Go with the Flow

Meanwhile, back in Moab...

Before I knew it, it was after 1. I figured my plans might be changing, how many miles was I expecting to get in before I was done driving for the day, keep in mind I'm not the biggest fan of driving at night. Phoenix was looking farther and farther away (I was on my way to help out at the Pemperton 50K - www.pemberton50k.blogspot.com). So I decided Flagstaff was far enough, and I always wanted to check it out anyway. I took a scenic route Hwy 163 through southern Utah.. Wow. The canyonlands.

So I arrived in Flagstaff and bunked at another hostel, the Grand Canyon Hostel (www.grandcanyonhostel.com ). It was more than the $9.80 I paid the night before at the Lazy Lizard, but for an additional $8 it does include coffee and oatmeal and fruit in the morning. It was clean and nice, plus the freezing temperatures at night were keeping me indoors. That night, as I sat on my computer, mapquesting thrift stores, health food stores (New Frontiers Natural Market), a bike shop and my route further south, a man walks by. He stops in the doorway to the dining area where there was a few of us computing away and said "can you imagine there used to be a time before computers'?" and walks away. Honestly, the statement bothered me, but only because I got his point. Even I can remember staying at hostels, traveling around, openly - no plan in sight, no computer attached to my fingertips. Rather than living remotely, through my computer. I got it. I did. It didn't change anything. I finished my online stint and went to chat with my roommate, before heading to bed.

The view

The next morning was delightful. I even indulged in a cup of coffee, something I hadn't drank in awhile. Sitting around the table, chatting as others' came and went. I ended up having a great time, and sat there for hours. The man that had walked by the night before was an explorer himself. A German, he had spent many years wandering around the Canyonlands. We bonded over the difficulty of finding other's on a similar journey... and even us, noted that we had an agenda, I was on my way to volunteer at a trail race, he was headed back up to the Utah border, towards his home away from home at the doorway to Glan Canyon National Recreation Area. Everyone had a plan. But as stories were traded, and options were thrown out, rides offered and new friends made.. a few people changed their "plans" for the day. Including me, I was still heading south, still intending to spend the night in the park where the race was going to be held, but I was convinced to take the slower route. True, I am not a hard sell when it comes to traveling slower, especially when that winds me down, down, down from Flagstaff and to Sedona.. oh sweet Sedona. 

Bell Rock

Then I heard tale of the Bell Rock Trail (which is part Bell Rock trail and part Courthouse Butte loop), just south of Sedona, in the Coconino National Forest. A beautiful, 5 mile loop around this huge red rock. And it was pure niceness, wearing my five fingers and floating through the desert, I was hot in long tights and a talk top and loving the sun! Once finished, smile on my face, Yonder Mountain String Band playing on my radio as I stretched and danced in the parking lot, I realized 5 miles just wasn't long enough, I was feeding off the sun and had energy to spare. Luckily I was heading towards more trails and inspiring runners'.  And even though I still headed south, still spent the night near McDowell Mtn. Regional Park, I was glad I had listened, that I had took the advice of those that knew and spent the afternoon being sun-kissed at Bell Rock. Yeah, I am glad I was able to be flexible and to just go with the flow. And that isn't that hard, once you find it.

The trail