Lovin’ Arizona

We’ve pretty much got our leased site set up, well at least for now. A lot of discussion went on, debating if we wanted to add a little deck, some pavers or something like that. For now our thought is to keep it simple so we got a new mat, some portable fencing for Cheye and a small sunscreen to add to our awning to help shade us in the morning sun. Oh, I also got four solar lights for our “patio” too.

Last Friday we went out to La Fonda Mexican restaurant… YUM! It is a place we ate at last time we were in Cottonwood and it is still just as good. Another place we visited again was a used book store in Camp Verde, they have an excellent selection, plus you can turn in your old books for credit. Yesterday Cheye had an appointment at the groomers so while they were clipping and shampooing her we drove up to Flagstaff and went to Camping World. On our way back from Flagstaff we stopped at the Cliff Castle Casino (just up Hwy 17 from Camp Verde) and ate at Johnny Rocket’s.

Besides our running around we have been enjoying our neighbors. Wes & Shirl from Tennesse, Ed and Barbara from North Carolina. Really fun people, full of stories from their travels.

Having a great time here at Thousand Trails Verde Valley….

Photos
Top left: Cheye after being groomed
Right: View on the way back from Flagstaff
Bottom left: A skunk runs down the road while Ed & Barb and Dave & I were out visiting one evening
Below : Views of our site
Video: More views of our site

A Change of Plans

I mentioned in my last post that our friends from Phoenix, Ron & Marilyn joined us here in Cottonwood. Our visit was fun, we went to Alcantara Winery for wine tasting, out for Mexican food, and just hung around the campground. Marilyn bought a 1000 piece puzzle for her and me to put together (we both enjoy puzzles) and we managed to finish it before they left. It was a good time!

Well….our “big news” is; seems we are going to stay put in Cottonwood for a while. We decided to lease a site for a year here at Thousand Trails Verde Valley. This doesn’t mean we won’t take a few trips now and then, doubt very much we will stay here for the hot summer, but we will be in one place longer than we have in the year and 4 months we have been full-timing. Cottonwood is a neat little town and close to a variety of places to visit. Another fun adventure!

Photos
Right: Puzzle Marilyn & I put together
Left: A balloon that floated over the campground
Below
1. the view of our "yard" at the site we leased
2. an amazing sunset here at Verde Valley
3. a view from the campground while on my morning walk

Arizona

We’re back in Arizona, Cottonwood to be exact, at the Thousand Trails Verde Valley preserve. Since San Diego to Cottonwood is a long drive we broke our trip in two and decided to stay at Pleasant Harbor RV Park in Peoria, AZ (just northwest of Phoenix). It is a really nice park and marina on Lake Pleasant, our friends Ron & Marilyn are currently staying there so we got to visit with them. As a matter of fact they decided to come up to Cottonwood and are camping next door to us this weekend!

While we were at Lake Pleasant Ron took Dave & I on a ride in the desert in their Polaris… what fun! I love the desert landscape and this was an exciting way to see it. Besides photos of the RV park I’ve included a little video of our desert ride…

Photos
Top left: our site at Pleasant Harbor RV
Right: sunset over Lake Pleasant (a little fuzzy!)
Below: views of Pleasant Harbor RV
Video: our Polaris ride in the desert

Au revoir Cottonwood

Our friends packed up and headed home this morning. After our good-byes Dave & I sat outside and soaked up some of the wonderful sunshine, Dave read and I stitched. It was a beautiful morning. After lunch Dave decided to start packing up our outside stuff as we leave tomorrow and want to get a fairly early start. We also took Cheye up the hill beside our trailer so she could have a little run today.

As I mentioned we leave Thousand Trails Verde Valley tomorrow. We have thoroughly enjoyed our stay in the Cottonwood area. Between making new friends, staying at a couple great campgrounds and seeing some interesting and beautiful new country it’s been terrific. There is no doubt in my mind that we will be back.

Photos:
Top: Our site
Bottom: A cute wooden Christmas tree
Video: Good byes and a last view of the campground.

Fun Weekend

It was a fun day with all our new friends. Early today Marilyn, Rodney and I went into Cottonwood, AZ to pick up a few things and stopped at a really fun shop, The Gingerbread House. It’s a cute gift shop that also had wonderful fudge. From there we went to Walmart for a couple items and then back to camp.

