Sedona and Flagstaff

This was a whirlwind of an adventure. My dad was chauffeur-thanks Dad. I was director. John acted as chief photographer. And the boys took their job of acquiring Jr. Ranger badges very seriously. Briefly, the highlights are linked below. We visited Montezuma's Castle National Monument and Tuzigoot National Monument where we learned about the Sinagua peoples who established communities in the Verde Valley around 1100-1400 until they mysteriously disappeared. We caught a glimpse of Mars (including an ice cap) at the Lowell Observatory . The guy who discovered Pluto did so from there. He used to be famous until about 6 months ago (when Pluto became UN-planeted). Red Rocks State Park was the boys' favorite attraction...very beautiful. We spent about three hours hiking around the park. The Pink Jeep Tour was pretty exciting. We went "off-roading" ending up at some more ruins where we got to see dilapidated dwellings, pictographs, and lizards. Walnut Canyon National Park was my favorite. These people built hundreds of cliff dwellings and actually lived in them. I don't know how a child survived past toddler-hood given the precarious location of the home, which abruptly dropped off hundreds of feet into a canyon. We drove to Sunset Crater National Monument mostly to collect ANOTHER Jr. Ranger Badge. Most of the park was still closed for winter, so we couldn't enjoy the hike, just views from afar. Three and a half days have never been so busy. I loved it!