September, 2021 – April, 2022
Just as a reference – it’s 60 miles east along US Interstate 40 from the California/Arizona State line to Kingman, and 115 miles further to Williams. From Williams it’s 40 miles east to Flagstaff, 120 miles south to Phoenix and 40 miles east to Mesa. Then it’ll be 6 months at our winter home, Valle del Oro, before we break camp and begin our 2022 spring/summer adventure.
We’ll stick around Williams for 3 weeks beginning on Labor Day weekend – the Valley of the Sun is still stupid hot. Mesa’s average daily high during September will be well into the 110s Fahrenheit…things do begin cooling off in October. We report for workamping on October 1.
This photo essay is of our journey started so long ago – a blog that is anchored by photographs tied together by remembrances, information and facts from a variety of sources, and (at times) effusive visceral descriptions. It documents this period of time in our life together, and lets our friends, children, grandchildren, and honestly anyone else who is interested know that Granny and PopPop traveled a fair distance, did some pretty amazing things, met some pretty amazing people, and saw some pretty amazing sights.
So the pictures that follow may be a photo redux of the last couple of winters in Arizona…but you never know what our mind’s eye sees the next time around! Enjoy…
Our favorite trail around Sedona is about 5 miles or so north of city center…Oak Creek Canyon is a 7-mile hike crossing Oak Creek a mess of times during the hike.
Old Caves Crater Trail is a 4.1 mile moderately strenuous out and back hike located near Flagstaff known more for the glorious vistas than any old caves.
Williams is approximately 90 minutes from the East Entrance to the Grand Canyon – we couldn’t resist another visit.
In Flagstaff and on the way up to Snowbowl (yup – AZ’s skiing capital!) is Beech
Grove…for all our half-dozen or so trips up the mountainside to take in the view and/or to hike the Kachina Trail we’ve been meaning to capture a picture.
Between Prescott and Williams there are a series of roundabouts, and in the middle islands are sculptures. Barbara liked this one in particular…
Just north of Williams is Kaibab Lake. While hanging out there we found out about the Williams’ pickleball club from another hiker, watched osprey hunt, heron roost, fish jump, and now enjoyed the vegetation during a leisurely walk around the lake…
Paid this guy to pose.
The Valley of the Sun averages a little more than 8 inches of rainfall annually. We had heard that after a soaking (?), a short hike to a waterfall and its cistern was visible at White Tank Mountain Regional Park. It rained 2 days ago…time to get our waterfall on?
The Tempe Fantasy of Lights Boat Parade is an annual Holiday event for the whole family. There is no charge to watch the boat parade and evening’s fireworks.
Kinda tough to get a decent photograph of the lit-up boats while they were in motion…
Old PA friends Tom and Landa just happened to be in town and were hanging out with an old friend and former-PA-transplant, now local, Belen. We got together for a delightful afternoon and early evening in the hipster section of Phoenix. A few random photographs for the archives…
Italian immigrant Alessio Carraro dreamed of building a resort hotel as the centerpiece of a high-end subdivision, Carrarro Heights. He and his son constructed the hotel over just fourteen months – hoping to open in1930. The building is a thing of beauty, based on Italian architecture and tiered like a wedding cake.
The hotel never opened – perhaps because of the stench from the nearby Tovrea meatpacking stockyards, or because of the Great Depression? Carraro sold his castle and its 42 acres to Edward Ambrose Tovrea, magnate of the stockyards, who transformed the massive hotel into a private residence. Tovrea died after less than a year living in the castle and is memorialized by a giant steel pyramid on the property. His widow Della lived there until her death in 1969.
We had wanted to tour the property for the past 3 seasons we wintered in the area. Well, strike 1 of those years due to covid, and tours are rare. Luckily there was a cancellation for a scheduled tour that fit into our schedule…
Pinnacle Peak Park is a 4-mile moderately rated hike near Scottsdale…
One more hike, back behind a housing sub-division and more a mountain bike trail than hiking trail…but the flowering plants were pretty cool…
What do you get when you combine a pizza joint with a Mighty Wurlitzer theatre organ? How about when concerts occur every 20-35 minutes, and are performed by professional organists who are members of the American Theatre Organ Society (ATOS) and the American Guild of Organists (AGO)? The answer is Organ Stop Pizza…one of those “must get to places” on our bucket list. Novelty or not, the pizza was pretty good, and the concerts were superb. Amazing what sound is produced by the Mighty Wurlitzer!
