Monday, March 25, 2024
Today started out as a glorious sunny day with a temperature of 55 degrees. At 8:20 a.m., we left Quartzsite RV Park in Quartzsite, Arizona and headed toward Verde Valley Thousand Trails in Cottonwood, Arizona. We had been there, done that and we were going back there to do it again!
We continued traveling along I-10 East that we had been on yesterday.
Phoenix was now 100 miles away.
Now Phoenix is 51 miles away.
We turned off the interstate at Exit 117 (Watson Road) at Buckeye, Arizona to stop briefly at Aldi's and get some groceries.
After getting groceries, we continued on I-10 East until we came to Exit 124A (AZ - Loop 303 North) and took this exit.
Shortly thereafter we began to see saguaro cactus, which can grow to be over 40 feet tall. It is native to the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, the Mexican state of Sonora, and the Whipple Mountains and Imperial County areas of California. The saguaro blossom is the state wildflower of Arizona. Its scientific name is given in honor of Andrew Carnegie. In 1933, Saguaro National Park, near Tucson, Arizona, was designated to help protect this species and its habitat.
Saguaros have a relatively long lifespan, often exceeding 150 years. They may grow their first side arm around 75 – 100 years of age, but some never grow any arms. Arms are developed to increase the plant's reproductive capacity, as more apices lead to more flowers and fruit. A saguaro can absorb and store considerable amounts of rainwater, visibly expanding in the process, while slowly using the stored water as needed. This characteristic enables the saguaro to survive during periods of drought. It is a keystone species, and provides food and habitat to a large number of species including humans.
The growth rate of this cactus is strongly dependent on precipitation; saguaros in drier western Arizona grow only half as fast as those in and around Tucson. Saguaros grow slowly from seed, and may be only 1⁄4 inch tall after two years.
Next we took I-17 North toward Flagstaff, Arizona.
And again we saw many saguaro cactus along the highway.
We are now 103 miles from Flagstaff.
Black Canyon City is only a few miles away. Black Canyon City is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Yavapai County, Arizona with a population of 2,677 and an elevation of 1,975 feet.
Black Canyon City has been known by several names, including Goddard(s), Cañon, and Black Canyon. Goddard's was a stage stop on the Phoenix to Prescott line, a military stopover en route to Fort Whipple and Fort Verde during Territorial days, and a supply center for mines in the southern Bradshaw Mountains. The area was first settled by people of Anglo-European origin in the 1870s, and the first post office was established as Cañon in May 1894, with postmaster Charles E. Goddard, and was discontinued in October 1899. It was reestablished again from February 1903 to November 1906.
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We are now 53 miles from Prescott and 95 miles from Flagstaff.
We are now at an elevation of 3,000 feet.
We're now heading back down into the Prescott, Arizona area.
Camp Verde is now 25 miles away, while Flagstaff is 78 miles away.
Camp Verde is now 9 miles away, while Flagstaff is 60 miles away.
We're now at an elevation of 4,000 feet.
We have just entered Verde Valley. The Verde Valley is a valley in central Arizona, and the Verde River runs through it. The Verde River is one of Arizona's last free-flowing river systems. It provides crucial habitat for fish and wildlife, fresh water for local agricultural production, recreational opportunities for locals and tourists alike, and brings clean drinking water to over 2 million people in the greater Phoenix area. The valley is overlooked by Mingus Mountain and the Mogollon Rim.
We can see the beauty of Verde Valley in front of us.
We're soon at our exit to Cottonwood, Artizona.
Finally as a leg off of one of the round-abouts, we see the sign to the right to Thousand Trails Road.
We follow the Thousand Trails Road until we reach the entrance to Verde Valley Thousand Trails (see below).
We check in at the Welcome Center -- we are staying for 10 nights from Monday, March 25 - Wednesday, April 3, 2024.
We turn left into Section H and begin looking for an open site.
We find a beautiful site #H-68 and get all set up for the next 10 nights.
The site we are staying on (H-68) is circled on the maps shown above and below.
After we got set up, we drove back into Cottonwood, Arizona to the Taco Bell for a late lunch.
Wednesday, March 27, 2024
Today started out sunny but a bit chilly at 40 degrees. I was really looking forward to meeting up with one of my high school friends -- Kathy Pohl and her significant other, John.
We left Verde Valley Thousand Trails at 10:10 a.m. and were planning to meet at Rock Springs Café in Black Canyon City, Arizona.
We took Exit 242 toward Rock Springs and Black Canyon City.
We then entered Rock Springs -- a neighborhood located in Black Canyon City, Arizona.
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We then drove into Rock Springs Café and waited for my high school friend, Kathy and her friend John to arrive.
When Kathy and John arrived (see below), we put our name in and waited to be called. Shortly after that their water was shut off and they had to close the restaurant.
We then had to come up with Plan B -- and decided to go to Chilleen's on 17 for lunch.
We drove a loop around until we could head back to the restaurant - Chilleen's on 17.
The restaurant, Chilleen's on 17, is a real road house dive bar with the "best kick ass BBQ" in the area.
