Arizona Sundowner – Page 2 – A little of this, a little of that

Kaleidoscopes

We headed up to Jerome, Arizona for a class that we had signed up for several months ago. Since accommodations were limited and required climbing stairs in this community nestled on the side of a mountain, something that Karen cannot handle other than a few steps, we checked into a hotel at the base of the mountain in Cottonwood, Arizona, for a couple of nights. As we had lost our of our furrbabies earlier this week, Karen was still upset about Winston’s passing and wasn’t sure that she wanted to go. Fortunately, I convinced her it would be good to get out of town and do something to distract us from Winston’s passing. We both really miss the little furbaby!

Meeting the neighbors

While taking the dogs on an early morning walk, we met these two elk were across the street from our cabin.

Titan Missile Museum

Once a year, my youngest son, Jonathan, and I take a road trip from Phoenix to Tucson so that Jonathan can trade in books at the three Bookman’s stores in Tucson. There are two in the Phoenix area and one in northern Arizona in Flagstaff which we will also make trips to trade books.

A walk in the mountains

Flowering Saguaro

Take me out to the ball game

Jonathan and Sarah each won two sets of tickets to the Diamondbacks Opening Day game; Jonathan, for being nominated (by Sarah) as someone deserving to go to the game, and Sarah for nominating Jonathan! As part of the prize, Jonathan got to help walk the giant U.S. Flag out on the field. If you look really, really close, you will see him in the lower left corner holding the flag.

Cupcake ATM

So, it’s late at night and you want a sweet treat, but, there is nothing in the house to satisfy that sweet tooth.

Oatman, Arizona

On our way home from San Diego, we stayed a couple of nights in Kingman, Arizona, so that we could take a day trip to Oatman, Arizona, a former mining town along old Historic Route 66 in the mountains east of the Colorado River. The town was named in honor of Olive Oatman, a 14-year old girl who was taken captive by Yavapai Indians and forced to work as a slave. She was later traded to Mohave Indians and her face was tattooed in the custom of the tribe.

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta!

We arrived at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta RV Premium Parking area around 12:30 in the afternoon on the Thursday before the Fiesta started. We only had 30 amp electrical service, which meant we could only run one of the two air conditioning units on the motorhome instead of both at the same time when we have 50 amp service. As it was unseasonably hot, one AC unit was not keeping the RV cool. We disconnected from shore power and ran the onboard generator so that we could run both AC units to cool down the motorhome. By evening, we were able to get by with only one AC unit, so the generator was shut off and we hooked back up to shore power.

A Road Trip

After several postponements, we finally embarked (and finished) an RV trip! It was not, however, without incident.

The day we left, the electric steps wouldn’t drop. No problem, I thought, they probably need lubricated and I can do that when we stopped for the night. I got the step-stool out so Karen could get in the motorhome and off we went.