I looked into a few different possibilities like Prescott and Canyon de Chelly, but we decided to just go to Flagstaff. There's plenty to see and do there, and the weather forecast was dry and cool. So we hit the road last Thursday and came home Sunday. And we did a lot in between. Brian's mom also came along on the adventure.
Campgrounds in Flagstaff are not yet open for the season, so we tried a KOA for the first time. It wasn't bad, maybe because it was off-season. It was pretty busy with campers coming in all times of day and leaving in the morning. I imagine it can get crazy during the summer. Though more spots than I had expected were filled, I'd say more than half the campground was open. It was a nice place, and they put us in a good spot with plenty of room under lots of pines.
We set up and had our lunch around 2:00 on Thursday afternoon.
We explored and relaxed at the campground for a bit. Our spot backed up to the horseshoe pits and a playground for the kids.
Later in the afternoon, we decided to visit Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff. It was so much more than I had expected! There were several buildings, many telescopes, lectures on the solar system, and a fun science experiment program. We spent between two to three hours there, so we were able to see some cool stars when it got dark.
This is the biggest telescope I've ever seen, and it's housed in the most beautiful of buildings!
The young woman who did the science experiment show was very entertaining and enthusiastic about science!
Friday morning we visited Walnut Canyon National Monument. It's a beautiful canyon filled with lots of ancient cliff dwellings. We hiked the Island Trail, a one-mile stairmaster adventure that goes down and back up 400 steps to a walkway around an island of rock in the middle of the canyon.
Such a pretty view all around!
We were always on the lookout for Humphrey's Peak.
From Walnut Canyon, we went to Sunset Crater National Monument. After a lunch break by a big pile of snow, we walked the Aa Trail of lava and then went to an overlook of the volcano.
There's the snow-covered peak again!
Back at camp, both the kids and adults had some of that famous KOA fun. :)
We also had lots of snacks.
On Saturday, Brian and Elizabeth wanted to pre-ride the course for the Flagstaff mountain biking race in May. Matthew had his bike, too, but he stuck with Sue and me as we hiked. He'd go a ways on his bike then come back or wait for us to catch up. In the meantime, he'd play in every patch of snow.
What he loved most was finding "Charlie Brown Christmas trees."
We caught up with Brian and Elizabeth. She was done riding, but Brian wanted to see some more of his course. He went on while the rest of us turned back towards the trailhead. We took our time and the kids played in more snow.
He finally returned from his ride, and we packed everything up and headed to Bearizona.
This is a drive-through wildlife park. It was really neat to see the animals so close up, but I'm on the fence on whether this is a good idea because it does have a bit of a Jurassic Park feel. They have mountain goats, burros, big-horned sheep, wolves, bison, and bears. As we entered the bear enclosure, one of the workers reminded us to keep our windows up because the bears have been getting aggressive lately. "They've been tearing off mirrors and windshield wipers on stopped cars. So please don't stop." Okay. No problem. We will keep moving!
I'd probably get aggressive, too, if all I saw and smelled were cars driving past me day after day.
After you do their 3-mile drive though, there are regular zoo-like enclosures to visit. We also attended their Birds of Prey program, an educational show where the birds and owls fly right over your head.
Brian was not attacked by this peacock.
So, it was really nice to get out of the 95-degree weather for a few days. We had plenty to do and the weather was really perfect. Great weekend in Flagstaff!
