Days 130, 131, & 132

20131107. Day 130. Thursday

Lets ROCK.

Another morning, another french press full of christmas blend coffee. Hell YA.

We took it easy this morning, no hurry to go anywhere. Yesterdays hike and knee twist kinda wore me out a bit. We had another coupon for a local place. So we figured breakfast out was in order.
We hoped into the SUV, and went back north on RT179, to RT89A. Over to West Sedona to the Golden Goose Cafe. Breakfast is served until 1. Lucky for us, we make it in time. No over easy eggs for this guy. In fact, A big ole omelet, stuffed with meat was ordered. With corned beef hash on the side, and a pile of homefries. The yelp review reports this combonation was excellento indeed-O. Lauren had eggs Benedict with spinach, and the report was it exceeded expectations. Kathleen had a malted waffle, with extra flavor, and some over easy eggs on the side. Again, as advertised.  Alex had lunch, a burger with fries I think. He didn’t offer any reviews, so we assume it was acceptable.
After lunch we drove into Uptown Sedona, the touristy area. That lasted about 30 minutes, and we were done with that nonsense. Lets ROCK on. We drove back down towards Oak Creek. There we knew was a good hiking area. We pulled into the parking lot, and headed out. This is Bell Rock, and Courthouse Butte.

Courthouse Butt-E. With the Bell Rock

Its about a mile to the north side of the Bell Rock.

The Bell

We took our time, enjoying the hike.

The Courthouse Butt-E ( I have been in a courthouse or three, and I, for one, can see nothing, even remotely, that would make me think of a courthouse when I looked at this big Damb rock)

It was sunny and warm, just perfect for this activity. We got to the North Side, and Alex and I hiked a ways up towards the peak.

It IS pretty up here, and there, and even over there

For some reason, we didn’t go to far. I saw a few possible routes, but the wingman declined. We poked around a bit, then headed down without a path. We got to the bottom, and no Kathleen or Lauren. Those damb Vortexes musta got them. Or, they sitting on the rocks up above us. Laughing at us. We wait them out, and they finally have to descend , cause we have the water, and then we head back. The colors here are magnificent. Again. Still. Its awesome all the color out here. And the way it changes from the angles of the sun. Simply spectacular.

The angle of the dangle changes the color

We head back to the Condo, and relax for the evening. A quick dip in the pool, and a soak in the hot tub prepares us for an evening dinner of leftovers.

Pretty cool pool

After dinner we head back out to the Red Rocks area, and park in the lot, and gaze at the stars for a while. We all spot at least one shooting star. Its such a dark sky here, the stars are so bright. If were ever gonna see any UFOs, this is where it will be. But, sadly, we see none. This time, but, ya never know about next time.
Weather today was excellent, sunny, mid 70s, no clouds hardly at all

Total miles today was 30 in the SUV, none on the bike

Tomorrow we hang around the condo, and get ready to depart on Saturday.

20131108. Day 131. Friday

A lazy day at the camp/resort site/condo

A relaxing morning, interrupted only by my sweetie bringing me a fresh coffee in bed. Awesome is an understatement.
Its good to schedule a do nothing day, I think we all kinda needed one in a way. The east coasters were still running wide open though. There running out of vacation time, so there kinda egging to do something. I am kinda beat. 4 days of hiking kinda wore me down. One thing about this extended adventure, I am out of shape indeed. Certainly part of it has been due to the knee trauma I have been tolerating. I just cant get as active as I want to be. I am bummed about that, alot. I wish I could ride a bicycle a bit, get some acupuncture, do some yoga or some kinda strengthening exercises. I wont worry to much, because the rest has certainly helped it heal better. I am afraid to get on a scale, I doubt the weight lose has been happening.
I had a couple quick things to do on the bike, Dave had pulled a speedometer cable off the old bike for me, and sent me that and some tools I needed. thanks Dave. Its a pain in the ass to change the cable in a parking lot with a minimum amount of tools around, but somehow, I got it done.
We all hung out in the condo, just kinda doing nothing much. Kathleen secured us a couple weeks of timeshares in Floriduh in January, so thats really great. A week in the beginning of January, and one in the beginning of February. Thats cool, we will certainly have time to enjoy the state. Hopefully it works out so Dave and dawn can come down in February to share the condo with us. It is a 2bed/2bath unit. Sweet!
After a late lunch, we headed for the pool. Well, Kathleen and Lauren and I did. Alex wanted to go swing at some balls on the driving range. Nothing like a bucket of balls and a driving iron to wear ya down a bit. The pool was pretty nice today, not overly warm, but just about right enough for 1/2 hour. Then we slipped into the hot tub for a good soaking and relaxing.

Cool Hot Tubby

Thats really been the theme of the day for us. We had one more restaurant coupon to use up, so before it was to late, we went out to dinner. Back into the SUV, and away we go, up thru the ten roundabouts, and west on RT89A, into West Sedona. We landed at Jose Cafe. It was a basic bar and grill. Okay for a last nights dinner. Nothing to write home about, just ,,,,, meh!

