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The sixties live, or is it the fifties? Meteor City (population
2) is still quite a ways from the great meteor crater. besides desert scenery
and the expected trinkets, we are offered a view of the largest map of
Route 66, drawn billboard style on the picket fence enclosing the private
areas of the city. |
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A rest stop in the middle of Arizona. among desert and painted
rocks. |
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Warning, these rocks are endangered, and protected. Actually,
I shouldn't make fun. If it were not for this law, doubtless these rocks
would be covered in obscenities, declarations of undying love, names of
visitors, and spontaneous works of art. |
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Father and son are kings of the rock pile. |
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The great meteor crater in Arizona.
To Visit Click Here
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The former town of Two Guns, such as it is (and was), This had
been one of the great tourist traps of the fifties and sixties, before the
limited access highway made it impossible to get to. The remaining roadbed
of old Route 66 can just barely be seen as a frontage road running alongside
this freeway. |
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Twin Arrows, another former tourist trap which has since fallen
into disrepair, and onto hard times. |
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A part of the San Francisco peaks, indicating our nearness to
Flagstaff. |
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The San Franciscos frame some closer peaks, and low hills. |
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Very close to Flaggstaff, but first a little detour to Sedona. Many
of the roads were closed, and warning sign abounded. The area was very dry,
very hot, and fire was a real danger.
For A Visit Click Here
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Small towns and settlements dot the hot lowlands. The cool mountains
hold Flagstaff. |
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A close-up of the mountain side, before we start down towards
Sonoma. The heat will turn from bothersome to unbearable, by the time
we get to Sonoma. |
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Leaving Sonoma and passing through the desert on the way back
to Flagstaff. |
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Desert lands, as we approach the cool of the mountains. |
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Pulled over by the side of this mountain road. The grade was steep
and continuos; we had to pull over to let the car cool down. |
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Peering down a saddle, which nicely frames a local mountain. |
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Cars bunch up as they too are slowed by the heat and the grade. |
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Above and to the left, you can see down part of the grade, and
see back to another section of the same road as it twists through the highlands. |
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Great scenery, but a bit hard on the car; we are stopped again. |
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Road construction further impedes the trip up. |
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A truck slowly lumbers up the long steep grade followed by what
I assume are irate motorists who are trapped behind it in the only open
lane. |
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The same mountain top looks at us over a small ridge. |
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Looking down towards the lowlands out of which we just came. The
grade pictured on the sign looks like a fair representation of what these
grades felt like by car. |
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Up the hill (yes, it really is this steep). This is the pass,
after which it is downhill to Flaggstaff. |