Kartchner Caverns State Park is a two hour drive from Roper Lake, so we were in no hurry to get going. And once on the road we progressed leisurely, somewhat necessitated by a steady climb, albeit with wind from behind for a change. Although not far from our destination, we were attracted by a rest stop in a magnificent setting amongst towering rocky hillocks. Fickie got going with his camera and we stretched legs for the final push.
http://azstateparks.com/Parks/KACA/index.html
tuned out to be a sizable establishment inundated with tour groups,
including school buses and parking lots filled with lesser vehicles. Mountain
caverns are the prime attraction and Arizona did a great job in setting up a
visitor center, the quality of which compared favorably to the best in the
nation. The education emphasis is striking, alike that of NASA in Houston and
others elsewhere. Our prime interest was
the campground, though, and we secured a lovely site with electric and water
hookups close to restrooms of consistent quality with those at Roper Lake. The
Arizona Parks Department seems to have it exemplary right with what they are
doing and it boded well for where we were headed still.
After having
paid close attention to the excellent exhibits and the video presentation in
the Visitor Center, we concluded that previous cave experiences in South
Africa, including the Cango Caves, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cango_Caves
were sufficient and saving the
$23 per person at Kartchner was the sober decision. Not having phone or
internet access at the campground, resulted in us driving a few miles back
towards Benson until our Hotspot kicked in. We could thus get some phone calls
made and deal with e-mail before moving to a campground with better prospects
the next day.
Picacho Peak
State Park was our next destination, which we reached soon http://azstateparks.com/Parks/PIPE/index.html . This is a desert campground
between Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona. We decided on it because of this location
so we could address interests in both cities without having to relocate. Our interest
was further stimulated by a comment from a camper at Kartcher, namely that
although one could approach the place with apprehension upon turning off the
highway, by the time one passed the park entrance and continued to the camp
ground about a mile further, the perspective changes . The official at the
registration office appeared somewhat surprised when we registered to stay for
5 days, suggesting that we were way up on the high end of the distribution
curve. But a mile further we began to see the point of the lady from Kartchner.
The humungous mountain and peak to the away side of the highway and lower black
rock hillock toward the highway have the extensive campground cradled in-between.
After tanking up fresh water, we reached our lovely campsite, hooked up the
electricity and had a lunch snack ready in no time. Reports from our ladies
were encouraging regarding the restrooms, which upon further inspection proved
exactly consistent with our previous most positive assessment of the Arizona
Parks Department.
In addition
to sightseeing, Tucson acquired more meaning once Willem did a Google search which
resulted in him and Susan reestablishing contact with former South African
folks from State College, the Comrie’s, now residing in Tucson. A dinner date
was set for a couple of days later, so we first pursued our plan for Susan to
spend time on the University of Arizona campus, while Willem, Fickie and Stella
found their way to the Titan Missile Museum south of Tucson. According to a visitor
info piece, the Museum lets visitors
explore the only remaining Titan II site open to the public. This surely
was a worthwhile excursion and one can only trust that the systems which
replaced that program are being handled equally convincing. Susan’s visit to
the University of Arizona proved very rewarding and she was favorably impressed
by the School of Music, the arts, library and the campus in general.
The next day
Susan and Willem met with friends from State College, Rod and Barb Chmura, now
residing near Phoenix, for lunch. It was great to see them in good shape after having
dealt with health issues since leaving Charlotte, NC some years ago. We
subsequently visited with a former music student of Susan’s, from the 70’s in
South Africa, Mia-Lida Smith and her husband, Paul and their family, now
residing in Chandler, close to Phoenix. Mia-Lida’s parents, Willie and Elize
Erasmus, were visiting from South Africa and it was a very pleasant and
rewarding get together!
Dinner with
Andrew and Lee Comrie and their lovely daughters, Alison and Haley was
terrific. The latter we met for the first time, punctuating how time flies,
given that Alison is in college and Haley just about getting there.
Hiking and
regrouping somewhat rounded off our last day at Picacio Peak, while Fickie
stayed awake to see the lunar eclipse at midnight. Dead Horse Ranch was our next destination, 34.754316,
-112.018286 .
This site
was chosen in Cottonwood, Arizona, south of Sedona and somewhat remote from the
prime tourist hotspot. The Dead Horse Ranch State Park campground , http://azstateparks.com/Parks/DEHO/index.html
is really pretty and we had a
fine site. In addition, there was a service center for our microwave, which had
developed a glitch, in Cottonwood. The
warranty was running out and although not a great deal, Willem decided to take
it in. A diagnosis was made but the replacement parts were not in stock and
could not be shipped in time. And neither could those be sent ahead to a
service center further on our route. Fortunately the fellow at Magic Chef could
arrange for sending it to Hans in Philadelphia to bring it to California, when
they will be visiting with us in June.
We can then fix it ourselves. We have grown accustomed to maintenance
issues continuing to surface. Willem fortunately hauled a toolbox with some
power equipment, including a drill and a saw which proved its value on many
occasions. Our dinette table underwent some reconstruction, the roof vent which
suffered early on in Canada required attention after its vulnerable extension
invited the attention of branches and at Hyde Memorial Park outside of Santa Fe
our water pump, needed for dry camping, failed but could be brought back to
life by disassembly and freeing a stuck valve.
Although
Cottonwood is a lovely town in its own right, with ample stores and services
for our needs, the prime attraction of the area is Sedona http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedona,_Arizona
. So that is where we went the second day. A stunning surprised awaited
us, coming in from the south, as the landscape abruptly changed as a result of
a steep decline virtually into a canyon. This where Sedona is stretched out
along Route 89A. The cliffs are astounding – clearly the prime attraction of
the town, where every yard of real estate is geared toward tourism. Plenty
tourist information centers are very short on useful information but abundant
on sales pitches for various shuttle services, including all kinds of Jeep and
Hummer types. The tacit assumption appears to be that that visitors are totally
incapable of getting anywhere on their own, notwithstanding having demonstrated
adequate skills to reach Sedona by road on their own. We fortunately got a few
useful pointers from other campers in Cottonwood, which included the airport
drive. This proved to be by far the most spectacular route to take and once at
the top, tourist busses and the aforementioned shuttles by the dozen crowded
the parking lot and vantage points. We climbed to the summit, from where the
360 degree views were really stunning. We also got a little bit of the meaning
of what Wikipedia refers to as: Sedona's
main attraction is its array of red formations. The formations appear to
glow in brilliant orange and red when illuminated by the rising or setting sun.
The red rocks form a popular backdrop for many activities, ranging from
spiritual pursuits to the hundreds of hiking and mountain biking trails. Especially the spiritual pursuits part of it, as a number of summit-climbers were
observed sitting in various poses with eyes shut and arms extended in different
ways, presumably serving as conduits for spirits unbeknownst to us. Interesting!
Entering ‘spiritual Sedona’ in Google leads to a multitude of references that
can keep one busy for a long time and expose one to an education one would not
have thought possible, such as http://www.lovesedona.com/01.htm .
We looped
back to Cottonwood via the scenic route 179 and prepared for an early take-off
to the Grand Canyon the next morning.
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