Sedona hike

Today my host family took me on a hike in Sedona, Arizona.  Wow.  I had no idea.

The red rocks of Sedona are sandstone, which means they break off pretty easily.  But the trails were nice, it was 75 degrees, and the view was spectacular!!!

See you soon!

Grand Falls, Arizona

Today we drove 30 miles outside of Flagstaff into the Painted Desert to see Grand Falls on the Little Colorado River.

Me with Powell and Maeve, my host kids, at Grand Falls

It was really tall...185 ft, in fact, which I learned is taller than Niagra Falls.  And it sure is muddy!  Maeve was pretending it was made of CHOCOLATE!!!  Yum!

You can hike a trail that goes down to the river, and the closer you get to the falls, the wetter you get!  That would not have been great today, though, as the wind was a little chilly!

See you soon!

Get your kicks on Route 66!

My host mother spends time driving every week from Flagstaff to Kingman, also in Arizona, where she does some work for the government.  Most times she takes the interstate highway, known as I-40, but every once in a while, part of I-40 is closed and she has to take an alternative route, part of historic Route 66.

Route 66, also known as "The Mother Road," was commissioned by the US Government in 1926 and was finished in 1938.  It started in Chicago, Illinois, and ran through Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, before ending in Los Angeles, California, at the Santa Monica Pier.  The original road was 2,448 miles long!

Along the way, there were many hotels with Route 66 themes...I got to visit one and took some pictures with Route 66 memorabilia.

The town, Radiator Springs, in the movie, "Cars," is based on a town called Peach Springs, which is along Route 66.  It's so famous, there's even a Route 66 Museum in Oklahoma!  And, Nat King Cole first recorded a song about it, "Get Your Kicks on Route 66," in 1946...it has been covered by many bands since.

So, it was fun to see this piece of history.  It's raining here today, or we would have taken a picture outside on the ACTUAL Route 66. We're saving it for another day.  See you soon!

I'm in Arizona!

Well, after a long trip, I made it to Arizona!!

I did some reading on this site about Arizona Facts to learn about my new home-away-from-home, and learned some interesting things:

Arizona, also known as "The Grand Canyon State", was the 48th state and became a state in 1912.  That means last year (2012) was their Centennial celebration!






Arizona is very diverse, including parts of all 4 deserts in the United States

and the 12th highest peak in the United States, Humphreys Peak (12, 633 ft), which is just outside of Flagstaff, where my host family lives.

So even though most people think of Arizona as being hot all of the time, there is actually snow at my host family's house!

I learned that Arizona has lots of cool official state symbols, too:

Amphibian:  Arizona Tree Frog

Bird:  Cactus Wren

Butterfly:  Two-tailed Swallowtail Butterfly

Fish:  Apache Trout

Mammal:  Ringtail 

Reptile: Arizona Ridge-nosed Rattlesnake

Flower: Saguaro Cactus Blossoms

Tree:  Palo Verde

Gemstone:  Turquoise

Fossil:  Petrified Wood

Neckware:  Bola Tie

Arizona touches 5 other states, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico.  It also shares a border with Mexico!  And it is home to one of the seven wonders of the natural world:  the Grand Canyon.

I'm so excited to be here and hope I can share with you some of my adventures!  See you soon, Flat Brennan