Simply Sedona

Camping within another camp has been fun, it's not something we usually do...think it was about time to try something new! Ray knows the area pretty well so his "main objective" of the day was to short tour us around Sedona and Cottonwood. We had an amazing day! We are staying right about in the middle of towns between Cottonwood and Sedona... about 7 miles in each direction from camp...pretty awesome! We drove into Downtown Cottonwood and walked up and down the main street with the dogs, stopping at the cutest little antique store to sit outside in the gorgeous breeze of the day and catch up on a wooden bench outside.

[caption id="attachment_4551" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Larry's Antiques[/caption]

After a while, we walked back to the truck and took a 'road' tour of where the stores were, where to get water, and a couple of places to take a shower. After touring Cottonwood, we simply drove to Sedona taking in all of the wonder of the Red Rocks. What a place!!

Ray has a State Park pass (I think that's what it is) so we drove right into one of the parks around here. I think he said it was $9.00 a day or $40...er, maybe $60...? for a year...and I might be making all of that up, so...anyway we parked and walked about 25 yards and we were in this beautiful green field with a pretty sweet view!

[caption id="attachment_4548" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Field Mice[/caption]

 We walked down the trail about a 1/4 of a mile and there is a river running through the trees and rocks, it's just absolutely awesome.

 There are places all throughout the trail where people have stacked rocks upon other rocks, I guess it has something to do with the magnetic pulls and vortexes in the area...there were some pretty amazing stacks! After passing all of the rocks, the trail curves a little and then opens up into this beautiful movie-like scene of the river, lush neon green trees and the most ridiculous red rocks towering over the river. It's one of the most magical things I've seen in a very long time. We let the dogs loose and Storm swam and fetched sticks and went to his own "private island" on the other side of the river, Savannah stuck close to us and swam a little bit until she got too cold then would go roll in the sand!  We all had a great time, here are just a few pics so you can try to get a feel of what it was like there....absolutely wonderful!

[caption id="attachment_4561" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Swimming 101[/caption]

What a great afternoon...for all of us! The pups will surely sleep good tonight. After drying the pups and ourselves we piled back into the truck and drove down the road through Sedona. Sedona is a lovely little town and the views are breathtaking everywhere you go, even sitting at a stoplight is jaw dropping. We stopped in at a little shopping area called Tlaquepaque Village. We had dinner at a Mexican joint with some pretty badass burritos and walked the park around the back of the property. Let me tell you, if I was having any kind of yearning for lush grass and big huge canopy trees...I got my fill at this little park! Simply gorgeous.

[gallery columns="4" ids="4565,4566,4564,4567"]

Today we got our feet wet in the sands of Sedona...now I'm super stoked to fully submerge ourselves into this majestic little town. It's going to be a lot of fun camping here, I can just feel it!

Woo hoo

PEACE

Welcomed with Open Arms

We've been quite the busy bees lately! A very good thing. We've been so busy I've only turned my computer on to check my main email...feels good! With that, I have not forgotten about my loyal readers and am happy to be writing about more than just sitting in the van!

So, away we go.....

April 27~ We decided the heat was getting to be too much and made the decision to leave Wickenburg the next day. We did a load of laundry in our 'new' 3 gallon bucket and packed up Joon's Junk. To celebrate we had a big UFC fight card to watch and Cpt. Kev came over with a pizza.

[caption id="attachment_4523" align="alignleft" width="150"] Washin' & Packin'[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4524" align="alignright" width="150"] Fight Night[/caption]

We all gathered around the side door of Joon Van and enjoyed a night in the good life along with some pretty good bouts.

April 28~

We left our beautiful spot ontop of our mountain in Wickenburg. We got gas

[caption id="attachment_4527" align="alignleft" width="150"] Good-bye[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4528" align="alignright" width="150"] Hello[/caption]

at $3.79 a gallon! Dumped our trash and refreshed our water for free at the Mobil station. We stopped for lunch at Burger King...yep, 2 Whoppers for $5 bucks and 3 x 10 lb. bags of ice coming out to $8.56! You really can't beat that. Then we drove. Our destination? Sedona, Arizona. It's just absolutely gorgeous here, it's so different than anything we've seen to this point. It's amazing! I can't wait to go explore. We met up with our friend Ray, who we met at the R.T.R. in January, and are camping with him right now. The camp is a great spot where Red Rocks surround us on all sides and many different flowers are in bloom that we haven't seen yet. It's beautiful here.

[caption id="attachment_4531" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Arriving at Camp[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4532" align="aligncenter" width="350"] New Home[/caption]

We have the feeling Sedona is going to be very good to us. Can't wait to prove our feelings true!

