dwf,

I agree you've got some beautiful sights within an easy drive. I took a drive up to the Grand Canyon, and we went via Prescott and Flagstaff.. we actually detoured to hang out in Sedona for a little while and have a beer at Oak Creek Brewery in Tlaquepaque.

I love the forests around Flagstaff, beautiful stuff.
Phoenix and it's burbs are true Wile E. Coyote country, though! Now I know where those Warner Brothers animators got their inspiration!

While I was there in July '03, I helped my bro-in-law shovel lots of gravel into buckets and disperse them to various points around his property. We waited until sunset, but it was still torturous to be doing manual labor in that oven.. err.. climate!