Day 11 - Flagstaff, AZ

We left Santa Fe, NM around 9:00 this morning. The trip was nice. Beautiful weather. Linda's been saying she needed to get an oil change, probably in Flagstaff, but at our lunch stop she saw a guy with a Ford shirt and asked him if there was a Ford dealership nearby. There was. They graciously did an oil change AND washed the car. We were in and out in less than an hour. As we neared Flagstaff we finally started seeing trees again!!! The terrain has been flat and barren for days it seemed ... started in Texas Saturday, continued into Omaha, and even flatter in New Mexico and much of Arizona, so, yeah, days!! :)

Tonight went to the Lowell Observatory, one of the oldest observatories in the U.S. We arrived early and stayed late. It was still daylight when we arrived but they were showing Saturn through a 16 inch telescope. As day turned to dusk we again looked through the telescope and could see it more clearly, even seeing the rings around it as well as one of its moon. Very interesting. We also looked through a 24 in telescope -- HUGE -- and saw a cluster of stars called M-5, 26-billion light years away. Those telescopes were operated by computers and the telescopes would move along with the night sky. There was yet one more telescope, another 26-inch, but had to be moved by hand to track the star or object being followed and that one was showing one of the brightest stars, Arcturus. Hey, I didn't know any of this stuff, just learned it tonight. We were approximately 300 feet above Flagstaff at an elevation of 7,246 Feet!! The sky was beautiful and filled with God's creation. Despite all the talk and information heard last night about how the universe was formed, I know above all, it was God who created it and put each star and element in its place.

From our vantage point at the Observatory, we could see the San Francisco Peaks to our north. They are the tallest mountains in Arizon, with an altitude of 12,660 feet. We could see three of its prominent peaks. They looked pretty close.

An amazing part of the night at the Observatory, was while standing in line to see Arcturus, there was a man behind me and a very young fellow behind him. As often happens while standing in lines, conversations picked up. The young fellow was naming stars and constellations, etc etc. The man and I looked at each other in amazement. After a bit I asked the young fellow what grade he was in. He responded, "I just finished 4th and will be in 5th grade next year." Well now, that does go to show I am NOT smarter than a Fifth grader.

There were beautiful plants and flowers at the observatory as well.


Tomorrow -- THE GRAND CANYON!!!! Our main destination of the trip.