Seasonal fun in Sedona...

We may not have been "traveling" much, but that doesn't mean life hasn't been full!  Being on the HOA Board at our "home-base" Resort keeps me hopping, especially as the snow birds start returning!  Between that, and the start of the new production of Happy Trails Theater Variety Show for 2024, and then being asked to plan the annual Theater Christmas Party...I was stretched to the max.  Solution?  Take a break!!

So, we did, off to Sedona for a week to relax and "do nothing"!  Sedona is less than two hours from our place, so it's an easy and pretty drive for us.  We have a timeshare there and have gone a number of times, so don't feel the need to do any of the tourist things, yet know the restaurants we like and the places we like to take walks to.  We stay a Los Abrigados Resort which is right in the heart of town so it's easy to walk around or a short drive to places we like. 

Being Thanksgiving week, fall was in full form.  All the oak trees were showing off their colors and dropping their leaves everywhere making wonderful piles to play with and kick as you walked through them!  So fun.  It was such a lovely week, the sun shone each day through clear, crisp air.  Enough to wear sweat shirts or sweaters, but not so cold that you could see your breath.  Some brave soles even went swimming! (not me!!)

Shopping at Tlaquepaque is always a favorite with us, and this time was no exception.  It's such a beautiful place to walk around as well as a great place to eat and find special treasures...of which (of course) we did.  

Thanksgiving dinner at The Hudson was a wonderful treat.  We love that restaurant anyway, but being able to have reservations for that evening was extra special - and they sure made it that way too.  I have been used to very large family gatherings most of my life, so now with just the two of us, it's a difficult adjustment.  Having a place treat us special, preparing a meal wonderfully, serving us like friends, helps.  We left there with full tummies and big smiles...and yummy leftovers! 

That week of no meetings, no calls, or "important e mails" was just what I needed.  I read a good book, watched a couple of Hallmark movies, slept in, took long walks, soaked in a hot tub and...relaxed. 

Then...back to the real world (but ready for it!)...

...in Arizona,  Marie

A couple of brief "cool" trips...

Deciding to stick close to home this year, have left us pretty much "hiding out" in the air conditioning of our home here in the heat of the Arizona Valley. Not fun. Other than going to the pool in the mornings, doing a few home projects, it's been pretty boring, to say the least! We were starting to get cabin fever! This is the first summer we've NOT traveled, and I can honestly say, I really, really miss it. Reading the various blogs and articles about how crowded campgrounds have been, how much the campground fees have gone up, how difficult it has been to even get a reservation, and then if and when you do, what was there to do and see because so much is closed, made travel seem like a senseless and frustrating expense. Along with everything else going on right now, it wasn't one we decided to take on. So, we asked ourselves, "what can we do to get out of here, yet not go to far?" We own a time-share, and had saved up points that we had intended to use this year, along with my niece and her husband, to take a nice big trip to Spain and Portugal...but, that wasn't going to happen now, so I "banked" what I could, but some, I had to use now. So, we chose a week in Sedona AZ right away, and a week in Dana Pt. CA in Sept. Then we began looking into where we might be able to camp close by, yet "cooler" than here in the valley. The first place we could get a reservation was in Payson AZ, for a week. All the other areas in the local mountains were booked solid.

We've been to Sedona a number of times before, so this was just going to be a relaxing, change of scenery get-away. Luckily, the restaurants and shops were open so it made getting out and about a bit more enjoyable. Their pool was also open, so we enjoyed that as well. The temperatures were only about 15 degrees cooler, but enough to make walking around during the day possible. It was the first time we'd been out walking around in months, and it really felt good1 Sedona is a pretty place, even to just look at. I was glad we went. 

The following week after we got back was our camping trip to Payson. We actually had been to Payson many years before. I remembered the Mongolian Rim and the Natural Bridge and the cute little town. We had stayed in a cute cabin then as it was before we had an RV. Since we were going to be here for only a week, I didn't see any reason to bring out toad, just the RV. The campground was small, and to our disappointment, not as many trees as we had hoped, and not as "cool" either. The temperature here was only about 10-12 degrees cooler than in the valley, which didn't make for sitting outside for more than a few hours in the morning feasible. I regretted not bring the toad after all, since we ended up being inside the RV more than I had anticipated, but, even still, it was better than being in the Valley. 

