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:

Map

Starting with Walnut Canyon National Monument, with cliff dwellings:

Walnut Canyon National Monument

Visitor center video:

Visitor center video

Model:

Model

Walnut Canyon path:

Walnut Canyon path

Walnut Canyon:

Walnut Canyon

Walnut Canyon

Info

Walnut Canyon

Walnut Canyon

Structure

Info

Structure

Structure

Then the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument:

Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument

Visitor center

Visitor center

Info

Lava field:

Lava field

Lava field

Lizard:

Lizard

Lava field

Lava field

Lava field

Info

Lava field

Lastly, Wupatki National Monument, with pueblo communities:

Wupatki National Monument

The Wukoki house was our favorite part of all three parks:

Info sign

Wukoki house

Wukoki house

Info sign

Wukoki house

Wukoki house

Wukoki house

Wukoki house

Wukoki house

Wukoki house

Wukoki house

Wukoki house

Very windy:

Jenn & David

Wukoki house

Wukoki house

Wukoki house

Wukoki house

Wukoki house

Wukoki house

Wukoki house

Visitor center:

Visitor center

Visitor center

Wupatki pueblo

Wupatki pueblo:

Wupatki pueblo

Wupatki pueblo

Wupatki pueblo

Wupatki pueblo

Wupatki pueblo

Wupatki pueblo

Wupatki pueblo

Wupatki pueblo

Wupatki pueblo

Wupatki pueblo

Wupatki pueblo

Wupatki pueblo

Wupatki pueblo

Wupatki pueblo

Wupatki pueblo

In our travels, we encountered lots of tumbleweeds:

Tumbleweeds

Tumbleweeds

Tumbleweed GIF

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):

David with badge on hat

We also have wrist bands as proof of eligibility… which are color-coded to show first-time attendees in orange… colloquially called convirgins:

Wrist band

The kickoff event was a gathering of attendees in the rodeo stands, for announcements and such:

Attendees

Attendees

Announcements

They were dressed in boating themes for the evening’s entertainment, yacht rock.

A drone recorded the event:

Drone

Afterwards, as the sun set behind the mountains, everyone gathered on the bleachers and ferris wheel for a group photo:

Group photo

Looking from the top of the bleachers over some of the RVs at sunset:

RVs at sunset

RVs at sunset

Looking towards the ferris wheel from our coach (on the right):

Ferris wheel from our coach

The ferris wheel was only there for one day:

Ferris wheel

Ferris wheel GIF:

Ferris wheel

Ferris wheel

People mingling:

People

Walking back to our coach, the party section near the central area was well lit:

Party section

While the general section was darker:

General section

The next morning, packing up the ferris wheel; it was impressive how compact it was:

Packing up the ferris wheel

They replaced it with a couple of bounce castle things for the kids:

Bounce castle

A marketplace where attendees could buy and sell stuff:

Marketplace

A nice motorcycle with sidecar by a toy hauler fiver RV with deck:

Nice motorcycle with sidecar