FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Driving SW AZ and a dribble into NV-10 days
Old Apr 4, 2007, 2:45 pm
  #2  
ranles
Original Member
 
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Escondido CA USA
Programs: AS, UA, HY, Hil, Merr
Posts: 3,207
We left off on the way to Flagstaff. This trip we will visit a few of the museums for the first time.

The Museum of Northern Arizona, 3101 N Fort Valley Rd. is open 9-5. We spent about 2 hours in this museum. Excellent history of the area. The AZ Historical/Pioneer Museum adds the history of Andy Devine (one of the two museums), a Flagstaff native. It is located several blocks further on the highway is good for another 1 plus hours. We passed on the Reordan Mansion, and the Arboretum is not open until April 1.

We stayed at the Fairfield Inn (marriott program) for $69.51 w/tax. After reading all the nightmares of staying in Flagstaff and the train noise, we were delighted in our efforts to locate a quieter place. We had no problem at this hotel located at 2005 South Milton Road. Note a Hilton is next door. Light breakfast provided.

Today it is a full adventure headed to the East side of the Grand Canyon.

Our first stop is the Wupatki and Sunset Crater Volcano National Monuments of Arizona. As we have just reached our "62", we purchase our $10 Senior Pass good for life!

Our first trek is a mile or so on the Lava Flow Trail in the Sunset Crater. It is a fairly easy trail, with some altitude changes and uneven surfaces. NO PETS. It took me about 55 minutes or more. A guide booklet can be borrowed or purchased for $1. 13 stops are identifed and the view explained along with the history. Binoculars optional, but somewhat useful.

Throughtout the rest of several hours we drove and stopped at several Indian ruins from the 1040-1100 period. Each require some modest hiking. Bring comfortable shoes for most of this vacation. Especially the red rock in Sedona. Take some water too. No souvenirs, stay on the trail, don't touch or step on anything you do not have to. Be prepared for rapidly changing weather. A wupatki Pueblo Trail Guide is available on loan or for $1 at the main Ruins. Here 20 locations are identified and discussed. Plan on an hour and 1/2 plus some time in the Visitors center.

We next continue on our way to Cameron, and the Cameron Trading Post where we will spend the night. Located on an Indian Reservation, this property has a area for trailers and motorhomes for under $20/night. Hooks ups are available. We stayed in the motel units, for $84.xx with tax (AAA). Our unit was on the top floor (3rd) and had a huge balcony. The room was also quite large (room 304). Not lavish, but really servicable. Dinner in the main building was very good. About a 14 ounce rib eye steak for $15.99. Included indian bread, soup (chicken noodle) or salad (large) and potatoes (fries). Lots to eat. Meat a bit fatty, but quite tender. Breakfast was also very good and quite reasonable. In the evening we sat on our balcony and had some wine. Service was very good. No Indian jokes from me. They are professional and skilled.

The Trading Post has a very large building that houses the eatery, a grocery and a huge assortment of modest to high quality Indian goods. Could easily spend an hour or more looking in the store and many thousands of dollars!
We spent the time and kept the dollars.

After breakfast we set off to the Grand Canyon East entry (half hour drive). The cost to enter the park is $25, but included for free with our newly acquired senior pass!! A very informative "newspaper" is given with admission to explain the activities in the park, the stops, the rules, the history and the parking. Coming the East entry you can drive to several viewing points and park. The view points are usually very close to the parking area. Eventually you get to the village, where auto driving becomes much more restricted. Now it is time to take the free buses. The Hermits Rest Route takes 75 minutes round trip without getting off. The Village route takes 60 minutes without getting off. Buses start before sun up and continue beyond sun down. They run every 15-30 minutes, but often we found them only 10 minutes apart. Plan your day as we did and start early. You will want to get off that bus and do the viewing often adding to the time it takes. Better yet is to spend the night in the Canyon, perhaps. Also available is the tour of the Tusayan Ruin. This tour takes about 1 hour at the most. A tour guide book is available on loan or for 25 cents.

After a full day oohing and aahing the view in the canyon, we leave to our hotel for the night, the Holiday Inn Express in Tusayan on Hwy. 64. We paid 102.86 with tax and breakfast (Holiday Inn program) thru Cheap Tickets. Before dinner we headed for the Imax Theatre for the Grand Canyon movie. The movie is $12 less AAA discount or similar from the hotel. Family prices are available. We were tired and dirty so it was ff for dinner.

Today it is off to Laughlin thru Kingman and another group of museums and a historic house visit. The Mohave Museum of History and Arts is located at 400 W Beale ST. Open 9-5 during the week. Save your receipt good for other admissions later. This museum is good for 2 hours plus, including outdoor exhibits. The next stop is the Historic Route 66 Museum, located in the old powerhouse building at 120 Andy Devine Ave. You can also visit some locomotives across the street in the park (we passed). We next went to the Bonelli House. Open very limited hours. We were the only visitors went we stopped so we received the grand tour of 1 1/2 hours (perhaps 3 times the time we would have done self directed). The guide was very knowlegeable and fun to listen to and interact with. Donations, please $5, this place needs some funds to maintain some treasured possessions.

Get gas in Kingman, not the historic side of the mountains, but back a couple ramps. Look for the In N Out and dine there. Then go to the ARCO station, $2.55 versus 3.15 in Escondido at the time. Oh, while on gas. $2.79 in Flagstaff. $2.59 in Scottsdale. Highest price in AZ that we saw was $3.18.

We continue on our way to Laughlin. Our stay is at the River Palm. 2 nights, NS, King, riverview $71.22 Tripres, with tax total. We were too tired to attend the Magic show, but did manage to have some wine and snacks along with a tuna sandwitch from Subway (forget your coupons, they do not accept them). We did the river walk. It now requires a couple detours thru hotels, ie Colorado Belle, to walk. We ended at the Riverside. The car museum is free and well worth the 1-2 hours (depenfding on interest level). I am 62 and spent some time drooling over the 1963 Stingray. It was nice to see a Reo, after inserting it into so many crossword puzzles. They also have some motercycles and bicycles. The cars are owned by outsiders and some are for sale.

Next we headed off to the outlet mall. It was a bit of a hike but not too far. We spent an hours or so in the maul and then waited for the free shuttle to take us back to the River Palms (services very few hotels). Breakfast buffet is only $5.99 (less 60 cents with a gamblers card). The card is free and includes a free show.

That was our trip...we had a great time. Dined casual, dined fancy. Stayed in economy and in richie. Saw priceless nature.

Again as a reminder a LINK to pictures will be posted in a week or a month, depending when Leslie will get the package put on the internet...before or after our next trip in less that two weeks.
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