A Hike Around the Courthouse...

Distant Drums RV Resort
Camp Verde, AZ
April 17, 2014

The old crows have landed themselves in Camp Verde, AZ...133 Thundercloud Trail at Distant Drums RV Resort will be home for the next month. We are nestled in the Verde Valley about 15 miles to Cottonwood and 24 miles to Sedona. We arrived on Monday and Belle had a good washing on Tuesday.

 So with our home in order, we headed out bright and early Wednesday morning...destination was the Red Rock Information Center.

Arizona's first All-American Road begins shortly after you take exit 298 off  I 17. It winds thru the Coconino National Forest as well as the prehistoric Red Rocks.


Our destination was the Red Rock Information Center. There were lots of displays explaining all about the history and geology of the surrounding area, but this display of wildflowers really caught my eye. All the flowers were fresh and well marked with ID cards.   

The Byway also winds its way thru the Village of Oak Creek and two of the most famous Vortexes...Bell Rock and Cathedral Rock. Bell Rock is shown in the center of the picture below.

 The afternoon was spent doing homework...we purchased several books on hiking and off-roading, were given free maps and directions, and studied blogs from many of you. 

We carefully picked our first hike...the first hike for us in about 3 weeks. You know the saying "a body in motion, stays in motion". Well, a body NOT in motion has a hard time getting going! Our minds are eager and remember what a great time hiking is, but we know our muscles needed an easy hike to nudge them into shape AGAIN!

 

 So, Thursday morning, we were out the door and on the trail by 8:50. Our hike of choice was Bell Rock and Courthouse Loop. Its a 4.5 mile roundtrip hike that takes you to Bell Rock and around  Courthouse Butte.

Bell Rock

The Forest Service has built cairns on steroids! These jumbo rock piles in mesh wiring cant be knocked down or ignored.

 

We had a nice view of Cathedral Rock...

 

 

Our view of Courthouse Butte from the trail...

 

I can only imagine the wonder of waterfalls on Courthouse Butte during a rain storm.

 

 

We took our time, I took lots of pictures and we both agreed our first hike here was a great beginning to our month of adventures!

 

Until next time...take care and enjoy!

 

Happy Easter!

We're Moving On!

Tucson/Lazydays KOA
Tucson, AZ
April 13, 2014

That's right...we are moving on!

But not before one more post from Tucson. There is an overflow "pond" here on the KOA property. On one of our walks with Sally and Dover, I just happened to notice this pair of Neotropic Cormorants. I sure enjoyed watching them.

Don't they have beautiful eyes?

The turtles were enjoying the warm sunshine.

And this morning, we saw a pair of Mallards.

And if that wasn't enough, a Giant Swallowtail visited the orange tree beside our patio...this is the largest species of butterfly in North America.

 

The mama and daddy dove don't have babies yet...they are still patiently waiting. I think they will be glad when I leave!

The orange blossoms that smelled so nice when we arrived are now green oranges...



This has been our patio view for the last 3 weeks. This is one busy office!

 

 

 

We did manage one last ride through the desert...the Bajada Loop drive in the Saguaro West NP. Its a short 6 mile drive on an unpaved road through the foothills of the Tucson Mountains.

 

I hope the following pictures show why we fell in love with the desert last year.

 

 

 

During the day the Saguaro flowers are pollinated by bees and birds. This Curve-billed Thrasher was sure doing his part.

 

The cholla were just beginning to bloom...I would have a hard time picking a favorite color!

 

 

 

Bajada Loop Road...

 

We saw lots of Gila Woodpeckers. They were also very busy!

And these cute little guys...I am not sure what they are. I really get sparrows and wrens mixed up. Maybe it is a Song Sparrow?

Tomorrow is moving day. We are so excited to be going somewhere we have never been before...Sedona, AZ. We have a month planned there before heading on to Moab. We already have hikes planned for this week! It will take a few hikes to get ourselves back in shape!

 

Until next time, take care and...

enjoy!