GRAND CANYON TO FLAGSTAFF

After 3 great days exploring Grand Canyon National Park, we are now enroute to Flagstaff .

Leaving Grand Canyon National Park on the East side the first stop was the historic Cameron trading post, here the highway crosses the Little Colorado River. We turned South again, and we followed the Colorado Plateau with amazing breathtaking scenery.

Closer to Flagstaff the scenery included the San Francisco Peaks, the highest mountain in Arizona at just under 3900 meters, and just one of over 460 volcanoes located in the area. Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, just north of the is the youngest volcano in this area.

Also worth visiting are prehistoric ruins of the Sinagua people at Wupatki National Monument. The loop road off US Route 89 is where the ruins of prehistoric Indian dwellings are.  The Sinagua people occupied this place for about 100 years, shortly after the formation of Sunset Crater. The ash made the land more fertile. By 1180 thousands of people were farming this region. Their multistorey buildings still stand today as a testament to their excellence as stonemasons. Flagstaff is surrounded by a million acres of the massive Coconino National Forest, Flagstaff is a true mountain town, with an accompanying outdoor vibe. Downtown Flagstaff is a fun and charming historic district that is home to many popular Festivals throughout the year.

the Beer and Gear festival.

To kick the show off the day prior the city of Flagstaff organized a GEAR & BEER event and being asked to show case our vehicle was an honour. despite a shooting and the gunman on the run it was a great event with the usual questions how you got the vehicle here, how safe is it to travel around the world, how difficult is it to ship etc. To summarize, Great night, lots of interest, plenty of beer and food.

4×4 Overland EXPO

That night we stayed in the ponderosa pine forest just south of Flagstaff before entering the world’s largest overlander show in the world at Fort Tuthill. The show is amazing and caters for 50000 overland travellers from all around the world. We presented 20 years around the world covering Australia, Africa, Middle East, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, China, Mongolia, Russia, South America, and Central America.

We also participated in 9 round table discussions covering topics such as Corrupt police, army and public servants, Border crossings, insurance, travel in Siberia and Iceland in winter, traveling as a couple and varies specific continents we travelled in Overland.

Having been to many shows around the world Overland Expo is the premier overlanding event no other event offers the number of classes taught by some of the world’s leading overlanders this combined with an amazing tradeshow showing the latest in all camping aftermarket 4×4 gear, Overland Truck & SUV vehicles here you meet overland legends, authors and experts and have the choice of 400 sessions to attend. Plus, slide shows, demonstrations all presented by over 120 presenters from around the world. Catering for over 50000 visitors. AMAZING

Great to meet with some travellers who been following us over the last 20 years. Great to catch up again with everyone again in particular Graham and Louisa Bell, Scott Brady, Bevan, Ward and Annie, Dexter and Vera and many other around the world overlanders we met around the world. It was great to catch up with so many friends from around the world all with one common interest AROUND THE WORLD OVERLAND TRAVEL.

 

After 4 days of talking, presenting, meetings and long Happy Hours it was time to start exploring again next stop was Sedona in the Northern Verde Valley. Sedona’s is known for the red sandstone formations who glow in brilliant orange and red when lit up by the rising or setting sun.