Day 245- The view from behind the wheel.
Did you know that skunks waddle when they run. Well, as we returned to our campsite last night, after seeing Sedona for the first time, I almost hit a skunk. I slammed on the breaks, came to a full stop and watched the skunk, in my headlights, waddle down the road and off into the bushes. We all laughed because we never saw a skunk before and definitely didn’t think it would run like that. I was thankful to have not been sprayed (because we were 4-5 feet from hitting it) and also thankful we didn’t hit it which is worse. I hit a skunk once without ever seeing it and it’s not a great experience. You’ll have to trust me on that one. Oh the smell…
We’ll let’s get to Day 245.
We woke in the am to see 5 hot air balloons out on the distance. Coming from the NY area my kids had never seen this before and immediately ran to find the binoculars to check it out. We made breakfast, closed up the Rig and moved today. We were going to Flagstaff AZ today but, the plan was to spend one more day in Sedona before we left the area.
We arrived in Sedona and parked our Rig in a large parking area where locals go to mountain bike, run, excercise and, as it turns out, watch the sunset. I’ve included a photo because it was a beautiful place. Could you image waking up and coming here to go mountain biking?
We made some lunch, disconnected the Jeep and went off on our own “private” jeep tour. I researched some trails that we could access and used some of the advice that Kelly shared with me yesterday. We drove about 10 minutes to the Cliffhanger Trail. It was ranked as a “moderate trail” and I felt like we could handle moderate.
I know Jenn shared some of the video from the day on Facebook so, many of you know the trail was bumpy and loaded with rocks and dry river beds that needed to be handled with finesse. Coming around one corner we spotted a roadrunner darting down the trail in front of us. Everyone had a good laugh as we’ve never seen one of those birds before. LOL.
We got tossed around a little more, crawled over some small rocks that required 4-Low and eventually got to a point in the trail where my Jeep could go in without issue but, might not make it out so easily. In the spirit of enjoying our day, not having a support Jeep with and wanting to stay in good favor with my wife and kids. I backed out about 20 feet and parked.
We all jumped out and walked down a dry riverbed which was very cool. Lots of large rock formations, dead trees, cacti and incredible views. We circled back after about 30 minutes of exploring and everyone jumped back in the Jeep with smiles on our faces. We rocked and rolled back out to the main road and headed back to the RV to start our trip to Flagstaff.
We decided to keep the Jeep disconnected from the Rig because the drive to Flagstaff involved climbing 3000 feet through all kinds of switchbacks on Scenic 89a. It was a breathtaking drive and I was glad to have the Jeep disconnected.
The views climbing up out of Sedona and all the way to Flagstaff were incredible. Seeing the Whitecaps on Humphrey’s peak was one of the more climactic moments of the voyage North. Jenn and I loved seeing the snow up at altitude but, the back drop of this 12,633 ft. snow covered peak was moving.
We rolled into Flagstaff as the sunset and, after a long day of adventure, we made a quick dinner and were all asleep in no time.
Luke's Journey Across The USA 