Gila Bend to San Diego

Things are rapidly drawing to a close over here. Goal for the 10th was to drive to San Diego. Long drive. Woke up saw a few UP trains trundle past, then hit the road and headed for Yuma. Long slog on the i8. Not much scenery wise, just more desert (and not even that interesting). Yuma was biggish, main interest for me was the big stack train we passed on the way through. Then it was back on the road to San Diego. Here things got a bit more interesting. Unbeknown to me we passed within a mile of the Mexican border a number of times. What I was aware of were these things…

US Border Patron compulsory checkpoints. Note the large portable floodlights all around and the plethora of patrol cars all lined up ready for anything exciting. I wasn't sure what to expect here, but we actually got flagged right on through; apparently we weren't suspicious enough, and Angela was under strict orders not to flash anyone in a uniform!

Sen...

Tucson to Gila Bend

Another day, another phone call to the rental car company. Like I said, got my account credited so the amount charged to me should now match the amount I was quoted. Amazing how complicated such a simple thing can be. Passed some interesting characters on the car; motels like these seem to attract interesting types.

Here's the motel in all its early morning glory; out of sight to the left and right are the half dozen pickup trucks and motorbikes that seem standard fare around here.

We hopped on the highway and headed… oh so slowly thanks to all the traffic lights and road works… towards Oracle, AZ, just out of Tucson. What's there you ask? Well suppose a very wealthy Texan built a very large hot house and then sealed 8 people and plants and everything they need inside for 2 years to see how they did…

… you'd end up with this. It's called Biosphere2 (#1...

Tucson

First thing for the 8th was to swap the car. Phoned up and quickly got something sorted out. Went off to the Tucson airport to swap the car. Had to fill up the tank and gave the foot wells a quick vacuum to remove the inches of dirt that have worked their way in there. Then off to the airport. Got given a red Suzuki Forenza which was intended to replace our midsize Hyundai Sonata. In theory the Suzuki is a midsize car too, but it wasn't any bigger than the compacts next to it, and it drove weird; almost like it had a delay. Plus it was scratched up something rotten, had a chip in the windscreen, and the interior was pretty rough. Asked for a different one; they had two whole rows of cars after all and it seemed we'd been given the worst of them all. Well, it turns out they could only give me the Forenza or one of the compacts, as all the American (read: real) cars are only for local use. Grrr. So I got a brand new blue 2010 Hyundai Accent… mmm nice. Until I drove it. No elec...

Flagstaff to Tucson

Yes I'm still alive :-) Had a lot of distance to cover on the 7th, but first had to do some stuff in Downtown Flagstaff. Went to the Downtown Diner for breakfast and naturally had chocolate chip pancakes (or hot cakes as they say). They were really nice, and very chocolately in the middle which was great, but filled me up and then some so didn't finish. Was amazed at how busy the diner was, considering it was about 11am on a perfectly ordinary Wednesday. Afterwards strolled down to the station and got a shot…

See, I said it was nice! On the way back I noticed Gene's Western Wear was open, so had to go have a look. The real deal folks… they have 3 isles of cowboy boots, an entire section on western saddles and paraphernalia, cowboy hats all over the place, and so on. You can even get your checked shirts there.

Then it was time to hop on I17 and head down for Phoenix. Roads a...

Flagstaff Railfanning

At last, a day of railfanning! Plan was to explore the BNSF Seligman Sub from Flagstaff down to Winslow as access here is much better than on the western side of the hill. So we set off towards Winslow, Arizona where we stood on a street corner, as per the Eagles song.

Oh and the building front is just painted on :-)

Had a bit of a look around Winslow; seems a lot like any South-Western town. The souvenirs on sale here were very uninspiring. Interestingly the scenery in the hour drive from Flagstaff to Winslow changed from rich Ponderosa Pine forest to never ending desert. For example here is the scenery on a short detour I took to try and find Canyon Diablo, but had to turn back because the roads were too bad.

Back towards Flagstaff and caught my first train, an interesting mix of paint schemes running the local shunt:

Santa Fe Warbonnet / Santa Fe blue...

Verde Canyon Railroad

Plan for the 5th was to go on the Verde (verr-dee) Canyon Railroad. So we woke up early and headed off for Sedona, the half way point. On the way we, quite unexpectedly, passed through the Oak Creek Canyon which was quite spectacular. Gigantic towering walls of red rock were all around us as we slowly zig zagged down the canyon. No photos as the only places to pull over were US Forestry Service picnic areas which were all fee areas :-(

We soon arrived in Sedona which is very touristy. After visiting such places as Tuba City and Helper which are definitely not on the average tourist's path, it was quite a shock to arrive in touristville. For example: the busses in Sedona are decorated like trams, with half-arch windows and clerestory roofs (fake naturally). Seriously; clerestory roofs on a bus?!?!??!!! At least here in Flagstaff the (somewhat stumpy) busses are normal looking!

Brought a tee shirt from Jake's Canyon House and made a phone call to clarify why the Verde...