Grand Falls AZ tue 9/8

Tue 9/8 geocaching & Grand Falls
We (kathy/derek, kim & myself) headed off for some geocaching around the Winona area
about 15 mi from the crater. First stop was a place called Young's canyon and then further west towards Walnut canyon. The dirt road here was rugged and in some area 4 wheel drive was needed. Back to I40/Winona and then we decided to do a Earthcache at the Grand falls about 25 mi from here. Its on Indian reservation and directons were very limited. Then we came to the canyon but no water. But we could see the awesome views. The water flows during March -april.
The following is a wirte up on the Falls............

The Grand Falls formed when lava flowed into the Little Colorado River channel about 20,000 years ago. The lava came from one or more of cinder cones and vents located a short way off to the southwest. The flow completely filled the river channel and continued a short way across the channel northeast. Some lava also flowed about 15.5 miles down the river channel.


Photo taken from some documentation -- this is what it looks like when water is flowing.

The canyon steps that the water travels over...

Jeep did great going to the second cache

Youngs canyon for the 1st cache

County Fair sun 9/6

Flagstaff county Fair
After work on sunday. A group of us went to the Fair in Flagstaff. Drove
to NAU campus to catch the shuttle bus to the fair grounds which was a smart move.
Nice fair-- lots to see. Fun evening


Entrance area

Toni, Summer, Kim, Kathy/Derek and myself



toni/summer

old tracters they actually still run

Derek getting ready to ride the Bull

Derek gets tossed from Bull -almost made it back to the start line

Rainbow

Meteor Crater hike into crater

Wed 9/02 at Meteor Crater
Our site manager Chris Y schedule some time for us to go down into the crater. It was two fold; do some trash pick up and replace the american flag. Unfortunetly he couldn't go at the last minute do to a lighting strike (at the visitor center) the day before..... which fried the circut board on the elevators and a few computers. Hike down was really cool. Using the old trail that goes back to 1910. Once at the bottom, you really get a different view on everything and a strange feeling. Anyway we got our projects done and then came back up ,taking 45 min.

the line up :) - ready for the hike
L>R Phil,Darrell,me,Kathy/Derek,John,Kim,Toni/Summer

going down

Toni--- smile

looking down from the trail

made it

Me by the old flag

guys only

steam machine for the cable into the mine

new flag-cool

Kim, going back up

at the top, a tour group watching us come up

Vistor center

Chevelon canyon/Winslow

Sunday 8/30 geocaching
After work Derek/Kathy and I went into Winslow- we dropped off Kathy at her parents place. Derek & I headed off to hyw 99, then onto a Service Road for about 6 miles. Coming to area known as chevelon canyon. It is so awesome. Flat land then you see this deep cut in the earth. From the bridge (est to be over 40 yrs old) we walked to the cache area and found the container. Then drove along the canyon for a about 1 mile on this tiny dirt road to find another cache. Great views.

old bridge

water flows thru the canyon

Derek finds cache

Enjoying the view

Hiking/geocaching 8/25 wed

Tuesday 8/25
We(Kathy/Derek & Kim) left early, heading to Sedona via Hwy 89A to do some geocaching.
Stopped at the Encinsoso Picnic area for a hike to Secret Mtn.. Back in 2006 there was a fire that went thru the canyon. Our hike was on a great trail with a good incline. We enjoyed the great views. From there we headed to Oak Creek to find a cache placed in the water, middle of the creek. But didn't find it. Did some other geocaching. Fun. Came back to play pinochle.

Derek purchasing our Red rock pass

Secret Mtn

We found the cache

Info on trail

Looking over the picnic area - see the Jeep

soaking in the creek- great area. Couldn't find the cache.

Touring Santa Fe 8/18 tue

Its tuesday 8/18. After the opera from last night, I thought I would spent some time touring old Santa Fe before returning back to Meteor Crater. SF has so much history and lots of churches. Left Motel6 and drove a few miles to SF. Parked and started walking thur the area. Stopped for lunch and continue the tour. So many art galleries. Did some geocaching. Then off to the SF Chamber of Com. to obtain a special sheet for geocachers. It consisted of 6 boxes. Loading up the gps, I went out on the hunt. You had to find the location, write down the name and go in and have the sheet of paper (box) stamped. After all the boxes were completed , back to the SF Chamber to collect my neat gift. Cool. Left SF late afternoon. Stopped at a Rte 66 casino and won a few dollars. Arrived back at the RV after mid-night. Fun day.

Lorreto church

San Miguel mission (the oldest church)

San Miguel

Art gallery

St Francis

..

Fish in sand - cool

Opera in Santa FE 8/17

Monday 8/17 headed off to Santa Fe. Wanted to see the opera La Traviata. Purchased the ticket the previous week. The trip to SFe was five hours. Not bad. Overnight at the Motel6 about 8 mi from the SF opera house.
The opera house is located off the 85/285 Hwy up in the hills. Great sunset view. Its outside but covered in Sail cloth. Every sit has a view of the stage.
The performance was awesome. Natalie Dessay from France played the lead role of Violetta. In fact the whole cast was great. The stage production was really different. No scenery but various size blocks that were moved around for each "Act" (four acts). Very clever. It was well worth the trip.


View of SF opera house (pic taken from Website)
Entrance

View accross the Hwy

Buses unloading people