Throwback Thursday - Tombstone and Bisbee, Arizona

In my attempt to get back to blogging and to catch up a little with what I've missed posting, here's a throwback post to last December and a trip we made to Arizona...

We had gone with our RV to visit our daughter who moved to Arizona last year.  The weather turned really cold with freeze warnings at night and quite a bit of rain.  Hanging out at camp was great....lots of reading, knitting, hot foods and drinks, and I even got my Christmas cards done.  But, we eventually got cabin fever and decided to head out and do some exploring.

First, we headed to Tombstone.  It was a cute little town.  There were old buildings and horse drawn buggies and stagecoaches.  This is the courthouse.  I thought the horse going by made for a great photo opportunity.

Since it was so cold, the ghost town lived up to it's name that day and looked very empty, with very few visitors.  The wind was bitter cold and it made it hard to stick around for very long.  We quickly walked through some of the main part of town.  There are some fun little shops there.  But, overall, we were a bit disappointed.  There seems to be a charge for just about everything.  The O.K. Corral was walled in and you had to pay to see it.  There were people in the streets and on the corners talking at everyone who walked by in an attempt to get them to pay for historical information.  The stagecoaches traveled around with loud speakers inside telling about the area.  That didn't seem like a fun ride.  And, those speakers and microphones definitely didn't help with feeling like you were stepping back in time.  But, who knows, maybe it would be a lot more fun on a warmer and busier day.  The lack of crowds made it good for photos though.  Here's the main street...

Since we didn't stay long in Tombstone, we still had plenty of time left in the day.  We'd heard about the nearby town of Bisbee and decided to go see it.  It turned out to be fantastic and even magical!  The moment we caught a glimpse of it, we were gasping and ooohing and aahhhing over how adorable it is.  The weather that day added to the charm.  It made the town less crowded and we often felt like we almost had it all to ourselves.

Many of the homes are built into the side of the hill, they're old, and the narrow winding road made me think of photos I've seen of old European towns.  It was charming!  This photo almost looks like an old painting.  I love it!  That's hubby and Salsa standing on the sidewalk...

There were surprises everywhere we looked....even down on the sidewalk...

Beautiful stone or glass tiles had been set into the concrete and it looked as if they had once been lit from underneath.  That must have been beautiful to see!

Even some of the manhole covers were ornate and beautiful...

The sun was shining when we arrived in Bisbee.  I took a photo of this old church shortly after we pulled into town...

We walked in a building to see a weaving guild that was meeting that day and when we came out the sun was gone and the sky was completely cloudy.  We went into a cozy little restaurant for lunch and it soon started to snow.  That's something we rarely see.  So, we were in awe!  It was magical for us!  The waitress told us that it rarely snows in Bisbee.  She said it only happens once every few years or so.  We were lucky to be there to see it!

Here's that same church a little while later...

We enjoyed walking around some of the little shops in town.  We also stopped in for a drink at the old Copper Queen Saloon that had been there since 1906!  We sat in the back, had a drink and enjoyed watching the snow falling outside.

We headed back to camp with lots of great memories from a wonderful day of exploring.  I hope to go back someday when the weather is dry and take a LOT more photos!

It snowed again overnight in the mountains next to the campground.  Cold but beautiful!

And, to our surprise that next morning, we found that someone had decorated a tiny tree outside of our trailer the day before.  Such a fun and touching little surprise!

The ornaments were covered in frost and snow.

And, some had blown off in the high winds.

There were some sunny days while we were there though.  We bundled up one day and headed out on the "50 Year Trail" at Golder Ranch for some mountain biking.  It was a beautiful day and a fun ride.  But, I have to say that cactus along a single track trail adds a whole new dimension to mountain biking!  I kept a much closer eye on the trail and everything alongside it!  One guy parked next to us at the finish was pulling cactus thorns out of his leg!  Ouch!

That's my hubby in the photo...

Arizona is such a beautiful state with a lot to see.  We've been there a often since our daughter moved there.  We're heading back again this weekend.  I wonder what we'll see this time?!

Walking, Running, Riding, and Restoring

I always try to find the good in things.  So, in the midst of all the stress with the things going on in my life lately, I've found increased motivation to get out to walk, run, and ride my bike.  Lots of good ways to restore my sanity, relieve some stress, and get healthy as a result.  A win, win, win!  

I always carry my cell phone with me.  And, being the picture taking fool that I am, a lot of pictures get taken along the way.  Here are a few from the past few weeks.  They're all from Instagram....that's why they have black frames on them.

My walking partner, Salsa...

We love going to the Santa Plateau in our local hills.  It's a beautiful place!  And, it's a great place to ride a mountain bike...

It's also a great place to go for a walk or hike.  Gorgeous!

I think I could sit on one of these benches all day!

