COTTONWOOD/PRESCOTT ARIZONA

December 24th

Drove up to Cottonwood from Tucson on Christmas Eve. It was pouring rain all day, starting with hooking up to leave.  Denny said he was the wettest he has ever been getting ready to go. Thought there would be alot of traffic being Christmas Eve, but actually the best we have had driving thru Phoenix. The worst  traffic we had was about 30 miles from Cottonwood. There was an accident and we drove 0-20 MPH for about 45 minutes. Hard on an RV. At least it stopped raining by the time we got here for unhooking and setting up.  Cottonwood is about 100 miles north of Phoenix. Prescott is 20 miles south of Cottonwood. 

Eventho we have been here many times, our main reason coming to Cottonwood was to get a piece of jewelry fixed. Last year we didn't travel in the RV, but we did take a trip (plane) to go to our friends open house in Scottsdale. Long way to go for  a party, but it was fun.  They moved from Kirkland and built a home with 2 casita's in Scottsdale. While there, we visited friends  in Prescott that we  had met earlier on our tour of Ireland. 

They took us on a tour of Prescott. Prescott was built in the 1800's. There are still alot of old Victorian houses and old commercial buildings. Whiskey Row is the old section of town. It has become a haven for artists. In fact, Prescott was named one of the top 100 art towns in the USA. There are  lots of galleries with  sculptures,  pictures, jewelry, pottery, textiles and much more.  Fun place to visit. 

Last January, I bought earrings and matching pendant. The chain broke, but it is intertwined with the pendant, so I couldn't just get a new chain. The artist, Judith Skinner, is from Prescott, so I thought of bringing it back to her to fix.  The problem was that I forgot my jewelry box.  HOW could I have forgotten that!!!  I had our house sitter send the necklace  to Cottonwood. We went to Prescott Dec 26th. Had planned to see alot of the shops and have lunch before we went back. Right after I dropped the necklace off at the gallery, it started snowing. We didn't want to get caught in snow, so we left and came home. Very disappointing, but glad we did. It snowed all afternoon, evening and the next day. Prescott has an elevation of 5367'. Cottonwood is 3314'.

This morning when we got up, it was 16 degrees. A tad cold. In fact, it has been cold ever since we left Renton. I have been wearing my puffy down jacket. Getting a little tired of all the rain and cold. That's not we came south for. WHERE IS THE SUNSHINE????  I don't think we will be in sunshine until we move to Palm Springs on Feb 14th.  Palm Springs has also had below normal temperatures.

We have been doing our usual wine tasting and  BUYING.  There are about 10 wineries or more in the area. This is where we usually stock up to last us til the following year.

Since I forgot my jewelry box, I have had a good time buying new. A girl has to have her jewelry and it was a good excuse to buy new. So far, bought 2 sets of earrings with matching pendants, 2 separate  bracelets and a pair of earrings with matching bracelet.  What's a girl to do!!

Pictures of Prescott

This is the Town Square

TUCSON, ARIZONA

Dec 16-24,  2019

We stayed one night in Yuma on our  way to Tucson. Had planned on staying a week but had to change plans because of Joyce.  At least we got to have dinner with friends that we had  met in Palm Springs. They are fulltime RVer's,  originally from Pennsylvania We have known them about 8 years. 

As you come close to Yuma, the freeway is right next to the border of Mexico. Could see the wall from our truck, probably about 50' away. Lots of RV'ers boondock in Yuma, but it would make us nervous  to be  so close to the border with people coming over illegally from Mexico. Boondocking is when you stay out in the desert, no hookups, in the middle of nowhere. There is no protection of a park or other people. We see thousands of people that do it, but not  for us. We are spoiled, we like all the comforts of water, sewer and electric. 

Stayed a week in Tucson visiting friends but we are leaving tomorrow. We have been here twice and seen most of all the attractions around here.

One day we did go to the  West Saguaro National Park. Thought we had been there but had only been to the east one. It is mostly hiking, but there is a 5 mile drive around. Enjoyed seeing all the  different types  of cactus.

Since water is so scarce in the desert, it was nice to see a  refill water filling station instead of just buying one use plastic bottles. I never go anywhere without my stainless steel water bottle. 

As you can see,  it was a very bumpy dirt road thru the park

A saguaro cactus lives 75 years before it starts growing limbs outward. They live about 200 years.

Then we went to the Tucson Desert Museum. We had been here before but it is one of the few places we  wanted to see twice. If we lived here, we would join. It is a 2.5 mile walk outside looking at animals and cactus. Kind of like a zoo but different. 

Had never seen a free  phone charging station  before.  Very Nice!

This is an agave plant. This what they make tequila out of

This another type of agave. Thought it was very unusual

These are baby cactus, thought they were cute. 

I remember having this last time we were here, so had to order it again, a Prickly Pear Cactus margarita. Tasty!

