We are now in Flagstaff, starting our second week of a two-week stay. Here is a quick status of our first week.

Conjunction of the Moon, Jupiter, and Venus, on Saturday, June 20, 2015, as seen from the Mojave River Forks Regional Park

Our last evening at the Mojave River Forks Regional Park featured a lovely conjunction of the Moon, Venus and Jupiter in the early evening sky. The conjunction was a perfect opportunity to dust off the camera gear, snap a few shots and enjoy the twilight view.

Moving on from Mojave River Forks RP, we decided to stop overnight at the KOA in Needles, California, and not drive the entire distance in one day. Now that we’re retired, we don’t have to rush so much to get places. This more relaxed pace is taking a bit for us to get used to.

When we pulled into the Needles KOA, conditions were windy and brutally hot, 111°F, and did not cool down too much overnight. Fortunately, we had one of the few 50 Amp sites and were able to run both of our AC units – we needed them! The Needles KOA was a bit run down, but was clean and had friendly staff. The KOA grounds were not much more than a large gravel lot. Overall, the campground was a good place to stop overnight, but I wouldn’t want to spend much time there.

The drive from Needles to Flagstaff went well, except for when we pulled out of a driveway in Seligman, Arizona – there was more of a dip than I had anticipated, causing the trailer to rock hard enough to spill items out of overhead storage (even with cupboard doors closed with bungee cords). We also hit very rough roads near Flagstaff – at times, we were really being pounded in the truck lane. Upon arriving at the campground in Flagstaff, we had a bit of cleanup to do picking up the spilled items. The rough roads also took a toll, breaking the bottom out of our magazine rack and the bottom shelf in our computer cart – this despite foam padding under and around the computer and printer.

We are currently staying at the J and H RV Park in Flagstaff. J and H is a small, privately run RV park. The sites are close together, but are generous enough to accommodate the largest of rigs. The park is clean, nicely landscaped and the owners are friendly. The park has won several awards for the landscaping. The park is a good base for exploring the Flagstaff area. We are still enjoying our stay here and wouldn’t mind returning. I plan to post a more detailed review of the park, later.

During our stay here we have enjoyed visiting with our longtime friends, Klaus & Margaret. Both Margaret and Klaus were educators at California State University San Bernardino, now retired. Klaus is an avid amateur astronomer and astrophotographer, as well as a docent at the Lowell Observatory here in Flagstaff.

One afternoon, Kim and I met Klaus for lunch at the historic Weatherford Hotel in downtown Flagstaff. If you find yourself in Flagstaff, do stop into to the Weatherford for a bite and to enjoy the ambiance and architecture of this grand old hotel.

During our stay, we have enjoyed sightseeing around historic Flagstaff downtown. We really enjoyed seeing the train depot, Weatherford Hotel, old hotels, motels and vintage signs.

The weather here has been enjoyable, much cooler than at lower elevations we’ve passed through. The summer monsoon season is just getting started, perhaps a bit early this year. We’ve had a few thunderstorms, rain, hail, and some amazing lightning displays.

One day we packed a picnic lunch and took a drive on Highway 180 to Williams. In Williams, we visited a kitschy, yet interesting roadside attraction, the Flintstones Bedrock City. Here are a few photos from Bedrock – I plan a more extensive blog entry on the attraction, soon.

Returning from Bedrock City, we stopped at a wildlife viewing area for a picnic lunch and to enjoy the view of Kendrick Peak and the San Francisco Mountains.

Another day, we again packed a lunch and took a trip down Oak Creek Canyon to Sedona, Tuzigoot National Monument, and Jerome historic mining town. Oak Creek Canyon is very scenic, but was quite congested with weekend traffic. There were very few places to stop to admire or photograph the scenery while in the canyon. Slide Rock State Park was already nearing capacity and traffic was backing up onto the canyon road when we passed through early Saturday morning. Tuzigoot and Jerome were enjoyable stops – we really enjoy the sense of history you get at these locations. We didn’t linger long at these locations, but plan to return and explore another time.

That’s all, for now. I’ll post another update, soon.