Here’s an animated GIF showing our RV travel routes: the Yellowstone rental trailer trip last year, adding travel in our coach last year, travel so far this year, and finally the planned route for much of the remainder of the year.
GIF
Walnut Canyon, Sunset Crater Volcano, and Wupatki National Monuments
We took a day trip to three national monuments east and north of Flagstaff, Arizona: Walnut Canyon, Sunset Crater Volcano, and Wupatki National Monuments:
Starting with Walnut Canyon National Monument, with cliff dwellings:
Visitor center video:
Model:
Walnut Canyon path:
Walnut Canyon:
Then the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument:
Lava field:
Lizard:
Lastly, Wupatki National Monument, with pueblo communities:
The Wukoki house was our favorite part of all three parks:
Very windy:
Visitor center:
Wupatki pueblo:
In our travels, we encountered lots of tumbleweeds:
Xscapers Bash: let’s get the party started
The Xscapers Annual Bash kicked off on Saturday (January 8, 2022).
Here’s me with my name badge on my hat, a clever idea we saw on another attendee (easier than transferring it between shirts):
We also have wrist bands as proof of eligibility… which are color-coded to show first-time attendees in orange… colloquially called convirgins:
The kickoff event was a gathering of attendees in the rodeo stands, for announcements and such:
They were dressed in boating themes for the evening’s entertainment, yacht rock.
A drone recorded the event:
Afterwards, as the sun set behind the mountains, everyone gathered on the bleachers and ferris wheel for a group photo:
Looking from the top of the bleachers over some of the RVs at sunset:
Looking towards the ferris wheel from our coach (on the right):
The ferris wheel was only there for one day:
Ferris wheel GIF:
People mingling:
Walking back to our coach, the party section near the central area was well lit:
While the general section was darker:
The next morning, packing up the ferris wheel; it was impressive how compact it was:
They replaced it with a couple of bounce castle things for the kids:
A marketplace where attendees could buy and sell stuff:
A nice motorcycle with sidecar by a toy hauler fiver RV with deck:
