We left Casa Grande, Arizona on May 7th and headed north in direction and elevation to escape the hot weather that was setting in for the summer. We drove about 3 hours north to Prescott Valley, Arizona. It's about 5000' elevation and SOOOOooo much cooler. The weather was perfect.
We got parked in our friend, Bill's driveway. He moved to Prescott Valley last fall and has a beautiful house with an awesome view out his back yard.
While hanging out in the back yard on Bill's patio, we had a visitor. I turned to look at Al seated in his chair and spotted this snake almost under his chair. I couldn't believe what I was seeing and had to communicate to Al to move. I knew it wasn't a rattle snake but still the look on my face must have expressed enough that Al jumped out of his chair! We believe it was a king snake and the first one Bill has seen since moving in to his house! Lucky us!
I followed it as it slithered all the way across Bill's patio and then into his backyard and into some bushes against the side wall of his yard. I needed to make sure it had moved along!
We spent one night in Bill's driveway "moochdocking" before we moved to the Elks Lodge in Prescott Valley.
The sites at the Elks campground were very close together and the lodge was closed for COVID-19.
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| Our view of the nearby mountains |
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| View from the outer edge of the parking lot. |
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| The lodge with campground and RV storage behind |
Unfortunately it worked out that our door was directly next to our neighbor's sewer connection and it didn't smell so great. We had to keep our door and windows closed which on that side of the trailer and made us not too thrilled with our camping situation. We made it three nights before we moved.
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| P.U. |
For our first hike in the area, Bill took us to Lynx Lake and we hiked around the lake. It was so nice to be in the fresh air and great temperatures.
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| Junior Rangers go the extra effort to pick up trash |
We enjoyed the hike so much that we did it again on Mother's Day just in the opposite direction.
This time someone had left painted rocks along the trail. We enjoyed spotting them.
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| I got your back |
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| Snoopy - Let it go |
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| This one was beautiful and I felt Blessed to see it |
One day Al and I went for a walk in Bill's neighborhood. We came across this beautiful cactus in someone's yard.
So after three nights at our smelly site at the Elk's lodge, we moved back to Bill's driveway until the weekend.
Some Sunday's we went to Bill's step-mom, Sherry's house for dinner. We swapped cooking our favorite foods and got Sherry hooked on Al's famous cilantro rice. Another cilantro rice addict was born!
Bill took us to another nearby lake to do a hike. This time we hiked in the area of Watson Lake.
One project the guys worked on while we're staying at Bill's was replacing a leaky muffler in our boat and the disc brakes on the boat trailer. We had the muffler re-fiberglassed to close the leak and the guys put it back in the boat. We took it out on Watson Lake one day to make sure the leak was fixed and the brakes work. It's a no wake zone lake so we could only run the boat slowly but it served it's purpose to confirm the leak is fixed.
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| We left the engine cover at home so the guys had good views of their handy work. |
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| Watson lake has these giant boulders in the lake |
Finally on May 16th, a campground we've been trying to move to opened up to new campers. It was about one hour from Bill's house so we made the short drive over and got settled in. It happens we were parked next to another Imagine trailer similar to ours.
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| Us on the left |
Al started a bucket garden while we were still in Casa Grande so now it goes everywhere with us. He planted a tomato, two different types of basil, and a jalapeno plant.
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| Verde River behind the campground |
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| A distant view of Section H of the campground where we were parked |
One day Bill drove over to meet us at the campground and then we drove towards Sedona to do the Devil's Bridge hike.
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| Al taking a breather at this vista |
We hiked up to this natural bridge.
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After eating our lunch near the natural bridge and taking photos for people as everyone took turns standing on the bridge, we started making our way back down and found this side trail that gave us a different perspective of the bridge from below.
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| Bill and Al |
Time to head back.
After we made it back to the truck, we took a short drive to beautiful Sedona. One of my favorite stops is the Chapel of the Holy Cross, a Catholic church. I don't know how many times I've been there but I never tire of the view.
Chapel of the Holy Cross: https://chapeloftheholycross.com/
Now I can start telling the story of some changes we're making. The big news is we sold our Imagine trailer! We loved that trailer and enjoyed our time with it but now that we have the bigger truck (Ford 250) we can tow a larger trailer. Al wanted some more counter space for cooking and we wanted a bigger seating area so we can entertain guests (once that's allowed again). We decided to see if we can sell the Imagine. If not, we were happy with keeping the Imagine but decided to see what happens.
I posted our trailer on RV-Trader and within a week we got a response from a couple from Iowa. They wanted this exact model and planned to install solar and lithium batteries. Since we had a trailer with everything they wanted, they bought our trailer without visiting it in person.
While still back in Casa Grande, Al took the Iowa couple on a tour of the trailer using his cell phone showing them everything including any wear it had from our almost two years of living in it. We expected the next step would be they would fly to Phoenix and come down and see the trailer in person. They decided the video review was good enough and gave us a deposit and we marked it as Sold!
