Well it was unintentional, but I hit a lot of awesome college town on my cross country adventure and Flagstaff was no exception. Northern Arizona University (NAU) is located in Flagstaff, AZ so naturally I was more than well fed. Gota love a college town!
Leaving Santa Fe, I continued my journey west. Waking up I had a decision to make which I left to the very minute. Do I go to the four corners or not? Everyone that I had talked to when I said that was a place that I would like to go said, Why? There is not much to see, the four corners are underwhelming... I appreciated the advice, but decided to make the jog regardless. It was a two hour detour on my adventure, I was looking at another full eight hour drive day, but I knew that if I did not check it off now I will always wonder. Northwest I went..
To describe some of the scenery on the drive; Oklahoma is all flat not much elevation change at least not on I40 (historic route 66) that I saw. North Texas is much the same, very flat farm/ranch land. However when you drive through northern New Mexico and Arizona the topography changes...a lot. Starting in new Mexico, maybe the western part of north Texas you start to see rock cliffs coming right out of the ground. If you have ever seen the movie Forest Gump, I have always wanted to see the desert where he turns around on his run. I believe that part was filmed in Utah, but norther New Mexico, Arizona were not far off. Also, you cannot imagine the sky out there! The most blue sky you will ever see and contrasting against the desert only makes it that much more intense. I ended up taking a LOT of photos from inside the car trying to capture the landscape. Looking back and the photos I still cannot believe the colors.
Arriving at the four corners, they were right, there is not much to see. Another part of this trip/being unemployed/it being winter that I love is that I never had to deal with traffic or crowds. I think there was maybe 7 people at the four corners that day. There was a three dollar entrance fee, and you could part anywhere you wanted. I did the classic touristy stuff; I put my hands and feet each in a different state, can you say you have done that? I put my foot on the center so I could say I have been to four states at the same time. That was about all you could do.. They did have beautiful state seals surrounding the actual four corner point. After taking all the photos that I could think of I decided to walk around the area. The four corners itself is surrounded by little shops that people come to sell tourists junk. There was only one open while I was there, but I could see how in the summer this could be a happening place. I was able to go for a "Free" hike, no joke there was a sign. I hiked about a mile up a ridge that looked back over the four corners, spent some time in "wolfman" cave and hit the road. Flagstaff here I come!
It was dark and cold when I arrived in Flagstaff. The northern parts of New Mexico and Arizona are at roughly 7000 ft elevation. I soon discover that in the southwest there are two ways to get warm; Change your latitude or change your elevation! I was staying at another motel which I probably should have paid more and looked for a nicer place, but for about $30 a night, I made due. I chit chatted with the guy at the from desk about a place for dinner, he recommended a few places, one being a brewery...yup. I decided to dine by my lonesome at the Beaver Street Brewery. The restaurant itself was very nice, there was a big fire going in the waiting area, a good beer selection and I heard the pizza was the way to go. The pizza was good the beer was ok..Walking there I found it hilarious how many pizza places I passed. How do you know you are in a college town? When you walk down one street and pass five pizza places, eight bars and a brewery HAHA. After dinner I made my way back to my motel and hit the sack. Tomorrow was a big day a Grand Canyon Day!
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