Friday, February 24, 2017

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?




16 comments:

  1. We made a stop in Wickenburg when we were heading south. It's a fun little town. We found a lot to see.

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  2. Google did this same thing to us as we were approaching the Coachlight Inn and RV Park. They wanted us to go passed the place and make a U-turn to come back at it. Luckily, John had already driven the road on Google Street View and knew the median barrier ended so we could just turn left into the place. I rechecked the road as we approached and zoomed in on the satellite view on the phone and saw Google was crazy. Glad you arrived safely:)

    So glad you got to meet Michael and Janna. Isn't that a great restaurant for that little town! We really enjoyed our stay in Wickenburg. Glad you are both feeling better:)

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    1. This was of course "that time" I didn't street view the arrival - what a mess! We enjoyed meeting them so much, what a great couple. Looking forward to their new adventures in Pierce - where there are definitely no five star eateries :-)))

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  3. Glad to read you are feeling better. I LOVE Prescott. Joe and I really need to get back there.

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    1. See? Everybody loves it and we have only seen enough to "sort of" get it! I feel like we need to get there for the first time :-)

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  4. We haven't been through Wickenburg in years—and we've never spent any time there. You sure do make it look interesting and colorful! I'm so sorry that you both weren't feeling well—I hope you're better now.

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    1. All better and moved on to Quartzsite, but I know we'll be back to try Prescott again!

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  5. How did we all four forget to take a photo??? So sorry you were both under the weather!

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    1. Right?! I remembered about the time you pulled out of the driveway - at least I got the restaurant :-)))))

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  6. well we too have for some reason not made it to Prescott... some day...

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    1. :-)) It has a great reputation, we must all make the effort in the future!!

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  7. There is a lot to see and do in the Prescott area. Worthy of staying in town. Or the RV Park in Kirkland where I am, but wasn't when you would have come by to Skull Valley. We almost didn't get a pic either. I am so happily involved with people I forget to take a photo.

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    1. Had you not carried your camera I would not have remembered! Glad we didn't miss you at this end :-))

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  8. I would say a slow day at home is about time for you two energizer bunnies. Glad your stomach thing didn't turn in to something more horrid - say like our 14 days and counting coughing virus. Wickenburg definitely put on a sky show for you. Great shot.

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    1. We have been fortunate (knock wood) to avoid anything horrid for quite a while. In this case just enough to ruin a single day's outing. Do so hope you two are done with yours very soon! We're hoping for a couple more AZ sunsets this week :-))

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