Flashback to Flagstaff

 This is an archived journal entry - raw and unedited from my cross country journal from 2014.  I will continue to update the site and post the archives.  I'm also restarting this fire - going into the great unknown with this blog and several other blogs.  I have another travel site Vagabond Warrior and also a lifestyle blog Adele Belle on Wordpress platforms.  I am going to continue This Side of Paradise and Into the Great Unknown on this site - each has its own personality and reflects my love of exploration, adventure, southern graces and western skies - thanks for your support!

Sunday March 23:

          Woke up to a sunny day in Flagstaff, the air a balmy 60 degrees with a clear blue sky.  My mom and I walked to a nearby Denny’s for breakfast.  We then went to the Wal – Mart (only a few blocks away from our motel) to purchase groceries to eat in the room.  My mom also reserved several additional nights at the motel…we were very worried about the finances and reworked our entire itinerary given the sudden crippling blow to our car (in our last 'episode' you learned that a piece our fender got torn off by Highway 89 in Arizona due to a ditch on the road - we had to spend our time at the Grand Canyon looking at the fender)…we will eventually come to find out that the best laid plans go awry with a desert wind and itineraries are a house of cards on the road...

          On Monday morning my mom and I went to the Nissan dealership where we were given an estimate for our car – fender liner torn and needs to be replaced – they do not have the part in stock so we can come back on Tuesday and have the part fixed.   They say it is okay to drive our car in town - just don't go on the highway - so we decided to spend the rest of the morning bumming around Historic Downtown Flagstaff.  We started our journey by exploring the Visitor's Center which is located in a historic train station - with western charms and Route 66 sensibilities.  The Amtrak still runs through downtown - making Flagstaff a perfect spot for an off the rails getaway.

          We spent the morning bumming around Historic Downtown Flagstaff ; we started our tour at the Visitor’s Center gathering brochures and learning about the diverse cultural history of the area.  Flagstaff is a crossroads of culture - it has deep roots in Native American legacy from the Hopi to Navajo and other area tribes.  There are several historic Native American ruins within ten minutes of Flagstaff.  The city's growth came from the confluence of the railroad, tourism and the lumber industry.  As the age of the automobile took hold the first major trans-US highway Route 66 detoured through the heart of Flagstaff - creating the Route 66 travel culture from roadside diners and quick stop hotels and kitschy cool retro appeal of the golden age of travel that is alive an well in Flagstaff.  It doesn't hurt that Flagstaff is located fifty-miles from The Grand Canyon, giving the town the nickname 'City of the Seventh Wonder.' 

Flagstaff is also unique in the fact it lies at an elevation of over 7,000 feet!  Most people don't think of Arizona having snow, forests and mountains - but Flagstaff's San Francisco Peaks tower over the plateau.  In fact Flagstaff averages 100 inches of snow a year - as much as Bozeman Montana - this is WILD and a great demonstration of geographic forces in motion - because two hours south in Phoenix you'll find a desert climate with a temperate climate year round. 

Flagstaff is a hub of culture from Native American and southwestern arts to literature and music...it is anchored by Northern Arizona University...the Lowell Observatory - a premier scientific center and planetarium is in Flagstaff.   I'll do a future post on attractions in Flagstaff...suffice it to say there is more than enough fun for the whole family. To learn more about Downtown Flagstaff and its history, culture and shops click this link to their official site.

downtown train station and Visitor Center

After loading up on brochures my mom and I strolled to the nearby historic Hotel Monte Vista.  I have always wanted to tour this diamond jewel of a hotel - it has been featured in numerous travel shows and I actually booked a few of my acts to perform in the hotel's concert series on past tours.

Desperate for caffeine, my mom and I split a delicious coffee specialty of the house in the Hotel Monte Vista's coffee house.  With each sip I was taken back in time as I studied the complex and delicate Spanish meets Art Deco architecture.  The atmosphere exudes history, charm and mystery.  The hotel was the favorite desert mountain highway for the likes of Clark Gable and Humphrey Bogart.  The Hotel has a tragic and joyous history - the sort of stories ghosts and legends live in - etched into the woodwork, paneling, artistry of stone and mortar.  

The staff at the Hotel Monte Vista are super helpful and run this world famous hotel with elegant down home charm - meaning they care about the customer and seek to keep the hotel high end, but not over budget - world class while remaining distinctively local.  I hope to stay here when we return to Flagstaff on vacation.

After taking in the hotel ambiance my mom and I walked three miles throughout downtown to Thorpe Park, exploring the public library and the downtown neighborhoods.  Flagstaff has a walkable downtown that is community driven and has lots of public spaces, great locally owned shops and restaurants and historic turn of the century houses.  We toured the Episcopal and Catholic Churches - both with a lot of history and beautiful architecture.

Hungry after our walk, my mom and I ate lunch at the historic Weatherford Hotel, an icon of Route 66 and Flagstaff - we split a yummy burger with sweet potato fries – this is going to sound nuts so forgive me for sounding foolish - but the water we had at lunch was delicious water - just tap water but it was so refreshing - awesome A for good clean water.

          After relaxing in the room for an hour we decided to hit Flagstaff’s trail system and do a hike at Buffalo Park.  This two mile loop lies on the McMillan Plateau underneath the San Francisco Mountains…Buffalo Park is so peaceful and really an oasis of peace - it is a mixed topography of grassland high plateau prairie, forests and mountain geography - on our twilight hike - the sun flickering out in splendor we encountered a lot of graceful deer - herds of them - looking for foliage in the forest - I found that so comforting - I think deer are calming - when I was at the Grand Canyon in 2004 a deer ran in front of me preventing lightning from striking me in a massive storm - it was a guardian angel of sorts - so stoic and graceful preventing me from passing on the the trail head where seconds later lightning crashed down - once again in Arizona the deer remind me that though storms come in life - grace is sufficient to weather the turmoil of the day.

We capped off our evening by a food stop at Fry's and Albertson's loading up on deli meat, Tillamook Ice Cream and Gluten Free ice cream cones for a dinner and movie in the Motel.  I relaxed with Edward Abbey's iconic travel-o-graphy of the west - Desert Solitaire.

*Notes: As I post this a year after our trip to Arizona - I am still struck by the beauty and wonder and the fun we had this day - just me and my mom on a great adventure.  I am sad that our trip was cut short by car problems and terrible issues I'll discuss in follow-up posts with poor service at the dealership and our hotel...in spite of the colossal travel hurdles we faced I long to return to Flagstaff to redeem the lost time in its desert mountain solitaire...