Penny Thoughts

Day 4… One more visit to my tree and my creek to say goodbye until next time and then it was off to Cottonwood for breakfast before heading north.

Sunday was Jerome day, but since I didn’t make it to Cottonwood Saturday morning, the old mining ghost town of Jerome will just have to wait for a future visit. So on the recommendation of a friend, it was off to Crema in Cottonwood.

As I finished up at Crema and was heading out, there in the courtyard having lunch was that friend and her family! So as has been the theme of this trip, the agenda got chucked and I joined her family on a visit to their horse ranch.

But first a visit with the goats

And then over to the paddock to bring their horses in to prep for an afternoon trail ride.

And then it was time to head up to “The Nest” before I lost the daylight. Going off the grid for the night and I needed the sun to see where I was going.

Cottonwood being south of Sedona, I had one last opportunity for a scenic drive out of town. The views just never disappoint.

Several times I would just click record and hold the phone out the window. My eyes had to stay forward so the videos were as much for me to be able to enjoy the scenery later.

Because I was running short on time I had planned to take the shorter of the two possible routes north. I plugged in the address and selected the expressway route. After some time it became apparent that I should have been on the expressway by now. I’m not sure how or exactly when the GPS flipped me over to the other route and despite all of my cursing and screaming at the GPS, it could not give me an answer. By the time I realized, it wasn’t worth turning around to go back. I was super annoyed.

But then I came around the corner and saw this and thought, OK let’s just settle in and enjoy the scenic route.

For as beautiful as it was, it was still a race against time because I was going to a place that had no lights, dirt roads, poor signage.

I arrived right at dusk, just enough time to get a quick lay of the land and move into my quarters for the evening.

After meeting the site manager dude and his dogs, we set up a little bonfire and dad‘s portable bar and had ourselves a nice evening.

Very sadly, by the time I got there the llama and the donkey were already in for the night. The next morning I left before sunrise so I did not get to see them, which seriously bummed me out.

The Van was surprisingly cozy and warm. If I ever go back to the Grand Canyon I will probably stay here again, for at least two nights so I can enjoy more of the commune. They really set it up beautifully, completely self-sufficient: solar power, rain and well water, compost, etc. So the sign on the way out of the property was perfect:

Day 5 agenda: Grand Canyon sunrise, Route 66, Boulder City for the night.

Thanks for checking in!