We probably moved too soon to Cottonwood, Arizona, in mid-February. The elevation of Cottonwood is 2,000 feet higher than the Phoenix area. The first couple of nights the pipes froze that supplied our water. After that, we left the water dripping during the night. The days were warm and pleasant, however.
DEAD HORSE RANCH STATE PARK
We took a day trip to Dead Horse Ranch State Park. There is a story about how it got its name. Calvin Ireys bought the ranch in 1950. The first time the family looked at the ranch to purchase, they saw a dead horse lying in a field. After buying the property, they named it Dead Horse Ranch. In 1971, Ireys sold the ranch to the state for a state park. Today the park is 423 acres with 10 miles of hiking trails, 150 campground sites and several picnic areas.
We took a walk on the “Canopy” trail which is just a quarter of a mile long.
Canopy Trail Dead Horse Ranch State ParkCanopy TrailCanopy TrailCanopy trail to bird feeders
We sat on a bench and watched the birds at the bird feeders.
Canopy trail Bird feeder at Canopy Trail
Later we took a short hike down this trail by the Verde River.
Trail to Verde River, Dead Horse Ranch State ParkVerde River
“Verde” means “green” in Spanish, and it is green! The cottonwood trees that surround the river on both sides were dormant. In spring or summer, they would be a brilliant lush green.
Verde River
We saw some horseback riders.
Dead Horse Ranch State Park
Later we drove around the park and found the “West Lagoon”. I got out to take some photos and walked on the pathway that goes completely around the lagoon. (about .7 miles)
Lagoon at Dead Horse Ranch State Park
The lagoon was home to much wildlife.
We got some exercise and enjoyed the scenery and wildlife. It would be nice to see the Cottonwood trees (which the town is named after) in spring and summer when they have their full foliage. It’s a bright green, which gives another reason for the name Verde Valley. The entire valley is a green oasis in the desert, surrounded by red rock rimmed mountains. It’s a place to see!
The Airstream reflects the evening sunset in Cottonwood, AZ.
During November and December, we enjoyed spending the holidays with our kids and grandkids. In January as we were headed out of California again to spend the rest of the winter months in Arizona, disaster struck.
California has bio-diesel at a much cheaper price than Diesel #2. We thought we were saving money. Now we know better. Apparently, our truck has a unique fuel pump that can’t handle bio-diesel. It failed and all the metal parts were distributed throughout its fuel system. Three weeks and thousands of dollars later, we were wiser but poorer. Thankfully, we were able to spend those three weeks in a nice campground near Santa Barbara while the truck was being repaired.
The hills outside Santa Barbara, California.
We were surrounded by mountains, and the hills were beautiful in the evening light.
The campground was a working ranch with horses a plenty. I took the opportunity to get acquainted with some of the equine one afternoon.
Rancho Osa outside Santa Barbara, California, is a working ranch.
Our main concern was not being able to shop for groceries. Although there was a country store on the campground, the selection was very limited, especially when it came to fresh food and meat. After a couple of weeks, our supplies were very low. Our daughter, Ann, rescued us by driving there and taking us grocery shopping one afternoon in Santa Barbara. We were very grateful.
Because of the pandemic, auto parts were delayed in coming. We had a great mechanic, and the park rangers were very helpful in extending our stay. The hardest part of being stuck there for three weeks, was the lack of communication. The campground was in a canyon. We had to walk to another part of the campground to get enough phone signal to make a phone call.
One way to spend time while we were waiting for our truck to be repaired was to take walks in the afternoon or evening discovering the beauty around us.
Prickly pear cactusBloom where you’re planted!
We were so grateful to have our truck back, and in the future, we would love to explore this area more.
We stayed for two weeks in White Sulphur Springs, Montana, a small town with a population of less than 1,000. There are lots of beautiful areas in and around this quaint little mining town.
Nearby, there are wheat and hay farms. Everyone grows hay here, it seems. They roll the hay in big bales and use most of it for feeding their own livestock. Winters are harsh here, so I’m sure it takes a lot of hay to last all winter long.
