RED ROCK BEAUTY…SEDONA, AZ.

Thursday, February 23 – We set off early this morning heading west on I-10 through Tucson and Phoenix. We then connected with I-17 to travel up the mountains to Sedona, AZ. The Ford F-350 got a nice workout today!

Our first taste of the red rock.

We are staying at the Sedona Elks Lodge. They have seven gravel sites with 30 amp electric and water. The sites are a little off level but are manageable. We have site #7, an end site. Temperatures are suppose to drop into the lower 30's tonight, but the lady in the lodge said not to worry about the water freezing because it is for such a short period of time. Highs for the next couple of days are in the low 50's.

Looking left.

Looking right.

Right across the street.

After we set-up our site, we headed to a nearby Visitor's Center for some maps and information. We then headed downtown to checkout the eclectic shops and restaurants at Tlaquepaque. Not much here for us....pretty ritzy. We did stop for a drink at a local craft brewery, and visited a couple nearby shops.

Sedona is a beautiful place, that's for sure. Red rock cliffs everywhere we look. So amazing, but we can't help feeling like its been spoiled. Way over built. Too bad someone, long ago, didn't have the foresight to make this area a National Park.

We made one stop at The Chapel of the Holy Cross, one of the premier stops and rightfully so. What an amazing Church. Parking is at a premium. Fortunately, they were running golf cart shuttles from the lower parking areas up to the Chapel. It is a Roman Catholic chapel built into the buttes of Sedona. The Chapel has a contemporary look and juts out of two red mounds on a spur of rock that is 200 feet above the ground.

The Chapel is intimate and very simple. Apart from two tapestries on the wall, the only color in the Chapel are the flickering candles.

The Chapel is surrounded by some of the most beautiful red rocks in the area.

We have quite a sightseeing plan for the next couple of days and hope to get in some short hikes so stop back and tour Sedona, AZ with us.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

WHAT A GORGEOUS DAY FOR A HIKE!

Tuesday, February 21 - We returned to Tucson Mountain Park this morning to hike among the Saguaro. It is a very short drive from Justin's Diamond J Campground to the desert full of trails. Actually, we could have walked right out the back of the campground into Tucson Mountain Park but that would have made today's hike way to long.

Thank goodness Paul has a great sense of direction and was able to keep us in the correct general direction. We eventually found Prospector Trail and followed it to the trail head, but it was not at our original starting point.

This is a very rocky trail. Have your boots on.

The terrain changed as we changed elevations.

We decided to cut across country making our own trail. We ended up wandering around the desert until we found a road. We then continued across country keeping the road in sight as a marker. After another mile or so, we stumbled on the truck parked beside a picnic area.

This guy sure has the arms.

If you do this trail, be careful of the fishhook cacti. They are close to the trail.

We decided to eat our snack at a nearby picnic table before returning home. 

It was a good hike of about 4.5 miles, but we would have liked it if the trails were marked. There are so many trails in the area it may be very difficult to keep them all marked.

The birds were enjoying the gorgeous day too.

Our first black cardinal.

After relaxing and cleaning up at the 5th wheel, we headed over to friends Pam and John’s for happy hour. They are staying at the Lazy Day's KOA here in Tucson. Sue and Dave Bank are also staying there and joined us for a couple hours of snacks, beverages and great conversation.

We say good bye to Tucson. Tomorrow, Thursday, we will be in Sedona, AZ. The weather is much colder. We will make the best of it for sure.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

SWEETWATER TRAIL...ONE OF OUR FAVORITE HIKES

Monday, February 20 – This morning we hiked one of our favorite trails here in Tucson, AZ. It is located on the west side of Tucson in Sweetwater Preserve. This is a very popular trail area so if you want to hike here we recommend heading out early to beat the crowds. There are also many mountain bikers that ride in this area so you find yourself sharing the trial with them. We hiked on President's Day so that may have added to the number of people out of this beautiful day.



The parking area is large so parking is not a problem. We started west on the Saguaro Vista Trial.

This is a very memorable area. Thousands upon thousands of Saguaro Cactus dot the mountainside.

We even found a crested Saguaro along this part of the trail.



We continued on taking most of the perimeter trails until reaching the “Spine” trail intersection.

Here we turned east picking up several trails until we returned to the trail head. The trails are well marked with signs showing “You are here” spot on the trail map.






We covered about 4.2 miles in under 3 hours (We stop often for pictures.) and took just over 12,000 steps. The elevation gain is minimal. As mentioned above, we hiked this trail previously and have always remembered it as one of the best for seeing Saguaro Cactus. We weren't disappointed!

This baby was sure a strange one.


A garden of prickly pear cacti greeted us along the tail.

That is Mt. Lemon with snow on the top.

Birds were every where.

We no more arrived home when a car pulled up. Here were Mary and Dave, long-time readers of our blog. We have never met them. They are staying at the campground right down the road. It was wonderful chatting with them and learning more about their home in Canada. Thanks for stopping by Mary and Dave. Their dog, Houdini, had to wait in the car. He liked Bella a bit too much....lol It was great to meet you three.

After a quick bite to eat, we took Bella, our cat, on a hike in the desert near the campground. She loves the desert!

We then relaxed for several hours before cleaning-up to meet RV friends for happy hour at Buffalo Wild Wings. This is the first time we have had the opportunity to meet up with Monaliza and Steve, Sue and Dave, Lisa and Hans. Thanks for a great time, and thanks Monaliza for the photo.

L-R: John, Dave, Sue, Marsha, Paul, Steve, Monaliza, Lisa,
Hans, Pam.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!