Ancient cliff dweling

The beautiful Verde River canyon

Richard & Kim Conant and his father Russell

Wed, 6/17/09:

Sedona, AZ: We had a relaxing morning and then headed to Clarkdale around 11:00. We decided to make a reservation on the Verde Canyon Railroad which goes from Clarkdale to Perkinsville and back. The route followed the beautiful Verde River in a deep canyon into a beautiful wilderness area. The lush area around the Verde River was in sharp contrast to the stark beauty of the desert bluffs and mountains. We made reservations in the first class coach so we had complimentary champagne and quite a spread of snacks and sandwiches. The first class car had comfortable couches and tables so it was very comfortable. And there was a flatcar next to our car where we could go outside—which was where we spent most of the trip up. Seated across from us was a couple from Columbia, SC, and his father, Russell, who is 95! Russell lives in Sun City—just outside Phoenix. He still lives by himself and is as sharp as a tack. We enjoyed talking with them. Dr. Richard Connant is a bass-barritone soloist who performs all over the world. He’s performed for 3 presidents and various other dignitaries from all over the world and has even performed at Carnegie Hall in NYC. He also works with the FBI in Columbia. His wife, Kim, is a pediatric nurse in Columbia. I talked him into singing for us. He sang “Old Man River” and “Some Enchanted Evening”. We meet the most interesting people. After the trip (4 hours) we went grocery shopping (ugh) and then back home. Have to leave early tomorrow to take the truck with fifth-wheel in tow to the GMC dealer. That should be fun.

Jason--Sedona High School Teacher

View from the rim

Our jeep tour group

Art Gallery--Sedona

Sedona, AZ: This morning started out cloudy but cleared off some. The herons are their usual raucous self. They have some nests up in the trees also. These long-legged birds look so ungainly up in the trees. This morning we drove around Sedona some more. Drove the Red Rock Loop road and saw more amazing scenery and some really nice homes. The airport here in Sedona is on top of a mesa. They have a restaurant up there so we drove up and had lunch. Some amazing views up there also. And the food was pretty good. Actually the views are amazing everywhere around here. In the afternoon we went on the pink jeep rim tour. They picked us up at the RV park and we went up the road from the RV park climbing 2000 feet to the rim. Great views of the rock formations and of Sedona down in the valley. There was a car down there that had gone over the cliff about 10 years ago. The old wagon road to Flagstaff was still visible and I can’t imagine how rough that would have been. They hike on that road now. The tour was two hours long and then we headed to the Olde Sedona Bar and Grill for drinks. We had fried cactus with our drinks which was pretty good. Had a great conversation with a couple of Sedona high school teachers and a public defender and his wife from Toledo. We all got pretty inebriated. Back home to the rookery over our heads. Everyone we talked to today was amazed at how cool the weather has been. Guess we really lucked out. Another great day!

Conner Hotel - Jerome, AZ

Gas Pump--Jerome, AZ

Building ruins--Jerome, AZ

Rock formations around Sedona

What a beautiful place

Sedona, AZ: Mike was up early and off to the GMC dealer in Cottonwood. I hung out at the RV park and took care of some things I had to deal with. This park is nestled among some old growth desert sycamores, cottonwoods, and pines. At night though the herons roost in the trees—some of them right over us. And they’re so vocal all night. It is entertaining. I was curious as to how Tom Mix died at that spot we stopped at out in the middle of nowhere yesterday, so I googled and found out that he was driving his car along this road (probably dirt back in 1940) and the bridge over the wash (now named Tom Mix wash) was out and he couldn’t stop in time. Workers on the bridge said that the car went into the wash and the metal suitcase on the back seat slammed into the back of his head and crushed his skull and broke his neck. That would do it. Mike finally returned around 12:30 from the GMC dealer. Again, they couldn’t figure out what was wrong. They even called Detroit and they didn’t know what it could be. The error codes showed communication errors. They want us to come back with the fifth-wheel in tow and take it for a test drive. So we’ll do that when we leave here on Thursday. We had to drive back to Cottonwood to an RV dealer to get a part we needed so we went a little further and checked out the little, historic town of Jerome. A former mining town, it sits on the side of a steep mountain with little houses jutting precipitously over the edge. After that we headed back to Sedona to Walgreens to get my prescriptions filled. Dropped them off and went across the street to a little strip mall and had lunch at Casa Bonita—a Mexican restaurant my daughter recommended. A cute little place and the food was good. Then drove the scenic Oak Creek Canyon road up to Flagstaff. What a beautiful drive through this amazing canyon of heavily forested pines and beautiful rock formations. Climbing up out of the canyon was pretty scary for me since the road was right on the edge of a precipitous drop-off. The view at the top was amazing though. Came back on interstate 17 through a beautiful pine forest and when we started back down the pines disappeared and the hills were covered with cedars. We went through about 4 ecosystems on this little drive. Got off interstate 17 on Route 179 and went through the pretty little town of Oak Creek. I like this pretty little place better than Sedona. Drove through some amazing residential areas and then back to the RV park. The herons were in fine form causing a ruckus up in the trees fighting for their roosting spot. Went up to 88 today. Chills down pretty good at night.