PEACE

P.S. I'm still doing pictures in Shutterfly but our connection isn't the fastest out here, so they may be delayed for a bit until I can get some upload speed. Thank you for your patience! 

 

 

Winning!

Can you believe that we are still in Wickenburg!

I'm not really that surprised. This place has really been great. The weather is just about perfect...it's getting a little warmer but it's great with the breezes that we get and showers are sooo refreshing! We both are getting some nice color, something we haven't had in a while...Love the Vitamin D! We re-positioned Joon about a week into our stay, we weren't getting full sun on the solar panels and had to start the van to make coffee in the morning. Easy fix...turn around! It wasn't causing too much of a problem but why get half the sun if you can get alllllll of it!?

[caption id="attachment_4510" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Needed to Turn to Burn man![/caption]

So the day we went into town to get more ice and water, oh ...and 2 whoppers for $5 bucks at Burger King, don't want to forget that...we came back and just tweaked the position of the van and BAM! we're back in business with more power than we use. Another thing we really like and enjoy is the town is only about 5-6 miles from our camp spot, so it's nice and easy to go to town. When we were in Shaver Lake we had to go shopping once a month...for everything...for a month! Fresno was about 55 miles away, which had the closest Wal-marts and gas, it was interesting... this makes it easier on the van and on the gas tank as well.  When we went into Wickenburg, we went to a thrift store we found on Yelp.com and it was great. The name of the place is Soroptimist, they have 3 different buildings; Building 1 was full of clothing, shoes, accessories, etc for men and women and is decorated so cute in there. Building 2 is mostly books and other things and Building-ish 3 is outdoor stuff like sports equipment, recreational hobbies, lawn stuff, luggage, chairs, pots, all kinds of stuff. It was great, a definite good find! We have a "Looksie List" for thrift shops and were able to mark off two of the items...Books and a fitted sheet! We got 6 books and the fitted sheet all for $4.00! What a ganga! When I was looking at the sheet the next day I saw that it was Ralph Lauren, so hopefully it'l last for a while.

[caption id="attachment_4509" align="aligncenter" width="350"] .25 cents at the thrift store![/caption]

Let's see, what else... Savannah is doing better on the walks, it only took about 4 days for her to learn not to go off the trail or she'd have 4+ cholla in her feet, butt, face and tail! And those little pink booties lasted like two days, go figure. There's not much traffic up here, I mean there's your occasional jeep due to a one man jeep tour company (hee hee) but we are a whole minute out of his whole tour, so we just wave and they pass and that's it. When we first got here, we had a few ATV's and a couple of dirt bikes but they're just passing through. It's been pretty peaceful and you just can't beat the view...it's spectacular. We caught a full moon last night and it was just gorgeous. I really wish I could have found my camera the night before last because the moon had risen about an hour and a half earlier, when it was still light out and the colors in the sky were just to die for. I did capture some pictures of the moon last night but it was already dark and I would love to have a 'better' camera to truly capture the moment as we see it, but I'm glad I can get what I can for now!

Click here to view these pictures larger

PEACE

Stickin' in Wickenburg

We've been kickin' it in Wickenburg for the past few days now. We were going to pop in and see Bob and the gang but they were gone by the time we got here...we'll see each other down the road I'm sure. We like it a lot up here. We are up on a mountain top, away from the road and we have a 360 degree panoramic view...maybe 345! There is the main dirt road that we walk Savannah on every morning and every evening...everyone getting their exercise! The road is also nice because Savannah doesn't get little burs, from the cholla (pronounced choy-ya), in her feetsies. Our walks are so enjoyable due to the peacefulness of the mountain, the view is spectacular, the air is just right...so fresh and we are all together. We have hiked some nice little trails ending up with more amazing views and fresh air! Nature's landscaping is different out here. We have seen some of the plant life before but not this much packed in together, it's cool. Just watch the Nana Bug off the trail...it happens, she's a dog, that cholla will get her and you and anything else that comes near it, that stuff is crazy!

[caption id="attachment_4471" align="aligncenter" width="350"] View from Van[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4473" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Teddy Bear Cholla[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4468" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Pinkflower Hedgehog Cactus[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4466" align="aligncenter" width="350"] California Poppy[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4464" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Brittlebush[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4470" align="aligncenter" width="224"] My what a big cactus you have![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4467" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Bloomin' Ocotillo[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4465" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Buckhorn Cholla[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4469" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Prickly Pear Cactus[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4472" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Sunset at our camp![/caption]

It's been the perfect camp for us. We get a full signal for 4g wifi from our Millenicom device, all of the main TV channels come in, we are left alone by ATV'ers and Jeeps that we've seen and like I said before, the view is just amazing. Now this is what we have been talkin' about! Another nice little addition is that our friend Kevin stayed when Bob left and he has now joined us atop of our little mountain. We are about a 1/4-1/2 mile away, perfect distance for privacy but also close enough to walk to each others camp! It's always nice to have chill company around!