Rodney made chili and Marilyn made cornbread for our lunch. We ate, talked, laughed and soaked in some sunshine. Some friends of Ron & Marilyn’s stopped by for a little bit. They were on their way back to Phoenix after taking their kids up to Flagstaff to play in the snow.

This weekend is our last get together with our new found friends, at least for a while. So what better way to mark the occasion than a feast, and that’s what we had… Ron bbq’d a Prime Rib, Dennis & Rodney brought broccoli/cauliflower along with a rice and bean dish. Dave & I brought a Caesar salad and bread pudding for dessert. We had a fabulous dinner and a really terrific time.

Photo: Cheye running taken a couple days ago
Video: Visiting and dinner today

Sunshine!

Ahhhhh, blue sky and sunshine today, even up to 55 degrees! It always surprises me how much having a sunshiny day improves the way I feel.

We started the morning by having breakfast at the Lodge here at Thousand Trails Verde Valley. There were a few errands to run so we took care of those before lunch. After lunch was spent cleaning, baking, walking & brushing Cheye and soaking up the sunshine.

Ron & Marilyn and Rodney & Dennis are all coming up, they will be here this evening. We’re all going out to dinner at La Fonda in CampVerde… yum!!

Snow in the hills

It was a rather stormy night last night, rain and gusting winds made sleep difficult. Even Cheye came over for comfort when the wind shook the trailer. This morning, as we drove in to Cottonwood (Arizona) and saw what came down as rain in the park came down as snow in the nearby hills. The wind has continued most of the day, but it was much calmer than the gusts we had during the night.

We were expecting mail today so we went to the Post Office but it hadn’t arrived yet. From there we went to the store for a few items and then back home stopping to let Cheye out to run in the Forest Service land by the park. Our day was spent mostly inside computing, reading, cross stitching, walking Cheye and making up for lost sleep with a nap. :o)

Photos:
Top: A dusting of snow on the top of the hills
Bottom: A rainbow over the park today

Rain, rain, rain

You guessed it, more rain. This morning the campground staff came by to inform us of flash flood warnings for the Cottonwood, AZ area. It rained most of the morning. We computed, watched TV and I did some cross stitch. During one break in the rain I took Cheye out only to have it start up again so we both got soggy. The rain really slowed down this afternoon, this evening it’s hardly even drizzling…so I don’t think we will be getting the flash floods.

Cabin fever struck after lunch today so I broke out the Wii and played golf , bowled and played tennis. Later in the evening Dave and I played a few games of tennis against each other and then had a bowling match. It was quite fun, we have to do that more often!

…uh-oh, rain started up again….. :o(

Photos:
Top: wet walk
bottom: soggy doggy
video: Today's interesting clouds

Another Inside Day

Still rainy, but warmer here in Cottonwood, AZ. We went into town this morning, Dave wanted to get a haircut and we needed to get the mail. On the way back to the trailer we stopped at Walmart for a few things and then it was home for lunch.

With all the rain it was another day inside, I worked on my cross stitching this afternoon, Dave did some computing. Hopefully the sun will find it’s way out from behind the clouds some day soon.

Photos:
Our very unspoiled dog.... :o)

Cleaning

It was cool and cloudy today. Not that I’m complaining about mid-40 degrees and a little rain. My friends in the Yakima Valley in Washington are freezing, my Mom & Sister in Vancouver Washington are very cold and even our friends in Kauai Hawaii are having horrible rain and wind! So 40’s and a little rain are just fine with me!

Since outside wasn’t real nice I did some inside cupboard and storage cleaning/rearranging. Dave got to help too. I had saved boxes from things, like the Wii, so those were all thrown away and we found some items to take to Goodwill. We rearranged and got rid of stuff so we now have room to store more stuff! ;o)

Photo: Cloudy day today here in Cottonwood, AZ
Video: Thousand Trails Verde Valley - Section H, by the Lodge

Very Quiet Sunday

Today was a pleasant quiet day. I listened to an audio book, relaxed, wrote Christmas cards to a few family members & a few friends. Dave sat outside soaking up the sun while it was out and did some reading. Later I put together a beef stew in the crockpot for dinner. Basically a pretty typical Sunday for us, even back before we were full-timers.