“If you’re bored it’s your own fault” has been our philosophy for the 3 winters we’ve hung out in Mesa. Valley del Oro is a true resort in its own right, and whether it’s our favorite activities – pickleball, senior and over-70’s softball, table tennis, ladder golf and bag toss, water volleyball, the sewing room or exercise room, happy hours and dancing to bands on the patio, dinners and potlucks with friends or so many more available activities – or not – there’s always something to do. Add in area hiking trails, the restaurant scene, cultural and athletic events associated with a large metro area and our wintering time goes by so very, very quickly.
November is time to head east to celebrate with family the birthdays of granddaughters 8-year-old Helena and 5-year-old Penny, and since we were mighty close, we couldn’t resist a quick trip into DC to visit with 2-year-old Rowan.
Helena and family moved to Gettysburg this year in order to steep in the history of our Country’s most iconic battlefield. Thanks for the personal 6-hour tour Jamie! We enjoyed the sights of late fall…
It’s 91 miles from Gettysburg to DC…
Hard to believe that Penny is now 5…she’s grown up so much in the last year!
It was awful cold in Yellow Springs…
Barbara and Brian
“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.“ – Henry David Thoreau
Aimless Wanderings 
Two weeks until I walk from North Rim to Canyon Floor to South Rim. For a week I will envy you guys a little less.
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A wonderful adventure indeed…the hardest parts of the journey will be the heat on the Canyon floor (and chill overnight) and climbing out of the Canyon. I was dog tired and then climbing out does require A LOT of cardio fitness (you’re probably in much better shape than I). You’ll have a gas and can tell people you did something not many take on.
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Well, I did it – single day – definitely something I will remember to my last day. The last 10 miles uphill were brutal and last 3 miles took everything I had – a little heat wave hit the area in time I was there at temps went over 110 F on canyon floor. Could have executed a several things better but I would tell anyone undertaking a real foray into the wild – do your research or reality will be unforgiving in its punishment of pride. In the window of one before and one week after I did my hike two people died and one was airlifted out in critical condition. And FYI – the park service only comes for you if you are in critical condition or dead.
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Congratulations and WOW! What an adventure and what sights you must have seen! Did you complete the hike in a single day? That’s not something I would have imagined doing as the hike down, paired with heat on the canyon floor, the hiking distance, hydration and fueling throughout the hike, and then the arduous climb out would be too much for this old man. Favorite memory other than haviong completed the adventure?
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Single day – took me about 14 hours – I started at first light of dawn – the descent was fairly easy (much like I am a great downhill runner I am a great downhill hiker). The canyon floor was manageable, even with temps climbing. The ascent was rough – first five miles was in a lot of open sun. To be honest I can’t recall much of the last 7 miles – I really just had to put my head down, focus on the trail and grind it out. I’d put the experience this way to a Michigan legend like yourself …. viewing the canyon from the rim is like watching a UM – OSU game – it’s a spectacular event that is awe inspiring, visual overload and a joy. Hiking the canyon is like playing in the UM – OSU game – you experience the event at an intimate level, you find out who you are and it becomes a part of you. I certainly wish I had done it as a younger man but glad I did it while I am still able.
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I do so like your analogies…we took 3 days for the hike, and climbing back out of the canyon was as difficult as running the cross-country course for time plus the 2-a-days that the coaches claimed were, on a daily basis, one session of conditioning and one session for team building, learning the playbook and well, knocking head together. As you indicated you learn so much about yourself and in the long run it’s true…that which doesn’t kill you does indeed make you stronger physically, emotionally, cognitively and spiritually (how many times did the supreme being’s name get uttered?). So many claim they’ve had such an intimate awakening, but you’ve been there. Congrats again!
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The two “maxims” I’ve come up with since you’ve started your blog : “If not now, when” – that’s when I walked up Rio Grande in the Santa Elena because the water was too low for rafting.
I can’t lie – 3 miles from South Rim I was laid out in the Rest House and the outcome was uncertain – couple people thought they stumbled upon a corpse. My friends said “that’s not my idea of a vacation. I thought to myself = I’d rather die finding out what I couldn’t do and live wondering what I could have done – that’s now my second maxim. I’ll be back adventuring soon.
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