We left New Mexico around lunch after the kids wore themselves out jumping on rocks by the lake. We made it to the other side of the state before we called it a day and got a hotel in Gallup New Mexico. They had an indoor pool and a Denny’s in the parking lot- score. The kids loved getting to swim after a long day in the van.
The following day was a “short day”. We were very close to Flagstaff Arizona so we took our time that morning. I was up at 6am so I walked over to the laundry mat to wash our things and we cleaned the van out, top to bottom. On our drive we stopped at the Petrified Forest State Park and watched a pow wow and checked out the information center. It was very interesting but we didn’t drive into the park. It was too far and we were anxious to get to our destination and out of the van for a few days.
20 miles from Flagstaff, a semi had turned over on the interstate. It was so close, we could see it from our car, so while the 2 HOUR WAIT in the desert on the interstate was a shitty turn of events, we were more grateful that we missed the accident and were safe. And for the record, truckers are awesome. One fella let Max sit in his diesel and honk the horn and 2 other truckers randomly handed the kids candy and soda to share as we walked up and down the side of the road. I heart truckers.
We set up camp at Sunset Crater State Park. Flagstaff sits amongst hundreds of inactive volcanos. The last time they erupted was almost 1000 years ago and the lava remains. The camp ground was on the verge of primitive- one water spicket we could use to fill a bucket to take back to our site only and no electricity- but there were toilets and the sites were HUGE HUGE HUGE. I loved the meadow that was a short walk from our tent. Jessica journeyed up the road to see the Indian ruins and said they were very cool. Her son, Isaac came down with a fever and she had to take him to the emergency room one evening- the first one I think. She wants the world to know that Flagstaff has THE MOST AMAZING people working in their hospital. Isaac was fine. And I didn’t want to leave here. Thumbs way up for this place. xoxo, AmyQ
