Rose's New Sneakers/Flagstaff

October1. We left GCNP this morning. After stopping for showers we drove back to Williams. I had noticed that Rose was pulling to the right and had complained to Kathy about it saying that on our way back through town we should get it checked. Eddie's tire store was right on our way through Williams so we pulled in. Very friendly and helpful employees checked the front tires and determined that they were so old they were dry-rotted and out of round. We signed Rose up for a new set of kicks. Good thing that we did because the wheels had been painted and the lug nuts would not come loose with the air gun. It took a 260 pound man standing on a 2 foot socket wrench to break them loose! Although we only got tires on the front, Eddie's guys checked all of the wheels and made sure that the nuts were free. Good people.

With Rose happily rolling on her new sneakers, we headed to Flagstaff. On the we Kathy discovered the Riordan Mansion State Park. We stopped there and went on a tour of the grounds and the mansion. This was a duplex of 13000 square feet built in 1904 by the Riordan brothers who were heavily involved in the lumber industry. The house had two mirror image sides with a 1000 ft. sq. common area in between.The two Riordan brothers married two sisters and had 7 children between them. The house was built in the Arts and Crafts style which advocated the use of local materials and blending the structure into the environment. The homes had central refrigeration (from ice), electricity, running water and indoor plumbing. Since the brothers were in the lumber business, lots of nice furniture still graces the homes. Photographic plates were used for the windows in the common area and show local scenes. A very unique and beautiful property, the mansion is maintained by the State of AZ. .

This is the entry way arch.

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Front door to one of the homes

This photo shows some of the images that were used to make the photographic windows, and our lovely and knowledgeable tour guide Gwen.

 The final shot is of the common area between the two residences.

As we were leaving we mentioned out plan to camp at the Homolovi Ruins state park. Gwen informed us that the park did not survive the state budget cut and was closed. She told us of Black Bart's Stake house and RV  park which was close by in Flagstaff so that's where we went. Black Bart's had some unique residents at the RV park and singing waiters/waitresses at the restaurant. We had an interesting and fun evening. Thanks Gwen.