Wow! It is a new year and a new decade. How great is that!
When walking the dogs, I never get tired of seeing snow-capped Mt. Humphreys in the horizon. It is such a majestic mountain!
We continue to play pickleball in the Williams Rodeo Barn. We are working with Parks and Recreation to get a reliable schedule. It is not too hard during the winter months.
Winter is a time to plan monthly getaways. Sometimes it may involve taking the travel trailer. Other times, it might just be a night or two away. Last year, I originally booked eleven days at the Thousand Trails RV Park in Las Vegas. But, it is in a seedy area of the city. Tom suggested an Escapees park in Congress, Arizona. It is near Wickenburg and has one pickleball court. So, I got a reservation at the Escapees North Ranch RV Park, and I cancelled Las Vegas.
A week ago, I received a text that Gene Galloway and Penny Tidwell were going to be passing through Williams --- on their way to Santa Fe. I worked with Gene at Sanwa Bank 20+ years ago. Tom and I met his fiance, Penny, when they stayed in Williams in April, 2018. Gene and Penny have homes in Las Vegas and Winchester, Tennessee. We met Gene and Penny at the Western View Restaurant at the Best Western Plus.
Gene and Penny added a second couple --- Christine Larson and her husband Stan. They live in nearby Dewey. Chris and I also worked at Sanwa Bank with Gene. I had not seen her since 2000!
Tuesday was our usual pickleball play in the Williams Rodeo Barn.
I didn't go to the Highland Meadows ladies lunch. We are leaving Williams on Thursday for eleven days, and I need to get the trailer ready and begin the packing process. I made a path through the snow to the RV barn.
That evening, we had a beautiful crimson sunset. I tried to capture it on my phone's camera, but it didn't do it justice.
On Wednesday, Tom and I played pickleball in the morning. Then, we spent several hours putting our clothes, grocery items, and toiletry items into the trailer. The next morning, I walked the dogs and then backed my truck to the RV barn. The low 4W drive feature in my truck allowed me to glide across the 3 inches of snow.
The drive to Congress, Arizona, was only 112 miles. It took us 2 1/2 hours. We arrived at the Escapees North Ranch Park around 1:30 pm.
As an Escapees member, the weekly charge for an RV site is only $140. Wow, so reasonable!
This park has one pickleball court on the property. It is located in an old maintenance barn.
There are a number of outdoor pickleball courts in nearby Wickenburg. But, this venue is nice and cozy. It was here that we met Keith. He has played pickleball for over 20 years, and he has a little spiral notebook documenting that he has taught over 4,000 people to play pickleball!
After the first morning of pickleball, Tom and I went to the historic part of Wickenburg and had lunch and margaritas at Anita's Cocina.
After lunch, we walked to several historical sights. In the wild west days, Wickenburg had no jail. So, trees were used to constrain lawbreakers.
The next day after pickleball, Tom and I took the dogs to a desert area behind the North Ranch property. There are hiking trails and ATV roads. It was out there that we happened upon the Lonesome Saguaro --- with its own sign.
I'm not sure how long this old Saguaro will be around!
Our North Ranch RV site is #30. It is nicely situated near a Dog Walk and a Dog Park.
The weather is cool, but not cold. Congress, Arizona, is about 20 degrees warmer than our town of Williams. Williams got 3-4 inches of new snow the day we left.
On Monday, we decided to skip pickleball and do some more sightseeing. Pickleball Keith was conducting a skills clinic, so morning pickleball that day was only an hour of play. One of the highest rated TripAdvisor "Things to Do" was the Vulture Peak hiking trail.
It was only a 30 minute drive to the trailhead.
We hiked 1 1/2 miles up to the viewpoint.
The total round-trip hike was two hours. We then drove another 15 minutes to another Wickenburg attraction, Vulture City Ghost Town.
This 1866's mining town, in its heyday, rose to 5,000 residents. In 2017, a Canadian couple rescued the abandoned city and began restoring the dilapidated buildings. It was a $2 million labor of love.
We were able to take the dogs through the area and we saw all of the buildings in a 1/4 mile loop. The Vulture Mine is still an gold operating mine. The docent, Tina, was very informative. I'm glad we visited this attraction!
By the time we left Vulture City, it was time for lunch. So, we stopped at the Grille at Los Caballeros Resort & Golf Club. I had a patty melt and Tom had a pastrami Reuben. The view from our table was the golf course driving range.
Tuesday morning, I played some more pickleball at the North Ranch Barn. Tom took a day off, as his feet were a little sore from our hike on Vulture Peak. I asked some of the players for a photo opportunity.
Each evening, we enjoyed some beautiful sunsets. Our trailer's back window faces west.
One afternoon, we went to Wickenburg for groceries. Safeway is a familiar store, as it is the only grocery store in Williams. We decided to look at the nearby Sunset Park where some of the competitive North Ranch pickleball players hang out. The Parks & Recreation Department of Wickenburg created a very nice six-court venue!
After pickleball on Thursday, Tom and I went to the Hassayampa River Preserve on the southeast side of Wickenburg. It was another top attraction on TripAdvisor. We walked some of the trails near Palm Lake.
Then, we headed to Lykes Lookout, where we crossed a little bridge over a small portion of the Hassayampa River.
After Lykes Lookout, we took the River Ramble trail back to the visitor center.
Before leaving the preserve, Mr. Badger greeted us for a photo opportunity. This was the first time either of us have seen a badger "in the wild."
While here in this area, Tom and I decided that we should hike Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park. As this would be a full day hike, I made arrangements to board Kelsey and Jamie for a day at K-9 Kennel in Wickenburg.
Friday morning, I took the dogs to the kennel.
The Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park was was less than ten miles away from our RV park.
The Hotshots Trail takes you through the Weaver Mountains to an Observation Deck --- a one-way 2.5 mile trail --- where you can look down 400 feet to the Fatality Site where 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots lost their lives on June 30, 2013. The hike includes a 1,250 feet in elevation gain. We arrived at the state park at 9:30 am. It took us 2 1/2 hours to reach the Observation Deck and Tribute Wall.
From the Observation Deck, you were able to see the towns of Yarnell and Peeples Valley.
The Granite Mountain Hotshots were trying to protect these two towns from a lightning-started fire that began the afternoon of June 28, 2013. These 19 fire fighters lost their lives when the fire switched direction and they were trapped in a canyon. The Fatality Site was where they made their last stand. Encircling the site are 19 gabions with chains representing their eternal bond.
Along the hike, separated by 600 feet or so, are 19 plaques with photos of each hotshot member and a nice commentary on their life.
The trail also had interesting signs along the route explaining the role of hotshot crews, fire management policies and practices, etc.
Richard and I were staying in Williams, at the Grand Canyon Railway RV Park, when this catastrophic event happened. I decided to take some of Richard's remaining ashes and leave them under the Tribute Board.
Today, also marks the one year anniversary of the death of my brother, John. I brought one of John's shells and placed it under a cross on the Tribute Board.
The six Shelton siblings were raised on Afton Road in San Marino, California. John's shell was placed above the Afton Fire Department sign. A coincidence that there was a perfect cross above the sign to hold a perfect shell???
Saturday, I suggested to Tom that I would like to take a drive to Aqua Fria National Monument. Google Maps indicated that it was a eighty mile trip to the entrance. Both of us have never been there --- but we have seen signs off Interstate 17 --- when driving between Flagstaff and Phoenix. So, we loaded the dogs in the truck. First stop was breakfast a Burger King in Wickenburg 😊😊😊
It was about an hour and one-half hour drive to the entrance sign.
We were surprised to find out that all the roads inside the national monument were dirt. They even allow ATVs on the land. Fortunately, we did not come across any --- as we drove eight miles to Pueblo La Plata.
This was a site of a large ancient pueblo that had been active 1,000 years ago.
Tom, the dogs, and I walked 3/10ths of a mile to see the ruins.
It was hard to imagine that this once housed a pueblo with 80-100 rooms!
After this exploration, we drove back to North Ranch. We got back to the trailer at about 3:30 pm.
Nine days ago, in our first trip to Wickenburg, I noticed a flyer advertising concerts at the Del Webb Performing Arts Center.
The Sunday, January 19th concert was Frankie Moreno. Apparently Frankie used to headline in Las Vegas. I went online and saw that tickets were still available. Tom is not a big concert goer, but he kindly agreed that it might be a fun venue. So, I purchased tickets.
Sunday morning, we played several hours of pickleball. Then, we got ready for the Frankie Moreno concert at 3:00 pm. The venue was only about ten minutes from our park. We picked up our tickets at Will Call. The concert began on time. How refreshing! Frankie had two back-up singers, two gentlemen in the horns section, two folks playing an acoustical guitar and a bass guitar, and one percussionist.
The concert was excellent. Frankie is a great entertainer, musician, and songwriter. We were very pleased that we went. The next morning, we packed up the trailer and headed back to Williams. It was an easy 2 hours and 20 minute drive. We unloaded the trailer in front of the house. The trailer was back in the RV barn by 3:00 pm.
