Friday, September 28, 2012

Cottonwood & Jerome, AZ.

Today we went to the towns of Cottonwood & Jerome.  In Jerome, an old mining town turned artist colony and tourist town, we shopped it's many stores but only purchased a postcard.  The town, as previously mentioned was a copper mining town and became infamous for it's prostitutes and ghosts.  The miners worked hard and the prostitutes got all their money.  They also say many ghosts still haunt the town.
In Cottonwood we did a lot of shopping, Debbie, hunting for pants, could find none, but did buy a two nice dress blouses.  That evening we went out for a Chuckwagon Supper and entertainment at the Blazin' M Ranch.  The ranch consists of a working ranch, a few souvenir shops, a museum, saloon, jail and combination dining room/theatre.  and We took a tractor hayride around the ranch, hit all the shops, had a drink in the saloon, and took some photos.  We had a great dinner, which consisted of barbecue ribs and chicken, baked potato, ranch style beans, prickly pear coleslaw, biscuit, apple cobbler with vanilla ice cream, and all the lemonade, iced tea, soda, and coffee you could drink.  Then the western music started and it was outstanding. We had a great night.

                                                                     
Entering the Blazin' M Ranch
Getting ready to board the hayride around the ranch

Our driver was Shawn
Cowboy Jim Miller was our tour guide

After the hayride, Debbie hit the saloon for a drink......
One drink and she got frisky...........

Debbie ended up in jail again.................

I rode in and rescued her......................

She sobered up and roped a steer...................
We hit the museum and shops.........

Had a great dinner and listened to some great western and bluegrass music.




                                                                               The end of the trail (click to listen)

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Sedona, Arizona

 Today we drove into Sedona to see the beautiful rock colors and formations. Our first stop wa at the Church of the Holy Cross, a very modern church, set up in the red rocks. We did a lot, and I do mean a lot of shopping and Debbie purchased a very classy denim Sedona shirt.  We had lunch at Oaxcao, a Mexican restaurant with a balcony looking out at the mountains.  Debbie usually orders Chili Rellenos, but I chastised her about never trying anything different.  So, she ordered Prickly Pear Cactus and she ate it!  The cactus leaves with the prickers removed and grilled.  They gave her a red pepper roumalade dip and she ate it.  I couldn't believe it!

The Church of the Holy Cross, Sedona, Arizona

Inside the sanctuary
A view from the Church of the Holy Cross
Bell Rock

Chimney Rock
To the right is Coffee Pot Rock

Courthouse Rocks




My shadow giving Debbie's shadow a kiss!
                                                                                

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Montezuma Castle & Well, Camp Verde, Az.

We are now at the Distant Drums campground in Camp Verde, Arizona.  We are here for a week while we visit Sedona, Prescott, Cottonwood, Camp Verde  and Jerome.  After we arrived and set up camp, we went nearby to Montezuma Castle, an amazing pueblo built up in the face of a mountain by the Tuzigoot Indians around 400 A.D.  After our visit there we went to Montezuma Well, a few miles away.  It is a natural spring that has an outflow of 1.5 million gallons a day.  This water was like gold to the native people who lived here.  Some actually built two small dwellings in the cliff above the well.  Was it a guard house or did they tend the well, we'll never know.  After dinner we swam in the pool and enjoyed the hot tub. 

Our campsite at Distant Drums RV Park

Montezuma Castle
You would need very long ladders to reach your home in the castle
Debbie at Montezuma Castle
One of the two dwellings in the cliff above the well

Montezuma Well (with the reflection of the sky)
Prickly Pear Cactus, today they make yummy syrup and jam with it

Tonight's Sunset
                                                                               

                                                                    

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Grand Canyon National Park - South Rim - Day 2

Today we drove into the park and took the red line to the far western reaches of the park.  It was another day of gorgeous scenery.  After the red line, we took the blue line, which does the center of the park.  This  route has few lookouts, but more shops, stores, restaurants, etc.  Later, we went back and took the truck east to an area where the buses do not go after summer.  We drove to the Tusayan Indian ruins and to Desert Tower that overlooks the east end of the canyon and the beginning of the desert.  Overall it was a great day, nice, clear weather for better looks at the Grand Canyon.





The Colorado River winds through the canyon

Steep and Deep

The Desert Tower

Debbie near the end of the day at Desert Tower
                                                                                

Monday, September 24, 2012

Grand Canyon National Park - South Rim - Day 1

We are at the Grand Canyon for two days to see this awesome national park.  We are staying right outside the park at Grand Canyon Village RV Park.  On the way into the park we saw elk grazing.  Once inside the park we left our truck at the Visitors Center and took the bus.  The park has three bus routes.  Today we took the Orange Route to see the east side of the parks south rim.  Tomorrow we take the blue and red routes to see the central and western parts of the south rim. We had a few light showers, so some of the pictures aren't bright, due to the gray skies and low clouds.  After the showers we saw a great rainbow, right in front of us.  It lasted only a few minutes.
On the way to the park we passed Winslow, Arizona.  You know what made Winslow famous, don't you?  Remember the song, "Standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona, such a fine sight to see, there's a girl, my lord, in a flatbed Ford slowing down to take a look at me."  Well, we stopped at that corner to take a photo of the memorial there!

Standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona

Elk
                                                                          





                                                                                 
The mules that you can ride to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
Finally the skies cleared