Category: Places

7 May, 2015

Wildness!

CLOUDS ON THE HORIZON
Cool weather at the South Rim of The Grand Canyon

We girded ourselves for battle with the famed Bright Angel. Water, sunscreen, more water, hats, weather checks, headlamps (just in case), more water…hey – it’s hot at the bottom you know, snacks, more water…this time for the dogs. Outfitting complete we headed to the trail head…and read more…

4 May, 2015

The Grand Canyon

STORM PASSING THROUGH THE GRAND CANYON
A storm passes 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…

29 April, 2015

Stromy Weather

A COLD AND WINDY DAY IN THE VERDE VALLEY
A blustery 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…

28 April, 2015

Jerome…part duex

MAD MAX’S MOTORCYCLE
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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.

26 April, 2015

A Day In Jerome

TIM BURTON WAS HERE
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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.

22, April 2015

Heat Seeking Mission

DISTANT RAINS
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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.

18 April, 2015

Tombstone!
TWO BUCK BEER
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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.

15 April, 2015

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 →