Rex and Nancy's Travels - "ALL WHO WANDER ARE NOT LOST" - JRR Tolkein

Rex received tickets for the Verde Canyon Railroad as a Christmas gift from the owners of the Dolly Steamboat and we finally got a chance to use them.   We rode the train on Monday and had a great ride.   Our two FP& engines, No.s 1510 and 1512, were built in 1953 for the Alaska Railroad.   In 1988 they went to the Wyoming-Colorado Railroad and ran on the scenic railroad from Laramie to Fox Park in Wyoming.   When the Colorado-Wyoming Railroad closed in 1995 the engines were purchased by the Verde Canyon Railroad.   We rode the Colorado-Wyoming Railroad out of Laramie the last year it operated and were disappointed when it closed.   We are glad the engines found a new home.   The scenery in the Verde River canyon was beautiful and we even saw a Bald Eagle sitting in a tree beside the river (unfortunately, we were not able to get a picture of it). We passed by a couple of cliff dwellings shortly after the start of the trip. Engines 1510 and 1512 going by beaut

We woke up on Thursday, October 6 th to rain and the wind blowing hard.  The wind was blowing hard enough that we were concerned about driving in it.  Fortunately, the rain stopped and the wind died down about 8 am.  We headed out for Camp Verde about 42 miles South and 3,000 feet lower in elevation so it should be warmer and no snow.  After we left Flagstaff we could look back and see the snow on the San Francisco Peaks.  Snowbowl ski area got about 3 inches of the white stuff.  We arrived in Camp Verde where the sun was shining and it was a lot warmer than Flagstaff.  We are staying at Camp Verde RV Resort, a nice resort in the Coast to Coast network. We went to Montezuma Castle National Monument, a 5-story, 20-room cliff dwelling that is 100 feet above the valley floor. It was built in the early 1100’s by Southern Sinagua people.  Early settlers assumed it was Aztec in origin and wrongly named it Montezuma Castle after the Aztec ruler. Montezuma Castle is one of the b

We left Chama on Saturday, October 1 st and headed to Flagstaff, AZ.  Just outside of Chama a small herd of elk ran across the road in front of us.  The calf fell in the middle of the road but was able to get up quickly.  By the time Nancy got the camera out and ready they were all across the road and jumping the fence. After a long drive (about 8 hours) we arrived in Flagstaff in the rain.  We are staying at Greer’s Pine Shadows in a Ponderosa Pine forest just North of Flagstaff.  This is a no frills campground – it does not even have bathrooms and showers but will be fine for us for a few days. Sunday morning we hiked a trail in the forest behind the campground and after lunch we visited the Flagstaff Visitor Center. Monday, October 3 rd , we drove to Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument north of Flagstaff.  Sunset Crater is the most recent volcanic activity in the Flagstaff area erupting about 1000 years ago leaving a 1000 ft high volcanic cone.  In 1928 some filmmak