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| Inside of Dolly the Dophin, our home for the last 6 months |
Winter storms are moving across the country and we have grounded Dolly and settled in Arizona. It's hard to believe that since June we've been on the move around the country. We put over 13,000 miles on Dolly the Dolphin RV. She's a very solidly built machine. It was our home and we felt very comfortable being inside of it. We got here in time to spend Thanksgiving with Cheri's Mom & Dad. We had an amazing meal. Even Satch and Bebop celebrated Thanksgiving with bones.
We're now staying in Arizona's Yavapai County, named after the Yavapai people, the principal inhabitants of this part of the country when it was annexed by the United States in 1864. Yavapai County is a large area in the mountains north of Phoenix that covers an area that's close to the size of the entire state of New Jersey.
The area climbs from the Sonoran Desert on the south to mountain peaks close to 8,000 feet. A healthy percentage of Yavapai County is managed by the Bureau of Land Management as part of the National Wilderness System.
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| Yapavai County is home to beautiful scenery |
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| Cathedral Rock in Sedona |
Sedona is one of the best known towns in Yavapai Couty. It's famous for its red sandstone formations. When hiking on trails around Sedona, you will suddenly come upon a thousand foot tall vertical wall of red rocks. The landscape is so unique that over 60 films have been made here. Sedona's nickname is "Arizona's Little Hollywood," even though many times the films are portrayed to be taking place in Texas or Nevada. It's the amazing backdrop of Sedona that makes these films stand out. Sedona's other noteriety comes from the Harmonic Convergence meditation event of 1987 when the sun, the moon and six of the planets all lined up. New Age spirituality is big in Sedona as it is said that the spiritual vortex is strong around Bell Rock, Cathedral Rock and Boynton Canyon. Because of this, you will find many new age shops in Sedona selling crystals and Mayan artifacts.
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| Watson Lake at Point of Rocks Campground |
The capital of Yavapai couty, Prescott (pronounced 'Press Kit'), is in the Bradshaw Mountains at 5,400 feet altitude. Even though the city is around a mile high like Denver, the climate is much milder. The mountain air brings cool nights and mild days all year round. It really is a great climate. The monsoons bring a good amount of moisture during the summer which keeps everything green. Unlike the desert, the ground and hills are covered with shrubs and bushes. We love to camp at Point of the Rocks, a lovely spot right on Watson Lake.
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| Whiskey Row in downtown Prescott |
Downtown Prescott is known as Arizona's Christmas City. Tonight is the annual Christmas parade that kicks off the season. Then, next week, all 170 trees on the downtown Courthouse square will be lit up with Christmas lights. People come from all over to see the lighting display. Directly across the street from the courthouse is Whiskey Row. Through most of the twentieth century, it was the city's red light district. Legend has it that at one time, 40 bars and saloons lined this block. It is hard to imagine that many saloons could fit in this one block, but there are many legends about this block, including the one that the mayor wanted all the bars in one block across from the courthouse so he could keep an eye on things. The remaining bars have kept the western and cowboy theme going.
Now that winter has taken hold over most of the country, we're hunkering down in Arizona. We plan to explore and check out the beauty of Arizona and make plans for what's next for the traveling Constantines.
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