Shown above is my friend, Kathy Pohl and her significant other, John and the food they ordered.
Shown above is Mel with the BBQ Brisket Sandwich (slow smoked and piled high on a fresh bun) along with the coleslaw and French fries that he ordered, while below is the Philly Steak Sandwich (sliced steak grilled with bell peppers, onions, mushrooms and swiss cheese) along with French fries that I had.
While we were waiting for our food, Kathy shared pictures from Perry High School's 10th and 20th class reunions. (Mel and I only went to the 10th class reunion in 1984.)
PHS Class Reunion from 1984 (10th year) is shown above. In this picture, I am the fourth person from the right in the second row with a white lace shawl. Below is the PHS Class Reunion from 1994 (20th year), which I did not go to.
After our visit and lunch, we then drove back to Verde Brewing Company in Camp Verde, Arizona.
Camp Verde is a town in Yavapai County, Arizona established in 1865 that has a population of 10,873. Every summer, the downtown area of Camp Verde is the site of the annual Corn Fest.
Shown above is Mel in front of the Verde Brewing sign.
Shown above is one of the craft beers that Mel had at Verde Brewing, while below is the dessert I had there -- a rich chocolate brownie topped with ice cream.
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Today it was again chilly -- starting out at 45 degrees, but it reached a nice 75 degrees in the afternoon. After lunch, I went up to the clubhouse to play "Penny Po-Ke-No" and see what it was all about.
Come to find out -- the game of Po-Ke-No is a combination of two other well-known games. These two games are poker and Keno. By combining these two games together the result is a game that resembles quite closely to bingo.
How we played Penny PO-KE-NO went something like this: each player chose one or two boards and had their own bunch of pennies that they had brought with them. The dealer and following dealer each had an ordinary deck of 52 playing cards which they both shuffled.
Po-Ke-No is a game in which players play for money. In order to be organized and have the game run smoothly it is necessary to label the containers, also known as pots. Each person playing must put a penny in each pot per board he or she was playing. After the pots were ready, the last person to ante up would call, "Pots are ready."
There were seven ways to win in each game:
1) center (if you cover the center with a penny, but only on first card called)
2) postage stamp (see below, it's the same as in Bingo)
3) four corners (see below as it is the same as in bingo)
4) diagonal (see below as it is the same as in bingo)
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5) full house (3 cards of one denomination and 2 cards of another denomination such as 3 jacks and 2 twos)
6) four of a kind (4 cards of the same denomination such as 4 aces or 4 kings)
7) po-ke-no (when you get five cards in a row horizontally or vertically on the board), however if the diagonal has already been called, someone else can po-ke-no on another diagonal of five in row (see below)
Ok, now that everyone has anteed up, the first dealer turns over the top card, and calls it out -- for example: "Queen of Spades".
Each player, who had the queen of spades on his/her board, would then cover it up with a penny. The dealer continued turning over cards in succession and the players continued covering cards on their boards until someone had successfully achieved one of the seven ways to win at Po-Ke-no. (Note that all seven ways to win may not occur in a particular game because when someone calls Po-Ke-no, that game is over.
The good news is that the person calling out "Po-ke-no" gets all the pennies lying on the other player's boards, and theirs too.
Now it is time to ante up again, and the person who last won antes up first -- putting one penny for each board they are playing and an additional tax penny for winning into each of the seven pots.
The game continues as above with the next dealer uncovering a card at a time and calling it out.
You can play as many rounds as you want, and when everyone is ready to be finished, the final round is a "blackout or cover-all" round. To win at the "blackout or cover-all" round, you have to be the first player to cover your entire board board with pennies. You then get to loudly proclaim, "PO-KE-NO!" Whoever wins that round, gets the winner's pot filled with all the pennies that have been put into it during each round of the game.
We were asked to bring a lot of pennies -- so I brought all the pennies that I had with me to start (50 pennies), which wasn't nearly enough. Shown below is the card I selected to play with.
So I started out with 50 pennies . . .
And lucky me, I went home with $3.77 in pennies!!!
After I finished Po-ke-no, we went into Cottonwood to the Taco Bell for a late lunch.
Happy Good Friday! Good Friday is a Christian holy day observing the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum. It is also known as Black Friday, Holy Friday, Great Friday, Good Friday of the Passion of the Lord, and Great and Holy Friday.
Today was sunny with the temperature starting at 48 degrees, but also it as windy! The temperature reached 76 degrees in the afternoon.
After lunch, I went for a 30 minute, 4.3 mile bike ride around the campground (see screenshots below).
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Saturday, March 30, 2024
Another beautiful sunny day. We drove into Walmart to get some groceries and then went to That Brewery in Cottonwood, Arizona.
Mel is enjoying a craft beer at That Brewery.
Then after dinner, we went up to the clubhouse to listen to Chris Yak play guitar (see below).
Chris Yak Acoustic performed acoustic versions of a variety of popular country, rock, and pop covers and also featured live looping.
