Sunday, Jan. 26

The weather was still great in the Phoenix area and Carol found us a site at Lake Pleasant for a few days, so off we went. Before we checked in, we stopped at a nearby Mexican restaurant to have lunch with our Norton neighbors, their son and his wife, who lived just outside of Phoenix. Before leaving each other, Erich and I challenged each other to a tennis match for later in the week. Soon after we pulled into our site, a jackrabbit ran close by and caused Christy to lunge. With me holding on to her leash, the hard jerk made her harness explode. Christy took off. I let out a loud, shrill whistle that surprisingly made her stop and come back. Instead of cacti and mountains, we got entertained by a hot-air balloon launch.

Monday, Jan. 27

When walking the dogs this morning, we met our camp host. He and his wife grew up in the Canton, Ohio area, so we had nice chat with him. In the afternoon, I went for a bike/hike to use my new telephoto lens for my phone camera. I chained my bike to a signpost at the trailhead and started up the trail. When I came to a spot to try out my new lens, I reached into my bag and couldn’t find it. Upset about the lens, I cut the hike short and returned to my bike. Not finding it on the trail, I searched in the tall grass around my bike. To my delight, it was laying safely on the ground.

We were in the middle of preparing supper when I saw a burro out our front window. We started taking pictures and then I decided to go outside and get closer. When I opened the door, I startled two other burros just feet from the door. I discovered that Carol has a burro phobia when she started screaming, “Shut the door. Shut the door!” Always trying to make Carol happy, I went outside and shut the door. The startled burros were now standing in front of the Ham. As I was looking at my phone’s screen to take a picture, the only thing I could see was the nostrils of a burro. I guess he thought that my phone was a treat and he wanted it. Burros kept coming until there were seven. They wandered around our loop for a good 30 minutes before moving on to another part of the campground. It was an exciting and unforgettable evening. Supper was very late tonight, but the special event sure gave us something to talk about.

Click on this link to view all of the burros. https://photos.app.goo.gl/CXtPP1SxuAT2NymA9

Tuesday, Jan. 28

Today, we walked to every corner of the park with the dogs and didn’t see one burro. Did we really see them yesterday?

There are some great places to visit just a couple hours north of Phoenix, but during this time of the year it is normally too cold to go there, because of the higher elevations. To our delight, the weather in Sedona is going to be in the 70’s for the next few days. Carol and I had visited there over 40 years ago and it as being spectacular. Carol made reservations and we were excited!

Wednesday, Jan. 29

Carol had ordered a new harness for Christy on Amazon. We picked it up at an Amazon locker in Anthem, AZ. where Erich lived. Erich and I were participating in the Out-of-State Norton, Ohio tennis tournament today. We were the only participants. We got to the courts early and spent about an hour enjoying one of the nicest city parks that we had ever visited. It was well manicured and had every amenity, even a railroad.  I hadn’t played in months, it was hot and Erich was 27 years younger than me. Those were all of my excuses if Erich ended up beating me. It was a hard fought match but I didn’t have to use any of my excuses.

We overnighted in an enormous event parking lot of a restaurant, halfway to Sedona. Shared with only one other RVer, we did carry-out at the restaurant and spent a very quiet night.

Thursday, Jan. 30

The Ham had to climb 2300 feet to get us to Sedona. As we got close, the strikingly beautiful red rock mountains started popping up in the horizon. By the time we got to the city limits, the views were in every direction. Other than the over-development and traffic, Sedona was as wonderful as we remembered. The roads were narrow and congested – not great conditions for driving a 31-foot RV. We had lunch in a small plaza and stopped at a PetsMart. The clerk inside told us of some good vista points to see the red rock from our RV. We tried visiting Red Rock SP, but our dogs were not allowed in. The ranger told us of a close by park on Red Rock. The problem with his directions was that he wasn’t sure of the park’s name and every road in Sedona is named Red Rock “something or other.” After driving every steep, curvy road in the area, we entered onto a short residential dead-end road. Now, looking for a place to turn around I spotted small sign that said, Crescent Moon Picnic Site. We turned into a beautiful large park with plenty of parking, few people, open fields, a wide creek and spectacular view of Cathedral Rock. Perfect! Cathedral Rock is the main attraction of Sedona. With Lois sitting in the sun, we took off for a hike with the girls. The hike along the creek kept getting us closer to Cathedral Rock. Carol wanted to go back and check on Lois, so Christy and I continued our hike. As we passed a lady walking her dog, I realized that it was the clerk from PetSmart. We talked for awhile, then returned to the Ham. It was the best day ever. Lois said it was the prettiest place that she had ever been.

Click on this link to view the red rock. https://photos.app.goo.gl/j8BC1qeBpyqfo5L39

We got to our campground just before dark and ended our wonderful day.

Friday, Jan. 31

Another perfect day to take our morning hike with the dogs. We weren’t sure what we were going to do the rest of the day, but Christy was sure that she wanted to keep hiking. Off in the distance, a structure caught my eye. I couldn’t completely make it out but it looked like ruins. When I got to the Ham, I Google mapped the area and discovered that we were just miles from Tuzigoot National Monument. Tuzigoot is a 3-story pueblo ruin of the ancient Sinaguan Indians. Carol loves ruins. We had our plans for the day.

Lois stayed in the museum while Carol and I climbed around the hilltop ruins. A ranger spent a lot of time with us, sharing his knowledge of the monument and the ancient people. Normally, not as interested in historical things as Carol, I actually enjoyed the afternoon. We then found a local Mexican restaurant for supper.

Click on this link for Tuzigoot. https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZSo8vpY2muRmGXgF9

One more day of great weather before the cold returned to the area. Montezuma’s Castle National Monument was on the way back to Phoenix, so we decided to give it a visit. There were Native Americans selling fry bread on the side of the road and Lois felt that she needed a tasty snack. Lois sure knows her snacks.

It was a long walk to the castle, so Carol and I did the tour by ourselves. The castle, built into the side of a mountain, was the only thing to see here and it was definitely worth the stop.

We got to Cave Creek Park in Phoenix in time for a short hike up a low mountain before calling it a day