Sedona, Arizona

Since Sedona is only about 30 minutes from Camp Verde, we took a day trip.

We've been here many times before but each time we go, we are in awe of the beauty.

One of the most famous rock formations might be 'Snoopy'.  Use your imagination - head on the left, tummy in the middle, feet on the right.  Can't you just see him lying on his dog house?

So many artistic things to see - these people had the right idea. We took one of these tours years ago with Ron's work group and it was a blast!

The main street is very cool.

There's something for everyone.

The sculptures are beautiful.

Red Rocks and the Cowboy Artist

A perfect time to raise some money for charity.

Since it was Halloween the city was decked out.

Boo!

Eeeeeeeek!

And then it was time for lunch and we made it to one of our favorite spots.

Check out our view from the patio.

We got back in the truck to see some of the sights.

One of the most famous homes in Sedona is the House of Seven Arches.

The house was built in 1978 by Herb Winebarger with the help of the Ball Brothers.  Herb sold the home to someone in Lucille Ball's family.  It has been sold several times over the years but for over 30 years, tours and locals have referred to the home as "Lucy's House" because Lucille Ball and her brother, Fred Ball, individually owned several properties in the surrounding area.  The Ball family stated that Lucy owned the entire hillside where the house is currently located.  The house is now owned by one of the former Doublemint Twins and for some years the twins lived together in the home.  A mannequin resembling Lucy can be seen on the balcony and Santa has been known to join her during the Christmas holiday.  You can barely see the mannequin on the balcony to the right of the right American flag.

On the way out of town we stopped to see some of the other rock formations.

Cathedral Rock

Bell Rock

It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed our visit.

Camp Verde, Arizona

After an overnight stay at an RV resort in Las Vegas (it was like the Caesars Palace of RV resorts!), we arrived in Camp Verde.  The park we had reserved was highly recommended so we thought we'd spend a week visiting nearby areas we hadn't spent much time in.

The best part of the stop was that my Southern California sister and brother-in-law were planning a weekend trip not too far away so we were able to plan to spend some time together.  We met up at Colt Grill in Cottonwood which was about halfway between us.

I can't believe we didn't take any pictures - what were we thinking?  We had a great time visiting and catching up and before we knew it, two hours had passed.  But we weren't done yet so we went back to our RV for some extra time (and wine).

Yogi was a good sport and made himself right at home.

And before any more time went by (and more wine was consumed), we posed for a picture.  

Cary and Debi

OH WAIT!  That was about 60 years ago!  Let's try something a little more current.

Sisters!

What a great afternoon and after seeing the kids, grandkids, and siblings within just a few weeks, I felt like we were on a 'farewell tour'.  

While in Camp Verde, we learned that there was an area of interest just a few miles away - Montezuma Castle National Monument.  

The monument protects a set of well-preserved dwellings which were built and used by the Sinagua people, a pre-Columbian culture closely related to the Hohokam and other indigenous peoples of the southwestern United States between approximately 1100 and 1425 AD.  The main structure comprises five stories and about 20 rooms and was built over the course of three centuries.

Several Hopi clans and Yavapai communities trace their ancestries to early immigrants from the Montezuma Castle/Beaver Creek area.  Archaeological evidence proves that the Hohokam and Hakataya settled around or in the Verde Valley.  Clan members periodically return to these ancestral homes for religious ceremonies.

There was a nice walkway to be able to see the area.

Uh-oh!  That was enough of a warning for me even without a wheeled vehicle.

One of the streams that may have been used for fishing.

It was interesting to see the model on display so that we could really appreciate the architecture of the castle.

It was an interesting afternoon seeing the castle.  But it was nothing compared to spending an afternoon with my sister, brother-in-law and Yogi!

Tonopah, Nevada

After an overnight stay near Reno, we arrived in Tonopah, Nevada.

Why Tonopah, you ask?  Besides being about halfway between Reno and Las Vegas, Tonopah was also the focus of a TV series we watched a year or so ago called Turquoise Fever.

From the INSP website:

For the Otteson Family, Working Together Is a Blast—Literally!

Get ready for explosions (We’re talking actual dynamite!), drilling, drama, danger, tears, tense business deals, laughter, and the love of a tight-knit family who risk their lives daily to find the motherlode of precious turquoise.

That’s right, all that glitters is not gold. The bling is blue, and this family knows how to find it.

In INSP’s new docuseries, Turquoise Fever,  you’ll meet the Ottesons: Donna, Danny, Tommy, and their extended family, who for 60 years, and three generations, have been mining the precious blue stone in remote desert areas around Tonopah, Nevada. Their claims produce some of the most valuable turquoise in the world, some stones worth more than gold. 

It was a fascinating show but for some reason, it only survived one season and never made it back to our TV screen.  So we decided to plan a stop in Tonopah to see what we could learn.

We checked into a small RV park and with 18 sites in what was essentially a gravel parking lot on the side of the highway, we weren't expecting much.  But we were pleasantly surprised when we pulled into site #18.

