Amado, Tubac

 

The landscape has changed since coming to Southern Arizona but there are still mountains in the background.  Although desert is a feature of northern and southern Arizona it is not exactly the same.  As we travelled south we noticed many saguara cacti (sounds like sworrow).  Those are the ones that can get quite tall and have  curved arms.  In some places it was like a forest of them.  Road signs warned of dust clouds as we passed through very flat dry sandy areas with some vegetation.  We saw some cattle grazing, though not as many as in the north,  and wonder what they are actually eating.  Apparently grazing has endangered Arizona grasslands since the 1800's and is now prohibited in some areas.

Today we saw a bird or maybe a bug sucking from a flower.  Honestly...we weren't sure if it was a very small humming bird or a very large bug!! It's going to take a while to figure this place out.


We are about 7 miles north of Tubac a town that is Arizona's oldest European Community.  It was established as a Presidio (fort) in 1752 and has an interesting history that I haven't quite grasped yet.  I want to tour the ruins and museum while we are here and learn more about it. Arizona did not become a State until 1912 and Tubac has played a big role in it's development.  Tubac  now has more than 100 shops and many art galleries and studios as well as the Historic State Park.  "Where Art and History Meet" is their motto.  On touring some of the galleries today it is obvious that it has attracted artists of every medium.  Similar to Sedona, but not as busy, Tubac's art is beautiful but beyond our pocket books!

Our campground, De Anza Trails,  is in Amado which is a very small town.  It's hard to call it a town really but it does have a couple of strange restaurants like the "Longhorn Grill" which apparently has been featured in some movies.   Nearby is a place called Amado Territory Ranch which we have finally figured out is a private enterprise that caters to weddings and events but also has a few shops, salon, restaurant and a couple of artists galleries.  The grounds are quite lush for being in the desert!  Maybe we will go to the steakhouse one night.

De Anza campground is under construction as they are adding more RV sites as well as developing park models.  The bulldozers start fairly early in the morning but it is not really bothering us.  The park used to be a Greyhound Dog racing track!  As with all the campgrounds we have stayed in since coming to Arizona, the background is dominated by mountains (hills?) that change colour as daylight changes.  Very pretty.

Between Tubac and Amado we have to go through a border check point and there are also cameras scanning the desert.  We are not far from Nogales a Mexican border town about half an hour south of here.  Even if you haven't been to Mexico you can't avoid this.  We don't  have to show passports at the check point but sometimes I.D.  So far the guards have been more friendly than the ones at Port Huron!  Dogs sniff the truck.  We came out clean.  Whew!  The effort to stop illegals and drugs coming into Arizona is in full swing but as Canadian travellers we have been treated well.

Goodbye Sedona! Boynton Canyon Hike

Leaves are changing! 

Sedona we will be back!  There are lovely shops and resorts like Tlaquepaque and Enchantment but the best thing about Sedona for us was the hikes.  You could stay here for a month or more and do a different hike every day.  You need a Red Rock Pass to park and hike and it is $5 a day but next time we would buy a weekly pass.  Some hikes are short, some are steep, some are long but all are gorgeous.  I think it is the best way to really get into this unique environment.  Sedona is expensive but we found it was fine to stay 20 minutes down the road at Camp Verde and drive back to town for hiking.

Boynton Canyon turned out to be one of the best hikes we were on around Sedona.  The sun wasn't shining on this one, the colour is like a reflection.  It seems to have a light of it's own!

Believe it or not this picture was taken from the bar, through the window at Enchantment!

In the Boynton Canyon is a resort called Enchanchment.  We went there for a beer after the hike on the recommendation of people we met on the Grand Canyon flight.  This is an exclusive place hidden in this Canyon and I think very expensive!  But beautiful.  It would be amazing to stay there sometime among these colourful cliffs.  It is owned by a Japanese Corporation and in the U.S. has a sister resort in Virginia.  

This is the patio of the bar at Enchanchment where we had a beer.  Check out the tennis courts in the background.  Also croquet courts. 

Fascinating formations.

It's a secret alright!  But not now that it's in the blog!

More stunning formations...they look like they have been carved.  I guess they have by time and erosion!

You can see parts of the resort, hidden in the canyon. 

Rock art!  This reminded us of Northern Ontario Inukshuks. Wally fits right in! 

As we hiked it became more of a climb and eventually we were boxed in.  

