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Today the town's economy is driven by the oil and gas industry.  In 2004, a monument was erected to acknowledge its contributions.  The Derrick Floor, a life-size bronze sculpture depicts a four-man crew throwing the chain and "making a connection" on a drilling rig.  Cast by the same Wyoming foundry that produced Cattle Drive in Dallas, the work is the centerpiece of an oil pioneer plaza in downtown Artesia. The statue is dedicated to the men and women who find, produce and refine New Mexico oil and gas.  Now it also has a letterbox to draw additional visitors.

The route from Las Cruces to White Sands National Monument took us on US-70, with mountains much closer to the road than on I-10 yesterday.  We crossed St.. Augustin Pass in the Organ Mountains at 5,719 feet before arriving at White Sands, which backs up to the San Andres Mountains.

We paused to visit the "rocket park" at White Sands Missile Range.  The range was founded in 1945 and is operated by the U.S. Army.  Within a week after its establishment, the first atomic bomb was test detonated at its northern boundary.  The rocket park displays a collection of ballistic and explosive weaponry from World War II to the present, including a replica of the "fatman" hydrogen bomb.  Also on exhibit is a V-2 rocket, a German weapon confiscated at the end of World War II.

Leaving White Sands, we continued east to the city of Alamagordo, where we checked in to the local Fairfield Inn before heading out to visit the National Solar Observatory 40 miles away, in the fittingly named Sunspot, New Mexico, in the Sacramento Mountains.  Founded in 1947, its mission, as must be obvious, is to observe and study the sun.

After a two-hour round trip, we had learned nothing more because it was closed today.  Considering that today was Thanksgiving, we consulted the observatory's web site and listened to a recorded phone message, both of which reported that the facility was "open every day."  Apparently, that doesn't apply to holidays like Thanksgiving, when it is most definitely closed.

Tomorrow we'll continue east and enter the expansive state of Texas.

No Tropics, No Problem.  Before leaving Las Cruces this morning, we tracked down a few letterboxes including one planted near some unusual palm trees.  Part of the city public art program, these trees could even "grow" in Alaska.

With 350 miles to travel today, we left our hotel just after 7 a.m.  Driving along, we again noted the major difference between landscaping in this area and what we typically see in the Southeast.  Rather than grass, tan gravel is typically used for ground cover. It certainly makes it easier to pick out golf courses in passing, if you're of a mind to do so.

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After stopping to find a letterbox in the Rincon Valley east of Tucson, we got turned around when we returned to I-10 and ended up back in Tucson.  Leaving the city again, we returned to I-10 EAST again leaving the city we had departed an hour and a half earlier.  Maybe we started out a bit too early, before our brains were fully engaged.

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When we paused near Vail to look for another letterbox on an abandoned stretch of what used to be US-80 before it was supplanted by I-10.  As the warning signs promised, this was an area of high winds.  The temperature had dropped a few degrees to 49 since we left Tucson, but it felt much colder.  

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Falling temps set the tone for the day as we stopped for a few more letterboxes on the way into New Mexico.  As soon as we entered the state, signs warned of the possibility of extreme dust storms with zero visibility.  Stopping in travel lanes was forbidden.  Along the roadside, the terrain was very flat for a distance of several miles with mountains on both sides in the far distance.

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In Las Cruces, we stopped for gas before searching in Apodaca Park for New Mexico's Whispering Giant, one of a series of sculptures carved from dead trees by Hungarian American artist Peter Wolf Toth.  Though the enormous statue was hard to miss, the letterbox planted to commemorate him was AWOL.

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Upon leaving the park, we decided to scrap our plans to drive another two hours to Alamagordo today and booked a room in Las Cruces, where we relaxed and sketched out an agenda for the remainder of the trip.

Phoenix to Tucson

After our dreadful experience with Phoenix traffic yesterday, we were loath to get back into the crawl even though we had planned to visit the state capitol building today.  Consoling ourselves that the building is now mostly museum rather than the seat of government, we decided to scamper southeast to Tucson rather than getting into the grueling gridlock again.

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In search of a letterbox, we stopped in the historic town of Florence and checked out the original 1878 Pinal County Courthouse (pictured above).  There we met Fred, a New Hampshire transplant who volunteers at the little museum next door.  A widower, he encouraged us to visit another beneficiary of his volunteer work—a nearby arboretum, where he planted a marriage tree as a memorial to his wife. 

