I realize that everytime I write one of these, I am far more wordy than I intend to be; I just always have a lot to say. Let me try to be brief about our time in Flagstaff. We got into Flagstaff at 5:30 Tuesday morning, and walked to a little cafe called Macy's, suggested by our host, to get THE best cup of coffee I have had on this trip. For whatever reason, Flagstaff, a small hippie mountain town at 7000 feet, knows its coffee. We enjoyed a cup after a long night on the train, before Brent, our host, showed up to give us a ride to his house. We spent the morning with Brent, a young engineering professor at the local university, and who is helping to start up a new church in the area, and he made us a wonderful breakfast of Swedish pancakes. Following breakfast, we took Brent to work and used his car to go to Sedona where we looked at all the beautiful red cliffs and different bead stores. We hung out with Brent a bit more that evening, and he whipped up the best butternut squash pie we have ever had. (So many best things already!)
The next morning, Doug and I set out to the Hopi Reservation a few hours away to visit our cousin Devon! Devon teaches at the mission school there, and she showed us all around the reservation, took us to all her favorite shops, and brought us to places where we had the best views of the three mesas. I know very little about the Hopi, but spending only a few hours there has inspired me to learn so much more about this resilient people once I am in a library again. Their reservation is cushioned by Navajo territory, and they are most known for their pottery, intricate silver jewelry, and Kachina dolls. Beautiful area and interesting villages, but you won't get to see any pictures of the actual reservation because picture-taking is forbidden on the reservation. After traveling around a bit, Devon took us to the cultural center where Doug and I were able to eat traditional Hopi flatbread, which was delicious!
We drove back to Flagstaff that night and met Lane the next morning, another fast friend who happens to share an interest in and love for Thailand. We met at Macy's (where I got to have another cup of the best coffee!) and received directions to his house (which is conveniently located right next to the train station) before we headed out to see Grand Canyon. And grand it is. And overwhelming. And so beautiful. Brent told us about a secret picnic place, so Doug and I had some lunch overlooking a lesser known spot of the Canyon, and it was breathtaking. Afterwards, we took a short (but steep!) hike about a mile down the Kaibab Trail to the Ooh Ahh Point. The Canyon wasn't filled with as many tourists like it allegedly is in the summertime, and we enjoyed the moderate temperatures for exploring, before it got cold post-sunset. The shadows and colors on the canyon at dusk are certainly a thing to behold, but crappy cameras (or even wonderful ones) cannot accurately capture anything there. The Canyon cannot be tamed or contained, even in the shiny postcards they were selling. Nevertheless, a few pictures are posted so you can feel like you were there, too.
We got back to Flagstaff around 8 PM and then helped Lane make an awesome Thai dinner (Gai Kapow!) and shared pictures and stories about Southeast Asia. He is intending to be back in Thailand in the next year or so, so we might see each other again on the other side. We said our goodbyes to Lane and Brent at a little restaurant across the street from Lane's apartment and hit the sack in order to sleep for four hours before jumping on the next train to Albuquerque. I can't speak for Doug, but for me, Flagstaff was really cool, and is a place to which I hope to return someday. I have some more canyons to explore and trails to hike.
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