One of the stipulations of the sale was we had to get some warranty work completed before they took possession. We already had Grand Design's blessing to have the axles and leaf springs, door, and the kitchen window replaced.
We placed an order for a new Grand Design Reflection 297RSTS at the end of February with a dealer in Prescott Valley.
We agreed with the Iowa couple to have the work done and for them to take possession around April 15th. Well.....then COVID-19 hit. We had the dealer order the parts for the warranty work which we were lucky that happened before the Grand Design factory shut down for about a month. That also meant our new trailer would be delayed and not arrive at the end of April as planned.
After several calls with the Iowa couple checking in to make sure the deal was still moving forward and setting new dates we decided to have the warranty work done at the same dealer In Prescott Valley and so we dropped off the Imagine at Affinity RV on May 20th.
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| Checking in at Affinity RV |
The plan for our in-between trailer time was to stay at Bill's house along with all our stuff! I could not believe how much stuff we had in the Imagine and the truck!
So while the trailer was in the shop, we continued to do some more hikes in the area. We celebrated my birthday the next day by hiking around Lynx Lake.....again. I just loved it there.
Another day we did a hike on our bucket list. The Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Trail. It's a 7 mile roundtrip trail near Yarnell, Arizona that passes memorial plaques for the 19 fire fighters that lost their lives in a fire in 2013. The hike goes up Granite Mountain where it has a view of the area where the guys died and there is trail leading down to the site containing a memorial.
The Yarnell Hill Fire was a wildfire near Yarnell, Arizona,
ignited by lightning on June 28, 2013. On June 30, it overran and killed
19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots. Just one of the hotshots
on the crew survived—he was posted as a lookout on the fire and was not
with the others when the fire overtook them.
At 600 foot intervals, 19 memorial granite plaques shares a story and
photo of each Hotshot. On additional interpretive signage along the
trail, we learned about the history of wildland firefighting and the
events related to the Yarnell Hill Fire.
As we hiked up the mountain, we passed by plaques for each of the
firemen along with some trinkets left behind by fellow hikers. Someone had left painted rocks at each memorial.
At 5,460 feet above sea level, the Hotshot Trail ends at the Observation Deck looking down to the Fatality Site. The Tribute Wall, a bench and three interpretive signs which continue the story of the Hotshots are located there.
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| Tribute Wall |
To reach the Fatality Site 400 ft below, continue on the .75 mile
Journey Trail. The memorial consists of 19 gabions which surround and
protect the markers of the fallen Granite Mountain Hotshots.
Making our way back with a stop for lunch.
Well the warranty work has been completed. Here we're picking up our trailer from the repair shop.
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| We're the Imagine on the left. |
We went back to Verde Valley Campground for the hand-off of the trailer to its new owners. We got it set up in a nice pull-thru site for them.
And gave it a good wash so it was nice and clean for the new owners.
On May 29th, Ron & Dottie (the Iowa couple) met us at the campground. This was the first time we met face to face after all this time. We gave them a walk through of the trailer and explained how all the systems work including the solar. Then it was time to hand over the keys and leave it behind. It was sad to leave it but we think it's in good hands.
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| Dottie, Ron, Nancy, & Al |
I now follow Ron & Dottie on Facebook and get to see the adventures the Imagine is on with them.
So then it's was back to Bill's house and wait for our new trailer to arrive.
We got to watch the SpaceX launch on his giant TV. That was exciting!
We did a couple of water-ski trips to Lake Mead. On one trip, this butterfly paid us a visit while we were eating lunch floating out in a big bay. It posed for us so we could admire all her beauty!
One day we met up with our friends, Linda & Randy, while they were staying in a casino parking lot for a couple of nights. Their route was blocked by a forest fire so they had to take the long way around and it happened to not be too far from where we were staying so it was another chance to get together.
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| The guys up on the roof checking out their new solar setup |
This is how our "stuff" fit in to Bill's spare bedroom while we wait for our new trailer. We also have some stuff in his garage and shed! Who knew a 28' trailer could hold so much!
With too much time on or hands, we went paddle boarding one day at Watson Lake.
We took a breather and were visited by some ducks looking for a handout.
We went back to Lake Mead for one more water-ski trip before we head to Lake Powell in July. This time we took Bill's boat to make sure it's running fine. This also gave us some time on the water to work out our skiing muscles.
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| Our tent, Bill's truck and boat |
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| Bill's tent |
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| A window view of The Temple at Temple Bar Marina |
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| The Mesa |
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| Temple Bar Marina, Lake Mead |
One night we had an amazing sunset in every direction!
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| Al, Bill, Maureen, and Nancy |
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| Bill in his Happy Place |
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| Al & Nancy |
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| Lake Mead looking towards Iceberg Canyon (Water comes from the Grand Canyon WAY through there.) |
On our ride home from Lake Mead, we got word from our salesman that our new trailer has arrived in Prescott Valley! We can't wait to move in and get back on the road.
We'll share the details in the next blog entry.