Photo: Tonight’s sunset
Video: Slideshow of photos taken at Tuzigoot National Monument

Wine Tasting

Today Ron and Marilyn came up from Phoenix and the four of us went wine tasting. We went to 3 different wineries; Javelina Leap, Oak Creek and Alcantara. Javelina Leap and Oak Creek are in the Cornville, AZ area and Alcantara is in Cottonwood, actually Alcantara is right next to the Thousand Trails campground we are at.

We all had a good time and bought a couple bottles of wine. I think we all liked Alcantara best, not just the wine but the atmosphere and the staff. Once we got back to camp we enjoyed lots of conversation and food. We snacked on sour dough bread, cheese, crackers and salami then Marilyn fixed ribs, baked potatoes, green salad, broccoli and apple crisp. Oh, and Ron bbq'd some lamb! Another day of fun and friends!

Photos:
Top: Javelina Leap Winery
Middle: Oak Creek Winery
Bottom: Alcantara Winery

Chilly

It was chilly today here in Cottonwood, AZ. I finally broke out my long sleeve t-shirts. I was thinking of how cold it was (low 50’s and cloudy) when I got an email from my friend Robin who lives in the Tri-Cities in Washington, just down the road from where we used to live. She sent me the weather forecast for back home:

"In today’s paper this is the five day forecast…
Today: chance of showers late
Saturday: colder with snow showers
Sunday: very cold, snow showers
Monday: bitterly cold with a few flurries
Tuesday: mostly sunny, unseasonably cold"

So I am now exceeding glad to be here in the 50 degree weather!

Besides a quick trip into town for a couple items and doing laundry, not much went on today. We plan to go to the campground’s Lodge for dinner tonight. Just another pleasant day full-timing.

Photos:
Top: View from Jerome, AZ
Middle: More of the view from Jerome, AZ
Bottom: Roadrunner by our trailer taken yesterday
Video: Jerome AZ from yesterday’s trip

Tuzigoot

I’ve been wanting to go to the Tuzigoot National Monument ever since a couple we met (Bud & Pat) at Thousand Trails Chehalis told us about it. Tuzigoot (Apache for “crooked water”) is the ruins of a village built by the Sinagua. It’s an amazingly well preserved village that was discovered in the 1930’s. Here is a website if you want to read a little more about it. We are about 12 miles away so we decided to go this morning. Glad we did, it was interesting. The entrance fee is $5.00 per person but they are a National Monument so they accept the Senior Golden Pass too which Dave happens to have. Besides the ruins they have a small museum of artifacts.

From Tuzigoot we were about 8 miles from Jerome, AZ. We have had a few people tell us we should visit there so we did. There are a number of galleries and quite a few shops so we did some wandering. Jerome is up on the hill, actually we were above the 5,000 ft. level there! Great views and a really cute town.

After we got back I got some stuff I needed to mail so I went back into Cottonwood and braved the crowds at the Post Office. I also stopped at Walmart, replaced the dishes that broke on our move a couple days ago, and bought groceries. Whew!! A lot of running around this week!

Photos:
Top: Tuzigoot up on the hill
Middle: View from Tuzigoot
Bottom: Tonights moon
Video: Tuzigoot National Monument… I’ll do a video of Jerome tomorrow!

Gopher holes

After all the running around the last couple days it felt nice to just relax and enjoy the day here at Thousand Trails Verde Valley in Arizona. After a few chores this morning Dave & I sat outside and soaked in the sunshine. I noticed a number of others doing the same thing. After a few cloudy days it was good to see the sun all day. Later we hiked up the hill again , the view is so beautiful from there. We even saw some deer or elk tracks on our venture.

While we were sitting outside the trailer this afternoon Cheye discovered a gopher hole. Evidently there was a critter somewhere in the hole because Cheye was totally focused on it. It was really funny to watch her reactions and curiosity. Luckily the gopher was far more clever than Cheye and exited through another tunnel. I’m sure if it had come out the hole it would have scared her good!





