Southwest
Christmas display in the tiny town of Cornville, Arizona. Dave Kessel.
DECEMBER 15, 2013. This is another post about interesting people I’ve met along the way. As I’ve stated, one of the compelling reasons I had for taking this trip was to meet and talk with interesting Americans. I want to meet folks whose backgrounds aren’t parallel with mine. I want to learn how they think, … Continue reading
Up the Creek Grill. Page Springs, Arizona…
Up the Creek Grill is a very special restaurant! It easily ranks #1 so far on the list of places where we’ve dined on this Journey. As you know I’m a real wanna be chef and restauranteur. I’ve often thought over the years that Culinary School might have better suited me than Law School. Although … Continue reading
Page Springs Resort in Sedona. Diane with her drum…
Page Springs RV Resort was the campground for our stay in the Sedona area. It turned out to be a nice place and we had a site right near Oak Creek, which runs through the campground and past the restaurant up the hill and “next door.” (I’ve got a separate post about it: “Up … Continue reading
Arriving in Sedona, Arizona…
Sedona is a small city located in the northern Verde Valley region of Arizona. Sedona’s main attraction is its array of red sandstone formations. They appear to glow in brilliant orange and red when illuminated by the rising or setting sun. The red rocks form a popular backdrop for many activities, ranging from spiritual pursuits … Continue reading
Off road with the Jeep…
In June, we bought a Jeep Wrangler Sahara to use as our tow vehicle on the trip. It’s designed for heavy duty off-roading but is one step below the Rubicon model. I’d have been interested in that one except I’d have needed a pogo stick just to get inside of the thing! Anyway, I’ve … Continue reading
Tombstone, Arizona
NOVEMBER 29, 2013 Tombstone is an historic Wild-West town located about 25 miles from Benson. It’s a straight shot down highway 80 and doesn’t take any time at all to get there. It was one of the last wide-open frontier boomtowns in the American Old West. The town prospered from about 1877 to 1890, during … Continue reading
Copper Queen Hotel in Bisbee, Arizona…
The hotel… For Thanksgiving dinner, we drove to the Copper Queen Hotel in Bisbee. Construction of the hotel began in 1898 and was completed in 1902. It was the product of a booming mining camp called Bisbee. Once the largest city between St. Louis and San Francisco, it is now a beautiful, quiet getaway. The … Continue reading
Bisbee, Arizona
We visited the little town of Bisbee on Thanksgiving Day. Bisbee has an interesting history. In 1877, a reconnaissance detail of Army scouts and cavalrymen was sent to the Mule Mountains to search the area for renegade Apaches. What they found instead were signs of mineralization in the mountains, specifically the presence of lead, copper … Continue reading
Kartchner Caverns…
NOVEMBER 24, 2013. Kartchner Caverns State Park in Arizona features a huge underground show cave with 2.4 miles of passages. The park is located 9 miles south of the town of Benson and west of the north flowing San Pedro River. Long hidden from view, the caverns were discovered in 1974 by local cavers. The … Continue reading
Singing Wind Bookshop. Win Bundy.
NOVEMBER 23, 2013. WHAT A FIND! This little bookshop is so far the most interesting “find” we’ve made on our Journey. At the outset of my blog, I said that for me the purpose of this adventure was not just to view attractions and places, but of more importance to meet the people who live … Continue reading
Benson, Arizona
NOVEMBER 21, 2013. Benson is a tiny town in Arizona near Bisbee and Tombstone. There isn’t a lot to do in Benson, but we stayed there at the St. David RV Park so we would have easy driving access to the places we wanted to visit in the area. St. David is a Western Horizons … Continue reading
Eateries in Yuma, Arizona…
NOVEMBER 16, 2013 Famous Dave’s Barbecue Being in Yuma, the lettuce growing capitol of the world and home to mostly migrant farm workers, I was a little surprised that there were some pretty good places to eat near our campground. One was a joint called Famous Dave’s Barbecue. (As I re-read this post in March … Continue reading
Our stay in Yuma…
NOVEMBER 15, 2013 If you like to watch lettuce grow, Yuma is the spot to do it. In fact, I was told by the locals that 90% of all lettuce consumed in the entire world is grown here. That’s probably a slight exaggeration, but not by much. Everywhere one looks are fields of lettuce: iceberg … Continue reading
Away we go…
NOVEMBER 5, 2013 Finally, on November 5, 2013 our Journey officially began as we departed Sweetwater Summit heading for a Colorado River Adventures park in Yuma, Arizona, where we had reservations to stay at the Yuma Lakes Campground. The drive from San Diego to Yuma was uneventful…our new coach ran like a dream. It’s as … Continue reading
