Hello Flagstaff!

This will be the last post for this trip. Our two days in Flagstaff have been enjoyable, but how many pictures of a moderately sized college twon does anyone really want to see?

During our last night at the North Rim night, Mark and I spent a half hour looking at the stars. In Columbus, between the light pollution and my eyesight, I can see maybe three to six stars. On the North Rim, I could see hundreds and also a ghost of the Milky Way. The light pollution, though minimal, prevented the view from being as awe-inspiring as it was in Costa Rica, but I was still happy to be able to see it for the second time in my life.

We checked out of our rooms the following morning, and though the accommodations were a bit rustic and, frankly, a little inexplicable (a coffee maker but no cups!?), it was a pleasant experience overall. The only gripe I have about the cabin is that Mark and I saw a total of four quarter-sized spiders in the room in two days; spiders totally creep me out. Along the drive to Flagstaff, we drove through some beautiful country—especially along the Vermilion Cliffs—and also some desolate land.

We’re staying at Flagtown Lofts. The condo  is close to the center of town, has a balcony, and is comfortable and nicely decorated and well-appointed. The layout is a bit odd, though; there’s wasted space in the entry hall, and arranging the living room furniture was obviously a bit of a challenge. Here’s what the building looks like from the outside. The balcony above the canopy is where I’m sitting as I write.

The building is located across from a homeless shelter, but that hasn’t been an issue. The drunk college students loudly stumbling their way back to their apartments, however, was not particularly conducive to a good night’s sleep. At one point, two men were arguing—part of a group with at least one woman—and I heard from one of the men, “Oh my God! Oh my God!” followed by a blood curdling scream from the woman. I waited for a gunshot that never came, and then all was quiet again. Did one of the men pull a knife? Did they all run off? I’ll never know.

Flagstaff is not new to Jeff and Kevin, so we ate lunch yesterday at a hotel that Jeff recommended—Charly’s Pub and Grill at the Weatherford Hotel. We checked into our condo and unfolded ourselves after five hours in the car. Mark threw in a load of laundry and then took a nap, snoring away on the couch.

We wandered through the city in the evening. It got dark really early here! The city is having its monthly gallery hop, so lots of people were out and about. We went in some galleries, and though I don’t want to sound uncharitable, the quality of the work we saw made me appreciate the art scene in Columbus even more than I already do. Sedona is not too far away, and I suspect all the really good art is shown there where it can command higher prices.

My lunch filled me up, so I skipped dinner, but Kevin, Jeff, and Mark had ramen at Big Bowl Noodles. It’s just as well that I wasn’t hungry. I’ve had ramen exactly once and really liked absolutely nothing about it; I just had a Thai iced tea.

We had tickets for the Lowell Observatory, so we ended our evening there. I did get to see the Milky Way (faintly) for the third time, and the observatory had three or four large telescopes (compared to a consumer-grade telescope) set up for visitors. I saw Saturn and a couple of its moons, the M15 globular cluster, and the Ring Nebula. We also got to hear the history of the discovery of Pluto and to see the actual telescope through which it was found. It was pretty cool. When I was in middle school, I thought I might like to be an astronomer. Then I found out that most astronomers don’t look through telescopes all night, and I lost interest. 😂

Mark took a couple photos.

This morning, Kevin, Jeff, and I walked a little through the campus of Northern Arizona University while Mark caught up on sleep after another fitful night. It seems like a nice campus with some interesting architecture.

And then there were the autonomous food delivery robots. Never seen anything like it.

We ate lunch at a sports bar (with a sign banning motorcycle clubs and emblems—weird), and they all went off to do a short hike at Walnut Canyon National Monument. Frankly, my feet are killing me after so much walking and hiking, so I opted to stay in. No plans for the evening other than Thai food, and then Back to Columbus tomorrow. Sigh. After seeing so many amazing mountains,  back to the mountain of work on my desk.