May 1, 2013 - Granite Dells Hiking

In an around Prescott, there are several hiking trails. Some are out in the open in what is called the high desert. Other trails meander along a lake side. We decided to check out a trail on the west side of Watson Lake (we did the other side of the lake last week). The scenery is quite different. This hike was only about three miles in and out. This trail goes through part of the Granite Dells, which is a geological feature consisting of exposed bedrock and large boulders of granite that have eroded into a lumpy and rippled appearance. The...

Apr 24, 2013 - Watson Lake and Peavine Trail

Paula and I went on a little 6 mile hike today up to Watson Lake and the Peavine Trail in the Prescott, AZ area. I also managed to pick up 7 geocaches along the way! Watson Lake is a man-made reservoir and has an old railroad bed that has been converted into a nice walking/bicycle trail up one side of the lake. The views change from a riparian refuge into granite rock covered area. Magnificient! I snuck in a picture of a "people powered" tram we saw in downtown Prescott. The riders on the tram pedal to get moving. There is a driver and...

Mar 24, 2013 - Wukoki/Wapatki Ruins...

Leaving the Sunset Crater area, we continued on, past the Painted Desert enjoying the changes in scenery before arriving at the turnoff to the Wukoki Pueblo, located in Wupatki National Monument. Wupatki National Monument is one of several sites preserving pueblos (houses) of ancient peoples, but unlike the Tonto, Montezuma, Casa Grande Ruins and Tuzigoot monuments where there is only one main building, here there are many ruins scattered over a large area of desert northeast of Flagstaff. The pueblos all have a distinctive deep red color...

Mar 23, 2013 - Sunset Crater National Monument...

Today's post regresses a bit, as we actually visited the Sunset Crater Volcano/Wupatki National Monument loop a week or so ago. John, Joyce, Larry & I met at 9:30am.We'd packed a nice picnic lunch, as we planned to spend a fairly long day away from home. I took enough pics today that I'm actually going to split the post into two sections. Our first stop was in Flagstaff, as we needed to fuel and were hoping it might be a bit cheaper than in Camp Verde. It wasn't! Ah well, it's still not as high as many states currently are, like California...

Mar 22, 2013 - Prescott to Fort Apache...

It was a beautiful day to travel this morning. We didn't go far, only about 2 1/2 hours away but we wanted to stop at Mesa Market before ultimately arriving at Roper Lake State Park on Saturday. And our buddy Glenn arranged to meet us this evening to pick up a hat he left in the motorhome a couple of weeks ago in Vegas during Nascar weekend. I took a couple of shots out the back window before pulling out of our site here at Point of Rocks in Prescott. We really enjoyed the area and I'm sure we'll be back again on down the road. But now it's...

Mar 21, 2013 - Museum...Part 2

This is the final post of pics taken at the Sharlot Hall Museum here in Prescott. She was quite a woman. A poet, historian and independent thinker whose passion to preserve the Territorial Governor's Mansion led to the development of this wonderful Museum campus. She resided in the Mansion, moving in in 1927 and opening the museum in 1928. Please keep that in mind as I share more of this interesting place today. Enjoy!

Mar 21, 2013 - Sharlot Hall Museum...

Today Larry & I visited the Sharlot Hall Museum. It consists of approximately four acres of exhibits, galleries, historic buildings and gardens, including the Governor’s Mansion. This large one and one-half story rustic log building, constructed in 1864, served as the residence for the Territorial Governor and session hall for the Arizona Territorial Government. The building was later used as a home by Sharlot Hall, State Historian and poet. The surrounding grounds are beautifully landscaped with fruit trees and rose gardens. Which were all...

Mar 20, 2013 - Watson Lake...

Tuesday we took the short walking path from our site here at Point of Rocks RV Campground to Watson Lake. This beautiful lake offers fishing, boating, kayaking, canoeing, hiking, rock climbing, camping and day picnicking. The campground has not yet officially opened for the season so it was very quiet. We did enjoy watching a group test their rock climbing skills on the granite face as this is where local mountain rescue groups train. Today we chose to hike the Peavine Trail which runs along the southeastern side of the lake into the scenic...

Mar 19, 2013 - Hanging in Prescott...

Today we visited Mary, a longtime family friend and co-worker of mine when I was still in the working force. In fact, Mary was my Maid of Honor at our wedding in 1985. She retired and moved to Prescott with her son Tom several years ago. She loves it here but is happy Spring is just around the corner as the cold winter was a bit tough on her this year. We were originally going to take her out for lunch but ultimately decided to have our St. Patrick's day meal at the house. It was so good to see her again. After our visit we headed downtown...

Mar 18, 2013 - Visit with Tim & Crystal...

I've decided to post a bit out of order. I mentioned Sunset Crater & Wapatki Ruins in my last post but since we are actually in Prescott now I'm going to reverse the order a bit. We spent the past two days with our dear friends Tim & Crystal Ryerson. We met this great couple several years ago when we decided to purchase a Sea Eagle Paddleski boat. They are distributors for Sea Eagle and their great reputation preceded them. They were camped just outside of Rapid City, South Dakota and we were in Custer, SD for the summer. We went to their...

Jul 29, 2012 - Prescott

Toen we wakker werden in Flagstaff was het de bedoeling door te rijden naar Phoenix, maar pap zag in de krant dat je in Prescott kajakken kon huren, dat bleek een mooie tweede kans te zijn. Ik heb natuurlijk weer geslapen in de auto, want die zon op je, en al dat gehobbel, wiegt je behoorlijk in slaap hahaha. Er is volgens mij nog geen dag geweest dat ik de hele tijd wakker ben geweest. In Prescott is het super gezellig, het is wel fijn weer eens in een wat grotere stad te zijn in plaats van allemaal die kleine dorpjes. Bij het visitor...

Jun 18, 2012 - Exploring Prescott area

Its great to relax a few days and just enjoy the RV, parked here by our friends' barn. And, of course, get to visit with them also. The grandkids like to see some of the town, so today we went to a local zoo. This one is actually a zoo sactuary for animals abandoned, confiscated and/or needing homes from other parks. Heritage zoo takes them and provides a long-term home. Its a mixture of animals native to northern AZ and exotic species from other continents. Very educational. After several days touring antiquities, the kids liked the change...