On The Road Again in 2013: Hello from Cottonwood, AZ

We arrived here a couple of hours ago after a very easy drive from Williams.....a total of about 100 miles for today. We'll 'hang out' here for a couple of weeks and I can tell already it is going to be much warmer here than we've seen for awhile. We have the air conditioner on now as it's very still outside and in the 90's. We like this Thousand Trails Park a lot as it's away from the main highways with NO railroad tracks close by. We laugh sometimes and say that it must be a law somewhere that RV parks must be built near railroad tracks and interstates. The town of Cottonwood, population 12,000, is about 5 miles from the park and is a very nice little town with all the things we'll need for these two weeks. We are only about 20 miles from Sedona, AZ which everyone has heard of I'm sure.

We feel very lucky and very blessed that we left Lakewood, NM when we did last Sunday. Apparently, on Monday the rain started and on Thursday morning that little RV park that I talked about in my blog had to be evacuated via helicopter, three people at a time. A total of about 70 people were airlifted out to a school in Carlsbad where a Red Cross Shelter had been set up. Most of these people were from the RV park but a few other folks were from a couple of houses in the Lakewood area. It is really hard to imagine where all the flooding came from but the rising flood waters from nearby, normally dry arroyos forced the evacuation and the park is now closed from what we understand until at least the end of September. The folks were allowed back in yesterday but within hours were asked to leave again because another storm is predicted for Monday & Tuesday and they don't want to face another evacuation. Only one man stayed behind on Thursday, a guy named Bob, who Dick spent considerable time with the week we were there, because Bob was the guy who was/is instrumental in the park putting in their own RO water system a couple of years ago. He gave Dick a tour of their system and picked his brain about what they still needed to do or not do, and he stayed behind to try and save what he could but from what we've been able to read and hear, the system was severely damaged and there is now no water at the park and no sewage system (thus the reason it is closed I'm sure). Roads were washed out and it was only yesterday that they could come back and retrieve whatever they wanted/needed for the next few weeks. One thing we know is that you had to keep your RVs licensed and 'mobile' so there were no RVs in there that couldn't be driven or pulled out (some probably hadn't left the park in years but they could if need be) so we're 'assuming' that people will go somewhere else only until the park reopens and then they'll be back to start putting their 'little slice of heaven' back together again. This is quite the resilient group of people and we just know they want to return as soon as possible. So our timing was good although we can't help but feel sorry for these people as they just love their park, who are their 'family', and our thoughts and prayers have been with them this week.

We spent the last few days in Williams, AZ, population 3200, west of Flagstaff about 30 miles. This is beautiful 'tall pines' country, and known as the Gateway to the Grand Canyon. Williams is also along the historic Route 66, so is quite the touristy area with plenty of restaurants, motels, gas stations, etc. There is a steam train that runs every day from Williams to the Canyon (about 130 miles round trip) and is a fun day trip.....or longer, if you choose to spend the night and come back in a day or two. We did that trip a few years ago so we chose not to do it again. It's a wonderful ride on restored rail cars, with a crew that tells you about the spectacular surroundings, even musicians who bring the Old West to life and also a train robbery at one point.

One day we did go to Bearizona, a drive-thru wildlife adventure just outside Williams. We have been to their other park in Rapid City, SD and really enjoyed that so wondered if we'd enjoy this one as much. Of course, the surroundings are beautiful but this park is only three years old so there isn't near the animals yet that Rapid City has. You drive through the park, at your own pace, and then at the end there is what they call Ft. Bearizona, where you can stroll through the forest and get closer to the antics of baby and smaller animals. We saw things like American Bison, White Bison, Rocky Mt. Bighorn sheep and wolves but not in big numbers yet. We do believe that in a few years this park will be as amazing as the one in Rapid City. In fact, we learned that these are the sons of the folks who operate the one in Rapid City, so they know exactly what needs to be done and it will all come with time. As we were driving through, we noticed these old buses off to the side of the road in a yard so we asked at the gift shop what they were for and she told us that they spray them with whatever the cement material is to make them look like mountain-like homes or waterfalls in the animal habitats. They look so real-like and what a great use of what normally would be no longer useful. They also use old trailers, shuttles, and whatever else they can recycle.

Two of our granddaughters live in Flagstaff so we spent one day with Cassie, the youngest one who is a sophomore in college at NAU. We got caught up over lunch, then took in some shopping, and then took her back to college for her evening class. Amber, the oldest granddaughter, was working this week and then had plans to go to Phoenix on her days off, so we saw her and her new fiance' yesterday. They were engaged this week so both are very excited and we are very happy for them. We will see the middle granddaughter, Lauren, when we get back to Phoenix in a couple of weeks. It's hard to believe they are all grown up now and have their own lives and all seem to be doing well.

We also spent a couple of days with a dear friend of mine and her husband. Marjie and I worked together in CA for the same telephone company many years ago. We have stayed in touch, and always felt like 'sisters' in many ways, even though we've been miles apart a lot of the time. She was remarried about four years ago and her new husband loves horses so they moved to Williams about a year ago along with their 7 horses, and 6 dogs. They have a beautiful home on 40 acres outside Williams and we enjoyed catching up over lunch as well as taking a long ride on some of the back roads of Williams hoping to see some elk or deer. We didn't see any elk that day but did see some deer and all of us being non-hunters, we hoped they all got away because it is bow and arrow hunting time in AZ for deer right now. And the hunters were definitely out there!!

We had beautiful weather while in Williams with a touch of fall in the air. Trees were beginning to turn, cool mornings and 70's during the day. Perfect!! We had some rain but nothing as serious as New Mexico or Colorado.......wow, our thoughts and prayers go out to all of those folks and it looks like more is coming this week.

We will spend time here in Cottonwood with no definite plans. I'm sure we'll drive in and around Sedona as you can never get tired of that red-rock scenery, and who know what else we'll find to do.

I will probably only do one more blog next Sunday as this summer's adventures are coming to a close and once we return to Phoenix there won't be anything really special to write about for awhile. It has been fun to write this and has helped me keep track of where we've been and what we've done and when.

Until next Sunday........have a good week ahead.