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Tom Mix memorial marker

On the trail of another letterbox, we drove outside town to the site where Tom Mix, the greatest star of silent-era Western movies, met his demise.  In 1940, the superstar of his day was barreling across the Arizona desert in a V-8 convertible on the way to visit his son-in-law.  Failing to note warning signs, the cowboy suddenly found himself at the site where a road crew was replacing a bridge. 

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The wash where Mix crashed

Going much too fast to stop, Mix sent his car flying into the washed out gully.  An aluminum suitcase in the back seat was thrown into the back of the actor's head in the crash.  Emerging from the scarcely damaged car, Mix took one step, crumpled and fell, dead of a broken neck at age 60.

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Saguaro triplets

Arriving in Tucson by mid-afternoon, we took advantage of the opportunity to visit the western section of Saguaro National Park, where we learned about the Sonoran Desert and the fascinating plants and animals that call it home.  Afterward we stopped at the local Safeway and took on provisions for dinner.  Tomorrow we'll head into New Mexico.

Flagstaff, AZ to Phoenix, AZ

Our day began with a search for a letterbox on the campus of Northern Arizona University.  With the snow cover left from yesterday, we were unable to identify the landmarks to follow the clue and decided to move on south toward Phoenix. 

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Rather than speeding down I-17, we opted for US 89A, the scenic route that parallels the interstate and goes through the popular town of Sedona.  The drive took us through the spectacular Oak Creek Canyon (pictured above), a river gorge often described as a smaller cousin to the Grand Canyon but accessible by car.  Towering rocky ridges loomed above cool streams running through the canyon floor.

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North of Sedona we stopped at the West Fork Campground in search of facilities for a pit stop.  Near the restrooms we spotted a portable siren on a trailer parked nearby.  In response to our inquiry, the ranger on duty explained that the sirens are used in case of floods, forest fires, road closures or other causes necessitating evacuation.  Posted signs direct motorists to tune their radio to 92.9 for further information if they hear a siren alert.

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Sedona visitors love shopping, and the town complies.

As we neared the popular Sedona, we noticed a significant increase in traffic.  This town of 10,000 residents sees more than 3 million visitors each year, most of them AARP-eligible.  That's roughly equivalent to one visitor per resident every day.

According to the local Chamber of Commerce, shopping is far and away the most popular activity visitors report they enjoy.  A stroll down the main thoroughfare lined with gift shops and restaurants and tourists and tours is testament to Sedona's willingness to provide what its visitors are seeking.  The only feature we found lacking in the cheesy tourist genre was the immensely popular pancake house.  But perhaps that's unique to tacky tourist towns of the South.  (We're talking about you, Gatlinburg and Williamsburg.)

Like some other towns in this category—such as Bar Harbor and even Gatlinburg—the natural setting for Sedona is quite spectacular, sitting midway in Oak Creek Canyon, surrounded by towering red rock formations.  Fittingly, one of Sedona's more popular attractions is a 250-ft. Catholic chapel emerging from a 1,000-ft rock wall.  Constructed with funding and impetus of a local resident, the church was completed in 1955.

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Montezuma Castle National Monument was built between 1100 and 1425.

Happy to leave the tourists and their town behind us, we continued south toward Phoenix, stopping near Camp Verde to visit some of the best preserved cliff dwellings in North America.  The primary structure, built into a limestone cliff face, is called Montezuma Castle, so named by early European Americans in the 1800s, even though the structure was built and later abandoned before the famous Aztec emperor was born.  Nor was the dwelling a castle but a "high-rise" apartment complex of five stories, with 20 rooms which housed many families.

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About 30 miles north of Phoenix, we entered saguaro cactus territory, charmed by these human-like giant plants growing up and down hillsides and even atop rocky mesas.  Traffic around Arizona's capital city was thick and slow-moving.  After creeping along for an hour and a half, we traversed about 25 miles to reach our destination for the night near the suburb of Gilbert.

Page, AZ to Flagstaff, AZ

After being boxed into Page by a weather system for a couple of days, we finally broke out of the hotel on Sunday and headed south.  Though our original plans called for going north into Utah, the weather there has been so dicey and their forecast so fraught with winter storm warnings and such, we decided to follow the way of migrating birds and go south.

