☺☺☺ We are in Tonopah, Arizona ☺☺☺

We started on the road around 10:00am... we were not in a big rush because we did not have far to go today. Maybe around 150 miles which is the way we really like to roll... As we headed down I-17 towards Phoenix we passed rolling hills, desert and lots of Saguaro Cactus. Being Saturday the traffic in Phoenix was a little heavy but if you stayed in the center lane it wasn't too bad. Big back ups at the exits... Guess everyone was trying to get their chores and fun done...

We finally arrived at Saddle Mountain RV Park in Tonopah, Arizona... It is a typical Arizona park with palm trees, Sagauro Cactus and gravel sites... No grass! But we are getting use to that... and so is Tiffy! It is well kept and a very maintained park... We have satellite TV but my AT&T internet card does not work here. They have a WiFi service that has a small charge but it is very fast... Both AT&T and Verizon phones work ok... If you have Passport America it is only $17.00 a night with 50 amp... & if you only need 30 amp it is $14. GREAT deal!!!!

Plus they have a great pool and activities center...

There are a few things we want to do in this area... one being to go into

Phoenix and visit the Capitol Building. Also go to Sams Club and

stock up on meats, frozen stuff and supplies...

Other then that we are not to sure of what there is to do here in this area.

At the end of the day we had a nice little sunset right over Saddle Mountain

Until Later... Have FUN, Travel Safe & Enjoy Everyday!

~~~Montezuma Castle~~~

~~~Montezuma Castle National Monument~~~

Camp Verde, Arizona

We started out late in the morning taking a ride through the country and headed towards Montezuma's Castle. We went through Camp Verde and over hills and down in the valleys. We finally arrived at our destination...

Interestingly enough, the name Montezuma Castle was a mistaken name. Early settlers who discovered the cliff dwelling ruins connected them to the Aztec emperor Montezuma, but in-fact the Sinaqua ruins had been abandoned a hundred years before Montezuma was even born. And the dwellings weren’t a castle at all, but a multi-family “prehistoric high rise apartment complex”

The Indian Tribe(Sinaquas)who built the cliff dwellings called Montezuma Castle about 700 years ago abandoned their habitat in this Verde Valley Arizona area in the 1400s. Maybe they had over farmed the land or they could have been eliminated through conflict with the Yavapai Indians that still exist today. If there were any Sinaqua survivors, they were likely absorbed into other Indian Tribes to the north.

Close up of the top of the castle and Ralph walking Tiffy in park


The Sinaquas were daring builders climbing up the high cliffs to carve-out a recessed area into the limestone walls & built the strong dwellings high above overlooking the Beaver Creek just a few miles from what is now known as Camp Verde, Arizona.

see the holes that are left in the cliff walls from part of the dwellings

It took ladders to climb to Montezuma Castle and as the Sinaqua reached each level, the ladders made their way to the cliff community making it difficult for enemy tribes to penetrate the natural defense of straight-vertical barriers.

This was a great day and another stamp in my National Park Passport Book. What a peaceful park to sit and ponder how they lived & farmed in this area.

To me it is all amazing!

Beaver Creek

Until Later... Have FUN, Travel Safe & Enjoy Everyday!

We're on our way to Valley Verde, Az

We are headed across I-1o west and then North on I-17 through lots of desert where the Saguaro Cactus are plentiful and the scenery changes from desert to rolling hills to mountains... It was a very enjoyable drive.

We traveled from Benson through Tucson and Phoenix ...

and through the desert we go again... by all the Saguaro Cactus

We even saw hot air balloons...

and look some flowers YEAH!!!

and then over the hills

Finally we take the road HWY 260 towards Valley Verde which is an area just outside of Cottonwood, Arizona about 70 miles north of Phoenix. There is a Thousand Trails campground there called Valley Verde (of course).

It is suppose to be the cream of the Thousand Trails parks!

Upon arrival to Valley Verde we are welcomed by a really nice security guard who checked us in... Then he informs us that they only have about 15 sites that are 50 amp with only 2 left that are empty and that we probably would not fit into them... OH GREAT!!! Now we can use 30 amp but it is so much nicer to use 50 and be able to run our heat, the microwave, coffee pot and washer all at the same time. We head out to check on the 2 left, down the hill towards the camping area and we see that we are indeed in a valley. We are surrounded by cliffs and mountains with beautiful views all around the campground. The first one is way to short and not level so onto the other site and after careful inspection we decide we can fit into it but will not be real level. The nice thing is these TT parks are usually way out in the middle of nowhere but this one is only 5 miles from town & Wally World!

This area is so beautiful and has so many things to go see & do. There are several National Monuments, the historic city of Jerome, Sedona, The Grand Canyon and much more.... So I'll be posting on as much of it we can see while here.

And what we miss we'll just catch another time.

Until Later... Have FUN, Travel Safe & Enjoy Everyday!

Off to Benson, Az, a Visit to Tombstone & we met Bloggin Buddies

We left Alamogordo,NM for Benson, AZ. early in the morning and the weather was a little cloudy... By the time we hit the mountains it was a good old storm. It seems now we are in country that has a lot of mountains and Tassie is chugging up and down them with no trouble. As a matter of fact she kind of likes it! We decided to boondock in a Wal-Mart Supercenter about half way which took us to Deming, NM. We pulled in and couldn't believe how many 18 wheelers were in the parking lot... Shortly after we parked a security guard came over and asked us to park on the other side because one side was for semi's and the other side for motorhomes... There were about 15+ coaches and other campers there for the evening.

We met some really nice people that night.

We passed White Sands Missile Range & headed towards a High Mountain

Before we entered Arizona we had to go through a Border Patrol check

Finally we are in Arizona and headed towards BAD weather and the peak of that mountain

Finally we peak on the mountain and see San Simon

We arrived in Benson the next day fairly early... after setting up we decided to take a ride to Tombstone which is about 30 miles south of Benson and check it out. It pretty much is a tourist spot but we took some pictures of a few things and then left. Tombstone was founded in 1879 in what was then the Arizona Territory of the USA. It soon became a boomtown of silver mines, high-paying jobs, also of lawlessness, violence and vigilante justice, a city lager than San Francisco for a short time. But it has become most famous for 1881 O.K. Corral gunfight portrayed in many Western movies and not to mention Wyatt Earp!

Here is Big Nose Kate's Saloon & A Stagecoach ride you can take

Boot Hill

Streets in the Tombstone tourist area

Wyatt Earp's house and a BIG Saguaro Cactus

Benson is also the winter home of our good bloggin' buddies Jerry & Suzy @ Life on Wheels. (Click highlighted area to go visit their blog). I have been following their blog for sometime and Jerry reminded me that they were here and we should get together. So we made plans to meet at a little restaurant called Palatiano’s for dinner. What great food we had there and we also got to meet our friends too... It is so nice to be able to meet the ones we blog with all the time! After dinner they invited us to their home where we had coffee and a YUMMO dessert.

It was nice to get to know each other a little better.

Until Later... Have FUN, Travel Safe & Enjoy Everyday!