Taking it easy. We just passed through to get our picture here and then headed to Sedona, AZ. We needed some hook ups and showers.
We spent one night at Mund’s RV Park. We made reservations but, we arrived late so we didn’t get the code to access the bathrooms. We used the shower in our camper–which is fine– just a little confining. Munds is huge. We were in their “oversized” campsites which had no shade. Originally we thought we might stay longer but really didn’t like it there. We found some available sights at Dead Horse Ranch and booked 3 nights. Absolute heaven here.
You can see the difference.
We just spent 3 days at Dead Horse and traveled to Sedona and Camp Verde and even just hung around camp. This place is so pretty and there is so much to do. We saw a Roadrunner but I did not have my camera. I have been shooting with my phone most of this trip as it is too hot to carry any equipment. The pictures below are all from John at Dead Horse Ranch State Park.
Sedona is absolutely beautiful. We went to the Church of the Holy Cross, we wanted to hike to Devils Bridge but we realized it was a 10 mile hike. This old lady is not up for that. Whew! I like the shorter treks. We started the Brins Mesa trail and hiked about 1 mile in and had to turn around because I was getting sick. Ugh! I just can’t seem to drink enough water. We went back to camp and I took a nap. Me, the one who doesn’t believe in napping. I slept for about an hour. We went to Tuzigoot National Monument and hiked the 1/3 mile loop (that’s my speed) and then we went to the airport mesa to get sunset pictures. We got there early. Really early. Clouds came in and we took some pictures and thought we would not get much better since the clouds were so low. On the way back to camp the sky was spectacular. We should have waited. Although, we were on the other side of those mountains so maybe they didn’t get all that color.
Church of the Holy Cross
Church of the Holy Cross
From Church of the Holy Cross
Tuzigoot National Monument
Tuzigoot National Monument
Brins Mesa
From the Airport Mesa
From the Airport Mesa
From the Airport Mesa
On the way home from the Airport Mesa
Slow internet has kept me a bit behind. More coming as I slowly try to catch up.
This year’s trip will be so mild and tame after Alaska. I am not even sure if there are any wild animals to be on the look out. Hmm, should probably look into that. I am sure there are snakes and birds and deer–all your typical animals. In Utah there should be wild horses somewhere and bison somewhere. We shall see.
Earlier this week I hurt my foot which had me out of commission for a few days. Of course there was nothing wrong per the ER and foot doctor and two days of rest I was good as new. No clue what happened but I was in excruciating pain for two days and then it stopped. Though I had no problem sitting around with my foot up doing nothing, it did prevent me from “getting” things ready for our trip. Normally we leave the night before we plan to get a few hours into our trip. This time we stuck to the plan to leave in the morning. As we finally pulled out of the driveway at 9:00 am there was a big clunk sound and John couldn’t move forward. Seems the spring on the axle broke and we could only back up and because the trailer was now sitting lower, we scraped the tire as we backed off the road. Not a good start–but it could have been worse. We could have been on the road driving 65 mph when this happened and who knows what that would have meant. Not to mention working on the camper on the side of the road, trying to find parts. OMG! That would have been so much worse. John was smart enough to buy 2 springs to replace both–so it didn’t happen on the other side. He also changed both tires and we finally pulled out at 5:00 PM.
We spent out first night at a Cracker Barrel in Meridian, MS. We arrived about 8:15 and had dinner there and retreated to the back lot to spend the night. We try to have dinner there because we generally leave before they open in the morning. Which is exactly what we did. If they opened at 6:00 am like a good breakfast restaurant should we would just have breakfast before heading out. It’s the least we can do for a nice quiet “free” night of camping.
We headed out toward Shreveport, LA and then north to Murfreesboro, AR to Crator of Diamonds State Park. We arrived about 4:00 PM and thought we were going to head over to the park to look for diamonds but that section of the park closes at 4:00. Our only option was to tour the town, relax at the campsite and we will head over in the morning for about an hour before we leave. We are staying at Murfreesboro RV Park. Our site is awesome. This place is so nice. Very spacious sites, level lots, picnic table, some shade and a firepit. You are going to have to wait for my next post to find out how we did in the diamond field. Don’t hold your breath.
On our little tour we discovered Narrows Dam about 5 miles outside the city. Thought we should check it out so we can compare it to Hoover Dam when we get out there.
We arrived in Whitehorse and spent 2 hours cleaning the camper and the truck. Neither one of us felt like cooking so we just grabbed a pizza from Dominos of all places. It was quick and easy.
The next morning we headed out to Skagway. We’re driving along and all of a sudden we see this flashing sign letting us know there was a landslide on the road to Skagway. That’s why Waze wouldn’t take us that way. It kept trying to get us to go to Haines which is 5-6 hours and then take a ferry to Skagway. I kept telling John no way, it is only 2 hours to Skagway from Whitehorse and then we can take a ferry to Haines. Makes more sense so we opted to use our road map. It’s not like I can’t read one. I am the main navigator on this trip. John is constantly asking me which way to go because I planned it. I did all the navigating. I don’t need Waze—well unless there is a landslide—to tell me to go another way. Well, I refused to go that route so we hung out in Whitehorse another day. We had so much fun hanging out in Whitehorse.
Whitehorse is the capitol and only city in the Yukon with over 40k people living there. For being out in the middle of nowhere it is quite a modern little city. I use the term modern very loosely. Lots of old buildings, lots and lots of history and tradition but, their government building and visitor center are very modern structures and most bathrooms are unisex. Including the one at the visitor center that looks just like a mens or ladies restroom with dozens of stalls (doors do go from floor to ceiling) but men and women share that one room. It does feel a little weird when you go in and a man comes out of the stall next to you and then there is another man at the sinks and one entering. I had already done a double take going in—thinking I made a wrong turn or misunderstood—but that is unisex in the big city of Whitehorse.
We spent a good part of the day at the MacBride Museum. If you ever go to Whitehorse you really need to take the time to go through the museum. We were there for hours. The history is so interesting as are all the artifacts and stories told. Ladies, wait until you see the ladies room—yes it is separate from the men in the museum. All the stall doors are covered with the Women of the Yukon. I love a good story about strong independent women and these women were the epitome of strong & independent. Sure some where whores but hey, they did it their way. My favorite was Klondike Kate. She made $30k her first year in the Klondike which was in 1898. You go girl!
We ate out at Ricky’s Grill which was a little disappointing but, you win some and lose some—right? It was a local place.
The next day we were headed out taking the Cassiar Highway. One reviewer stated the Cassiar was more beautiful than the Alaska Highway but had fewer gas stations, fewer campgrounds and fewer pull overs for camping. He also stated the road was much worse than the Alcan. Well, we were not deterred. We fueled up and headed down the Alaska Highway to the Cassiar. Well, the first 50+ miles of the Cassiar was burned out forrest. There were two little ghost towns–I honestly don’t think anyone lived in either of those towns. After that, it was beautiful. The road was so much better than the Alcan and there were plenty of pull overs and campgrounds though most of the campgrounds were full. Gas stations were a bit limited but not to where we were uncomfortable. We found a pull over by a lake the first night. There were several other cars/campers there as well but it was peaceful and quiet. We had no service until we got to Kitwanga on CA 16. From there on out we had spots without service but mostly we had service. Lots of little towns and shops and gas stations. We spent a night at 10 Mile Lake Provincial Park for $20. That was my cover photo. We found a cute little quilt store in Chilliwack and then we crossed the border. This was the first time we actually had to wait in line at the border. So many people crossing over. But we made it!! It was so good to be “home.”
Lois and Clark Explorers 