Photos:
Top: Critter tracks we saw on our walk
Bottom series: Cheye and the gopher hole

More Breakage

Well, it happened early this morning…Dave’s laptop slipped out of his hands while the USB aircard, which is how we connect to the internet, was attached. The pc fell and landed right on the USB aircard. Happily the laptop was fine but the aircard was toast. Oops! We found the closest Verizon store was in Prescott Valley which is northeast of Prescott, AZ and is about 40 miles from where we are in Cottonwood. Off we went.

We got an aircard and since we were just down the road from Costco we decided to do a little shopping there plus eat lunch. Then it was back to Cottonwood to get the mail and finally home. The rest of the day was typical, relaxing, walking Cheye and happily, connecting to the internet.

Photos:
Top: the moon this evening
Bottom: Cheye on our walk yesterday
Video: Our walk yesterday up the hill at Thousand Trails Verde Valley

News Flash: Corelle does break

Okay, probably not a news flash… all it says is “break and chip resistant” on the Corelle dishes, but when they break wow!! On our long journey of about 8 miles to the Thousand Trails campgrounds one of the cupboards came open and the Corelle came down. What a mess! Corelle chunks and splinters all over. So setting up today took a bit longer than usual, at least inside. On the bright side every surface in the living area has been wiped down, swept or vacuumed so the trailer is pretty darn clean!

We are back at the Thousand Trails Verde Valley Preserve just outside Cottonwood, AZ. It’s kind of fun coming back to a place we know. After we got set up we went for a nice long walk even hiking up the hill. After we got back we relaxed, watched a little TV and grilled burgers for dinner. Luckily we had a supply of paper plates in the trailer. :o)


Photos:
Top: smashed plates on the floor
Bottom right: smashed plates on the counter
Bottom Center: the amazing sunset tonight

Pesty Bees

We went back to the Thousand Trails campground at Cottonwood, AZ this afternoon to visit with Ron and Marilyn again. After Marilyn and I did a little computing we joined the guys outside bringing snacks out with us. Quite a spread of goodies and some local bees seemed to want to help themselves to our snacks. Now it gets pretty cold at night lately, as a matter of fact Dave & I didn’t have any water this morning as our fresh water hose froze to a slushy state last night. Evidently the bees here in northern Arizona are quite hearty because that cold of a night would have killed the bees back home. Anyway, I think the guys killed 3 and one crashed in to the dipping oil (to put on our bread) before we packed up and went inside. Pesty things!

Our visit with Ron and Marilyn was really fun as usual. Marilyn made pot roast with veggies for dinner that was wonderful. She also had cake and berries for dessert that was great. Another fun day with fun friends.

Photo: pretty pink sky over Cottonwood
Video: Pesty bees

Last Day at Verde Valley Campground…for a week

We said goodbye to Ron, Marilyn and Rodney this morning. The rest of our morning was quiet. After lunch I drove over to the laundry room to do the wash. The laundry room is by the main Lodge so I took my laptop and to surf the net while the clothes were washing and drying. A lady I met earlier in the week came in to use the campground’s wireless connection too and we chatted a bit. She is from Colorado and didn’t realize that the DOT often has webcams of roads throughout the states. I frequently peek at the DOT cams in Washington to see what the weather is like in our old home town. She looked up the webcams in Colorado and found the main road they usually travel covered in snow! Luckily they are not headed home for a few months yet.

Tomorrow we will change campgrounds, only over to Camp Verde, AZ about 6 or 7 miles from here. We really enjoy this area, and this Thousand Trails campground in particular. I’m sure we will make it a stop on future journey’s.

Photo:
The moon and a couple stars taken this evening
Video:
A few shots from our visit with Ron, Marilyn and Rodney.

Fun Day

Today we spent the afternoon and evening with our new friends Ron & Marilyn and Rodney (Dennis didn’t come camping this weekend) and had a great time visiting and laughing. There were snacks and wine in the afternoon and for dinner Marilyn had brought homemade turkey soup and turkey drumsticks. It was all very yummy.

After dinner the guys went in to Home Depot and picked up a propane patio heater. Once they got it assembled we were able to sit outside in comfort, those heaters really do a great job taking some of the chill out of the evening air. So we talked, enjoyed the evening and some banana cream pie for dessert.

All in all a fun day with some really fun people.

Photos:
Top: Dennis & Rodney's extra cute dogs (Bichon's)
Bottom: my new balloon wind sock