Beautiful mountains around Sedona

Our pretty little site...

Tucson, AZ, to Sedona, AZ: Left this morning at 8:45. I started driving so decided to take scenic Rt. 79 instead of the highway. A really pretty drive through a desert valley with a huge diversity of desert plants and even some trees—well bushy trees anyway. Stark mountains on both sides. Stopped at a little rest area out in the middle of nowhere that had a monument to Tom Mix. He apparently died on that spot. Not sure how or why. I drove until Apache Junction and there was a restaurant there and I was able to pull into a church parking lot, so we stopped to eat. After that Mike drove. Truck still isn’t shifting right. And when we started going up into the mountains after going through Phoenix it started getting worse. We’re both very frustrated with what to do about the truck. There is a GMC dealer in Cottonwood, so I guess Mike will take it there tomorrow morning. What we saw of Sedona driving in was very pretty. This area is called the “red rock area” and indeed the red mountains are beautiful. The RV park we’re at is right on Oak Creek and is a pretty decent park—at least our site is pretty nice. Got set up and too frustrated and tired to do anything but heat up left-overs and relax. It’s in the low 80s here. Seems almost chilly.

Steinfeld Mansion--old town Tucson

Some of the locals...

Tucson, AZ: Another beautiful, sunny morning. It starts getting light around 4:00 a.m. So we’ve been getting up way earlier than we usually do. I stripped the bed and took the sheets over to the laundry room here to wash them. And they have the neatest thing here. There’s a little walled courtyard just off the laundry room where you can hang your clothes out to dry. How retro! So I hung the sheets out to dry. And they were dry in about half an hour. Love this place! Mike made arrangements to have the fifth wheel washed. So we’ll have a nice clean RV for a while. Headed out to pick up prescriptions, get the truck washed and have lunch. Then back and relaxed outside reading for a while. Even though it was 99, it felt quite comfortable in the shade of the awning—and there was a brisk wind. We also checked out another RV park close by. This one was quite a bit bigger and they had some luxury pull-through sites which were really nice. And those luxury sites are $740 per month versus the Keys which is $1450 per month. But we’ll go to the Keys for as long as we can. We leave tomorrow for Sedona, AZ.

Beautiful desert bloom

The gila woodpecker builds nests in the saguaro...

Temps inside are 20 degrees cooler in summer and 20 deg warmer in winter

Beep beep...

Tucson, AZ: Another beautiful, sunny morning. We did the laundry in the morning and then did some shopping. Bought a new shower head for our shower and a couple of other things. Then came back and checked out their winter rates and availability. This would be a good place to winter when we’re no longer able to go to the Keys. Spent most of the morning trying to figure out the new digital TV. We’re not on cable here, so the switch to digital affected us greatly. Once we figured it out it was a great improvement. Now all the local channels we get come in as good as cable. A great improvement. Hot dogs, three-bean salad, and watermelon for dinner. Think it hit 95 today.

Titan Missile

Main Altar

Mission San Xavier

Tucson, AZ: This morning was bright and sunny again. Clouds formed in the afternoon but cleared off again. We’ve really lucked out here since the temperatures have been below average for this time of year. We decided to go see the Titan Missile Museum in Sahuarita, AZ. This is the only missile site where you can go inside. It was really quite interesting. There were three sites in the area and were active during the cold war. They all carried a nuclear warhead. We actually went through a firing sequence to see what it would have been like. We were so close to the Mexican border here (about 30 miles) at Nogales. This was where we planned to cross if and when we went into Mexico. I really wanted to go but our passports were back in the RV and we would have had to do the money exchange and get insurance, etc. So we didn’t. On the way back we stopped at the San Xavier Mission which is a treasure. It was founded by the Jesuit missionary Fr. Kino in 1692. Building started in 1783 and was completed in 1797. What a beautiful place! And it’s still a parish for the Tohono O’odham and still in use today. They’re in the process of a restoration. There were some people cooking in a crude little shelter and we both got what they called flat tacos. Nothing like any taco I’ve ever had. They fry this flat, round bread which fills a plate and then they put whatever you want on top—beans, chilies, tomatoes, lettuce, and cheese. The fried bread is more like a pastry. Really delicious. Back home—stopping at Walgreens on the way to get some prescriptions filled. Went up to about 95 today. 7% humidity. Life is good.