US-50 West 2022:
Day 14 - Flagstaff

	Friday, October 14, 2022: We had a busy day ahead, so we were up at 5:30 AM and left camp within 30 minutes.
	Thanks, McDonald's, we think our order is pretty great too.
	While we were waiting for our food, we couldn't help but admire the cool design of the Jack in the Box across the street.
	Our route took us right by the Pima Air and Space Museum where we had enjoyed time with Debbie's dad, Bob, back in 2018, a few months before he died.
	Our first stop today was Saguaro National Park, the East unit.
	We decided to take the scenic one-way loop on the aptly named Cactus Forest Drive, quite happy that we were in our van rather than riding bikes.
	You gotta love emphatic instructions painted right on the roadway. We're pretty sure the hill we drove over was just a small cliff that they somehow paved.
	There were several people biking on the road, and we followed the instructions and shared it with them. We hope the turtles did so as well, although we didn't see any.
	It was a beautiful scenic drive, with much more greenery than we expected.
	This was a nice reminder to keep on the lookout for turtles.
	We stopped at an overlook where the information signs told us about the 25 different kinds of cactus growing here.
	It was very beautiful, much more beautiful than we had expected.
	We saw one of the plants that we had seen in Joshua Tree National Park that blooms when its had an adequate amount of rainfall. This one had a few blooms on it, so there must have been some rain recently.
	There are rabbits in the park as well, although we didn't see any of them either.
	We stopped at the Riparian Overlook at the half-way point, which looked toward the Rincon Mountains to the east, ...
	... and the Santa Catalina Mountains to the north.
	We completed the loop, ...
	... and returned to the visitor center area where there were two men peddling religious materials in the parking lot. They were dressed a little like park rangers, probably hoping to lure people to their display thinking it was something park-related.
	We made our way toward the visitor center, ...
	... and stopped to admire the Mather plaque set on a stone out front. This is one of the newest versions of the plaque, cast from the mold made from the plaque that we had seen at the Berkeley Botanical Gardens a few days earlier.
	There was a beautiful relief sculpture on the wall of the visitor center depicting the various plants and wildlife in the park.
	As we left the park, we drove past the boneyard at Davis Monthan Air Force Base, ...
	... and then back past the colorfully painted planes at Pima Air and Space Museum. This Lockheed VC-140 by artist Kenny Scharf is titled "Back to Supersonica," ...
	... and this VC-140 by artist Andrew Schoultz is named "Spy Tiger."
	We were both thrilled to see that they still had Bob's favorite airplane on display, the Convair B-36 Peacemaker.
	The skyline of Tucson looks amazing set against the backdrop of the Santa Catalina Mountains in the distance.
	Just before 9 AM, we were passing Picacho Peak again ...
	... before we exited the highway, headed north toward Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. We passed fields of beautifully colored flowers ...
	... and great vintage signs as we approached the town of Coolidge, Arizona.
	On the north end of town is Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, ...
	... which has ruins from the Hohokam period dating back to 1150 AD.
	Our first stop was the visitor center, ...
	... which has a Mather plaque mounted right on the wall next to the entrance. This is one of the original plaques from the 1930 casting, and it was in great shape.
	We walked through the visitor center, looking at the various displays ...
	... and both of us locked onto the display containing pieces of obsidian, a black volcanic glass that is stunningly beautiful.
	We headed outside to take a closer look at the ruins, ...
	.. and the various structures that are also preserved on the grounds.
	There were seats under a shade shelter with the National Park Service logo on each bench.
	Who would've expected to run across a lizard in a desert? Everyone?
	At the gift shop, we were very tempted by the not-LEGO models of Mesa Verde and Casa Grande, ...
	... but settled for a National Parks trivia game and a National Parks of America jigsaw puzzle.
	As we were leaving the park, we realized that we had just enough time to visit our tenant, Ralph, in Mesa. We called him to see if he would be available for a short visit, ...
	... and after he said he would be, we took COVID tests to make sure we were still negative, which we were.
	We arrived at Casa de Paz about an hour later, ...
	... and made our way to Ralph's condo, taking a quick look at the unit next door where Debbie's dad used to live.
