On the road to Tucson....Casa Grande & Picacho Peak

Traveling down the road with BIW, we stopped at the oldest established National Monument, Casa Grande.  Rediscovered by the Spaniards in the 1500's, and then again when the stagecoach started heading out West, Casa Grande is a four story pueblo surrounded by lower village buildings, 17,000 acres of cultivated and irrigated farmlands, and boasted a population over 2,500, 750 years ago.

We followed an excellent docent lead tour and were amazed that after all this time, the pueblo remains.  The NM museum and film did an excellent job of portraying life of these ancient native Americans,  and displayed a number of intricately decorated jugs and baskets.

Another half hour back in our motorhome, where we arrived at Picacho Peak for a couple of nights camping in the Saguaro filled dessert.  We were not prepared with heavy gloves to climb to the top of the peak which is reached by pulling yourself along a steel cable, but we did have a nice hike toward the summit.  It's nice here for a couple of days before reaching the Tucson area.

Lost Dutchman State Park....

Just outside of  Phoenix, we arrived at this state park.  Great views, lots of those really cool saguaro cactus, and some great sites to set up camp.  Having waited to make reservations until about 45 days out, we chose one of the last sites available.  We should have realized that this is a holiday weekend, Presidents Day.  Our site 33 has the great vistas; but 8 boards later, we almost got level.  Fortunately level enough to run our refrigerator and keep the ice flowing for our gin & tonics.

Met back up with our friends, Dan & Gail, who were staying nearby in Mesa.  Once again, Dan had a hike picked out!  After 5 miles on a gravel road to the base of the canyon, we set out on the Peralta Trail, 1,400 foot climb and 2.1 miles to the top.  With temps getting up to 86, we were glad we carried just enough water.  What a magnificent hike!! Lots of rocks to step up and over, but even more great views.  When we got to the top of the "saddle", we enjoyed our lunch and the scenery on both sides of the mountain.

We ended the day, eating outside with our good friends, some wine, and some great spaghetti from our world renowned resident chef, Ruthie!  (photo is from prior night's dinner setup...should have used our tripod for a group shot of our celebration with our good friends)

We're loving the Arizona weather and life style !!

We're here in Sedona...Vortex exploring

All week long we have searched for one or more of the vortexes, known to be in and around Sedona.  After setting up camp at Dead Horse State Park, a nice campground with great views of Cottonwood, we set out every day in search for the special places where we could feel the power of the vortex.

We hiked to Cathedral rock.  We hiked around Courthouse and Bell rock.  We hiked to Devils Bridge and Boynton Vista.  Yes, over 40 miles, and yes we think we felt the vortex at a number of places.  How mystical and far out!  We even attempted the West Fork trail through the snow which crosses Oak Creek Canyon 13 times; but we only succeeded in crossing the creek once; the snow and ice were just too treacherous.  So we guess we missed getting in the proximity of this vortex.

In addition to vortex exploring, we took time to relax.  Stopped at a local winery, Page Springs, for a tasting, surprisingly good.  Even better was listening to some live music while we shared another glass of wine and some cheese.  Speaking of relaxing, following our last hike (sadly) here in Sedona we stopped at Javelina Cantina for some margaritas and nachos -- And then headed up to Airport Mesa to watch the sunset.  All in celebration of this mystical area.

Traveling thru the 3-Corners area

"3-Corners" ???  Yep, California to Nevada to Arizona. 

Sadly left Death Valley after a Furnace Creek Resort hotel tour...pretty cool.  Just one small step up from our campsite.  Truly in the middle of nowhere; and magnificent.

After an overnight in the big metropolis of Shoshone and a dinner at The Crowbar featuring Mexican food, we drove through the Mohave National Preserve....2400 square miles of desert.

Midway through the preserve we reached Kelso Depot.  Built 90 years ago as a source of spring water to replenish the steam locomotives, and with a engine yard to add some pushers to get over the 2400 foot pass, the Depot was saved from the wrecking ball.... and then restored to its former glory.

