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Before leaving Williams, I stopped off at Twisters Old Fashioned Soda Fountain and Gift Store on the historic Route 66. The store was straight out of the 50’s, with all sorts of memorabilia from that era. Just like stepping back in time – old gas pump, old Coke chest filled with ice and the original style Coke bottles, Route 66 souvenirs, memorabilia all over the walls. From there I stopped at McDonalds’s for breakfast, where I watched in shockeddisbelief as a snowstorm of epic proportions started brewing (did I take a wrong turn at Lethbridge and end up in Regina??) The storm forced me to forego the side trip to Sedona, so I headed down the I-17 in a beeline for Phoenix and a warmer climate (I hoped!) Gorgeous scenery on the I-17 south of Flagstaff and Camp Verde in Prescott National Forest, just south of Camp Verde. I finally began to see some evidence of being in the desert of Arizona. There were lots of prickly pear cactus on the dry, rocky hills. I stopped at Sunset Point Lookout for some great shots of the barren, brown, rolling mountains to the west, with the desert valley at the foot of them. Just at Bumble Bee, AZ I started seeing the Saguaro style cactus. South of Bumble Bee I saw the first palm tree on our trip. Still very chilly and windy however Entire hillsides of cactus. I found the “Carefree Highway”, just within the northern boundary of Phoenix city limits. Orange trees lining Bell Road on the way to Barb’s. Barb lives in Sun City West, a lovely residential retirement community, with all of the facilities you could ever want. Spent the evening getting to know each other and chatting about places we’ve been.
Standing on a corner in Williams, Arizona! Eagles song, right? :)
The road to Flagstaff from Williams was one of blizzard conditions. Oh yuck. And I left Canada to find nice sunny weather too.
I get these pose ideas from my cousin Gary from when he came to see me.
We do not have any real Saguaros in Canada that I know of.
These Saguaros can weigh 100 pounds per foot. This one weighed 10,000 lbs!!!
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