We drove from Douglas, AZ to Flagstaff, AZ with a detour through Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon. It was beautiful weather the whole trip. We stopped in Tempe to have lunch with one of my sisters and her daughter, who was competing in a local video game tournament. From there we went to Gilbert, AZ to spend the night with my oldest daughter and SIL, along with my 8 year old granddaughter. The next day we headed on up to Flagstaff and drove through the Red Rock country of Sedona, and a leisurely drive through Oak Creek Canyon (video coming up shortly). If you ever get the chance to explore these areas, do it. The only drag is Sedona is getting more and more crowded and expect long lines.
When we got to Flagstaff, we checked into our motor court hotel on Route 66 and relaxed. On Monday, we did a three hour tour of the Northern Arizona University campus. I can see my daughter attending this school, and if she keeps her grades up, she's a shoe-in for being accepted. She's a smart young lady, but tends to procrastinate.
At the hotel, there was a 64 Fairlane 500 parked in the lot. I figured it was one of those display cars that hotels put in their parking lots for the Route 66 nostalgia. While I was taking pictures, the owner stepped out of his room and loaded some luggage into the trunk of the Fairlane. I got to talking to him, and he is the original owner of his car. He's 87 years old, and was coming back from a camping trip in Utah. He's an Arizona resident, and he was interested in my 64 Arizona license plate. I told him how to get some for his car, and how to deal with the AZ MVD, DMV, or whatever initials they're going with this week.
My best MPG was 20.1 mpg from Flagstaff to Casa Grande, AZ. Not bad for doing almost 80 mph at 3900 rpm almost the whole way with the exception of the stop and go traffic through Phoenix. I should take it easy, though, because those RPM's are really going to kill my engine.
All in all, it was a good road trip, and already looking forward to the next one.