[caption id="attachment_4480" align="aligncenter" width="350"] He made it![/caption]

We are really enjoying our time here. The town of Wickenburg is really cute and looks like it has a lot to offer, it's really nice to see a town like this again...it's been a while. The Safeway in town is where we will shop, it's only about 6 miles from our camp site...not too shabby! I think we are truly going to try to stay here for a few weeks. Our spot has everything we need: wifi, tv, view, privacy, sunshine, peace and happiness.

[caption id="attachment_4481" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Happy Camper[/caption]

The little things....

PEACE

 

 

Photo Share Site is Up!!!

Hello all of my awesome readers!

You may notice a new button at the top that reads Photos. If you click on the button there is a page that will take you to my new photo site. Bear with me for I am still in the midst of creating it. I figured I would put it up due to how much content I still have to go through...why, wait? (This is why you may see some breaks in time at first...still working on it)

I am very excited about this. It's taken a lot of my days and hours to get it to where it is and I can't wait to just keep adding more...that just means we're still adventuring, doing our thing!

Some of you may get an invitation by email to become a member...if I have your email address. If you want to comment be my guest, I love to see that people are enjoying the pics that I shoot as much as I do! Thank you for your kindness as well.

Happy smiles and PEACE to all!

Back Track a Go-Go

Surprisingly we were in Victorville for 10 days. I know I couldn't believe it myself! There were many different reasons why we left, here are a few: The wind never settled down, it actually got worse, there is so much trash and debris that people have left all over the desert that it felt more like we were camping at a dump rather than public land (like we're used to),

[caption id="attachment_4419" align="aligncenter" width="350"] I just don't understand this[/caption]

the vibe there was at such a low frequency it was literally depressing us, we could barely get out of the van due to the weather...poor Nana was always rushed to go potty and we couldn't go on any walks, it just wasn't right for us. Our time had set in Victorville, time to move on...or back track a bit...

[caption id="attachment_4421" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Definitely a Good-bye![/caption]

Today, April 7, we said our good 'riddances' to Victorville and were rolling rubber once more. When we talked about leaving Victorville, we mapped out a few days in a few different spots...ya know to kind of break up the drive and all that. Our plans were...(and as Miss Cheri would say, "We all know our plans are made in jello!") to drive to Palm Springs, stop at the Wal-mart and stock up on some things and maybe even stay a day or two, then drive to Indio and stay at the Spotlight 29 Casino for a couple of days, then go back to our BLM spot by Joshua Tree National Park, then maybe move on and stay either in Quartzsite or around Dome Rock (which is considered Quartzsite I guess). We drove into Palm Springs and it was pretty gusty there...the wind was everywhere for a few days, coming from a storm in Denver. We stocked up at Wal-mart and it was just too early for us to stop driving for the day, so we drove on to...and through Indio, then onto Joshua Tree National Park. We actually drove through the park, just a few miles, not really seeing anything worth sticking around for. See, what we were going to do was stay on the BLM land outside of Joshua Tree, then maybe drive in daily to enjoy the park...but after driving through it for the miles we did, we really didn't have anything tugging at us to stay. So...you guessed it...we drove! We drove towards Blythe and Ehrenberg and tossed the idea around of staying there but after a fill-up at the gas station, decided it would be best to keep on moving. We've played that card enough for now! Driving closer to Quartzsite, we figured this would be the best time to spend some time up at Dome Rock. J' wanted to camp there after the R.T.R. but we just kept on moving around, we never did camp there...perfect time for it now! Plus, in Quartzsite we would have grocery stores, water, and twice the ice right at our fingertips so the time had come to stop driving for today. Dome Rock would be our new camp for the next few days. It is beautiful here.

[caption id="attachment_4424" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Dome Rock[/caption]

The wind was barely blowing when we pulled into our spot and there is open space for Savannah and I to walk, with some pretty beautiful scenery around us. I think this will be a great spot for a few days, hopefully the wind doesn't get any worse and we can just start being again...being ourselves, being outside, being happy!

[caption id="attachment_4425" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Home...for now[/caption]

I'm glad we decided to keep driving to a new spot. Those other spots were great but they already had a place in our story... time to discover new areas, new scenery and new adventures. 

PEACE