One afternoon, we drove around the back dirt roads around the town. Here are some of the sights we saw.
One day while driving toward Bozeman, Montana, we found this quaint old church from 1898.
And nearby was this iconic view of a typical Montana ranch. Notice the rows of bales of hay to the right.
In September, we moved to a KOA outside of Townsend, Montana, just a few miles from Helena, Montana. One evening it rained and we could see snow on the nearby mountains across the lake. However, in a couple of days the temperature was up in the 80’s again.
As we made our way south, we stayed in Downey, Idaho, for a couple of nights. We were really close to Bear Lake in the corner of Southeast Idaho and northeast Utah, so we decided to take a day trip to see it. We drove most of the way around the lake. It was hazy from the wildfires, but the water was still a beautiful turquoise blue.
Further south, we stayed at a nice campground in Duchesne (pronounced du-shane), Utah, which was right by a reservoir. It would have been nicer if there wasn’t so much smoke from a nearby fire.
Zion National Park is bigger than I thought! We drove into Kolob Canyon little realizing it was a part of Zion NP. However, there is no road to the main part of Zion through Kolob Canyon. It’s a dead end road. But the beautiful red rocks cliffs are just as stunning.
This was a nice short trip to the backside of Zion to see more of these amazing rocks.
Two more nearby sites we saw while camping in Hurricane, Utah, were the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp) Camp in Leeds, Utah, and an old ghost town that was a former mining town called Silver Reef.
The CCC was an organization started from 1933 to 1942. It was a work relief program for young men between 17 and 28 years old. It provided manual labor jobs related to the conservation and development of natural resources in rural lands owned by the federal, state and local governments. It provided them with food, clothing and shelter plus a wage, part of which was sent home to their families.
Silver Reef was once the site of a silver mine in 1866. Geologists were at first uncertain about the claim since silver is not normally found in sandstone.
On the way to Bryce Canyon, we passed through Red Rock Canyon. In Bryce, you are looking down into the canyon. However, in Red Rock Canyon, you are down in the canyon looking up.
The red rock spires reach into the sky.
We drove on to Bryce Canyon where we saw this awe-inspiring display at Sunset Point. It wasn’t sunset, but the rocks were beautifully reflecting the afternoon light. Down below were trails, wildlife and conifers. It you look closely, you can see the tops of the trees.
Bryce Canyon is a changing landscape. The spires, or hoodoos, as they are called, continue to change through erosion from wind, rain, snow and ice.
Bryce Canyon National Park is a rather narrow but long national park positioned along the edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. In the distance are the gray, white and vermillion cliffs that stair-step down to the land below. The elevation at the rim varies between 8,000 to 9,000 feet in elevation, thus the expansive views.
At around mile 12 of the road into the park, there is a “natural bridge,” which is really a natural arch. The name was given so long ago that it stuck. A true natural bridge by definition is formed by flowing water that cuts through the sandstone. This arch was formed by other means.
Looking across the span of Bryce NP at the end of the road at Rainbow Point.
We enjoyed our day at Bryce Canyon National Park. We would like to go back some day to spend more time there.
While staying in southern Utah, we took a day trip to see the fall foliage. Driving up the canyon on Hwy 9, we caught some leaves turning beautiful colors.
We stopped at a county park where I hiked up a hill pathway to see where it might lead. I was rewarded with this beautiful pond capturing the reflection of the golden aspen trees.
While staying in Hurricane, Utah, near St. George, we took day trips to Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks, Cedar Breaks National Monument and Pink Sands State park. The day we went to Zion was a Friday. Big mistake! The parking lots were full, so we decided to just drive through the park. None of the turnouts were available, so the first photo I got was while waiting in line for 15 or 20 minutes to drive through the tunnel. The above photo is the shot I got from the car. The park regulates the tunnel traffic to one lane, and thus the wait.
As we drove through the park, we eventually found a few turnouts where I could get some photos. The huge red rock canyon walls are just as beautiful as ever. I even managed to see a big horn sheep, though he was too far away to get a good photo.
