Prescott is one of those places that I feel people try and keep to themselves. The beauty of this area is impressive. We have spent our time here exploring the town itself, the mountains around town and the state within 150 miles. WOW!!! We are staying in what I will call a "reasonably priced" RV resort. Most of the people here have planted roots. With the cheap price to live in such a place, I can understand. They keep to themselves and leave us alone, so I won't complain. We are staying at the edge of the Willow Dells. This is an area that is full of rock to climb and trails that take us all around the area. We have hiked a ton and are now starting to run the trails. The red rocks with the pinyon pine and Alligator Juniper are magnificent. All about a 30 second walk from our door.
We headed out to Sedona Saturday the 8th and was blown away by what was there. That is the real red rock. As deep a red as I have ever seen. The natural beauty is amazing, the tourist trap that it is, is not. That place is running on tourism. It was a bit disappointing to walk the town and get mostly tourist oriented shops. We headed out south of town to a Frank Lloyd Wright cathedral. It is a chapel built right into the red rock countryside. I pulled into a parking spot at the bottom so we could walk around and decided to get a picture. As I walked to the area I wanted to photograph a man asked if I could get his picture. Being the nice guy I am I said "sure". We exchanged names and began talking. His name was john. John asked if I was a "god fearing man"? I told him that I was and this spun us off onto a great conversation about how great the lord is. He told me about his troubled, jail filled, miserable life he once had and how the lord had delivered him from it. He now does Prison ministry work. I told John about our trip with the kids and why we want them to see what the lord has here for us. It was one of those moments in life where you can feel the lords power touching you. He asked if he could give me a hug. I said sure and we said our god bless yous. He introduced me to his girlfriend and we went our separate ways. (After a second hug) It was a moment that just struck me. Here we were, out where we know no one and I meet someone that has the word of the lord spilling out right when I need to hear it. No one will ever convince me that that was anything but the lord. We hit the road up to Flagstaff for the rest of the day. It was a great day to drive. We were able to see such a wide range of terrain. From the dry desert too the beauty of the red rocks, all the way up to the wonderful, snow capped San Francisco Peaks.
Wed. the 12th saw us at the Grand Canyon. I had flown over this magnificent hole in the ground many times. This was the first time that any of us had ever seen it up close. I think we all just stood and gazed out at the great unbelievable size of the thing. Never could I have imagined just how BIG it is. We decided to hike the South Rim trail over too the Bright Angel trail head. It was a grand hike. We walked for about 2.5 miles and around every bend was another vista that would take your breath away. We all wanted to do a hike down into the canyon, but I didn't want to kill the kids. The bright Angel was perfect. 1.5 miles down is a rest hut and a bathroom. We ate a light lunch and began the 1.5 mile and 1200+ vertical foot ascent. Lowman and I went pretty fast up the trail. A bit of competition. Hailey was the one that I was worried about. The was a champ. I think she only stopped once and was even passing hikers going slower than her. She too is a competitor. Another 3 miles back to the truck and we were done. And I mean DONE. We hiked about 9 miles that day. Beautiful weather and the dry air. DONE.
We had our first visitor the weekend of the 15th. Tres' sister Ginny (G-G) came down from Vegas to spend a few days. We had a great visit. We had not seen her in a few years, so it was good to catch up on things. We took her out to Montezumas Castle, Montezumas Well and back up to Sedona. Being able to see the Cliff dwellings was a treat. It is what Hailey has been studying in History, so she could put it all together. The Well was another interesting site. There were cliff dwellings in the sides of the Well. Around the rim were more dwellings. You walk the site, around the well it is bone dry. You walk the trail from the rim of the site and down to the creek. HUGE Arizona Sycamore trees all along the creek bank. There is an outlet from the Well underground. It spills into a canal system that enters the creek. The temperature change is so nice. Shade and cool. Stark contrast too 25 feet above you.
On Wed. the 19th We headed out to Wickenburg. It is a small town about 60 miles to the S/SW of Prescott. This town was the center of mining in the area for some time. It just missed being the territory seat by a few votes. Great Museum, and some of the best home made ice cream I have had in a while. Sweet cream ice cream. Again, great weather. 90 and sunny. Getting spoiled. They have some of the coolest cacti scattered around the town. Big, old cactus. Taller than two men and bigger around. Beautiful.
We got the Crapper back on this weekend. I fiberglassed the crap out of it and Tres, Lowman and I reattached it. Hopefully it stays on this time. I put extra screws in the brackets. Pray!!
Just a few more days and we are moving east. A quick stop in Santa Fe and off for a Visit too the place of my birth. TX.
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