How a Trip to Buy Towels Led to a Search for the Perfect Route 66 Burger Which Led to Finding a National Monument

Walnut Canyon National Monument

When it comes to my wandering ways, last Friday's journey pretty much epitomizes everything my website is about. I had decided to use my last day of vacation before it renews next month to take last Thursday off from work. This seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to go on my first solo camping trip, since the breakup.

On Thursday morning I left Phoenix with only a general direction in mind: North. When I left I really wasn't sure where I was going to head for the weekend. I was about 50/50 on going to the Sedona area or continuing straight North to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon or maybe even Utah. The final decision was made when I saw the Sedona exit sign. I decided I'd go that way, but if I couldn't find a campsite I'd get back on the road toward the Canyon.

On my way through Sedona, I had my mind set on going to a campground, Jenn and I visited while we were dating. I passed by a few spots but really wanted to check out Cave Springs Campground. Fortunately, even in the gorgeous Oak Creek Canyon area, campsites don't completely book up by Thursday so I was able to find a site. I pitched my tent and headed back toward Sedona to get some gas and enjoy the scenic drive.

By the time I got back to the campgrounds, it had started to rain. This was the start of a miserable first night. I hunkered down in the tent and started reading. This was pretty much how the whole night went. Just me in a tent, alone in the forest reading The Seventh Sense (a book I had chosen because it was chosen by more CEOs as the book they planned to read this summer than any other).

The rain would continue coming down hard throughout the night. Unfortunately, I had to make a trip out to my car to get more stuff I forgot to bring in when I unpacked. Then later in the night nature called and I had to answer because the sound of raindrops coming down hard doesn't help ease the bladder. On both occasions the tent got wet and muddy. When I woke up in the morning there had been a few leaks in the tent roof as well. I love my tent for it's convenience, but it might not be the best for extreme weather.

Not wanting to spend the rest of the weekend in dirty, wet conditions I took the only towel I had and used it to wipe down the tent. Since the campground had showers and I knew there was a chance I would be staying until Sunday, I decided I better head to town to buy another towel. Instead of going to Sedona, I decided to take the scenic route to Flagstaff because they have a Target.

The drive through Oak Canyon is such a beautiful one, I would make it several more times that weekend. Each time it didn't fail to amaze me. The twisty, winding, uphill road offers some breathtaking views. The Oak Creek Viewpoint was a place I could have stayed to stare out over the canyon for days at a time.

Oak Creek Canyon Scenic Overlook

Then I bought towels at Target. There isn't much to say here other than it was insanely busy because Northern Arizona University was having their move-in weekend. That is an incredibly boring part of the story and not at all related to the purpose of this site, but it was the catalyst for the rest of the adventure. As I was headed back toward the road to Sedona, I remembered seeing a sign that said "Historic Route 66" on the way into town. As someone who is embarrassed to admit I've never read anything by Kerouac but knows there are important ties to Route 66 in his work, I couldn't resist.

My goal for my trip down Route 66 was to search for the perfect bit of Americana. I wanted to find a greasy burger from a Route 66 diner. I passed quite a few on my way through Flagstaff, but what I really wanted was something on the outskirts or in a near ghost town. And what the hell, if it could be served to me by a carhop on roller skates that would have just made it all the better in my world. 

Sadly, I would never get my burger. As it turns out Route 66 as it once existed is more of an abstract concept than an actual road. After you get outside of Flag the old Route 66 has pretty much been replaced by newer highways. Fortunately, after missing a few turns and thinking I had found my way back onto it, I somehow ended up at Walnut Canyon National Monument. I can honestly say I don't remember this coming up on any of the map searches I had done in search of new monuments to visit in the area. But somehow there it was at the end of what may or may not have been Route 66 at that point.

Walnut Canyon was another beautiful area, but then again I've yet to see a "canyon" I haven't loved to stare into. Every part of me wanted to walk down into the canyon to see the ancient dwellings it contained, but my ankle proved within the first few steps that it was not ready to cooperate with my heart. Rather than risking re-injury, I confined myself to the rim of the canyon. This turned out to be a great decision because as I was walking the trail around the rim, a massive storm hit the area. Considering I basically had to sprint back to my car to avoid getting completely drenched, I'm really glad I didn't find myself in the bottom of the canyon trying to deal with it. 

What I love about this is that I now have a reason to go back very soon. My ankle is getting to the point where it can handle stairs, so Walnut Canyon is now on the top of my to-do list when I can get there again. I even held off on buying the poster I want to frame from the gift shop to provide a little extra incentive. 

This type of day is what I love about the "Wherever the road takes us" style that my Guest blogger, Chassidy, wrote about so humorously. More often than not, it seems the road takes me someplace amazing.  Sure there is the occasional flop, like my trip to Patagonia that I abandoned mid-trip to go to Florence, AZ instead. I didn't get enough material from that to write a story, but I did find out where UofA got their "Bear Down" slogan from. That's the beauty of this travel/lifestyle of wandering I've been preaching about for the past 4 months.