Pleasant sunny days - just what we were looking for.

Cottonwood, AZ to Flagstaff, AZ (more sightseeing!)

It's only a short drive from Cottonwood to Flagstaff but the elevation gain is almost 3600 feet.  It was pleasant during the day and oh so cold at night.  Good sleeping weather!

We decided to spend a little time seeing what Flagstaff had to offer and we weren't disappointed.  Our first stop was the Pioneer Museum which is owned and maintained by the Arizona Historical Society.  They had a special exhibit on Route 66 which was very fun to see.  The museum is housed in an old hospital and upstairs they had exhibits from each decade from 1890 through to 1960.  Each decade was displayed in its own "hospital" room.  It was an absolute kick to look back through the various decades and find so many items we remembered from the past.  Wow - we've seen a lot of changes through the years!!  Although we both recall taking pictures in and around the museum we can't find a single one.  Weird!

Interesting museum pictures should be right here!!!  I wonder where they are?

Next we went to the Lowell Observatory and spent a very fun day learning about how the observatory came to be and what had been discovered there - Pluto being at the top of a long list.  While there we had the opportunity to look safely at the sun through a special telescope.  It looked like a dark orange ball.  We also saw the two main telescopes that were used early on in its existence.  They are no longer used for research but rather for educational purposes.

Rotunda and offices at the observatory.

This is where the telescope below is housed.
It's a very old building built by two bicycle repair men.
You can see from the picture below that it is basically
made of wood and covered with something to
protect it from the elements.

The second telescope installed at the observatory. 
The arm projecting out to the left is a counter balance which allows
a person to move the telescope easily.  Notice the round things at the
juncture of the roof and the side of the building.  Those allow the roof
to move around the base of the building so the telescope can "see" in
any direction.  They are actually 1939 Ford (or was it Chevy) tires!!

Close up of the end of the scope.

We took a tour through the Riordan Mansion State Historic Park.  This was "duplex" on a mansion scale built by two brothers who married two sisters.  Basically what you have are two (what started out as) identical houses connected by what we might call a bonus room.  A huge room which provided extra living space that could be enjoyed by both families.  Of course these brothers were major players in the early life and times of Flagstaff and they could afford whatever they wanted.  The history of the families and the house was very interesting.

Riordan Mansion from the back.  You can see the two story houses
at each end with the one story joint living space in between.



This is the house on the right side of the picture above.
This couple only had 2 children while the other couple
had 6 children and needed extra space - thus the addition
to the second floor on the house on the left.



Riordan mansion from the front. (Unfortunate late afternoon shadows.)

We decided "Flag" is a great place to visit and worth staying for a few days.

Stardate: May 21-May 24, 2016