Flagstaff

Hanging out in Flagstaff has been good fun.  We spent two nights in the hotel.  So bad for our budget and backs, but good for our spirit.  On our second night there, we stopped by and had a fun evening with friends of ours who had moved out of the Boulder area last summer.  Dinner was good, the kids were good, the bugs were biting.  So we came home with souveniers, too!  But seriously, it was a fun night, so thank you Esther and Tim!   After getting to the Bonito campground, we realized that it was, literally, within walking distance of Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument.  G and I have been there before, when we helped my parents move from CA to CO, but no one else in the family had been.  We spent a few minutes over there on our first night at Bonito, but we need to go back.  Hit that again along with Wupatki National Monument on Friday.  After the library.  Again.  We did the library Wednesday evening in order to get NB his Every Kid in a Park pass.  The kids were so in need of books, they begged to stay.  Only a promise of a return visit allowed us to get out of there and over to Lowell Observatory.  

NS needs just a little bit to finish up his astronomy merit badge that he started at summer camp this year, so this hit the mark for the "visit a planetarium or astronomical observatory" requirement.  Pluto was discovered here, and we got to see that telescope (an astrographic camera).  It was such a super cool visit, the kids really enjoyed it, but it wiped us out.  We got back to camp and hit pillows around 11pm.  Tooooooooo late for me!        

We made it out to the Grand Canyon!!!!!  It's only a little over an hour away from our campsite, so it made for a very nice day trip.  I've never been before, nor has Bill, so this was a neat adventure for us.              

NB does like to freak me out.  He climbed out on this ledge, and then climbed THROUGH the gap in the rocks where I could no longer see him.  Minor heart attack.  He did get a good picture from inside the rocks of the canyon, so I guess the panic and terror was worth it.          

These flowers were just amazingly bright.  The kids spotted hummingbirds, we've even got some at our campsite.               We might make it to Petrified Forest National Park while we're out here, too.  It's almost two hours away though, so I'll keep you posted.