Sunday, March 31, 2024
Happy Easter Sunday! Easter is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in the New Testament as having occurred on the third day of his burial following his crucifixion by the Romans at Calvary c. 30 AD. It is the culmination of the Passion of Jesus Christ, preceded by Lent, a 40-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance.
Easter-observing Christians commonly refer to the week before Easter as Holy Week, which in Western Christianity begins on Palm Sunday (marking the entrance of Jesus in Jerusalem), includes Spy Wednesday (on which the betrayal of Jesus is mourned), and contains the days of the Easter Triduum including Maundy Thursday, commemorating the Maundy and Last Supper, as well as Good Friday, commemorating the crucifixion and death of Jesus.
Today, it rained off and on all day so we just stayed inside -- and I read a book.
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Monday, April 1, 2024
Happy April Fool's Day! It is an annual custom on the 1st of April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved with these pranks, which may be revealed as such the following day. The custom of setting aside a day for playing harmless pranks upon one's neighbor has been relatively common in the world historically.
Wednesday, April 3, 2024
At 10:30 a.m. this morning, we took off toward Sedona, Arizona to go see the beautiful red rocks that area is known for. It was warm and sunny today and reached a high of 82 degrees.
As we drove out of the Verde Valley Thousand Trails this morning, I noticed a grouping of cactus up by the gate (see above). I also noticed the "Safe Travels" sign on the gate (see below).
We went by Coconino National Forest. The Coconino National Forest is a 1.856-million acre United States National Forest located in northern Arizona in the vicinity of Flagstaff, with elevations ranging from 2,600 feet to the highest point in Arizona at 12,633 feet (Humphrey's Peak). Originally established in 1898 as the "San Francisco Mountains National Forest Reserve", the area was designated a U.S. National Forest by President Theodore Roosevelt on July 2, 1908, when the San Francisco Mountains National Forest Reserve was merged with lands from other surrounding forest reserves to create the Coconino National Forest.
Today, the Coconino National Forest contains diverse landscapes, including deserts, ponderosa pine forests, flatlands, mesas, alpine tundra, and ancient volcanic peaks. The forest surrounds the towns of Sedona and Flagstaff and borders four other national forests; the Kaibab National Forest to the west and northwest, the Prescott National Forest to the southwest, the Tonto National Forest to the south, and the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest to the southeast. The forest contains all or parts of nine designated wilderness areas, including the Kachina Peaks Wilderness, which includes the summit of the San Francisco Peaks.
The scenery along the way was awesome!
We were now in Sedona. Sedona is an Arizona desert town near Flagstaff that’s surrounded by red-rock buttes, steep canyon walls and pine forests. It’s noted for its mild climate and vibrant arts community. Uptown Sedona is dense with New Age shops, spas and art galleries. On the town’s outskirts, numerous trailheads access Red Rock State Park, which offers bird-watching, hiking and picnicking spots.
Why are the rocks red only in Sedona? The hard rock had a thin layer of iron oxide that was caused by chemical weathering of natural minerals. The process of the iron oxide weathering turned the rock its signature red color. At one point there was 1,900 feet of red rock covering Sedona.
Located in the center of the state, Red Rock State Park is a popular road trip destination. The nature preserve features a visitor center and picnic areas that invite visitors to enjoy the scenic beauty of the Arizona red rocks that surround them. With environmental education and conservation top of mind, Red Rock State Park is a pristine place that asks visitors to tread lightly, pack out what they pack in and stick to the trails.
We drove into where the entrance to Red Rock State Park was and tried to go into the park, but traffic was so backed up and they told us that it was not open for drive throughs, but only open for hikers, so we decided to turn around.
We continued our drive around Sedona, and then drove along Hwy Az-89A seeing lots more of the gorgeous red rock formations.
In our loop around Sedona, we saw the West Sedona entry sign. It told us that Sedona was founded in 1902 and has an elevation of 4,500 feet (see below).
We are now heading into the business section of Sedona.
Oh how pretty the red rocks are -- I guess that is why I took so many pictures.
Sedona has creatively named numerous rock formations. A mermaid, bell, cathedral, steamship, Madonna, rabbit ears and even Snoopy and his sidekick Woodstock are some of the shapes that can be admired in Sedona's red rocks—named by early pioneers, but shaped by nature. These fanciful names of Sedona rock formations help people remember the red rock skyline around Sedona.
Then around 1:00 p.m., we went to Verde Brewing in Cottonwood, Arizona and had nachos for lunch. We ordered the the spicy chorizo nachos -- which included nacho chips, nacho cheese, red onion, bell peppers, tomatoes, green onions, fresh pickled jalapeños, crema, chorizo and chipotle sour cream (see below).
Of course, Mel enjoyed a craft beer or two, and then filled a growler and a 1/2 growler with craft beer to take with him.
We got back to our campsite around 3:30 p.m. What a fabulous day of sightseeing we had! I'm sure we both went to bed that night dreaming about all the beautiful red rocks of Sedona. Pleasant dreams!
Shirley & Mel
