Leg 1—Phoenix to Flagstaff: April 23, 2006

Our friend, Alex, drives us to Sky Harbor Airport where we catch the bus to Flagstaff. The bus is actually a 13-passenger van. It is a toss-up as to which vehicle for this leg of our trip is more comfortable--the Phoenix Greyhound bus or the Open Road Tours van. Neither of them have much leg room. Van 8558, Thruway Bus Leg: Bob Jones and I depart Phoenix (Airport), Arizona on Sunday, April 23, 2006 at 2:30 p.m. and arrive at Flagstaff, Arizona on the same day at 5:30 p.m. We stop in Verde Valley for a ten minute break.

Bob wanted to stay in a hotel in Flagstaff rather than catch the bus late at night to arrive at the Amtrak station for our 5:01 a.m. departure. We stay at the Monte Vista Hotel, a historic hotel built in 1927. Our room is in the Humphrey Bogart suite, overlooking the heart of downtown Flagstaff and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe train tracks. In the distance, we can see Arizona’s highest mountains, The San Francisco Peaks, standing at 12,600 feet above sea level.

During the 40s and 50s, over a hundred movies were filmed around Flagstaff. The Monte Vista Hotel attracted many movie stars, including John Wayne, Humphrey Bogart and Walter Brennan. The hotel is an historic landmark in downtown Flagstaff. Zane Grey, cowboy author, contributed to the hotel's building fund. The hotel is now part of the downtown's nightlife with Rendezvous serving as a coffee bar by day and a martini bar by night.

Since we arrive in Flagstaff on Sunday evening, very few restaurants are open. At 6:30 p.m., we stumble into Flagstaff Diner, where we had breakfast last year. Although the door is open, workers are eating dinner and the manager informs us they are closed. She directs us to a bar, called Mahoney’s, which has very good food. Bob has a Jersey Steak Bleus sandwich and I had an oriental chicken salad. Both meals were very tasty.

Some say the Monte Vista Hotel is haunted. On a couple of occasions, there is no doubt in mind the hotel is haunted. I am trying to take a picture of the door with Humphrey Bogart’s name while it is open. The door begins to close. I re-open the door and chastise the ghost, saying “Leave the door alone. I want a picture of the door with Humphrey’s name.” The door remains open. On another occasion, I am getting ready for bed; Bob is asleep; and I hear a crash in the closet like something fell and broke. I open the door and found nothing. We listen to the lonesome train whistles all through the night. The whistles awake me several times during the night. But I enjoy the sounds of trains.

Flagstaff is a community with cultural diversity, beauty, and history with educational, recreational and scientific opportunities. The famous Route 66 passes through the downtown as well as the tracks that transported many famous celebrities from Los Angeles to Chicago on the Super Chief. The Super Chief was one of the named passenger trains and the flagship of the Atchson, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.