LOS CEDROS

January 8, 2020

Lynn and Rolf took us to some very fancy  horse stables in Scottsdale. I think only in a place like Scottsdale would you find such lavish horse stables. Very interesting.

The meeting room

The Therapy pool

. 

PINNACLE PEAK

January 8, 2020

I have been terrible about excising since I have been on the road. Back home I go to Bootcamp twice a week and Zumba/Commit/MixFit 3 times a week. I seem to loose my willpower when we travel. Since I have been in Scottsdale, Lynn and I have walked almost everyday. Today we went on a hike to Pinnacle Peak with her friend, Blake. We were going to do the whole hike, but they decided to just do a part of it. Fine with me since i haven't really hiked in 2 years. We went 5500 steps, 2.2 miles and the equivalent of 21 floors of stairs.

The very top is Pinnacle Peak

My friend Lynn and I

Had to show you pictures of just a few of the very large homes. Amazing how big they are, can't imagine living in such a large house, let alone cleaning it. Of course, if you re rich enough to live in a house like this, you probably hire it out

Hopefully since I have started  walking and hiking, I will keep up with it when we leave next Tuesday. Crossing my fingers 

DELUXE CAMPGOUND

January 3, 2020

After Cottonwood, we traveled to Scottsdale, AZ to visit with our friends, Lynn and Rolf.  We have know them over 30 years. They moved to Scottsdale a few years ago from Kirkland and built a home with 2 casita's, one for his Mom and one for their son.  He put in full  hookups, including 50 amp for his RVing friends to visit. We stayed in his circular driveway, our most deluxe "campground".

This is the view from their sliding glass doors looking at their patio. To the far right is the outdoor fire pit. There are covers on the chairs right now. The first night here, we were relaxing and drinking champagne being warmed by the fire. 

This is the view from the spa last night while we were in it.

Will never have a campground as nice as this.

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