	Ralph invited us to sit with him outside on his beautiful patio, ...
	... where he had coffee, ...
	... banana bread, and haystacks to share with us.
	After our lovely visit with him, we brought everything back inside to the kitchen, ...
	... and said our farewells. Ralph has such a great smile, and is in great shape for being 98 years old.
	We took a look at the fruit tree that was right outside Debbie's dad's carport, ...
	... and remembered that he used to pick fruit from this tree every year. We miss you, Bob.
	We drove across Mesa and Gilbert to the Stadium Club in Chandler, ...
	... where there were a lot of vintage cars in the parking lot.
	This is a Green Bay Packers bar, ...
	... with other decorations to remind their patrons ...
	... of Wisconsin.
	We were here to see Debbie's cousin, Rachel, ...
	... and to satisfy the fish 'n' chips craving that had been gnawing at Debbie since we arrived in Sacramento.
	We had a wonderful time with Rachel, laughing and laughing and laughing some more, until we had to let her get back to her job and we had to get back on the road.
	Rachel gave us the key lock box that we had used when we were selling Debbie's dad's condo. She had been storing it since she had helped us by being our person-on-site to clear out the condo before the new owners took possession in 2020.
	Do you want to know where we've been? Just wait for the Arlo notification asking if you want to continue to allow it to use your location. Screenshots of the notifications were proving to be awesome visual records of where we had been.
	Since we were only a few minutes away, we popped over to the Chandler Fashion Center Mall, ...
	... where we admired the way they put a Coca-Cola vending station in an empty store front.
	What's this? The gray vending machine had a pinball theme. Consider us intrigued.
	But we weren't here for vending, we were here for LEGO.
	This LEGO flower display was one of the cutest things we have ever seen. We wanted them all, especially the succulents. They are so adorable.
	Debbie made her inspection of the Pick and Build wall, ...
	... finding enough interesting parts to justify a small LEGO cup.
	We decided to purchase the Star Wars LEGO advent calendar, ...
	... and the Christmas tree model, along with the small LEGO Pick and Build cup. We got a free Spooky VIP Add-On Pack, and a stamp in Debbie's LEGO passport, of course.
	Leaving the store, we checked out the giant print of the Grand Canyon at one end of the mall. We had thought about trying to get there on this trip, but since we had just been there in June, we decided against it.
	There was a Target nearby, so we made a quick dash into the store looking for the new offering by Cards Against Humanity, ...
	... but unfortunately they were sold out of the Clam-O-Naise. Bummer.
	As we were driving, Debbie sorted the pieces in the LEGO Spooky VIP add on pack that she had gotten at the LEGO Store. Look at all of the adorable skeleton minfigs!
	We made our way across Tempe ...
	... checking out the skyline in the clear blue sky, ...
	... until we reached the Arizona State Capitol building.
	We drove north from the Capitol, checking out the cool decor ...
	... and brightly colored buildings of Melrose ...
	... on our way to the First Christian Church on North 7th Avenue, in Phoenix. This church had been designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1950, ...
	... but was built after his death in the early 1970s.
	A quick zip westward brought us to the Arrowhead Towne Center, ...
	... and another LEGO Store. You know we're going to get to them all eventually, right?
	Debbie looked at the Dots bracelets, ...
	... and the Titanic model and the Colosseum, ...
	... before settling on another small cup from the Pick and Build wall.
	As we were heading north out of Phoenix, we saw this billboard for Debbie's Dispensary.
	Our favorite rest area, Sunset Point, was closed, but it would have been over that-a-way somewhere.
	The sun was getting lower in the sky as we passed Verde Valley, ...
	... and lower still as we approached Flagstaff.
	It had well and truly set when we reached the exit for US-89, ...
	... and our favorite Del Taco was lit up beautifully as we pulled in to get our dinner to-go.
	We drove to the Flagstaff KOA, found our campsite, and ate our dinner in the front seats of the van. We had gone from the 104°F heat in Phoenix to the upper 40s in Flagstaff, and we wanted to revel in the last few minutes of warmth before setting up camp.
	The mural in the sparklingly clean bathrooms reminded us once again that we were in red rock country. Day 15 >