Our friends took us to Tupac, AZ. today.  It is an artist community. It is the one area of Arizona that we had never been too. Of course, I had to buy some one of a kind jewelry. Most of it is Native American. I bought a silver bracelet and a bracelet and earring set of Mother of Pearl and Abalone. 

CAR MUSEUM

December 15, 2019

There is a car museum at one of the wineries we visited in Hollister.  It is only open the first Sat of every  month. When we were here before, it was closed. We both enjoy the old cars
.

 This is an overall picture with Denny walking in

 This is my dream car, a 57 Thunderbird. Would love it have it💗

 This is Denny's car, a 1971 El Camino. He has had his since 1973

Quite the fancy hood and grill

The box in the back is where you put your luggage before there were trunks

I took this thru the window. The bar on the back of the front seat held blankets to keep you warm. This was in the blue car in the above picture

This is the back seat where passengers sat. Notice the pegs you climb up on from the bumper. A tad breezy

Christmas in the RV

Dec 14, 2019

Finally had some time to out up some decorations for Christmas. I don't really take very much since space is limited in an RV. I don't want to take up too much space for something that doesn't stay up very long. Usually when I put up the decorations, we are in one spot  for the duration. This time, we have to move several times before I take them down. Kind of a hassle to put them up and take them down 3 times. 

Before I left home, I bought this poinsettia as a fund raiser for Jessica, my next door neighbors daughter for her school

All my decorations fit in this little end table.  The only thing that doesn't go in here is the little tree. I also don't have anything breakable. 

MENIFEE, CALIFORNIA-WINE TASTING

Dec 14-17, 2019

After leaving San Benito, our next destination was Menifee, Ca, about 100 SE of Los Angeles.  We usually stay 3 weeks, but because of all the changes, we were only able to stay 2 nights. Quite a difference than our usual.  Our main reason for going there is that we belong to a winery in Temecula, about 11 miles south. We had a couple of cases to pickup or we would have just skipped it this year.

Parking at this winery was tough, barely found a spot. I'm sure this car belonged to someone that worked there,  doubt that they would let the public park between the vines.

All of the wineries here all have beautiful grounds

On our way down from San Benito, we saw something we had never seen before, a cattle drive going down a street. A cow actually got out of line and into our lane, but a sheepdog herded it back in no time. 

The cow that got out of line is at the very back right  in our lane. Right after I took this picture, the sheepdog came running over and got the cow back in the lane

ON THE ROAD AGAIN------FINALLY

December 3-13,  2019

We had to leave  on our travels about 1.5 weeks later than usual. Denny had a partial knee replacement on Oct 10th. His last doctors appointment wasn't until a few days before Thanksgiving. The doctor was very pleased how it looked after only 6 weeks and said we would be fine to go. Planned on leaving on Thanksgiving. The day after his doctor appointment,  Joyce, Denny's sister,  passed away. The funeral wasn't til Dec 1st. It was a very sad time, Joyce and Denny were very close. They talked almost everyday.  I had made reservations for our entire time, so I spent a day changing campgrounds and dates.  Couldn't get in some places we usually go to and the Siskiyous, the big Mountain Pass between Oregon and California that is our usual gauge on when we leave was going to have snow. Had to change our itinerary completely for the first 2 weeks.

We left Dec 3rd. Because of the Siskiyous, Denny had to drive much longer days than he likes. He usually drives around 200-250 miles for 4-5 hr drive. Our first day was 395 miles in 7.5 hrs. Exhausted by the time we got to the first campground.  As we were relaxing after setting everything up, the sconces over the couch and table went out. Also the plug in that we use for the coffeepot didn't work. Then the TV went out. Never had so many things go wrong at once. Very frustrating, especially after such a long day. Denny tried everything to find out what was wrong, but to no avail.  I think there was something wrong with the electrical in the park because the next  morning, everything was fine. 

A MYSTERY OF LIFE

On Dec 5th, we got to our first official destination, San Benito RV , a Thousand Trails park.  It is about 100 miles south of San Francisco. We  hadn't been here for many years. After we were there  a few days, we remembered why we had said that we would NEVER be back. SENIORITIS MOMENT when I was figuring out where to go. There are little stickers everywhere on the ground. Even tho we take our shoes off inside, we had those stickers all over the floors. Hard on bare feet, OUCH!  When we were there before, they had a big electrical problem from squirrels eating all the underground wiring. Hard to find a spot. They had it pretty much under control now, but,  you couldn't walk around the park with your head up. There were so many holes from where they were trying to catch the squirrels and gophers. Had to watch where you were going. 

The trees there are very old, large  and the trunks are intertwined with each other

The tree below grew this way along the ground

All of the dirt you see on the grass are the holes that are everywhere. As I said, hard to walk

Pictures we took on the way down 

Views of the are around Hollister, CA, our first stop

It rained the night before and this rainbow appeared. Took the picture from our truck on our way wine tasting

On our way down we always stay at the Orange Grove RV Park in Bakersfield, CA. There is an orange tree at every site. When they are in season, you can pick as many oranges as you want. Can't get fresher than that. They were so juicy