When we got back I continued to look into other campgrounds in the mountains for reservations. Friends were going to Show Low area, and I kept trying, but I could only get a couple of days at a time, or at another one, they wanted $75 a night and I just won't pay those prices! Our friends here wanted to go with us, but she doesn't like "switch-backs", so I started looking closer, at Flagstaff. Found a campground there that had two sites for a full week at a great price so we booked them for mid August! Crossed my fingers that it was a decent place... Turned out to be a great place and a great time! Our sites were near each other. Our friends had a bit more shade than us, so we ended up playing cards in the afternoon and having dinner at their site each night. Lots of wonderful pine trees and a super nice camp host that we even invited to join us for dinner one night. What a funny campground though...more like a puzzle than any I've ever been to! The camp host, Diane explained that it was built in the 60's when RVs were a lot smaller, so when they started getting bigger and needed bigger sites, they had to start tearing down some of the sites and combining them to make them big enough for some of the larger rigs...this, they are situated every which way! Some are side-by-side, some back-in, pull-through, or pull-in! It looks very confusing, but, I guess it works! We liked it so much that after a week, when our friends were ready to leave, we weren't, so we went to Diane and asked her to work a miracle and see if she could figure out a way to find us a spot for another week! She jiggled this and that and did! We moved and stayed another week...I was just able to stretch out our food supply for the extra 7 days! Yea! Once again, we hadn't brought the toad, as our friends had their truck, so didn't see the need! ha ha 

All that is left now is the trip to Dana Point later in September.  That's along the beach, so that should be different.  We have friends near there who we will be seeing as well, so we are looking forward to that trip as well.  I don't think we have any more camping trips planned until late October with our camping club...but one never knows!  Cabin Fever may strike again...stay tuned!  

Until then, kicking back in Arizona,   Marie

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/

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/

Lake Havasu with friends...

Showing friends around a town you've visited before (albeit two years ago) is different, and fun!  Something we've not done in a long time - certainly not since we've been RV'ing, that's for sure!  Lake Havasu was one of our first stops when we started out two years ago, "newbies" to RV'ing.  Nice campground and nice area to get "acquainted" to RV'ing.  Two years ago the weather was mostly colder with a day or two of sunshine that included their beautiful balloon festival.  This year it was almost all sunshine, but we missed the balloon festival - a trade off I guess.

Having friends join us was a real treat!  It was fun to know our way around and to have a couple of "favorite spots" - Mudshark Brewery for hamburgers and Donut Post for some of the best donuts anywhere!  We never got lost either and that's always a plus! ;-)

Of course we took them to the London Bridge, but this time we all got a "new treat" and added a boat cruise to our day!  Because the weather had been so cold before, it was something Jack and I hadn't done so it was nice to do this time.  We did the two hour "lighthouse tour" and it was a delight.  Capt. Rick was our guide and he was a wealth of information.  He has been doing tours on Lake Havasu for over a decade and seems to know every nook and cranny of it.  He certainly knew a lot of the history of the town and Robert McCulloch and his development of it in 1964.  There are about 23 lighthouses (1/3 scale) along the 45mile long lake that are replicas of both east & west coast famous lighthouses.  They are sponsored by individuals or by organizations.  Jack and I laughed and said that maybe when I "go", we will put one up of the Pt Loma Lighthouse in my honor! ;-)  Don't you think that would be appropriate?

Anyway...he also took us into some lovely coves along what's called "Copper Canyon".  Beautiful color and rock formations.  They have a sunset tour, that I wished we would have taken because I bet it would have really set those areas off beautifully!  Oh well, something for next time.  As it was, the day was a bit over-cast, so the pictures weren't as bright as I would have liked, but a fun trip all the same.

Another day we tootled on down "Main Street" and discovered it was the day they all bring out their classic cars!  After a meal at a "new favorite" the Red Onion, we enjoyed handmade ice cream at Scoops and cruised up and down the street admiring the handy work of the car owners.  Nice evening.

We managed to fit in a movie and of course some shopping!  Some lazy days in the sun and plenty of laughter.  On our last day we went over to the casino where they have the Da Vinci Exhibit.  What a nice treat!  Some lovely paintings and samples of his inventions.  A great breakdown of the history of his life from birth to death all on one wall.

The weather is changing here, cold and windy.  Our friends have traveled on and we are back on our own again.  We have a week of "no plans" before we are booked into Sedona at our timeshare.  We were going to try seeing some new country, a place someone had suggested, called Cottonwood in northern Arizona, but the weather is predicted to be in the 50's during the day...to cold for us (wimps), so we've decided to turn this rig around and go south to Phoenix where it's a bit hotter, at least for a few days!  See, that's what you can do when you are "free & easy" like us!

London Bridge, Lake Havasu AZ

Entrance to the London Bridge Village, Lake Havasu AZ

Capt. Rick aboard the Kon Tiki, Lake Havasu AZ

East Quoddy (New Brunswick Canada) Lighthouse

Copper Canyon, Lake Havasu AZ

 Da Vinci's flying machines

Madonna of the Yarnwinder

 ...on the road 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/