The Snowflake Arizona Temple - 12 October 2008

For the sake of our temple-loving son, we came home from Flagstaff via Snowflake. He's actually been here before when the open house was going on, but he doesn't remember it because he was only 18 months old (below).

The family has grown quite a bit since then!

Anna's smile (below) was for her big brother who took the picture.

When we were about 3 miles from home on Sunday afternoon, Jakob came up with the idea of a quick detour past the Mesa Arizona Temple because, as he said, "how many times do you get to see all the temples in Arizona on the same day?".

Sunset Crater Volcano - 11 October 2008

We haven't been here since before Jakob was born, but as we drove by we both remembered taking a picture in this meadow, which was filled with yellow flowers at the time.


It was so insanely windy that we could barely keep our eyes open (did we mention the 70mph gusts?). Anna thought it was great fun getting blown around the exposed paved trail. In fact she walked backwards most of the way back to the car. She's such a good sport. Notice how dirty she is from mulitple falls on the Veit Springs Trail! Jakob did NOT like the wind AT ALL (can you tell in the picture above?). Emma didn't express an opinion.
This trip was her first experience of wearing shoes though!


Just for kicks, here's a picture of our car (2005 Ford Freestyle) which did us proud on its first road trip.

Veit Springs Trail - 11 October 2008

About halfway down the snowbowl road we hiked this really cool little trail.

There was plenty of glimmering Aspens,

sticks for picking up,

a meadow (complete with powerlines),

an old cabin,

and huge boulders.

If that's not "kid friendly" then I don't know what is!!

(Apart from all the tripping over, falling down and going potty in the bushes.)

Humphreys Peak - 11 October 2008

We originally planned our trip to Flagstaff to include the skyride at snowbowl on Humphreys Peak, for its views of the "fall colors". However even before we left home we were having second thoughts because we saw the weather forecast was a high of 48F and windy!



In the end we didn't have to make the choice because the 70 mph gusts had shut down the skyride for the day. (Notice how the green trees suddenly turn into white trees! Brrrr.)





The pictures do not do a good job of conveying how literally freezing we were for the 3 minutes we were out of the car! Jakob's face is totally covered!

Anna was a bit more adventurous...and Emma's thinking "What the heck just happened?"

Oak Creek Canyon - 10 October 2008

On the way to Flagstaff we stopped off in Oak Creek Canyon to take a little hike on the West Fork Trail. It is a really fun place for kids to explore, with a nice bridge,

ruins of a burnt-out hotel (Mayhew Lodge) which included old chicken coops (prompting Anna to serve imaginary chickennuggets through the window)

and of course the creek itself.

We didn't even get very far along the trail but there was still plenty of happy distractions.

(click on a picture to see a full-size version)

Montezuma's Well - 10 October 2008

Before we got to Oak Creek Canyon, we stopped off at Montezuma's Well along the way because (a) we've never been there and (b) we heard it was a pretty cool place (saw it on TV) and (c) there is no entry fee.

Well, the verdict came back that it is a very cool place and all the trails were easily managed by even Anna's own two feet (though not Emma's, yet).



For more on Montezuma's Well you can visit here.
(Don't forget, just click on a picture to see it full size)