There are seasonal pools of water there.  They call them "vernal pools".  They're currently looking quite beautiful!  I love the walkway that goes over them.  Sometimes they're filled with fairy shrimp, tadpoles, tiny frogs, and little snakes.  I love it when the pools are there!

My husband and I were mountain biking there last week and came around the corner and saw a pig!  It was out for a hike with it's family.  It seemed very happy.  It would stop to nibble some grass and then look up to see they were ahead and start running to catch up while it grunted softly.  Funny and cute!  I have to say....I've never seen that before!

It was about 70 degrees and sunny that day.  Beautiful!

I love all the big, old, oak trees up there!

I was up early yesterday morning.  I opened the blinds in our living room and the sun was streaming in.  Penelope was soaking it up and looked like she was meditating.  Good job, Penelope!  A good reminder of something I need to do more of....stop, close my eyes, take some deep breaths, and meditate!

Celebration Road Trip - Final Two Stops

So far, our two week road trip to celebrate our upcoming 25th anniversary was filled with surprises, incredible scenery and lots of fun.  From the beautiful and magical North Rim of Grand Canyon and the awesome time we had in Capitol Reef / Goblin Valley / Cassidy Arch to the spectacular adventure we had exploring slot canyons in Escalante.  But, we still had a few more days and two more destinations to enjoy.  Next stop...the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park.

We headed out early from Captitol Reef National Park and the scenery along the way was beautiful.  Part of the drive went up from the east side of Bryce Canyon National Park.  I snapped a picture through the windshield of some of the amazing roadside scenery.  I like how this photo even caught the reflection of it on the hood of our truck...

We had made reservations at one of the many campgrounds in Grand Canyon National Park.  That's a must because it's very popular and spaces fill up fast.  We got there around mid afternoon and set up.  Shortly after that, we headed over to the rim for the sunset.  The Elk were out for some late day munching.  Hubby got a picture of this guy with huge antlers.  He was bending young trees over to eat their tender tops.  The Elk made very weird sounds to communicate with one another...something we'd never heard before.

It was very cloudy but the sunset was still beautiful.

Here's a photo I took...

As the sun disappeared, we turned to walk back along the rim and hubby got this gorgeous picture looking east.  We could see rain storms over the canyon and they moved so fast that in no time at all it was pouring right over us.  Good thing I'd brought a jacket to protect my camera!  We got drenched pretty quickly but the rain didn't last long and we dried quickly too.  Another magical night at Grand Canyon!  I love that place so much!

The next morning, we had a good breakfast, loaded our packs, and headed out on our bikes to ride from view point to view point.  Our first stop was the visitor center to check things out.  There was a Raven in a tree there that had an audience of people watching him as he talked and talked.  I wonder what he was saying?

After a few stops, we arrived at the El Tovar Lodge.  It was built in 1905 and is one more of those amazing National Park lodges that are so much fun to see.  Since it was already mid-day, we decided to treat ourselves to lunch in their elegant restaurant.  It was beautiful and so fancy with staff that were extremely professional and treated everyone like royalty. We got there early enough to be seated near the window for an view of the canyon while we dined.  There was some old and interesting artwork on the walls that they're happy to provide a printout that tells about them.  Oh....and, the food was really good too! 

I love the dishes they use there and they have some on display just outside the dining room...

There are a lot of stops you can make along the rim.  Some are simply a place to take in the view.  Others have a museum, an art gallery or something else too.  I fell in love with the amazing view from this stop.  I think it was the Yavapai Museum of Geology.  The building sat right on the rim with windows all across the canyon side.  What a great living room that would make!!!  I snapped a picture but everyone else was enjoying it too so it was impossible to get a picture with no one in it.  But, I like the silhouette of this lady in her cute hat enjoying the view...

I don't remember how many miles we rode that day but it was quite a few.  There were a lot more stops and miles to the end stop at Hermit's Rest than I thought.  It was a lot of fun though and nice to take our time and enjoy the park without using the park shuttle bus.  Although, it's a great option and I did take advantage of it and rode back from Hermit's rest to the El Tovar Lodge.  Hubby rode back to meet me there.  I locked up my bike and headed into the bar to order a drink and before they'd finished making it, hubby called me to let me know he was there.  That was fast!  He got a drink too and we sat on the front porch of the lodge to relax and take in our amazing time there.

I had a prickly pear margarita.  It sure was pink!

When my daughter and I stopped at Grand Canyon in July, we found a cafe in the Market Plaza (inside the park) with that was very affordable and had lots of food options.  I was pretty tired from our long bike ride and didn't really feel like cooking.  Besides, this place was so good that we couldn't miss it.  So, hubby and I headed over there for dinner.

We got up early the next morning and got one more look at that amazing canyon before we left.  Salsa got to go this time and we took her picture.  I think she likes it there!