Being on the end of a row is always a bonus

We made reservations for two nights so that we had a chance to explore the town.  So the next morning we ventured in.

We had the address to the Otteson store so that was our first destination.  Unfortunately, what we drove to was a residential address - was this the store?  Or maybe their house?  We figured out it wasn't the store so I refrained from taking a picture.  Come on, I'm not that big of a stalker.

Nearby was the Mining Park so we parked and went inside.

We spent some time talking with the "expert" and learned that while the Otteson family mined in Tonopah, they didn't sell turquoise in Tonopah.  But we spent a little time in the museum anyway.

Silver Ore

We then went to a local shop to see what turquoise they had.

While we were there, a couple was visiting and it was fascinating to listen to the stories they shared with the shop owner.  They live in the middle of 645,000 acres and are 60 miles from anything!  After they left the shop owner told us that they come into town once a week and spend the day taking care of "business".  While we like living on property, that's more than a little too much for us.

There wasn't much in the way of turquoise but we did find a few interesting things to take home with us.

It's hard to appreciate the color of this stone but it's spiny oyster which is typically a beautiful orange.  This is purple with some yellow/gold in it.

Since there wasn't any "Otteson" turquoise made into jewelry, we focused on the turquoise stones that came from the Royston Mine which is owned by the Ottesons.  At some point we'll have them made into pieces of jewelry.

By then it was lunch time so, of course, we had to try a local place.  Honestly, the only "chain" type restaurant we saw was Burger King and we weren't up for that.  We'd seen a lot of signs along the highway for Tonopah Station so we gave it a try.

All decked out for Halloween

And that was all to see in Tonopah.  What a funky little town and as my grandmother would have said, "I couldn't give it much".

Yuba City, California

The next stop was Yuba City, California.  What's there, you ask?  My BROTHER and my sister-in-law!  When we talked to him to confirm our stop, he said we could just park the trailer on the side street next to his house.  Oh my, this worrier thought about that for weeks and wondered just how that would work.  But we took his word for it and he was right, it was perfect.

Thank goodness for wide streets - you don't see that much these days

As soon as we got set up, we went inside to visit and catch up on the last few years.  Of course, we also had to pull out some wine.  It was 5:00 somewhere, right?

Oops, we might have had just a few bottles.  And his wife wasn't even there.  Haha.

The next night we went into Sacramento to see their grandson's football game.  

Friday night under the lights

Since it was so warm during the day, it wasn't until the last minute that we put sweatshirts in the car.  Thank goodness - it was cold!!!

Sadly, the good guys lost but Doug's grandson had a great game!

The next day we went out to run a few errands and found ourselves here.  Uh-oh!

The cookies were delicious!

We had a good time meeting George, the dog.

Their son, daughter-in-law, and two sons came over for dinner.  Why didn't I take any pictures?

We couldn't believe the pomegranate tree in the back yard was covered with fruit.

They sent us on our way with some fruit and after a tutorial by my sister-in-law, we cleaned it up and now have a bowl of fruit to enjoy.

And then it was time to move on.  What a great visit we had!

Corning, California

We moved on for a quick trip in California - first stop, Corning.

I was a little nervous about this park since it was adjacent to a casino.  Not that I have anything against casinos, it's just that I've never seen anything like this and wasn't sure what to expect.

What a pleasant surprise!  We checked in and they showed us a map and let us pick our site.  The park was maybe 1/4 full so there was lots to choose from.  And we were pleased with our choice.

Lots of privacy

Although we were just staying overnight, we decided to unhook so we could go into town to see a local favorite.

More than 50 years ago, Pete and Ann Craig displayed several jars of olives on a small shelf on the original Olive Pit - a frosty and hamburger stand - to see if anyone would be interested in enjoying their spectacular olives.  People were quick to purchase them and a Corning tradition was born.

Today three generations of the Craig family, including Ann, still serve travelers with frosty milkshakes, delicious burgers and much more.  The store has expanded numerous times over the years, most recently adding a wine and draft beer tasting room.  The inventory has also expanded and includes a huge variety of olives, olive oil, craft beer, wine, nuts, flavored balsamic vinegar, mustard, and gift items.  The Olive Pit also features many local products.

They don't kid around with the olives!

Just one of the many displays

Oops, we might have bought more than a few jars

Unfortunately, they were only serving cold sandwiches and the tasting bars were closed.

We headed back to the casino and took the opportunity to fill up the truck.  Since we were on tribal property, we were happy to see that diesel was about 50 cents less per gallon than we had seen in town.

We went into the casino and almost died from the smoke.  There was a non-smoking area but after walking through all of the smoke, you really couldn't tell the difference.

Not much activity

We decided to take a chance on the slot machines.

We like to play the penny Buffalo machine and typically have good luck.  I won't tell you what we fed into the machine but let's just say we didn't walk away with much.

Oh well, we had fun.  Didn't we?

Tomorrow we move on for another family visit.