Showing posts with label Red Rocks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Red Rocks. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 26, 2018

On The Road Again...At Last!

It's been awhile...but we are finally back on the road again!  Yea! Don't get me wrong, I'm glad we bought a new home, but I'm just not ready to quit traveling...and I was really getting antsy to get back in the passenger seat again!  

This will be a short trip for us...only a little over 3 months.  We have a flight to Maui in late October that we need to be back in Arizona for, and we got such a late start (because of my broken tooth and work on the rig)...but, some travel is better than no travel!

Our first leg is to my son's in Texas, partly to get some love'n and partly to drop off a bunch of "stuff" that I unpacked as we moved in (yea).  We will spend the 4th of July with him and his family, visit a bit then move on...into Louisiana, then north where hopefully it will be a bit cooler.  We will let the weather be our guide this trip.  We really don't have much of an agenda with such a short amount of time.  I'd like to round out the trip in Washington, to visit with my family there, so that kind of makes an odd circle, so to speak.  We shall see.  We have friends from Hawaii who are also on a journey through some of the western states during this time, so we shall see if our paths can cross each other...it would be wonderful if they could...one never knows...

We did manage to break away from all the unpacking for a few days to Sedona before we left.  We'd been there before, but it had been a few years, and we really needed a break.  It was about 10-15 degrees cooler too, which was nice.  We took advantage of our time-share and stayed there and swam in the pool, had a massage, ate out, read a book, layed around and relaxed.  It was great.  The area's red rocks are just so lovely, really peaceful.  I love walking through Tlaquepaque Plaza, it's such a picturesque place, even if you don't want to buy a thing!


Anyway, I'm looking forward to new adventures, and even re-seeing places we've been before...bring it on, bring it all on, I'm ready world, here we come!  Yahoo!


...on the road to Texas,  Marie

If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Sedona Arizona R&R

There is more than one kind of "R&R" in Sedona...Rest & Relaxation, of course...Red Rocks, lots of beautiful ones to see, and to add to all that, we found out that they also have a great RailRoad!

Long before we ever thought of the RV lifestyle, we purchased a timeshare, so from time to time, we take a break from the rig and book a week into one of the condos and just kick back.  I look forward to the big luxurious kitchens and comfy couches that face fireplaces so that I can curl up and read, while Jack looks forward to the big bathrooms with great big tubs!  2013 got away from us, and I had to book a week fast or loose it, so I grabbed a spot in Sedona in early February of 2014 (still using the 2013 week).  This is where we found ourselves this last week.

In my hurry to book, I guess I didn't read the "fine print", or maybe they just didn't share the details much about their rooms!  Imagine my surprise when we came to our room, and found NOT the big comfy couch, nor the nice kitchen, but instead a bedroom smaller than the one in our rig!  When I dashed back down to the front desk to explain how "this just wasn't going to work!"  They explained right back to me that they were sorry, but that they were full, and there was nothing they could do!  Ugh.  Jack did have his big bathroom tho, so we made do.  We ate out a lot....and sat by the pool and read.  Thank goodness the weather was beautiful most of the time!  OK, that's the first R & R...

Sedona Arizona is known for it's Red Rocks, but I have to say, they are even more beautiful at sunset and sunrise!  Now, anyone knowing me at all, knows that I'm great at the sunset stuff, but getting me up early, well, that's just not my thing...but after we did the sunset, and Jack said "if you think this is pretty, you should see it at sunrise honey, the sun comes up over here, and hits those hills and just lights them up!"  Well, he convinced me to do it.  Valentines Day started with the alarm going off at O'dark hundred, up and at 'um we got, made a pot of coffee & dashed off to the airport (highest hill around and best view of the valley).  Joined by a few other brave souls, we stood in the cold and slowly watched the sun do it's rise.  It was worth it, every minute.  Jack was right, beautiful.  Afterward we found a great cafe and had a light breakfast.  I didn't want to eat to much because I knew we would have much to eat aboard our great train ride later that day!

The highlight of our third R&R, was the RailRoad trip!  We love trains and this one turned out to be one of the best so far! Verde Canyon Railroad Wilderness Train, out of Clarkdale AZ is a 4 hour train ride from Clarkdale to Perkinsville & back.  We enjoyed the "Valentines Chocolate" special first-class coach that included more chocolate goodies, sandwiches, salad, munchies, champagne, etc than one could eat, along with wonderfully comfortable couches & small tables with an adjoining open-air coach to take pictures from.  Narrated, of course, plus staff to point out additional sites and tend to your every need.  Add to that a 73 degree sun-filled day and one couldn't ask for a more delightful adventure!  We have been to the Sedona area many times, but had never taken this trip, what a delight it added to our week!

We managed to sprinkle in a day here & there of shopping at Tlaquepaque, a visit to  Chapel of the Holy Cross, two movies supplied by the management and a visit with a girlfriend who lives in nearby Prescott.  All in all, a lovely respite...

Sedona Sunset
Early Sedona sunrise
Sun hitting the Sedona valley
Our Chocolate Valentine set-up aboard the Verde Canyon Railroad Wilderness Train
Verde Canyon Railroad Wilderness Train
Verde Canyon
Alter,  Chapel of the Holy Cross

Me with the "Basket Lady Elder" statue

...kicking back in Arizona,   Marie

If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/