We finally turned the car north to Flagstaff for the last leg of our journey before the business end of the trip. We have been to Flagstaff a couple of times before, but not for quite a few years. We enjoyed the change of landscape to pine covered hills with distant mountains. There were also building clouds in the distance that somehow went with the treed hills. Perhaps a little pining for home?
Our hotel was once again the big, old refurbished hotel in the old downtown area. They only had two rooms rented but even with that, there was only one parking space left that was a very skinny fit. According to the desk clerk, the spaces should open up after 5:00 when the managers all went home. Hmm, perhaps the spaces should be reserved for guests?
Our hotel, the Weatherford
And our room!
Oh well, we squoze into the last space and set off on foot to explore. Flagstaff is home to Northern Arizona University, which helped explain why there were so many breweries and brewpubs in town. After so much walking we had to stop and try one out. Tami described her peanut butter stout made with Mexican cocoa as a Snickers in a glass. Just the nourishment needed to continue!
Beer is just the thing for tired feet
Cafe we did not have time to visit
We were quite surprised to see how downtown Flagstaff had changed since we were last here. On our last visit downtown was filled with shops selling Native American art and jewelry. We had expected to spend some time looking through them. Now those shops seem to be almost gone. It seems like the emphasis has moved from serving tourists to serving students.
Downtown Flagstaff
Great mural on the side of bike store (we went to a bike store?)
Flagstaff is a nice place where the university adds some verve to a sleepy old town and the setting is quite beautiful. The train tracks run right through the middle of town and there are very frequent freight trains blasting through town. It’s just part of navigating Flagstaff and somehow adds to the charm. We had a large and wonderful room back in our hotel and the sound of frequent trains just added to the atmosphere.
Waiting for the train on the way to dinner
We noticed as we drove that a good part of the distance was following the old Route 66. Many towns play that up as much as possible. We stopped for lunch at a BBQ joint (Floyd’s) in Kingman. It was a sleepy little town, but with a nice Route 66 vibe.
Kingman – Floyd’s is up the block on the right
Our route to Lake Las Vegas, where the conference will be held, took us to Hoover Dam so we had to stop for a visit. My, how that has changed since our last visit! We realized that right away as the highway took us on a huge bridge that spanned the canyon where the dam is. What??? The highway is supposed to go OVER the dam! So we took the turnoff to actually see the dam and passed through the security stop which consisted of stopping long enough for them to tell us to have a nice day. On to the large parking garage so we could get out and at least look out over the dam itself. That hasn’t changed, and is as amazing as ever.
The new bridge – THAT wasn’t there last time! – there are also walkways on the bridge for a different view of the dam
Tami got me, dam it!
Hoover Dam is very tall
The final leg took us in to Lake Las Vegas and our hotel for the conference. It’s a beautiful place built in the style of an Italian villa with a few shops and restaurants around.
View from our balcony at Lake Las Vegas