Beautiful Arizona!

As we drove into central Arizona, near Flagstaff, we climbed and climbed.  We turned our rig south toward Sedona area, and started downhill!  It was a lovely drive down route 17, later hearing the road can be quite dangerous.  Oh well, apparently what we don't know....  

We stayed in Camp Verde, south of Sedona.  Another special spot along the way. The day after we got there, the town opened their brand new library!  We had limited wifi at our RV park so were able to make great use of this lovely new facility.  Found a great church that Sunday and worshipped with a friendly group of folks that were so welcoming.  Plus heard a mighty sermon!  

We went to a copper-mining town up in the mountains, called Jerome.  It felt like we were going to Brigadoon, so steep a climb on a narrow road.

Sedona and the red rock country was as beautiful as you have heard.  We spent a couple of days there.    

We visited Chapel of the Holy Cross.  Beautiful!  Peaceful and reverent.  

The giant rock formations and brilliant blue sky are stunning.  

Prickly Pear Cactus

The Coffee Pot!

Another favorite Sedona spot was Oak Creek Canyon.

Our last adventure in this area was right in Camp Verde.  We had to see Montezuma Castle!  And just a few miles down the road is Montezuma Well.  These were named for Montezuma because the first early explorers thought they were of Aztec origin.  But Montezuma never came that far up into what is now Arizona.  This ancient cliff dwelling was built and used by the Sinaqua people, who are the ancestors of several tribes of southwestern Native Americans.  Amazing to see.

This is a diorama.

Montezuma Well is an artesian well.  One and one/half  million gallons of water flow through the well each day and have for centuries!!  The water kept

 the ancient tribes alive and still gives water to one of the local towns.  It is still and quiet around the pool, never to guess what is going on beneath the surface.  

We left that day for Williams, AZ.  Once there we realized we had enough time to head up one hour drive to the Grand Canyon to see the sunset.  The last time we were there, it was with Mike and Robin, twelve years ago.  It made it a little bittersweet for us, but also brought good memories of our trip together.  Some things will always be hard, but so worth doing.  

Now we are in Bullhead City, AZ for the next three months.  A good place to spend the winter, as we are hearing that the Syracuse area has two to three feet of snow today!!   

Our RV park is lovely with all kinds of amenities and lots of friendly people.  A good place to be. Plus my sister and her husband are just a few miles down the road!  

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!  

New Mexico on to Arizona

We left off our last post after we traveled the Turquoise Trail near Santa Fe, New Mexico.  These next pictures in that area but the other side and north of Santa Fe.  We drove up the Jemez Mountain Trial, a national scenic byway.  The Valles Caldera is a part of the trail and it is a beauty.

Far reaching grassland surrounded by the volcano, amazing.  We went about two miles into the caldera to the ranger station and talked to the ranger about the area.  A forest fire had come through there two years ago and how it has helped revitalize the forest.  Cool!  

Moving on, we went to the town of Los Alamos and through security and were told NO PICTURES!

The government town is mostly made up of the National Research Laboratory.  The buildings were so big and really something to see!   You'll have to go on your own!

Next we continued on to Bandelier National Monument.  This was the main goal of this trip!  Here we were able to see ancient Pueblo dwellings in the cliffs.  Literally they lived in the holes in the cliff.  Protected by the weather in the south facing cliffs.  They were farmers and grew grains. 

These caves make our RV look even better to us!  How they did this and sustained themselves and grew their families, Wow!  

We really enjoyed hearing about these ancient ones and their way of life in this harsh land, thousands 

of years ago.  The average lifespan was 35 years.  Yet they ate healthy and certainly exercised.  Leads me to conclude I should eat, drink and be merry!  

On our way out of New Mexico, we stayed one night in a town called Gallup.  It is home to the Zuni Pueblo.  Also is famous for The El Rancho Hotel.  When Hollywood was at its height, many stars came and stayed here while making movies set in the desert.  Pictures of every actor of the thirties and forties we could think were on these walls.  

They also had many of their local artist paint the walls of buildings around the town.  We saw several of them and found them most interesting!

The next day we entered Arizona! 

We went to Winslow, AZ and couldn't resist "Standing on the corner" as the old song by the Eagles went.  So don't forget to "Take it Easy"!

That afternoon, we drove to the location where a meteor had hit the earth many centuries before.  Here among all this flat, flat land is this amazing sight.

A fitting end to such an interesting day!

Once again I am going to stop before fully catching up with where we are.  But time has flown, Alan wants his dinner, and the Arizona sun is setting....