The Farewell Tour hits Flagstaff

The next morning I was going to head out towards Flagstaff and stop at 3 national monuments along the way. Jess decided to come with me so we had a convoy. The stretch leading out of the Grand Canyon was filled with Indians hocking their wares as is typical of New Mexico I’ve come to find out. We also saw a barefoot hitchhiker. Our first stop was the Wupatki National Monument. It was basically a collection of ruins. We stopped at a few and then hiked a trail to a bigger one by the visitor center. By this point it was really hot and we had no water (of course) and we were both bitching out, as we tend to do.
We made a quick pass through Sunset Crater national monument and snapped a picture of the volcano. Jess literally did not turn her truck off and another couple stopped for a picture and asked Jess to take one after they took one of us. She practically threw the camera at them after taking it and ran back to her truck. We heard a lady at the visitor center mention a restaurant called Pig in a Poke so we thought we would eat there but of course, with our luck it was closed. We kept on going into downtown Flagstaff and it was the cutest little town. I’d always thought Flagstaff was a big metropolis but it was lined with cute little shops and restaurants. We walked around and settled on a cantina for lunch which was good. We then headed off to our last stop at Walnut Canyon. They also see fit to warn you that you should not attempt the trail unless you are a peak performer with the right gear. Well, this time we had flip flops and full water bottles so we were ready. Jess stopped to read a warning sign asking us if we were sure we wanted to continue and I hear a loud “YES” coming from behind us. An old lady stormed on past and then turned around and said snidely “although maybe not in flip flops”. Jess of course became outraged that someone would doubt her and I couldn’t walk because I was laughing so hard and we got through that trail in less than an hour just to prove the battleaxe wrong. Now it’s time for the end of an era. Jess has been my partner in crime for the last couple years and I don’t know of anybody else that would think of the crap we did and then actually carry it out. We actually hugged before parting ways and I’m pretty sure that’s the only time we’ve hugged in our lives. It's funny that now Jess has an apartment and a full time job and I am the one living out of my car across the country. That's a complete 180 from when we first met and I thought she was insane for thriving on instability. I don't know of anyone else that would drive 7 hours after work through the dead of night just to hang out at the Grand Canyon for a day. Thanks Coastie!