Sedona - Arizona (2) 2014

4-21-14

Today we went to the Tuzigoot National Monument. Tuzigoot (Apache for “crooked water) is the remnant of a Southern Sinagua village built between 1000 and 1400. It crowns the summit of a long ridge rising 120 feet above the Verde Valley. The original pueblo was two stories high and had 87 ground floor rooms.

The village had a 360 degree view of the valley below. 

In the distance is the mining town of Jerome. 

Our next stop was Jerome. 

The town is located at the side of the mountain where copper ore was mined. Now the town is mining tourist dollars. 

There is still rusty equipment from the mining days placed throughout Jerome.

Cottonwood and Clarkdale are located in the valley below. 

Steps go from one section of town to a higher section. 

The town kept its 1880ties character. 

I visited a glass blower and received some instruction about colors and temperatures required. I would never attempt to do it. 

4-22-14

This was a hiking day. Arlene, Les and I left early for the trail of the West Fork of the Oak Creek. The trail is 3.3 long and follows the water.

Yellow and blue flowers were next to the trail. There were also lilac bushes in bloom. 

We had to cross the creek eleven times, stepping on rocks. 

We were glad when we saw the sign showing the end of the trail. We sat down and ate our lunch. 

A few hundred feet further the trail went into the water. This view reminded me of The Narrows in Zion National Park. 

Les removed his hiking shoes and put on flip flops and waded in the water and disappeared around the corner. When he came back he told me that I have to see this too. I wore his flip flops and walked until the water was too deep.

The water had done a beautiful job carving out the soft sandstone. It was a spectacular sight.

After a rest we headed back.

Young people were resting on a large, flat boulder next to the creek. 

Near the beginning of the trail stood the Mayhew Lodge. Movie stars the likes of Clark Gable and Jimmy Steward patronized the lodge. 

There is only a ruin where the building was. 

We had walked 6.6 miles and we could feel it. We were wondering why we did not meet members of the group on our way back. They had hiked only a short stretch and then headed back.

The weather was perfect for hiking. We had a nice breeze in the canyon.

4-23-14

Some members of the group went to Prescott to kayak and check out the stores. The remaining members did their own thing. I went to the beautiful, large Cottonwood Recreation Center and swam laps. The center has a regular swimming pool and a narrow, winding pool where one can swim against the current or against it. There are all kind of exercise machines and a lot of people were there and worked up a sweat.

While I was swimming I watched a mother and her daughter coming down the long, high slide. I thought it would be fun to do that too.

I walked up the stairs to the top of the slide and started sliding down. The female lifeguard had not seen me and she had shut off the water for the slide. I came down and hit the wall of the catching pool. I tumbled and hit the wall twice with the top of my head. A man and the lifeguard came right away and checked me out. I lost some skin and I was very slow for a while.

After taking a shower I put my wet stuff in the car and got my computer. I spent some time in the lobby of the Center and did my E mail and worked on my blog.

On the way home I stopped at Home Depot, Fry’s Grocery Store, and got some gasoline for the car. The rest of the day I did some reading.

4-24-14

We left the camping area at 8:30 AM for the Teacup Trail hike. This was early but it was not early for hiking. The group wanted to eat breakfast at the Coffee Pot Restaurant, one of the better known eateries in Sedona.

They have 101 omelets on the menu. I had planned not to eat at the restaurant and walk with Les around the neighborhood. I changed my mind and had my second breakfast of the day. I had only one egg with potatoes and toast. Getting late on the trail is one of the reasons I prefer to go on my own. Going later means having parking problems at the trail head and it is warmer. I stuck with the group though.

After breakfast we went on the Teacup Trail. 

The scenery is unbelievable beautiful. 

When our little group headed back to the cars, Les and I went up to Sugarloaf Summit. From there one has a 360 degree view of the city and mountains. 

With the telephoto lens I could see our people get into their cars. 

Another group had gone for breakfast at the Thousand Trails RV Park. They did not hike today.

4-25-14

This morning we went to the Palatki Red Cliffs Heritage Site cliff dwelling. The site is five miles west of Sedona, off highway 89A. We did not arrive ten minutes early for our tour, as requested, and the volunteer ranger gave us a verbal licking. She was right though. We should have left earlier since we had to go seven miles on a dirt road. They have a tour every twenty minutes.

The ranger at the ruins told us the story of the Sinague Indians who lived here about a thousand years ago. He answered all our questions. 

The inhabitants of this cliff dwelling had a good view of the valley below. 

Not very far from the main site was an alcove where pictographs adorn the walls. 

This was another interesting outing.

At 5:00 PM we had three kinds of ham soup. Leftover ham from Easter was used to make tasty soups. We also had ice cream and Barbara’s special brownies.

It was very windy in the afternoon and we are waiting for rain.

4-26-14

The rain came last night. It rained all morning. In the afternoon there were short breaks.

I left at 8:30 AM and did one load of laundry. While I was sitting at the Laundromat Ursula and Heinz came in to do their laundry. I met them in Flaming Gorge National Monument and later in Dinosaur National Monument. There we had to leave because of the shutdown.

Ursula and Heinz live in Stuttgart, Germany and had their motorhome shipped to Halifax, Canada. They just came back from Baja California, Mexico. I stayed in touch with them and tried to meet them in Tucson but my schedule had changed.

From the Laundromat I went to the library, and from there to Home Depot and then to Walmart. I would like to replace the drain pipes under the kitchen sink, but cannot find a 1¼ inch T.  At our next long stop I have to take everything out and take it to the store and figure something out.

In the evening we went again dancing at the Thousand Trails RV Park.

4-27-14

This is our last day in Cottonwood. At 1:00 PM we had a shortcake-strawberry- ice cream social. 

After filling ourselves with sweets we went to the American Legion  and danced until 4:45 PM. Some of the dancers we saw at the Thousand Trails RV Park were also there. People make the rounds. The six piece band was very good. At the 5:00 PM circle meeting we discussed our next stop. It will be cold in Flagstaff and some people may go straight to Page. I will try Flagstaff and make a decision there.