Unfortunately ??  the post office across the street did not get restored.  Is this the first post office in our country to ever be closed?  Where were the Nevada legislators?  Why didn't they keep this one open?

Then on to Laughlin Nevada.  Camped in a 750 foot RV parking lot, adjacent to the River Casino.  Had a lucky day, only losing $3, and getting 2 margaritas for our efforts.

Finally to Lake Mohave and a NPS campsite for $10 a night.  No hookups, but great views.  Hunkered down while the 40+ mile windstorm blew through.  All ok, just cleaning up all of the new dust/sand throughout our home.

Death Valley National Park -- INCREDIBLE !!

For us, a week in one place, is a long time; but not here at Death Valley NP. 
We came back to Furnace Creek campground after ten years, and were pleased with the improvements including paved level sites and full hookups.  Expecting cold temperatures, we took the hookups so we would stay toasty warm.  Turns out the temps have been ideal and in fact later in the week the thermometer may hit 78 degrees.

We came to meet up with our good friends,
Gail & Dan, and together hike till our boots fall off., and we did!  Dan has been terrific with the hikes he's chosen everyday.  From Golden Canyon to Zabriskie Point, Darwin Falls, Desolation Canyon, Mosaic Canyon, and more to trek before the end of this week.
 

The canyons, the mountains, the rocks, the washes, and all of this incredible landscape were on the hike list. 

We even hiked to a natural spring that gushed water here in the desert.



Rock scrambling has been one of the highlights; especially thinking about how we would get back down. (It's always easier going up than down?)
All in a days hike.

Red Rock Canyon, a sure bet!

Still in the Las Vegas area, we headed over to Red Rock Canyon; a BLM (Bureau of Land Management - Federal government) site.  This means, half price camping.....no hookups, but a lovely place to watch the sun rise and set over the red cliffs; and only $7.50!  And then there is the Visitor Center....luxurious.  We've never seen such a nice Visitor Center in a BLM...in fact we never even saw a BLM VC before.  All the ancient rocks, the uplifts, the downlifts, and the erosion...a beautiful place to hike.

We hit the trails climbing into the canyons.  Scrambling over rocks, we even got rained on, here in the desert.



Red Rock Canyon is a keeper.

Hot Dam, we're back out West !!

 
Flew into Las Vegas, picked up BIW (the engine started!), and drove to Sam's Casino KOA for our first "camp".   After a $9.95 buffet dinner, we made plans for our full day in Vegas.









We loaded up provisions at Trader Joes, our favorite food stop, maintenanced our motorhome with an oil change, then filled up our propane tank for the upcoming cold...Then off we drove to Lake Mead.

This campground is almost empty!  Guess temperatures ranging from 35 to 55 is too cold for the locals....so we had our choice of campsites and got a great view of Lake Mead.  A little extra generator action required, since we have no hookups; but we're as snug as a bug in a rug (whatever that means?). 

Four days here at Lake Mead 

After checking out the Visitor Center on the first day that we arrived, we used Day 2 to take the 5 mile bike ride on the rail trail that was formerly the supply route to building Hoover Dam.  Great views of the lake, and 5 tunnels to cruise through.  Enjoyed our sack lunch and then took the tour of the Dam.  Very impressive...a HUGE hunk of concrete, the largest ever, when Hoover Dam was completed in 1935. (finished early and under budget; the last government project that accomplished this?)

Day 3, found us floating down the Colorado River after the water is disgorged from the dam.  Black Canyon River Adventures was our ticket to ride.  The 4 hour raft trip through the canyon was on totally calm waters, unlike our trip through the Grand Canyon a number of years ago.  Viewed interesting rocks, birds, and even some hot springs waterfalling down into the Colorado.


For our final day, we plan to bike the paved bike route that follows the Lake Mead shore line.  The entire bike path is 36 miles....we will see how far we get.

It's great to be back out west!