Ahhhhh Sedona!

What a perfect day to visit Sedona! It’s only 17 miles from where we are staying in Cottonwood. We found an outdoor market and gave it a go then headed to the Chapel of the Holy Cross. That didn’t work out due to the volume of folks that arrived before us so we headed to the Tlaquepaque. Tlaquepaque is tough to say (I was told to think of it as “to lock you pocket”) which means the best of everything. So many great sculptures in the courtyard!  JP is sitting with Mark Twain in the picture. We spent time in the cool adobe complex looking at the art galleries and shops, had a quick snack and headed back to the Chapel of the Holy Cross.

The chapel is very modern. The woman who built the chapel was a sculptor who decided that the Catholic Church needed to be more contemporary. She first plotted with F. Lloyd Wright and later went on to work with local architects that made her vision a reality. The chapel is surrounded with redrock cliffs. If you look closely at the pictures there are rock formations:  The Eagle head,  Madonna and Child and 2 Nuns. 

JP wanted to take a drive and see the territory around us. These are some of the redrock formations around Sedona.

At dusk we headed walked to the lagoon to fish a little. No fish to be had but it was a peaceful evening. We have spotted deer, coyote, bunnies, and a bald eagle. Funny, there aren’t really many bugs here, no mosquitos that we’ve seen or flies or even ants. Maybe that’s the trade off for rattle snakes and scorpions?

We Do Cottonwood

Today was our local day. We went to the RV supply store which is now my fav kinda store, then headed to Old Town Cottonwood. Antiques 0’plenty and some pretty quirky ones at that. Lots of interesting little pubs and places to eat. We decided on Mexican and ate at Adriana’s. It was packed – at least 50 diners all being served by Adriana herself with some help from her 14 year old son. Crazy! The food was good, the margaritas killer (ya know how I love those ‘ritas)!

After we got back we grabbed our LED searchlight, our portable heater, lawn chairs and our poles and headed to the lagoon for some night fishing. Not even a bite but it was a fun couple of hours on a clear night with a slice of moon and lots of stars over us. Who could ask for anything more?

Out and About

We headed to Clarkdale today to see the Arizona Copper Art Museum.Wow! Who knew? The copper collection is housed in what was at one time the high school. The collection is housed by category and its amazing!  The military art was so impressive! Shell casings that had been transformed by servicemen into beautiful art pieces. Not just a few either! Rows and rows of them sorted by motif (religious, luck, memorial, places). In the picture where JP is standing in a doorway, that is a copper door front. The collection covered everything you could think of! I was truly impressed and a little bit overwhelmed.

Next stop was Jerome at 5000 ft elevation it’s nestled in the mountain side. It has amazing views. The town has all kinds of shops and restaurants and pubs and enough tourists to fill them all. We went through the museum and that made the whole old town much more interesting. The shops are in original buildings (bank, hotel, bar). There is some of the old mining equipment in town and some quirky things as well. The picture of the courtyard with the ghost in an outhouse surrounded by all kinds of change on the pavement  for instance. No explanation given – just a little something to leave you curious!

Tonight we had a campfire under the stars. It was cold and clear and a perfect night to be kept warm by the fireside.

Rollin’ On

We pulled out of Roosevelt and headed toward Cottonwood AZ. We went through Payson and though the sun was out, the mountains had quite the blanket of snow. The road had been plowed but there was still snow on the ground. By the time we had reached Cottonwood we had been through 3 different landscapes, snow, brush, and trees.

We are staying at Deadhorse Ranch State Park. We are only 17 miles from Sedona and a short drive to lots of other places we want to explore. The park is pretty and clean. One of our neighbors here has a very festive site. I’m posting a picture since the folks went out of their way to decorate!

It Seems Like Yesterday!

We left Bandon on Feb 2nd, and here we are at the end of February! It really doesn’t feel like that long. Even with the less than perfect weather, there haven’t been any “bad” days. Our plan is to stay a week at each destination. Our next stop is Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood AZ (17 miles from Sedona). We are keeping our fingers crossed the weather clears and we have the sun back!