This was our last stop in Zion. It is called Checkerboard mountain.
On the way out of the park, we drove through the town of Kanab, Utah, where we once stayed for a family vacation back in the late 80’s. There’s a restaurant called “Trails End” and just a few doors away was an art gallery (not there now) where Ray bought a watercolor painting by Roland Lee, now a renown artist. Little did we know then that we’d made a good investment. We just liked the painting!
A little ways out of Kanab, we came across this interesting “cave” and lagoon. The fall colors caught my eye.
Our trip that day took us in a loop that dipped down into Arizona. We drove through the town of Colorado City, Utah, where the polygamist Fundamentalist Mormons used to have a large colony, and on to a Utah state park called Pink Sands. The sands aren’t really pink. They are more like red or orange. It cost money to drive into the park, and I didn’t plan to stay long, so I climbed up a sand dune and got a couple of shots of the “pink” sand dunes.
Our day trip took us many miles, but discovering new places is one reason we travel full time. Our great country is full of beautiful national parks, state parks and scenic beauty.
We traveled north into Montana and camped at Conestoga Campground and RV Park in White Sulphur Springs. This was our view out our window.
The RV Park even had it’s own fish pond.
We like to camp in one place for a couple of weeks and take day trips to places around our base camp. One of our side trips while in Montana was to Great Falls, Montana. We were happy to find a Mongolian BBQ that was open. It was one of the first times we were able to dine in at a restaurant since the Covid-19 pandemic.
From there, we drove alongside the Missouri River to see Black Eagle Falls and Rainbow Falls. Other stops were at Giant Springs State Park and the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center.
The drive to Great Falls was beautiful through the mountains and forests. This is a lookout just a few miles outside of Great Falls.
There are five falls within a 10 mile stretch of the Missouri River. The one seen below is Black Eagle Falls which is right in the middle of the city of Great Falls.
The next one seen below is Rainbow Falls.
As you can see, there are power houses built before each of the falls to maximize electricity generation for the area.
Between Black Eagle Falls and Rainbow Falls is Giant Springs State Park. Giant Springs is one of the largest freshwater springs in the nation. It is the source of the Roe River, one of the world’s shortest rivers. Roe River flows into the Missouri River. But the source of the springs itself comes from miles of underground water from the mountains miles away. The water the bubbles up from cracks in rocks into a pool and runs over rocks into the Missouri River. By the way, did you know that the Missouri River is the longest river in North America?
The park grounds were green and beautiful.
Notice how clear the water is!
In the photo below, you can see where the water bubbles up out of the rocks below and into the pool.
You can faintly see circles in the water where the water is bubbling up.
The world’s shortest river of just 200 feet.
Beyond the walkway is the Missouri River.
The Missouri River is also the river that explorers Lewis and Clark traveled to find a waterway to the Pacific and to explore the large region of the Louisiana Purchase. We stopped at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. One floor of exhibits was closed due to the pandemic, but the top floor still had some interesting exhibits, including a panorama of what it was like to carry heavy dugout canoes around each of the falls in this area.
The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center
It’s interesting to see sites where history took place in the beginnings of our country. I would love to come back to Great Falls, Montana, and explore the area and its history further.
We were stuck in Tucson, AZ, for the pandemic lock down of 2020. As the heat started spiking into triple digits, we sought a cooler place to spend our time while waiting to get into California to visit family and take care of our annual dental, vision and doctor appointments.
Show Low, AZ, at an elevation of 6,300 feet was where we took our maiden voyage in our first little RV. We knew it would be much cooler there, so we called up our favorite RV park and found out they were just opening for the summer. The drive from Tucson to Show Low was absolutely beautiful, with red rock canyons and twisty-armed saguaros.
On the way to Show Low from Tucson on Hwy 77
Our campsite in Show Low, AZ
We stayed in Show Low for 2 weeks at Waltner’s RV Resort. We loved the quiet and convenience of the location. While we were there, we took a few drives to look around the area. One evening we went to see Show Low Lake that was only a couple of miles from our campsite. The sunset was magical.
