This year our Great Train Adventure took us basically along I-40 through Flagstaff and we never actually set foot on the ground.
As we roll along the view is changing from the buttes and mesas of New Mexico to the deep canyons carved by tributaries leading to the Grand Canyon. My many working visits were focused on the Phoenix area and only once had we visited the Grand Canyon. Living in Ohio it is sometimes hard to understand that while the MAP of Arizona is the same size as the MAP of Ohio the distances are very different. We were heading up the MAP distance from Columbus to Cleveland which normally takes about two hours for eight hours and we were not even half way there. Changed the perspective on that vacation a whole lot and it will take us until 2018 to get back here for a detailed exploration.
While historic water flow probably from melting glaciers carved the beautiful canyons this is still a very dry land. During the infrequent rains these rivers of sand may be filled with a raging torrent but right now the stream behind the fence has only a few puddles. You can also see from the light that night is approaching and dawn will break on the other side of the Rocky Mountains.
Although we did not get out here in 2006 after retirement I have included my visit to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum I used as a breather on one of my many frantic trips just before retirement. I think I mentioned someplace before that in the last six months before retirement I put in two 34 hours days probably out here.