AM's parents arrived on Friday in Flagstaff via Amtrak. Apparently travel by train isn't all that pleasant (which after they described the cramped nature of the quarters isn't too shocking). Unfortunately for her parents, they weren't able to escape the snow and cold weather. All winter long Arizona has been hurting for precipitation of any kind, setting a new local record for lack of rain (143 days), and we finally got it. There was a decent amount of snow in the area, which did make for some beautiful scenery.
On Saturday, we drove out to the Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert. AM and I have been there once before, but we felt that would be the best way to start their visit, as the landscape is so unique. A very strong, cold wind was blowing down off of the Mogollon Rim to the south. It was strong enough to practically lift AM's mom off of the ground, and I'm guessing the wind chill was about 25 degrees. Because of the wind and cold we weren't able to walk too far on any of the trails, but I did get some very nice pictures of prong horns on the trip. In fact, I will end up with a second wildlife picture hanging on the wall, right next to the one of a mule deer in Bryce Canyon.
On Sunday we had been planning on going to the south rim of the Grand Canyon, but decided against it because of the forecast of snow. Instead, we went out to the Waputki Indian ruins and Sunset Crater. Because we started on the back side of the park first (the runes side), AM and I got to see a lot more of the ruins than we have previously. Some of them are very impressive. Unfortunately for my pictures, the weather didn't cooperate (the sky was too overcast for any interesting shots). AM's parents were impressed by the sights, and we generally had a lot of fun.
After we finished in the park, we went back to Flagstaff and decided to eat at Buffalo Wild Wings while watching some NCAA basketball. The food was typical for bar-type places, but I have to say I really like their Caribbean Jerk sauce. While UConn did win their game, UofA managed to blow it and lose. Rather disappointing, but typical of the tournament.
Today we came back down the Phoenix, but decided to go through Sedona on the way. While there we stopped in some eclectic stores looking for some souvenirs. AM and I ended up getting some slivers of geodes to use as coasters, and AM's mom bought a piece of horse hair pottery. It is really rather cool. Made of clay like standard pots, the design is done completely with horse hair instead of ink.
Once we were in the Phoenix metro region, I think her parents expected that we would be home rather quickly. Coming from Connecticut, I can see how it would be hard to imagine a single metro area of this size. Once we finally got here, we gave them the grand tour.