From Paso Robles we drove through Bakersfield, where the air is thick brownish-gray and you can barely make out the mountains in the distance. I've read that Bakersfield is currently the smog capital of the US due to its San Joaquin Valley topography. Couldn't live there.
Stayed overnight at Barstow, California. Couldn't live there. Next night at Kingman, Arizona. Couldn't live there.
We don't know for sure where we'll end up, but we do know some places we won't. No disrespect to the folks who have made those garden spots home, but southeastern California and the desert southwestern US don't appeal to us.
Currently we're staying in an RV park in Flagstaff, Arizona. Flagstaff is at nearly 7000 feet elevation, and it's surrounded by rolling hills with lots of pine trees. At last some beautiful scenery, and the air is so pristine that the leaves on the trees seem to be at higher resolution than before.
Upon arrival at the RV park, the check-in lady said that we should disconnect the water supply line before going to bed because otherwise the hose would freeze solid when the temperature dropped to 24 degrees in the night. Tammy Faye, we're not in Ben Lomond any more.
Flagstaff has the physical beauty that's important to us, so we decided to try to find out if we could indeed live here, and began by consulting an agent at the local Sotheby's real estate office. We gave her our list of needs and wishes: small home with character in a neighborhood with character. And after 40 years of country living, we wanted something a bit more urban, ideally offering walking distance to shopping and restaurants. She gave us a list of currently available homes in neighborhoods that she thought fit the bill, and we drove to several.
Our impressions: The downtown historic district is nice but doesn't have the magic of some towns and cities. Restaurants here don't seem as exciting as we'd like. People are friendly and unpretentious. Housing prices are reasonable, but we didn't find a neighborhood that sang to us. Traffic is light to moderate and infinitely better than Santa Cruz. Northern Arizona University is here. Nancy and I tolerate cold weather better than most people our age but when the temperature is in the thirties and that cold wind blows, we're not sure this town is made for old bones. The verdict: Unlikely to be our final resting place.
Thanks for the update. We miss you already.
ReplyDeleteif you drive due West from Flagstaff, you will come to an intersection with road to Grand Canyon, there is a gas station & old
ReplyDeleteairport with a still functioning Connie, great place to pitch a tent under the wing, oh Connie is short for Constellation .. Don
Good to read your blog, finding out that you,in fact have "flown the coop"! I drove up to the great Ben Lomand Bakery, on Monday, remembering you, but unfortunately it was closed. I read some of your blogs from years ago. I especially liked this one:" Further down the coast, just before we reached California, we pulled into a campground in Brookings, Oregon, right on an ocean beach. There was a lady in the office checking her motorhome in for the night. She told the manager that her children didn't like having RVs on either side of theirs. The manager asked her what color her kids were. That seemed insensitive to me, and I expressed my outrage. Turned out that the "children" were her dogs. Imagine my embarrassment. " Ha-Ha! Such a good one!
ReplyDeletePosted by Craig at 5:00 PM
Forgot to leave my name above!!: Hilda
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