The Grand Canyon
STORM PASSING THROUGH THE GRAND CANYON
The Grand Canyon is big and bad and one of the best National Parks experiences. The light changes every thirty seconds so it’s a photographer’s dream.
Everywhere you look are non-stop vertical drops of many hundreds of feet…so it’s also a perents nightmare. Expecially if you have kids of the highly mobile, not good listening variety…like ours. See more…
Stromy Weather
A COLD AND WINDY DAY IN THE VERDE VALLEY
We escaped the snow but not the rain and wind. Flagstaff received over two inches of snow – seems late in the season to me but what do I know?
We got a day of heavy winds, and a few thunderstorms. Many hands of crazy eight were played. I stepped out of the camper at about three am to be greeted by an amazing display of the milky way…I should be a more dedicated photographer but it was cold, and my bed was warm and…well…
Jerome…part duex
MAD MAX’S MOTORCYCLE
Our intention was to continue north, but the forecast for the high country wasn’t happy. Wind, cold, possible snow. We decided none of them were necessary so we hovered in the Verde Valley for the day.
There is a nice albeit a little disorganized campground (it takes a lot for me to cry disorganized) here in the valley called Dead Horse Ranch. Nice facilities. Showers. Very good mountain biking. A stones throw from downtown Cottonwood. So it’s no surprise that it’s VERY popular with the BIG (as in forty foot +) cruisers. Plan accordingly.
There are quite a few tent sites with a nice view of the Tuzegoot ruins but there is a lot of ambiguity as to what’s a tent and what’s the maximum allowable heigth…not that we had any experience with that…but we all worked it out in the end. Mostly.
A Day In Jerome
TIM BURTON WAS HERE
The thing about travel advice is that it’s often worth what you paid for it. We’ve followed a good many leads that haven’t panned out as fully as promised. Jerome wasn’t one of them.
The main appeal to the town is it’s lofty perch overlooking the Verde Valley which is backed by vertical cliffs that form what locals call the “Rim Country”. It’s a formidable view. The small streets get pretty congested and we heard nightmare stories about the weekends. Burgers and Margaritas at the Haunted Hamburger get a thumbs up.
Heat Seeking Mission
DISTANT RAINS
Believe it or not, snow is in the forecaast for the next few days in the Flagstaff area. NO THANKS! We’re going to duck down into the Verde Valley and keep warm.
Tombstone!
TWO BUCK BEER
Tombstone is a very fun town…contrary to what Ike Clanton may have told you. We dropped a few more bucks here than we normally would…but in our defense there was gun play, and yellin’, and killin’, and everyone got up and hugged each other in the end. It’s not every day you get to see the same guy get killed more than once.
Chato’s Land APACHE LAKE The Apache Express, or highway 80, runs from Apache Junction up to Canyon Lake and then turns into a dirt road. We spent the night at Canyon Lake – a really pretty campsite in a sketchy campground – and carried on the next day aimimng for the rim country on the Apache Reservation. The highway turns… Read more →
Desert Roads
These desert roads seem to go on forever. There seem to be thousands of miles of ’em all willing to take you as far as you dare to go.