May 6-8, 2019 Tusayan-Flagstaff, Arizona

High of 66, partly sunny and windy.  I spent most of the day in my lawn chair working on beads for the basket. Then a pedicure for both of us and dinner outside watching sunset. Lovely day.

The beads and basket so far. No clouds at sunset, so just a warm glow on the horizon. 

It rained a bit this am. Then it steamed off the roads. Cactus or Pines, it's AZ vacation time drive safely. We are now in Flagstaff. I went to college here at NAU. We are here to stock up and go to Sunset Crater and Wupatki. At the RV park,  Marriage saving Valet RV parking available, inquire within. Age restricted park, no one under 55, no smoking and no ornery campers. At the restrooms, Men to the left because Women are always Right! We are JH RV park.  Nice commercial park, quiet, we have trees and a picnic table. Very quiet place.  

John spent much of the day working on the heater. Back and forth to parts store and on the phone with the manufacturer. Been that kind of week. The water pump sounds like it has a clogged filter, the front slide creeps out on it's own, we have a hydraulic fluid leak and the flammable gas detector keeps going off- John thought it was a faulty detector until the heater quit working.  Time to go in for maintenance. Today we went to Sunset Crater. They don't let you walk on the crater, just on some nice scenic trails around it. This raven was all puffed up, drying off after the rain.

John's camo coat will work here with these spring green aspens on the A'a trail.  A'a is from the Hawaiian word for stony rough lava. A view of Sunset Crater over the A'a.  

Red cinders are from the interaction of sulfuric acid with the lava. another view of Sunset crater from the Lava flow trail.  

This 'squeeze up' is molten lava that oozes through a crack in a solid lava shell. A view of the San Francisco Peaks. They are also volcano formed. They are a beautiful view over Flagstaff. 

This painting represents the Hopi legend associated with the eruption of the Sunset Crater. A twisted ponderosa pine. They are smaller on the lava flows because the soil is less fertile. They also twist in the wind. This is a cave that has a grill over it. My only memory of Sunset Crater from when I went to college here was going there and going into ice caves. I wonder if this was one. Scared me to death because I am so claustrophobic. A scarlet gilia blooming in the cinders. A view of the Painted Desert in the distance as we drive to Wupatki.

Wupatki is the ruins of an ancient pueblo. It was three stories high with a tower. This is a view of another part of it with a large community circle. There is also a ball court 

Wupatki was built on top of  and around a large rock formations. You can see the existing  rocks in some of the walls. Some walls dip in places.  

More views of the pueblo built around the rocks.  

Crooked lines in some of the walls. The pitted rock is caused by wind blowing dust and acid rain. The square opening is a 'blow hole'. It is an opening to a large cavern under the area. The air blows in or out, depending on the pressure outside the cave. Stone wall built under a piece of layered existing rock.  

John in the community circle and the ball court. It has been raining on and off all day. Big storm approaching as we leave Wupatki.  

This is the Citadel Pueblo. Unlike Wupatki it was not restored. The walls were stabilized and nothing more. It is built to the edges of the large rock outcropping. It also had three stories when it was inhabited.  The top part of the photo is looking up at it from below where it just looks like a pile of rocks. The bottom part is from the inside looking at standing wall. It poured rain when we got up there, so we had to run down. On the drive out there was a double rainbow. 

Phacelia flowers, little yellow flowers growing in the cinders, pine cones and dried pine needles on the black cinders, and an Apache plume bloom. A single yellow princes plume, and some bushes of princes plume. A red cinder cone.