Our time in Flagstaff is almost done, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018

As our time in Flagstaff nears the end, we have come across much wildlife in the development where we are renting - coyote, deer, elk, ducks, geese and even this eight legged guy.

September in Flagstaff has provided sunshine and nice weather for walks.  Here's Patty looking out across part of one of the golf course fairways near our rental.

We visited Elevation Tiny Homes and talked with the owner, Ehren.  All of his homes are certified to meet DOT standards for Recreational Vehicles - this makes it easier to get financing, transportation and permits wherever they go.  All his homes are custom designed.  The one he is working on is ten feet wide, 34 feet long and nine feet tall.  Those small windows that go up the side wall are where there will be a staircase up to a small loft over the bathroom - the stairs and windows are for the owner's cats.

Ehren's four year old son Lincoln was there as was their dog Pepper - Pepper is a doppelganger for Mr. Shadow.

We also visited the Switzer Canyon development and looked at the model home done by Miramonte Construction.  The homes and location are superb, but the homes are on the very high end of the price range of anything we would want to buy.  At those prices the homes should have been nice.

And we also used the excuse of looking at one of the townhomes for sale to finally walk around Duck Lake on the far east side of the Continental Country Club subdivision.

It is a very scenic area for the townhomes, plus it is in walking distance to many of the trails that head east into the Coconino National Forest.

Arizona Trail, South Side of Flagstaff, AZ, Monday, Sept. 17, 2018

When we were hiking on the Fisher Point Trail last week, we met two women who had hiked in on the Arizona Trail from Sam's Club to where the Arizona Trail joined the trail we were on.  So today we drove to Sam's Club, parked in the shade and headed south on the Arizona Trail - here it is part of the FUTS (Flagstaff Urban Trail System).  Because it is part of FUTS, it is paved - so we walked on pavement for about the first half mile, including where the trail went under both the west bound and east bound sections of I-40. 

The trail became an unpaved trail just before we got to the Duck Pond; there were no ducks at the Duck Pond when we stopped there.

The trail then goes up hill and into the piney woods.  Once over the first hill and deeper into the woods, we came across a group of 7 or 8 elks grazing in the woods.  If you look closely, you can see a couple of them through the trees in the middle of the photo.

This video does a better job of showing them, especially if you choose full screen.

After about three miles, we reached where the Arizona Trail hooked up with the Fisher Point Trail, and we found these rocks in the shade to have our snack of cheese, crackers and trail mix.

We met a couple of cyclists, as well as a couple of joggers, a total of four people in the three hours of hiking.  On the way back, the last hill back down to the Duck Pond is steep (of course, it was the first hill upwards on our way out on the trail).

And as we passed by the Duck Pond on our return, there were some ducks in the water, as can be seen by this short video.

When we got home, hot showers and a cold drink were just what we needed.

Flagstaff Arboretum, Sat. Sept. 15, 2018

We visited the Flagstaff Arboretum today.  I had visited several years ago, but Patty had not.  The Arboretum was started by Frances McAllister.  The older part of the visitor center, to the left in the photo, was her home; the gift shop and display area to the right was added later.

There is a nice garden of local flora just before you enter the visitor center.

One of the displays in the visitor enter is about the view of the mountains - unfortunately they were obscured by the smoke from two forest fires in Sedona, some 40 - 50 miles west southwest of us.

They have added a new garden in honor of Mrs. McAllister.

On the back side of McAllister's home is this nice climbing ivy, some of which has started to turn red this fall.

We took the 11:00 tour led by a local docent.  Among places we stopped were the herb garden, local plant garden and the Penstemon Garden.

We also visited the green house which has tubes of water for the passive solar heating system in the winter.

We also stopped at the pollinator garden, which is near the tent that is rented out for events like the wedding reception to be held later.

After the tour, we visited the mushroom garden and the riparian area around one of the ponds; among other things, we found this large metal sculpture of a toad.

They have an area for treating waste water naturally, with small ponds planted with flora that help clean the water as it sinks into the ground.

We also visited the butterfly house which has monarchs and several other varieties of butterflies.

Then we hiked the Outer Trail, a nature trail that took us outside the fenced area of the arboretum.  Because of elk, antelopes and pronghorn deer, the arboretum has an eight foot tall fence around the areas where plants are on display.  The trail is very easy to traverse and goes through the piney woods and meadows.

The dome of the US Naval Observatory is to the west and normally is easily seen, as it is relatively close.  But the smoke from the forest fires obscured our view, as seen in the first photo.  The second photo was taken about 15 minutes later when the smoke had partially blown away.

Here is one the gates we went through on the trail.

Besides the toad sculpture above, there were several other metal sculptures at the garden, including this one just before we got back to the visitor center.

We then had our picnic lunch at one of the tables in the shade and watched as the staff prepared for a wedding and reception scheduled there at 5:30.  A very pleasant visit of a place we will want to visit again.