Show Low Lake
Show Low Lake
We had seriously considered Show Low as a permanent location when we settle down someday, but we changed our minds after spending two weeks there in spring. In short: cedar trees! Ray has a serious allergy to the pollen from the cedar trees and Show Low has plenty of them. He had a very severe reaction to the cedar trees in Texas when we were there in the winter. Show Low wasn’t as bad, but he was glad to leave the area to get back to feeling normal.
From Show Low, we drove west and stayed a couple of nights in Flagstaff, AZ, Bullhead City, AZ, and then in Tehachapi, CA, before finally arriving at our Thousand Trails campground in San Benito, California. Here are some scenes along the way.
Driving into Flagstaff, Humphreys Peak looms in the distance
Tehachapi, California
Mountain Valley RV Park in Tehachapi is a nice campground next to an airport for glider flights. The above photo is looking across the landing strip at the hills in the background. Tehachapi is an elevation of nearly 4,000 feet. So it is generally cool and windy. In fact, you will see many wind generators on the hills around Tehachapi.
Our next campground was a Thousand Trails Campground near Hollister, CA. It’s a few miles outside the tiny town of Paicines. Situated on a natural preserve, we observed many different kinds of wildlife, including ground and tree squirrels, wild pigs, deer and rabbits.
Our view at San Benito Campground, Paicines, CA
San Benito Campground
We moved to Oakhurst for a week to be closer to all our doctor appointments. We had reservations at an Escapees park, but they closed their office by noon. We weren’t aware of this, since most RV parks are open until at least 4 p.m. We had to quickly find another spot which turned out to be in a better location. It was right along the Fresno River in the middle of Oakhurst. In all the years we lived in that area, I never knew there was a river right through the middle of Oakhurst. We even had our own waterfall. The river was right behind our campsite at High Sierra RV Park.
Our campsite by the Fresno River
Waterfall near our campsite, Oakhurst, CA
The Thousand Trails campground in Oceano, CA, was not accepting anyone into the park outside their county (San Luis Obispo). We had arranged to stay in Paso Robles for a few days because it’s located near our kids and grandkids. It happens to also be in San Luis Obispos county, so we were in luck. When we made our reservations with Pacific Dunes RV Ranch in Oceano, we were able to say that we were coming from within the county!
Oceano is right along the beach. However, it is called Pacific Dunes for a reason. I was looking forward to spending long walks on the beach and being in the cool ocean breeze. On my first attempt to walk to the beach, I hiked up the first hill of dunes and this is what I saw.
I didn’t walk on the beach, but I decided to make the best of it. I remember having a great time with our kids years ago when we went to White Sands New Mexico. So I invited some of my grandkids to explore the dunes with me. They found out that sliding down the dunes is not easy. But they were innovative and did somersaults, tumbled and ran down the steep dunes. The cardboard that we brought to slide on soon formed into a tent fort.
Zoey in her cardboard tent fort.
Noah tumbles down the dune
And I finally got a glimpse of the ocean from the top of a dune that day. It seemed like miles away.
The beach is far away across an ocean of dunes!
There is something beautiful about the dunes at sunset.
The shrubbery is also quite beautiful.
Sometimes it’s better to go barefoot
A beautiful view of Oceano and surrounding area
Though my expectations were far different from what I found, the beauty of the area was an unexpected surprise.
The pandemic of 2020 was in full swing. We had all our future reservations canceled and were told to stay in place. But after weeks of being in lockdown, we needed to get out. We decided it would be safe to drive out to the beautiful San Xavier mission south of Tucson, Arizona, and at least take a look at the outside. I’m so glad we did.
This National Historic Lankmark was founded as a Catholic mission by Father Eusebio Kino in 1692. Construction of the current structure was begun in 1783 and completed in 1797. The interior is filled with original statuary and mural paintings. The church was closed because of the Covid-19 pandemic, however, the mission is still actively run by Franciscans today.
Palo Verde tree, saguaro cactus, prickly pear and yucca plant (in foreground).
The grounds were beautiful with many cacti in bloom.