The best part of the Jose Cafe was hiding in the corner waiting for someone to walk bye, and not see the caution sign

After dinner, we headed back to the condo, and started packing up stuff. Kickout time is 10am, so we need to be ready. Kathleen and Alex have a 2pm flight, but have to have the Rent-A-Wreck back by 11:30. So they planned to depart by 9 am. The more we have ready tonight, the easier the morning will be for everyone.
Weather today was the same, sunny, mid 70s. Evening was clear, and maybe 50s

Total miles today was 20 on the SUV, none on the bike.

Tomorrow, the east coasters get back on the Zee plane, and the hobos head south, back to Cottonwood, to the Deadhorse State Park for a couple days.

20131109. Day 132. Saturday

Heading on down the road.

Morning arrived early today. Well, if ya consider 8am early. We got the french press pressing, and enjoyed a last cup in the house. Time to get moving, no time to linger.
Kathleen and Alex were ready to go, and out the door by 8:50am. We thanked them and shared a couple hugs, then waved goodbye. It was a great week with them, really. Kathleen appeared to really enjoy the time with Lauren, and Alex seemed to enjoy just being on vacation in a cool place, with a couple of friendly faces from back home. I am glad we got to share a week with them, indeed.
We had an hour to go before kickout time, but Lauren refused my suggestions to wrinkle the sheets one more time, insisting we load up the campah and git down the road. So we did.

To the victor, goes the spoils ( or the stuff we managed to own from the timeshare)

It took us an hour to reload everything in it, and away we went, just a few minutes after 10am. Down RT179, back to Beaverhead road, and thru Cornholeville to Cottonwood we go. Its only 20 miles, and takes us less then 30 minutes. We pull into the Deadhorse State Park, and they tell us, sorry, were Full. Oh-no! Luckily, she informed us, they have room in the overflow lot. Sheesh, talk about a scare sorta. But that will do for us, bring it on. No problem no electric, were good with $15/night. In fact, lets have 2 nights, just in case.
We found site 213, unloaded the bike and backed in. Good deal. Huh.

Pahking the Campah in the Dead Horse State Pahk

We wanted to go into Prescott to the rV supply store. We needed a new vent for the bathroom. The old one was shot. So after we settled in a bit and had a quick lunch, we geared up, and got on the bike to go.
Well, hello old friend!! How nice it is to be back on the bike again. Its been a while since we have gone for a ride. I miss it. We did a lot of miles in 3 months, and now the majority of the miles are in the RV. 😦
We had a good ride in front of us. Prescott ( pronounced Pres-kitt) is about 40 miles away, and there is a mountain in the way! Woo-Hoo! We left the Park, and headed for RT89A, the only real road around here apparently! Southbound we go, up towards Jerome. The ride thru Deception Pass is a great warm up for the mountain beyond the little old mining town. Mingus Mountain, then Hickey Mountain are in our way to get to Prescott Valley.

We motor right thru Jerome, with barely a glance at all the weekend tourists amongst the hippies. Just cuss a bit when they stop in the road to gawk a bit here and there. Beyond Jerome, the road really starts to twist and turn, and the fun begins. I totally love roads like this. The technical aspect of setting up each curve, clipping the apex, planning the next approach, shifting rapidly up or down, squeezing the brakes just right, rolling into the throttle at the perfect moment, really makes me so in tune with the bike. I am at peace and so in the moment. I wish the ride would never end.

This is about 1 mile of the ride. Simply Spectacular

But before to long, we crest the summit @ 7129, and the sign says downhill for the next 6 miles. Weeeeeee, away we go, down, down, down. Some corners in the mix, but nothing exciting like the ride up there. Soon enough were in the valley of Prescott. Visually, nothing all that interesting now, high desert I guess, were at 5000 ft, and its arid here, not a lot of growth, few trees, almost flat and boring.
We follow RT89A along into the town of Prescott. We need to get over beyond Willow Creek Reservoir. Its a quick ride the few miles from the center of town. We get to the RV store, get the new vent, and a couple other minor items we need.

The truth is revealed about the low suction terlits out here in Cowboy country.

Of course we poke our heads into a few of the new RVs on the lot, sticker shock baby, a couple class B RVs are over 100K. See ya!
We go back into Prescott, and follow RT89 back north till we get to RT69. Were heading south into the town of Dewey. We stop at the Starbucks for are freelicious freebie, then swing into the Trader Joes so we dont starve tonight. From There we get to RT169. Heading south east. I missed the turn for Hackberry Hill Road. Which was probably for the better. Its a slow winding road back over the mountains. Not well maintained, pretty rough, and slow. We ended up riding down RT169 until we got to I-17 and went north 1 exit. Of course its 15 miles between exits out here, but Interstate speeds are 75++ so we made good time. Real good time! Wink-wink! We get to Camp Verde, and Exit on RT260 north towards Cottonwood. This is a 20 mile ride in the twilight, and were back at the Dead Horse State Park just as the sun is dropped outta sight. That was a great ride today, just what we needed to get back into the groove again.
We had a fast dinner of salad and Turkey Burgers.

 

Over the Hills, and thru the Woods

Before we knew it, the cows came home, and were sacked out. Happy to be ready to go traveling again!
Weather today, was the same, mid 70s and sunny, high 40s and starry at night.

Total miles today was 23 on the RV, and 115 on the bike

Tomorrow we hang out and work on the RV, and get ready to go south Monday.