Drove 3 hours north to Flagstaff today. Can’t believe how different the landscape is here. We went from the hot dessert & cacti to pine trees & cold mountain air! The elevation gain between Mesa and Flagstaff is almost 6,000 ft. So it’s practically a different world up here!
Before we headed out of Mesa we stopped at Dutch Bros coffee to see what all the hype is about. They had lots of yummy sounding drinks on their menu, but I got a Keto Cold Brew. I’m more of a purist when it comes to coffee... not to the extent that I don’t put cream or sweetener in it, but I like to keep it simple. (They say people are like their coffee and I guess it’s true!) I have to say it was a pretty good cup of coffee for a chain store! Let’s see if they eventually make their way down to south Florida.
Tomorrow our friend Dawn flies in to meet up with us here in Flagstaff. She’ll spend the next 10 days with us as we celebrate her birthday with an epic trip to the Grand Canyon and the “Mighty 5”National Parks in Utah (Zion, Bryce, Arches, Capitol Reef, and Canyonlands).
Since we’ll be doing lots of hiking, biking, and climbing I wanted to prep some “power meals” for us. So our first stop in Flagstaff was a Walmart where we did a massive grocery haul. I spent the rest of the evening chopping and cooking veggies, eggs, etc. I’m making things like sweet potato hash, baked oatmeal squares, and quinoa salad. Hopefully that will keep us fueled along the way. Not to mention that there aren’t really any restaurants or grocery stores in that area and Jimbo is not too keen on the idea of going hungry (food is always his #1 priority)!
On the agenda tomorrow: laundry!
We stayed in the parking lot of an Outback Steakhouse because the Cracker Barrel across the street was full. (There were probably 15 RV’s parked over there!) I guess a lot of people stay a night in Flagstaff on their way to the Grand Canyon. Jimbo had to change out the trailer battery because the old one was pretty much dead and so our fridge won’t stay cold. The nice guy at Interstate Batteries recommended we switch to two 12v golf cart batteries.