February 5th – Phoenix to Flagstaff

We left our mailing address and comfortable pit stop of Jen’s Mom’s house to again take to the road in search of adventure and memories. We stopped by Acorn Propane to refill our tiny refillable propane tank .

We weren’t out of propane but we have been on our journey for over a month, using it daily to cook with on our propane cook stove and I wasn’t sure how long we could expect it to last. The attendant made the obligatory joke, “I don’t know if we have enough propane to fill that” but then set to his task. He filled out the paperwork and handed it to me to go inside the office to pay. I was surprised when it wasn’t only a half gallon, the tank holds about a gallon and that means we can expect it to last about two months between fill-ups!

Then we dropped off the trailblazer and Molly with Marco for safe keeping (maybe we’ll write a blog post about the decision to travel with or without our dog on another day).

We set our course (via Google Maps) to Montezuma’s Castle, which having lived in Arizona for 17 years, I had still not visited. We drove into a rainstorm that looked like it may put a damper on our stop but as we passed Lake Montezuma we were blessed with a beautiful rainbow (the most colors I’ve ever seen in one) and blue skies which held out for most of our time at the National Monument. We parked (commenting on how different it is to travel without Molly, somewhat better, somewhat worse), grabbed our national parks passport book and America The Beautiful Pass, and walked into the visitor center. The kids grabbed their Jr. Ranger workbooks and we took advantage of the temporary break in weather to walk the 1/3 mile route learning about the area, the castle, and the people that called it home.

After the walk, we headed back to the visitor center as the skies looked like they were going to let down with some more rain. Inside the visitor center Jen put on her teacher hat and guided the kids through the rest of their Jr. Ranger packets. After they were sworn in and received their 4th badges which were promptly attached to their vests from Christmas, thanks Aunt Jean.

We stamped a couple of pennies for the collection and got back into the van for our target destination for the night, Cameron Arizona. As we gained elevation and drew nearer to Flagstaff the fog thickened and the snow started falling. We slowed our speed and contemplated where we wanted to stop for the night. We pulled into Flagstaff to fill up the tank. If there’s one thing we don’t want to run out of in the snow, it’s diesel because that’s what our cabin heater runs on which keeps the van toasty even when it’s cold as ice outside.

We decided to drive towards Cameron but stop about a half hour outside of Flagstaff so the kids could play in the snow and we weren’t driving too much into the darkness. We pulled off onto the forest service road to a few inches of fresh snow without any tracks on them, we found a pull off with a fire ring, leveled the van, and called it our home for the night.

The kids suited up for the snow and out they went until Jen had dinner ready (Orange chicken, rice, and broccoli). After the delicious meal, we set up the bed (we were doing a sleep over, everyone in mom and dad’s bed), I washed the dishes while Jen and the kids tucked in while the snow fell and the wind howled all around us. Inside the van we were snug and cozy and excited for the destinations and adventures ahead.