Day 4 Oak Creek Canyon, Red Rock Park, Chapel of the Holy Cross

I didn't set my alarm today and woke up at 0800.  I was somewhat sore in my lumbar spine and legs but most of it disappeared after a few minutes.  I had no plans for the day so the first order of things was to figure what I wanted to do.  I decided to take Route 89a to Sedona on my way to Tucson.  This is a scenic route that goes through the Oak Creek Canyon.  When I stepped outside I noted that it had snowed overnight.  I was staying in Flagstaff which is 6000 ft elevation but still cold enough to snow apparently. 

See the snow on the roof and vehicles.

I ate my Super 8 Superstart breakfast which consisted of only carbs but I didn't care as I wasn't going to do anything too strenuous today.  I checked out and headed to 89a.  Oak Creek Canyon was only about 15 miles from Flagstaff so I came upon its start quickly.  On my way it had rained and hailed on me but by the time I reached the Canyon it was starting to become sunny again.  I first stopped at the vista which is the first overlook of the canyon.  The canyon is not as immense as the Grand Canyon but I thinks it's prettier as it has vegetation all up and down the sides.

View of Oak Creek Canyon from the Vista

Another view of from the Vista

View of the road down the canyon

 I stopped at several points along my drive through the canyon and hiked a short distance and took some photos.  There were a lot of places to park but most were tow zones or I had to have a permit to park but I had been to cheap to buy one at the ranger station so I had to be careful where I parked along the road.

Oak Creek

Some more of Oak Creek

I stopped for lunch about 3/4 through the canyon.  It was sunny and warm and I was hungry.  I hiked for about 10 minutes to the cliff edge and ate lunch on a bare rock overhanging Oak Creek.  On my way to the overhang I was scratched by a cactus.  It only felt like a small poke but my leg began to feel wet and I noticed blood pooling in my shoe.  I bled a lot as you can see from the picture below but after my shower tonight I see just a small 1/2 inch scratch.  I have no pain and hopefully no bacteria was on the cactus so I won't wake with my leg rotted off.  My left pant leg was stiff from all the blood it had soaked up so I did some laundry in the motel sink.  It looked like I was cleaning up a murder scene.

That rock outcropping is where I ate lunch.

My battle wound

The culprit

 I missed my turnoff from 89a but went past Red Rock Park so I decided to drive through it.  A lot of beautiful red rock formations.  I stopped a few places and took photos.

Red Rock Park

Cliffs of Red Rock

 On my way down R 179 to Phoenix I stopped by the Chapel of the Holy Cross.  It had some interesting architecture but what was more impressive to me was the mansion you could look down on from the edge of the chapel.  The chapel was constructed by Catholics so they had a bird bath inside the chapel which I figured out was Holy water.

Some cacti that didn't attack me and were flowering.

The mansion.  I really wanted to go knock and ask for a tour.

Inside the chapel

The chapel exterior as seen from below

The chapel was the last placed I stopped until Tucson.  The rest of the day was sunny and hot.  I hadn't gotten a recharging kit for my AC so it was a warm drive.  So warm that I had a flock of buzzards circling me for the last 4 hours of the drive.  They finally gave up on me when they saw a General Motors driver stranded on the side of the road.  I spent a lot of the drive scanning the radio and could tell I was getting close to Mexico as more of the stations were what I call Mexican mariachi music.  The music always sounds happy and their commercials have the same music so to me there are never any commercial breaks because I can't understand what they are saying and everything sounds the same.  In Phoenix a box truck had rolled over on the highway so I spent an extra 2 hours watching planes take off while sitting on the interstate.  When I arrived at Tucson I drove to the southern edge and stopped at Econolodge.  I filled up with gas at the station across the street and was immediately approached my a claimed homeless man asking for money for food.  I said no so he took his foot out of his shoe to show me how dirty his socks were.  I noted that they had fewer holes than most of my socks.  I did feel a little for the man and I had a cooler of food in my trunk so I gave him some jerky.  When I went to the cashier for my receipt I noted a security guard standing in the middle of the station so I know I am not in a good neighborhood.  However I parked my beat up car next to the nicest vehicle I could find in the parking lot so hopefully any thieves will not even consider stealing or breaking into my car.  The internet here is very fast and my only complaint is the shower head is way too short.  Maybe this is do to me being so close to the Mexican border and Mexicans are shorter.  Regardless the water wouldn't aim any higher than my stomach.