It's Not Personal, Prescott!

February 21-24, 2016
Wickenburg, Arizona

After our whirlwind social stop near Phoenix, we take it pretty easy in Wickenburg. In fact we do even less than we planned.

The drive north on Hwy 60 is very pretty, and Tuesday's weather is perfect. After a ridiculous routing by our GPS through the roundabout in Wickenburg, we get back on track and pull into the Horspitality RV Park and Boarding Stable. If you come here, know that you can easily make a safe left turn into the park without the nonsense of "turning around".

When I made the reservation I knew we'd be in the overflow near the stables - every park is booked in Wickenburg this week - and the stables is where we're at :-)))) We look very out of place among all the horse trailers, the only RV in this area. Our neighbors include a pretty Buckskin on one side and a rugged Palomino on the other. Our site is gravel, water and electric only - really only - impossible to get level - but it's fine. 

The stables and arena are very active starting with feeding time before sun up, and mostly all day. It's fun to watch all the horses exercising, being groomed, and rolling in the dirt (generally just after they've been groomed). It's all familiar to me from my previous life owning a ranch and horses. For Bill, not so much :-) 

Folks are friendly, they all seem to know each other, and are very nice to us. 

Our pretty neighbor

One of these is not like the others.....

Wednesday we drive into Congress to meet Janna and Mike for lunch. Janna and I have been "reading each other" for a couple years, and we just missed them in Montana last summer. As expected they are both delightful people and we have a great time getting to know them. I canNOT believe I once again forget a photo. I have to figure out some sort of alarm to set!!  We look forward to our paths crossing again in the future.

This very non-discript place is a five star restaurant owned by Chef Simon, who moved here from NYC to escape the city chaos. I've heard of it from other bloggers, and the food is still a wonderful surprise!

We drive down Ghost Town Road to see Al and Kelly's former home (the garden looks well tended guys), and then out to the old cemetery. I'm surprised the road ends so quickly at a private gate, but we bounce around some of the washed-out dirt roads before heading back to the highway.

A few areas of dense Saquaros.

Lots of green.

Next we head up Yarnell Hill where its steep and winding reputation is experienced first hand. What a view!! Unfortunately the sign for the Hotshots State Memorial Site doesn't say that you can't get back to the "up" highway without going all the way back to the bottom :-(. It's a tiny parking lot on the side of the road and we don't stop. Instead we go back to the bottom and come back up again to reach the little town of Yarnell.

The Corner Bakery is closed, as are most storefronts. I am very surprised to see all of the buildings still standing. Well, it looks like "all" because there are no empty lots or burned buildings. I thought the town had been nearly wiped out by the devastating fire of 2013, but the main street seems intact. A good thing!

We continue on to Peeples Valley, full of horse ranches and miles of white and black fences. There are a lot more horses in this part of Arizona than we saw in Kentucky!

Since our plan is to come back this way from Prescott, we don't continue on to Skull Valley. It turns out to be a bad decision.

We don't pick up one of their famous pizzas, but I do peruse the cute shop in Congress that I've read so much about over the years.

Wickenburg has a nice little historic district with shops and eateries full of cowboy decor and real cowboys. We don't spend much time in town, but it's very clean and colorful.

Our second stop without sewer means a couple loads in the laundry room. At least I can still use my dryer at home!

View from the laundry. Good thing everyone's friendly because they're really packed in here. I like the stables :-))

Thursday is our "go back to Prescott" day. Last time we visited from Williams we didn't give ourselves enough time, and therefore didn't see much. I also want to "fill-in" more of this area of Arizona so we take the long way to get there. It's another beautiful drive over Hwy 74 and up Hwy 17. With temps in the high 40's it's a good "auto hike" day.

Lots of this - different and just as beautiful.

Views from Sunset Point in the Black Canyon area. 

Bill's stomach has been "unhappy" the last couple days and mine chooses this long day trip to "join in". Which of course means that Prescott once again doesn't get the attention it deserves. We've heard from everyone who's been here that it's wonderful. And again we don't get to enjoy it :-( In fact we see even less as we continue through town and south on Hwy 89. Really Prescott - it's not you, it's us!

The drive through the pines is pretty, with lovely views of the valleys below. I don't take any pics because I just want to get home. We should have made the drive to Skull Valley the day before as we miss that too.

Oh well, we can, and will, come back.

Thanks Wickenburg, we appreciate the show.

Friday we both feel better but have appointments to schedule and other "week day" calls to make before we move on to Quartzsite in the morning. A slow day at home feels pretty good.

How is it easier to go over the Jeep?