Trip to Flagstaff

Overcome by heat aversion, we spent a couple of days in Flagstaff for relief. We found a very inexpensive (cheap) motel. Given the choice of one queen bed or two doubles, we ask for the queen. Opening the door, voila! Two doubles. Oh, well, sometimes it's nice to have my own bed.

We turned on the AC, waited to feel cooler, then opened the windows and felt cooler. The open windows also allowed us to hear the whistling trains better as they swooshed along the nearby tracks. Next morning I awoke to lots of noise which turned out to be Grumpy taking apart the air conditioner and cleaning the filter under the shower. That worked, though the chunks of crud on the floor of the shower discouraged morning cleanliness. Never mind. The TV worked fine. Wireless internet was available if I took my laptop into the office. I didn't get much e-mail anyhow.

Grumpy had a headache, so we took a walk to Walgreens. I waited outside with the dog while he got his nurse's potion, a full dose each of ibuprofen and acetaminophen. As he had forgotten his reading glasses, he came out with children's liquid acetaminophen. We calculated an adult dose, which used up the whole bottle (4 bucks worth). Nasty tasting stuff, but worth it after all. Turns out the liquid form works faster, says Grumpy.

We had night walks, not five miles like at home but so refreshing. Our second night we criss-crossed the NAU campus, Homie unusually energetic off the leash. I haven't seen him frolic like that in months! Cool temps release his inner puppy. Meanwhile, I was awash with campus nostalgia. I love being in school -- taking courses, studying for exams, writing papers, learning and learning more stuff, digging into a real library. I really do have to live somewhere I can get back into studying something.

We took a scenic drive recommended in a book, and it was all right, but our spontaneous diversion up the side of the San Francisco peaks to the ski bowl was the highlight. Up there we found the Kachina trail going off in two directions from the road. We decided to check out the woodsiest side. Here, finally, up high enough, we found Oregon-like lush, ferny forest. The trail was beautiful. We weren't equipped for an actual hike, but we meandered a little way just to check out the trail for future visits. Homie scampered ahead happily (no gravel here to wear out his toe pads). He was more than ready to go all the way.

Noticing the trail's gradual descent, we stopped after walking less than a quarter-mile. Good thing we did. When we turned back we discovered the effect of altitude on breathing under mild exertion. Not pretty. I felt about ninety. Here's a pic Grumpy took while I sat to enjoy the thrill of not being in the desert.