Today was our day to tie up loose ends so we hopped back to Globe and spent some time at the library doing some biz and then headed to an all you can eat Chinese Buffet at “Jumbo Chinese Restaurant.” Yeah, they need a better name for sure but the food was good and we were hungry so it worked. Then on to the laundromat where I am never less than amazed at what it costs to have clean clothes! 

We walked down to the marina at sunset and the lake was dreamlike. I think we will be back when the weather is warmer (and the fish are biting). It really is beautiful here.

No Place Like A Cave Dwelling

Still no weather that makes for pontoon boat fun so we headed to the Roosevelt Monument to see the Salado Indians cave dwellings. Its a bit of an uphill hike but on a nicely paved trail. There is a visitor center where they have artifacts and information on the Salado people who left their homes empty for us 600 years ago. Its hard to get a grasp on the time frame but looking at what is remaining of the dwellings is pretty amazing. You can still see the smoke stains on the ceilings, part of the original roof remains and the fingerprints of the builders are still clearly seen on the walls. It’s hard to believe that the Salado hiked 5 miles for food, materials and trade and then made their way up ladders with their supplies to reach the cave dwellings.  They did however have a beautiful view from their homes.

Payson and Back

We had to collect the rifle JP won in Payson in the AM so we did a little shopping, grabbed a bite and then headed back to Roosevelt. The weather still hasn’t warmed up much but we did make a drive to the Dam and Roosevelt Bridge. Hunkered down in Lucky for an evening of tax preparation (just because you are on an adventure doesn’t mean you get a pass). Still hoping for a break in the weather butlooks like rain ahead.

Payson Arizona – Chance Encounter of the Best Kind!

It was just too cold to set out in the pontoons today so we decided to take a look at Payson AZ. We drove the hour or so and stopped at  a couple of little towns, Tonto Basin and Pumpkin Junction. Then headed to Payson for a truck wash and shower. We texted a friend who is from Payson to ask where the best place to eat was and it just so happened he was in Payson too! So we met up with Ben at the local casino to have a drink and meet his sister Dana. Ben’s family had a table at the NRA Banquet at the casino that night and invited us to join them. The only thing that would have made the evening better would have been for Wanda (Ben’s wife) to have been with us. She was  she was sorely missed but it was great catching  up with Ben. The night ended with JP winning a Marlin semi automatic 22!  Amazing how a little text and a bit of luck worked out for us.

Favorite sign so far:  Mad As Hell Ranch! There has to be a great story to go with that!

We Are Settled In

Yep, next AM found our RV Park and luckily the host didn’t charge us for the night we missed. We are directly across from the marina and visitor center at Roosevelt Lake so that was our first stop. Its much cooler than we expected but clear and sunny.

We traveled Hwy 88 to see Apache Lake which was really beautiful. The road however was pretty scary! Its gravel and steep and curvy and has barely 2 lanes. I tried not to act anxious but I’m sure my white knuckles on the door handle gave me away. I probably wouldn’t want to take that road again but I’m glad we made the trip to see Roosevelt Dam and the lake. It really was picture perfect!

Just across the road from where Lucky is parked there is a small cemetery. Most of the graves are a bed of rocks with a white wooden cross but there are a few with headstones. Most were workers on the dam. They came from all kinds of places and many with a special trade. A peaceful place with an endless view.

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Rollin’ and A Little Lost!

Today headed to Roosevelt Lake and stopped along the way at a little town called Globe for supplies. We pulled into Cholla State Park at dusk only to find we didn’t have reservations. We didn’t have them because its a first come first serve park so apparently we had looked at so many parks we had ended up at the wrong one. This was a dry camp park and we really weren’t set up for that. The nice park host said we could stay the night though and work it out in the AM. So it was lights out early for us. No harm – no foul.