I know I'm really late this time. As you can see, I have combined March and April together. March was busy and April was a travel month. So here we go. Our friends Jackie and Larry who we have known since our first work camping job in New Mexico came out for a visit. This is them by Montezuma Castle. We did the normal tourist things. and had a great time.
Here is Jackie and Holly at Tuzigoot National Monument. The picture below is Holly and I enjoying the sunshine that we finally had. The weather in January and February was cold, windy, and rainy.
We went to Sliding Rock State Park. Oak Creek runs through it and the run off from the mountain snows by Flagstaff really had the current flowing and cold.
It is called sliding rock because you can jump in farther up and slide down on the rock bottom, like a natural water slide. There wasn't much sliding going on this day because the water was so high from the run off. People were jumping in but were not staying in because it was so cold.
We had received three free nights in a park in Yuma Arizona so we met up with our friends John and Barb and drove down. What the heck, free is free. I worked with John in the concession stand last year and we became good friends. That's what's nice about work camping; you get to meet the nicest people and even become good friends with some of them.
We visited the Yuma Territorial State Prison. This is not the place I would want to be. It was hot when we were there with more hot to come as the summer developed. The buildings were all built by the prisoners themselves. It started with only seven prisoners then as they built more cells more prisoners were brought in to help. Here you can see prisoners 001, 002 and 003. They don't look like they are ready for work but then maybe they just arrived.
Here are prisoners 001 and 002 checking out the accommodations. Don't worry ladies, the brochure states that all the rooms have a desert view but no A/C.
This is a model of the prison that is in the museum. It was interesting to say the least. You go there now and it is in the town of Yuma but when it was built Yuma wasn't much of a town and anyone trying to escape had a lot of desert to cross to get any place called civilization.
Just before we left to come home we thought we would make a little trip up to the Grand Canyon... after all, it was only a couple of hours away. We were about ten miles south of Flagstaff when we ran into a snow storm. No I did not use black and white pictures to be more dramatic. These are color shots. Of course being raised in Michigan my whole life and driving in many snow storms I said what the heck, and promptly turned around and went home like any smart Michigander would do.
The next day we tried again and the roads were clear, the sun was shining and we had a lovely drive up to the canyon. We have been there before but every time feels like the first. It is absolutely beautiful. It's so hard to imagine that this place exists way out here.
The rock formations along with the trees and the way the shadows flow along the canyon from the clouds floating high overhead. The scenery is changing constantly. Below is one of the trails down in the canyon and yes there were people down there (silly people). It's a long walk down but I will almost bet it's a longer walk back up.
This was our walk for the day. No wonder the dogs and us were exhausted by the time we left there.
The only thing I can say about these two pictures is wonderful, beautiful and unbelievable.
Here is Holly showing off again by walking out on a ledge over the Grand Canyon and yes this was very much straight down. I won't tell that she pretty much crawled back... I wouldn't want to ruin her dare devil reputation. Me on the other hand prefers to stay far from the edge and hang on to something solid. Yup I'm pretty much chicken plus dreadfully afraid of heights.
We left Camp Verde in our dust at the end of March and headed out on the old trail towards home. We stopped and spent a few days in Tombstone Arizona. As you can see by the visitor center it was a rough place in its hayday. The main street now looks different from when it was a wild mining town. Back then there were more bars and brothels then anything else.
We were out wandering the streets and looking in many of the shops when I turned around and Holly was missing. After asking around I finally found her here. I won't tell what she was in for but it's a good thing they take Visa. I don't carry that kind of cash on me.
We went to a gun fight, sort of. It was more of a comedy show but we enjoyed it and they cast was very good. This is the bad guy (boooooo). Then there is the sheriff (yay). Don't pay an attention to that bottle in his hand, he has a very stressful job.
Here is the bad guy and his partner the bad girl, notice the red sash on them (had to have seen the movie). That's the old prospector in the middle. Yup, by the time it was all said and done they were all shot and dead.
When we left and went looking for a place for lunch we saw Doc Holiday and the Earp brothers looking for a fight. The last I heard they found one, too.
We went to Big Nose Kate's for lunch. Yes there really was a Big Nose Kate. She served pretty good food too.
We drove over to Bisbee which was also a mining town, just not as famous as Tombstone. We toured the Queen Mine where they mined copper. Here we have minor Holly, sorry I mean miner Holly. All fitted out to go down in the shaft. Always said she was a little shafty. or was that shifty.
Here is the entrance to the third level, the main entrance required you to stuff yourself into a cage with about 15 other miners and be lowered down into the mine. We got to ride down into the mine on the mine train (toot, toot). The pictures I took inside didn't turn out very well so just take my word, it was dark and those battery operated lights they gave us came in handy.
After we left Tombstone we stopped in Elephant Butte State Park New Mexico where we worked our first real campground host job. Then it was on to Albuquerque for two nights so we could sight see and have breakfast with friends we met while working in Elephant Butte. Then it was on to Arkansas to spend a few days with Penny and Bill. We worked with them in Schulenburg Texas and have been great friends ever since.
We made it home in time for Easter this year and were able to spend it with some of the family.
This is our granddaughter Mikayla. She is all dressed up for the high school prom. She is even practicing her pose for when she goes to college in a couple of years and joins a sorority. These darn grand kids of mine are growing up way too fast and making me feel older then I should. It will be worse when that first great grandson arrives in June. I've always said I was a great grandpa now I'll be one for sure.
Well that's it. Two months in one post. We will be headed to Whispering Surf Camping Resort in Pentwater, Michigan in a week so it will be back to the grind stone. I will leave you now with these words of wisdom from my tulips. Have a great summer and we will see you next month.
