AZ Tourist Loop

Family landed Monday and we left first thing Tuesday morning to "GTFOOC".  Get the #$%@ out of Chandler.  We hate the city, but love the desert, so we took our rental car north for some tourism.  First to the overcrowded Sedona, then to our old home of Flagstaff for some nostalgia, then to some indian ruins, old volcanoes, deep gorges, travertine bridges, and more remote desert.  Lot got done in a short period of time.

Flowers in Sedona

Watching humanity, not nature, at Slide Rock State Park in Sedona

Too many people, we lasted about five minutes and left.  Any other typical hiking place in Sedona is fine, but this place was way overcrowded.  Of course, climbing in Sedona was typically a solitary experience when I lived here.

Natures water slide

Up in the Flagstaff area, at Pumphouse Wash, our old dog walking spot when we lived in Flag.

Pumphouse Wash.

Walnut Canyon National Monument, site of Indian ruins.

Sunset Crater National Monument.  Land of 1000 year old volcanoes and lava flows.

View of San Francisco Peaks.

Cameron, AZ.

Little Colorado River gorge.

We opted to hang here, at the undercrowded Little Colorado River, versus the over-run of the Grand Canyon.

Standard Navajo trinket stand

One of the coolest places in AZ.  Tonto Natural Bridge.

Water flowing over the lip of the cave.

Back home via Apache Trail and a quick swim in the river.