Warmer weather toward the Equator, right?  Well, not exactly.  We left Page, which historically has an average of 2 snow days (totaling 3.4") per year (guess the last four days were an aberration) and drove to Flagstaff.  At an elevation of 7,000 feet, Flagstaff accumulates an average of 104 inches of snow annually on about 34 days of snow.**  Needless to say, we encountered some snow on our journey today.
When we left the hotel around 9 a.m., a mix of icy rain and snow was falling, as it has for the last three days.  Since a stretch of US-89 collapsed in February and has yet to be repaired, we headed south on Indian Route 20, a previously gravel road that the Navajo Nation had tried to get paved for the last 40 years.  With the 40-mile detour necessitated by the damage on 89, suddenly the 28 miles of Indian-20 that was unpaved was asphalted in 79 days, involving lots of overtime, and greatly improving lives for school bus drivers, tractor trailer operators, and others who had previously been mired axle-deep in the soft gravel section of roadway.

As usual, the temperature dropped and frozen precipitation increased as we gained elevation making our way south on the plateau.  The highest point we reached on what is now signed US-89T (temporary?) was a little over 6,000 feet.  By that time, the temperature was at 31° (down from 37° when we left Page), but precipitation had diminished to almost nothing and visibility had improved significantly.

Along that stretch, we were still in the Navajo Nation, but saw only a few isolated homes, no settlements along the entire section from just outside Page until we reached the tiny crossroads labeled The Gap, where the road rejoined US-89.  Though we had seen deep snow cover along the roadside at higher elevations, by the time we were back on 89, the shoulders and nearby mesas were snow-free.

In Cameron, we stopped at the historic Cameron Trading Post to track down a letterbox before continuing south to a couple of National Park Service locations—Wupatki National Monument and Sunset Crater Volcano.  At the ruins of the Wupatki Pueblo (pictured above), we saw a multi-level, high-rise structure which once had about 100 rooms.  The local area provided materials ideal for the construction of freestanding masonry walls.

Sandstone slabs, limestone blocks and chuncks of basalt set with a clay-based mortar created sturdy buildings that remain at least partially intact after more than 700 years.  This structure was built during the 1100s when Puebloan people came together in this area to erect a vast farming community.  But then the nearby Sunset Volcano erupted, and by 1250 A.D., the ancient pueblos stood empty as the farmers moved on and established new homes elsewhere.

We experienced our high temp of the day (39°) at the visitor center for this monument.  Within 15 minutes, we had climbed some 1,000 feet in elevation, and snow was falling.  But there were letterboxes to be found, so we couldn't let any adverse meteorological conditions deter us.

Searching for the letterbox

We donned our rain gear and our fabulous Neo overshoes, and off we went in search of hidden treasure.  This one was relatively easy, though one we found later in deeper snow was more of a challenge.  Thanks to the rather large rock under which it was hidden, we were able to track it down in spite of the thick coating of white stuff.

Continuing around the loop road which goes through both NPS sites, we came to Sunset Crater Volcano, which was largely hidden in snow and cloud cover today.

A valiant effort, but the sun did not break through.

Driving the final 15 miles or so into Flagstaff, we continued in light snow, checking into the hotel by 5 p.m. and having dinner at the next-door Coco's Bakery & Restaurant, a Far West chain featuring fresh ingredients and generous, flavorful dishes.

Tomorrow, we'll move south to Phoenix, where we should encounter some warmer temperatures, and visit the state capitol.

**The last time we drove thorough Flagstaff, in 1995, we got stuck on I-40 for several hours in a snowstorm waiting for the uprighting of two tractor trailers that had jackknifed and overturned.
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Black volcanic soil near Sunset Crater Volcano

Suspension bridge over Little Colorado River at Cameron

Some of the widely varying rock formations roadside along US-89

Snow falling near Sunset Volcano

That bold spot of blue sky had no chance.

Page, AZ

One of the signature experiences around the isolated town of Page (pop. 7,316) is visiting a slot canyon.  Slots are formed in arid areas when flash floods propel water through soft rock, such as the Navajo sandstone south of Lake Powell, cutting a narrow canyon.  Slot canyons are significantly deeper than they are wide, and in this area they are usually very photogenic with layers of red and orange sandstone formed in swirls and waves over many millions of years.

