Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Valley of the Gods
Free camping
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Monument Valley
Monday, March 28, 2011
New Nationals
They told us allow 3 hours to do the driving loop through Sunset Crater and Wupatki National Monument. We arrived at the Visitor Center at 9 am and got back to camp at 3pm. Lots to see. No great hikes but lots of short interpretive trails. Sunset Crater reminds us of Central Oregon--but Wupatki is pure Pueblo Southwest. We are overloaded on information--there was an excellent Visitor Center and many interpretive signs. The Volcano is relatively young--exploding about the time (late 1100's) when the ancient pueblo people were here.
This evening we went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant which happened to be donating 10% of proceeds to an elementary school so there were lots of kids--and no seniors in sight. \
Tomorrow we plan to head to another national monument--Navaho. No idea when we will next have any connectivity. We are heading into the great cell dead zone.
7300 feet
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Flagstaff
Today we drove up to Flagstaff--less than 2 hours away, spent the rest of the morning trying to level Ida, and the afternoon in Walnut Canyon National Monument. There are a lot of cliff rooms here from the Sinagua people in around 1200. Since we have WiFi here I can do several photos at once.
Yesterdays photos
Yesterday's Bike ride to Tzuigoot National MonumentSaturday, March 26, 2011
4 day park
This is our 4th day ay Dead Horse. Our tanks are ok because we have showers a few steps away. It has been cloudy and windy all day but now there are some nasty looking clouds.
This morning we rode our bikes to Tuzigoot Nat. Monument which is a ruins we can actually see from the hill above the camp. We thought we would ride on the highway--5 miles or so - but it turned out there was a very adventurous trail between here and there. It is really awesome but all my photos are on the camera not the phone
Next adventure was driving into old town Cottonwood to the bike shop. Had a marvelous lunch at the Red Rooster
From there we went to Safeway where there was an RV show on the parking lot. Looked at the new View like ours. And really liked the Winnebago Vista which is a 26 ft class A.
Kit has had bad luck. Broke the kickstand on his bike, had a flat tire, his glasses fell apart, and he had to fix our screen door. Tomorrow we go to Flagstaff where it is still below freezing at night
This morning we rode our bikes to Tuzigoot Nat. Monument which is a ruins we can actually see from the hill above the camp. We thought we would ride on the highway--5 miles or so - but it turned out there was a very adventurous trail between here and there. It is really awesome but all my photos are on the camera not the phone
Next adventure was driving into old town Cottonwood to the bike shop. Had a marvelous lunch at the Red Rooster
From there we went to Safeway where there was an RV show on the parking lot. Looked at the new View like ours. And really liked the Winnebago Vista which is a 26 ft class A.
Kit has had bad luck. Broke the kickstand on his bike, had a flat tire, his glasses fell apart, and he had to fix our screen door. Tomorrow we go to Flagstaff where it is still below freezing at night
Sent from my eiPhone
Friday, March 25, 2011
Prescott
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Water
Awesome
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Creeping north
Monday, March 21, 2011
Bloom
What is this wet stuff
We have been rained upon for the first time since we crossed into California in mid January.
Back up. We drove up to Cave Creek on Sunday to beat the Phoenix traffic. At 60 miles a whack we aren't making much progress. We arrived at 10 and had our spot by 11. This is a place where the usual wait is 2 days We spent the afternoon with our friends Charlotte and Paul and music at the mall.
Today we went out for a short hike in 40% rain. 5 1/2 miles later it turned into 100% rain and we got soaked. This afternoon we went to the wine shop. Getting stocked up for Utah.
Back up. We drove up to Cave Creek on Sunday to beat the Phoenix traffic. At 60 miles a whack we aren't making much progress. We arrived at 10 and had our spot by 11. This is a place where the usual wait is 2 days We spent the afternoon with our friends Charlotte and Paul and music at the mall.
Today we went out for a short hike in 40% rain. 5 1/2 miles later it turned into 100% rain and we got soaked. This afternoon we went to the wine shop. Getting stocked up for Utah.
Sent from my iPhone
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Third day
This afternoon we decided to be tourists. Nearly just across the highway is this fake ghost town. We can hear the whistles and gunshots from here. We were pleasantly surprised. There is old mining stuff and old buildings you can wander and look at without any cost. Even the museum was free (donations accepted). There were a few souvenir shops but you didn't have to go in. On the hour there is a "show" gunfight. Unlike Tombstone you don't have to pay And they don't take it seriously--just a lot of noisy fun. It is quiet here tonight. We have no neighbors. Moving on tomorrow
Friday, March 18, 2011
Two day camp
The Dutchman is a two day campground. After two days we ran out of things to do. So we are staying one more day. We were going to move to Usury Mt but it's a 2 day wait just to get in. Had a wonderful morning hike today from the camp. It was only 3.5 mi. Hard to get more in without repeating loops. And there are so many people on the trails. We got caught by several people for wearing green the day after St Pats. I said we didn't have enough shirts to wear a different one every day
Sent from my iPhone
Yesterdays Excitement
No sign of any work today.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Lost Dutchman
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
On the road again
We are no longer in Tucson. Made it about an hour and a half north where it is even hotter. Driving was not bad--traffic light--but it is hard to be both navigator and driver. And my CD changer wasn't working.
We discovered Desert Gardens RV when we started coming to AZ. Many changes since then. A new pool for one thing. Apparently in our 4 year absence the place was sold but now is back with original owners. Did laundry since we see many public parks in the near future. And went into town to a Mexican restaurant which has been in Florence forever.
Moving again early in the morning.
We discovered Desert Gardens RV when we started coming to AZ. Many changes since then. A new pool for one thing. Apparently in our 4 year absence the place was sold but now is back with original owners. Did laundry since we see many public parks in the near future. And went into town to a Mexican restaurant which has been in Florence forever.
Moving again early in the morning.
Sent from my iPhone
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Gates pass
Monday, March 14, 2011
Another hike
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Goodbye to the pool
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Frog camping
Wednesday, March 09, 2011
River park
Monday, March 07, 2011
Kirsten's last day
Saturday, March 05, 2011
Some hike
The plan today was to hike into Sycamore Reservoir up in the Catalinas. (On the Arizona trail as this sign explains). Alas my ankle/leg was giving me problems so K and K continued alone and I went back to the car where I had a book to occupy the time. It was a Really Windy day--not conducive to sitting in the outdoors. (at 4800 ft)
Biosphere 2
Kirsten wanted to see Biosphere 2. Kit and I had been there years ago. This was a totally different experience. It is too complicated to figure out the ownership but there is a brand new visitor center and on this tour we actually got to go inside the biomes. We had a great tour guide and learned about the human experiment in the 90's as well as current research. Plus we got to go down into the basement to see the innards of this engineering marvel. The Lung was really cool. The only disappointing bit was that they advertised a "Cafe" on site. We had expectations. What we found was a b grade snack bar with candy and pop and cold hot dogs if you were really desperate --we weren't. (the little "houses" were part of an experiment with green roofs--we got to help.)
Thursday, March 03, 2011
Kirsten is here
