Highlights from Arizona

We left the comforts of Colorado and headed for Payson, Arizona to visit Aunt Kako and then onto Phoenix to visit Uncle Bob and Aunt Lynn. We enjoyed relaxing with Kako, drinking high end, Walgreen's exclusive beer. The meals at Uncle Bob's were excellent and the pool was a necessity in the 107 degree oven that is Phoenix.

Since we can't stand the heat, we headed north to the higher ground of Flagstaff where we got our spelunking on in a lava tube cave just outside of the city. The cave dropped about 150 feet before leveling out and traveling 3/4 of a mile in length. The best thing about it was that it was not commercialized and was located on a rough forest service road. The cave stood as it was found with no lights or walkways and no gift shop.

We read about sleeping on the beach at Lake Powell on the boarder of Utah and Arizona and it sounded refreshing. What we found was a little piece of redneck heaven. Big trucks, RVs, speed boats, ATVs, dirt bikes, jet skis, generators and Christmas lights. It was like people watching at the State Fair. All packed together on a sandy beach surrounded by sandstone cliffs. We didn't quite fit in with our small backpacking tent and dollar store blow up raft but it was hot and the view both on the beach and across the lake were unique. On our way up to Utah for a few days to visit some parks and then onto Vegas.