     
Though a slot canyon hike was on our list of things to do while we were in Page, our first sighting of one of the tour vehicles gave us pause.  Travel out into the sandy desert—with temperatures in the 40s—jostling on the open back of a pickup truck on a bench?  Not likely.  The slot canyons began to lose their luster until, while searching for a letterbox in town, we came across a business called Slot Canyon Hummer Adventures.  OK, that's what we're talking about.  As it turned out, there was much more to like about this tour company than their closed vehicles equipped with seatbelts.

Around Page, all the slot canyons are on Navajo land.  Most of the Navajo tour operators take hikers to Lower or Upper Antelope Canyons in groups of 20 or so on the back of 4WD trucks.  Since all these tour operators pack hikers into the same canyons, nightmare stories are common of visitors being crowded in a slot canyon with upwards of 200 people pressed by tour guides to take their photos and keep moving.

The Hummer tour company operates tours in a different set of canyons, thanks to an exclusive agreement with a local Navajo landowner.  Never do they take more than 10 visitors to the same canyon simultaneously.  And since we were in the off-season, our tour consisted of just the two of us and our very knowledgeable and congenial guide Matt.  Yes, we paid a bit more ($105 vs. $35), but the variation in the cost was disproportionate to the overwhelmingly better experience.

About seven miles outside of Page, Matt guided the Hummer onto a sandy dirt track on private property.  After a mile or so on this primitive road, the Hummer came into its own as it climbed sand hills and crawled up rocks, taking us another mile into the desert landscape to a spot where even the Hummer could go no farther.  A short 150-yard hike through a natural trail took us to the entrance of what tour operators call the Secret Canyon.  As we walked, the enthusiastic Matt identified various desert plants we were passing and explained how each was traditionally used by the Navajo—for food, medicine, construction, crafts.

For the next two hours, Matt educated us on meteorology, geology, botany, zoology, and—much to our surprise—photography.  A native of south Florida, Matt clearly loves the Arizona desert, where he has spent the last 15 years.  He spent high school summers hiking and off-roading in the area and is thrilled to be doing the same as an occupation.

In his experiences leading canyon tours for professional photographers, Matt has picked up quite a store of knowledge about how to best capture the light and color that makes these slot canyons so striking.   Guiding three or four tours seven days a week during the busy season, he has seen virtually every camera tourists typically carry and can quickly demonstrate to guests the best settings on their own cameras to help them take home photographic treasures from their canyon adventure.  And, of course, he knows all the best spots and angles for photos in this canyon.  To get a great photo of his guests, he will even "chimney climb" (scale the canyon walls by alternating between toe holds on opposite walls) to get to the right spot.

After this exhilarating hike, we returned to Page and enjoyed a delicious lunch at The Cut Bistro, a food truck highly recommended on Trip Advisor, and tracked down across the street from the high school by Matt, whose friend Liam happens to be the chef.  With only a loose menu to choose from, we asked about a vegetarian option.  Liam whipped up some stir fried tofu and veggies in a peanut sauce, wrapped them in a pita, and we devoured them in short order.

Once sated, we took off with our Matt map of the Page area.  After we returned from our canyon hike, our passionate guide had eagerly shared his recommendations of the best local places to visit.  Our first stop was the Hanging Garden trail near the Lake Powell Dam.  A half-mile hike through striking red rock topography took us to an impossibly fertile garden hidden in an alcove under the mesa top, high above Lake Powell.

Hanging Garden

Even in late November, maidenhair ferns were thriving, thanks to a seep spring that pulls in rare rain water and slowly feeds it out to these surprising desert inhabitants. Tracks left by four-legged visitors suggest that animals enjoy this oasis as well as the plants.  The elevated location also offered fantastic panoramic views.

As we finished our hike back to the car, rain began falling, foiling our plan to make the hike to the famous Horshoe Bend of the Colorado River.  That may not matter.  With the uncertainty of what the winter storm the Weather Channel is calling Boreas will do to our plans to head to Utah tomorrow, we may be in Page a little longer and have another opportunity to check out Horseshoe Bend.

Matt explained how flash floods form slot canyons.

Trail to Hanging Garden

Hanging Garden trail

Along the trail to the hanging garden