Then, we headed back to camp to pack up, hitch up, and hit the road for our next stop.  One last picture before we left....the view from our campsite.  Beautiful!  And, now this place has so many awesome memories....from the wonderful time I spent there with my daughter in July and, now, the great time I had there with my hubby.  I was a bit teary eyed about leaving.  But, I'm sure we'll be back!  And, we were heading off to see and experience more places.

Our next and last stop of this trip was going to be Sedona, Arizona.  We enjoyed more beautiful landscapes and blue skies filled with puffy clouds along the way.

And, many more miles of golden yellow flowers...

We had a reservation on this stop too as the only place we know of in town is the Ranch Sedona RV park and we didn't want to chance not getting a spot.  It was pretty hot when we got there and we were pretty hungry.  So, we got all set up, turned on the AC for Salsa and Penelope (our dog and kitty) and headed out for lunch!  We went to the Oak Creek Brewery and Grill at the Tlaquepaque Arts and Crafts Village.  It was a good choice.  It was nice and cool inside, we had a window seat with a nice view of the village below, the waitress was really nice, and the beer and food was great!

We ordered a sampler of some of the beer they brew...

The little mugs were so cute!...

We tried something we'd never had...deep fried pickles.  But, not just any deep fried pickles.  These were "Wicked Pickles" that had been infused with jalapeno.  YUM!!!  The rest of our food was great too!

The main thing we'd planned to do on this visit to Sedona was to go for a mountain bike ride.  So, the next day, we headed out for a late afternoon/sunset ride near Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte.  Trail parking areas now have kiosks to purchase a parking permit for $5.  We had no trouble at all finding spaces to park.  And, as always, the scenery there was spectacular!

That's Courthouse Butte that I'm pointing at.  We were riding to the base of it.

Fun!

But, watch out for some of the obstacles sticking out from the edge of the trail!...

We capped off the final night of our trip with an amazing meal at the Taos Cantina (funny name for a place in Sedona!).  Hubby had a "Dirty Sedona Margarita" with pineapple, orange juice and cinnamon in it.  It had a very unique flavor.  He loved it!  I had a Blackberry Lime Margarita.  Cheers!

I'm not sure if we were just hungry after our bike ride and because it was late or if the food really was really amazing but that meal was SOOO good!  Hubby had tamales and I had shrimp street tacos.  I'm getting hungry just thinking about it all.  Incredibly delicious!

A perfect end to a perfect trip!

P.S.  If you haven't had a chance to see photos and posts from the rest of our trip, I've provided links at the top.  Just click on one of the places and it will take you to that post.  Once there, if you just want to see the photos, click on any photo and it will bring up just the photos and they'll be larger.  We had an amazing time and saw so many spectacular things!

Thanks for stopping by!  :-D

Riding the Guacamole Trail

We had a jam-packed, activity filled trip to Southern Utah.

We had so many plans that we didn't get to all of them.

One thing we did manage to squeeze in was a mountain bike ride on the Guacamole Trail!

Woo hoo!  Talk about fun!  The terrain was unexpected and different than anywhere we've ever ridden.  The scenery was spectacular!  And, the weather that day couldn't have been more perfect.

Here we are at the start of our ride...

The trail was on top of a huge mesa and almost completely on rock.  It was filled with lumps, bumps, potholes, twists and curves, and lots of technical challenges that were a ton of fun.  The trail was marked with wire cylinders filled with rocks.  We sometimes would have to stop and

look for the next one to figure out where to go.  I meant to get a photo of one.  Oops!

Part of the trail ran along a cliff overlooking the valley we drove through to get there.

Some of it meandered through a forest of small trees that had burned.

I was surprised at all the flowers.  It looked more like Spring than Fall.

So much fun!  I love this photo of hubby!

I couldn't resist crawling into this hole in the rock and posing for a picture.

We found some huge rock walls covered in thick moss.

So pretty and soft.

And, on the opposite end of the spectrum...some things that weren't quite so soft...

Especially these...the needles were about two inches long.  Yikes!

We were extra careful around these!

This little guy was stretched across the trail.

We have no idea what kind of snake it is.  It was a caramel brown with orange eyes.
I thought it was interesting how windy/curvy it was.  He wasn't about to move.
So, we snapped a few photos and went way around him.

Hubby had read that the road up can get muddy and slippery.  It had just rained there a day or two earlier.  So, we parked below the last climb and rode our bikes up to the mesa.  It actually wasn't muddy or slippery anymore.  But, we did find a truck that had gotten stuck in the mud and left there.  It was really steep.  We were reminded how steep when we went back down...no problem for my speedy husband but I used my brakes most of the way down.  It's MUCH steeper than it looks!

I can't wait to ride there again!  It was one of the best days of our trip!