The hike took longer than we thought.  What else is new!  I was starved and despite the difficulty of sitting on this slope I managed to get lunch.  Do not enlarge this one!

The end...couldn't go any further.  

After lunch, just about to get back on the trail. 

More colourful cliffs. 

Croquet anyone?

Jerome

We drove up to Jerome and I mean UP!  We were amazed as we kept climbing and switch backing and seeing glimpses of buildings impossibly perched on the mountain side.  Finally we arrived at the strangest main street of a small town I have ever seen.  And it was packed!  No parking available so we had to go up and park near the top at the old mine site.  To make things even stranger a couple of dozen mini's pulled in after us.

This ex-ghost town is the site of an old ore mine: mostly copper but also gold, silver and zinc.  It was one of the most prosperous and prolific mines of the country in it's hey-day.  The history of Jerome is a bit complicated so I am going to give you the wikipedia site to check it out if you want.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome,_Arizona  This town  was once in line to be the capitol of Arizona but when the mine was abandoned in the 30's it became almost a ghost town.  In the 70's hippies moved in and since then it has become an artist's paradise and now a tourist/shopping destination.  And pricey!  One of the strange things about Jerome is that it has a store with the largest collection of kalaidascopes and this weekend there was a kalaidascope festival!!  I have never seen anything like it.   We toured the museum and tried to get a grasp of the nature of this place.  What we did get was an amazing view.  Guess what we could see in the distance from this altitude?  You guessed it, the red rocks of Sedona!

Just one of the ruins.  Check the background...mountains, plains etc.

I wish I could meet the owners of this van.  If you enlarge it maybe you could read some of the words.  

Bordello...a common theme in Jerome

Main street is split by this building...the pictures do not do the angles justice!

Jerome is on a fault line...aside from fire many buildings were destroyed by sliding!

Notice the "J" up on the top of Mingus mountain.

The museum was the mansion of one of the mine owners...rich and safely away from the many fires and slides.  Also, a Canadian Connection.

Sedona in the background from the mansion/museum.  

Leaving Jerome we took a back road down Mingus Mountain...I have never seen anything like it.  If you look closely you will see a blue sign on the left...one of the many cliff hanging roads, scary turns...very exciting drive.  NO WAY would we take the RV on this!!  Altitude over 7000 ft.

Scary turns and cliff drop views!

Bell Rock and Court House Butte Hike

Bell Rock...just the top.  We hiked in overcast conditions today.  What's with that?  I thought it never rained in AZ!  We hiked for 3 hours around Bell Rock and Courthouse Rock only 20 minutes from Drumstick.  Hee hee!  I mean Distant Drums.  I called our campground Drumstick today! 

Courthouse Butte...almost as imposing as Cathedral Rock, fun to hike around.

We could see Cathedral Rock in the background. Little did I know I would be challenged again to climb beyond my brain!  The new hiking shoes helped.  So did the rain.  We didn't have time to get to the top of Bell Rock. 

We think this is a tarantula!  It was about an inch at least, maybe closer to 2 inches!  It is smaller than the squished tarantula I saw in an overnight campgound in New Mexico.  John prevented me from taking a picture of that squished one...humungous squished so I can't imagine what it looked like when it was alive.  Anyway, this guy was scary enough!

The vortex!  Well, I am trying to catch the flow here.  I must say the hikes on the red rocks are invigorating and joyful.  If that is the vortex, bring it on!

Got some new hiking shoes!  Keens...kind of ugly but nice on the FUA's!

Camp Verde

Just an hour south of Sedona is Camp Verde an old army town in Verde Valley.   We have moved down here to a lovely RV Resort called Distant Drums.  I am really in the desert now with mountains in the background.  We will stay here for a week and are still close enough to Sedona to take advantage of great hikes.  There may even be a golf course in the vicinity!  It will be good to be still for a week and the people here are friendly, the facilities beautiful and the view lovely.

Sedona Uptown

Uptown Sedona

From our RV park we could easily walk past Tlaquepaque Village to uptown Sedona. We laughed when we saw the UFO truck and store since images of mars had already been evoked! Sedona only had 3 businesses in 1945 so it has come a long way in a short period. It is still small but attracts as many people as the Grand Canyon each year! I have to admire how the buildings and stores do not detract from the amazing red cliffs surrounding them. Zoning and building laws have been carefully thought out to maintain the integrity of the natural beauty here. Stores and homes match the environment.