Sunday July 6, 2025 - Bisbee to Flagstaff

We got up fairly early in Bisbee, no big rush since it’s a 5+ hours drive today to Flagstaff. We loaded the bulky stuff yesterday, including our Pantry box and our old Camp box that we repurposed for extra blankets (in case the heater repair in Flagstaff tomorrow fails) and extra clothes. The tubs we use stack nicely so the van is tidy instead of bags and boxes laying all over.

Deb cleaned the van a couple days ago and I verified the tires, registration, water, toilet, etc were ready to go.

We emptied the refrigerator at home and put it all in the van fridge (barely fit).

We left at 8:30, so a half hour earlier than we planned.

North to Benson to get the obligatory Micky D’s breakfast sandwiches for breakfast and coffee and orange juice. Now it feels like a road trip.

Then interstate all the way. My new knee is 6 weeks old so I can drive 1 to 1-½ hours at a time, then swap with Deb, and back and forth all day. Great weather except Phoenix was 108 degrees today but the AC kept up. Stopped for a little overpriced gas in Phoenix to get us to Flagstaff where the gas is 50 cents cheaper (3.40 vs 2.79).

We pulled into Flagstaff just before 3:00 and checked into the Motel Du Beau. This motel was built in the 1930’s and it seems to be original with 100 coats of paint but very tidy and loved. 

Flagstaff is at 7,000 ft elevation so it was only 87 degrees here as opposed to the 108 in Phoenix. We walked a couple of blocks to the Beaver Street Brewery for a celebratory drink and then walked into town, waiting 10-15 minutes for the 40 mile long train to go by. (Ok not really 40, but way long). We hit the tail end of the “Art in the Park” event where there were dozens of tents set up with everything from paintings to jewelry to metal work to wooden wares for sale. And some live music to boot.

Flagstaff has a population of 76,000 and Northern Arizona University has 29,000 so yeah, you could say it's a college town.

We walked all over downtown and stopped in a bunch of stores selling art, pottery, and the usual tourist stuff. They all close at 5:00 so we checked out a few restaurant menus but ended up back at the Beaver Street Brewery for burgers.

Then back to the well ventilated but not air conditioned room, which turned out to be very pleasant since the outside air has cooled off nicely.

Tomorrow we will go to see Mitch, the Webasto heater expert, and see if he can fix the heater. Fingers crossed.