened the back of the trailer at one point to get a snack, and everything has “exploded” out of its place, things that had never moved before were out of their spots, our eggs were broken, the hot yolk was all over the place and had to be cleaned immediately. To top it all off I had left a small roll of toilet paper back there and that had unraveled, the whole back end was teepeed by the road that never even ended up leading us to a spot anyways. We were discouraged, it was 95 degrees, and we had been looking for hours. Riley finally cracked and looked up hotel deals. There was one right in the heart of Sedona for $55 a night. He put the phone in my hand and said “all you have to do is push the button to book it.” So of course I did! I felt a little bit guilty that we were ditching the trailer for two nights but Riley reminded me that we had planned this too, to get a hotel whenever we truly needed one, or were burnt out. We are flexible, I just didn’t think it would happen this soon into the trip. We stayed at the Los Abrigados resort and spa and really took advantage of being close to the attractions on our list. Being able to shower after hiking in these temps was such a gift. We loved the downtown area, and being able to walk around to the shops and restaurants.
We checked out on Wednesday the 27th and drove north to find an open campsite at pine flat campground. We had a spot with incredible views of the tall pines, and the canyon walls. We stayed here for a total of four nights. Sedona is a really special place that we know we will be returning to. There’s something about it that I just can’t get off of my mind.
Check out the stops on our journey this week.
