Category Archives: Arizona

New York to Flagstaff via Amtrak

Global Traveller Blog Posted on October 30, 2016 by

From New York to Flagstaff, Arizona by train? People said I was crazy to do it. Why not take a plane? I wanted to see the country! The Lake Shore Limited The first leg was New York to Chicago on the Lake Shore Limited, an overnighter. Although I could have checked my baggage straight through to Flagstaff for free, I wasn’t sure about the weather and wanted access to my suitcase in case I needed to take out more clothes. As it turned out, there was plenty of space to store luggage in the train as the car was far from full. Tip 1 There is no access to checked luggage during the train ride. Bring any luggage onboard if possible. I settled into my seat beside the window and was pleased to note that the reclining seat was wide with plenty of legroom. There was also a footrest, overhead storage and a pull-out section under the seat to support the legs. It was like a la-z-boy recliner. Tip 2 There is no assigned seating. Get there early for a seat by the window. We set off on time in mid-afternoon to head up the Hudson River. As the sun … Continue reading →

Grand Canyon from Flagstaff

Global Traveller Blog Posted on October 30, 2016 by

Flagstaff, Arizona is the perfect base for visiting the Grand Canyon and the Grand Canyon International Hostel is the perfect base in Flagstaff because of its excellent, central location. I was hoping to take one of their tours to the Grand Canyon but I was lucky enough to hook up with the delightful Vanessa in the morning who had a car. We headed out around 9, stopped to pick up lunch snacks and arrived at the south rim of the Grand Canyon around 11. It’s important to have a plan when visiting the Canyon because it’s, well, big. We did not have a plan. Thank gods for off-season travel though. We found parking right away and headed to the Visitor’s Center for advice. There were no lines and we got the undivided attention of one of the many friendly park rangers on duty. He sorted us out right quickly with an itinerary that included a short hike into the canyon along the South Kaibab Trail to the Ooh-aah point and then a return to the shuttle buses to various lookout points, ending up at Hopi point for the sunset. The shuttle system was complex. Neither of us exactly understood the … Continue reading →

Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park

Global Traveller Blog Posted on November 1, 2016 by

After a day of rest and making arrangements for the rest of the trip, I picked up my rental car at Budget and headed north to Monument Valley. The plan was to visit the site in the afternoon and then head to my AirBnB nearby. The Navajo Nation By the way, there is surprisingly little accommodation near the park. There are a few big hotels such as the famous Gouldings but very, very few guesthouses, inns or B&Bs. I was determined to put money in the hands of the Navajos and so chose an AirBnB. I knew that the Navajo Nation was dry and thought I would pick up a flask before entering but there were no stores whatsoever on the barren two-land stretch of road between Flagstaff and the entrance to the reservation. And where was the entrance anyway? I must have missed the sign because I abruptly found myself in the reservation, picking up granola bars and pumpkin seeds at a Trading Post. It was around then when I noticed that I couldn’t seem to lock the back trunk. I drove on to Tuba City which, like most Navajo towns, is not a place where people actually live … Continue reading →

Canyon de Chelly: The Long Walk

Global Traveller Blog Posted on November 6, 2016 by

No, I did not take a long walk. The Long Walk is the seminal event in Navajo history and refers to Kit Carson’s forced death march from the Canyon de Chelly to the Bosque Redondo reservation in 1864. Having failed to starve the Navajo out of the canyon, the US Army came up with another plan. Soon, 8,500 men, women and children were marched almost 300 miles from northeastern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico to Bosque Redondo, a desolate tract on the Pecos River in eastern New Mexico. Traveling in harsh winter conditions for almost two months, about 200 Navajo died of cold and starvation. More died after they arrived at the barren reservation. http://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-navajolongwalk.html For me, it was a relatively short drive from Monument Valley to Spider Rock Campground on the canyon’s south rim.The light was beautiful when I arrived in late afternoon. The campground is named after the striking Spider Rock, a sacred place for the Navajo. As in Monument Valley, it wasn’t easy to find fully Navajo-owned accommodation in the Canyon de Chelly which is why I chose the Spider Rock Campground. Fortunately, the campground also offered typically Navajo structures, called hogans, used for ceremonies and to … Continue reading →