Sedona and the Red Rocks, AZ

After spending the night at an RV Park in Pheonix, which was brutally hot, I have no idea how people live like that…not to mention “white-trashy” as Tara put it, and exploring Tempe and the Mills Ave District, we headed to the airport to pick up our guest for the next couple days… my dad. Since as long as I can remember my dad has been talking about wanting to see the Grand Canyon, so with Tara and I on this trip, now was as good a time as any. So Tara and I (Entirely Tara) had planned out a couple days with us, two in Sedona, and two at the Grand Canyon, a stop in Flagstaff, then one to make it back to Phoenix.

We picked up my dad, who will at some on this post be referred to as Spank. It’s just going to happen so I’ll get it out there now. His flight landed about 30 minutes early, but we picked him up and we were on our way to Sedona. Since our campground was first come first serve, there were no stops on the way there… just 2 hours of straight driving. It was nice to have my dad with us, because he was really taken back by a lot of the changing landscapes, something that I think Tara and I have gotten used to. As we came over the crest and could begin to see the red rocks of Sedona, it was really impressive.

We made it to our campground, after making the drive on the Oak Creek Canyon Scenic Byway, and we were in luck, they had a few sites left. We drove through and decided to park our ’62 Shasta next to a 2014 Shasta (the remake of the vintage body style) I didn’t want to ask to many questions but the camp host was full of info… the new model was a 22 footer and cost $22,500. Yeah, wow… Tara and I are rocking a 15 footer that cost… well, a whole hell of a lot less than that. But anyways, we’re at our campsite, and we get the camper set up then head into Sedona to walk around and check it out. We walked down their main strip which is full of restaurants, shops, and tour companies. A number of the restaurants have seating outside on the sidewalk so we found a spot to post up and grab a quick bite to eat and a beer (or 4). We ordered an appetizer sampler which included Fried Cactus Fries, Bison, and Rattlesnake sausage. I’m actually pretty indifferent to it… didn’t taste like anything other than sausage so… I guess it was good? So we grabbed a bite and headed back to camp for the night.

Since my dad was staying with us, we spruced it up, we had grilled pork and pineapple tacos with rice (recipe compliments of the Masi’s). Our first day was coming to a close so, since Spank was the guest, Tara and I set up the tent and planned to give my dad the bed in the camper. Tara and I forgot how hard that ground can be… and how cold. That night the temperature dropped down to around 40 degrees. Sometime around 12:30 am, I heard Spank move from the camper to the truck, so, Tara and I moved from the tent to the camper. Actually, my dad chose to sleep in the truck for the rest of the trip… Bizarre I know… but hey whatever works.

The next morning we got up, and I threw together a quick breakfast, with some onion, peppers and egg and we set out for a hike. Tara and I were psyched because we could bring Murphy with us, and also because my dad was going to get to experience some of what we’ve been doing for the last two months. (Two months already? Wow…) Tara chose an easier trail so that we didn’t overwhelm my dad. I mean, even we have to force ourselves to do the 12 mile hikes. So the hike was Doe Mountain, about .9 miles in (up) and .9 miles back (down). We started off great, there was a little shade and the trail consisted of many switchbacks which helped up make our way to the top for some incredible views. During the hike, my dad made mention a few times about the steepness of the trail and the steepness of the drop off the side. It started to become clear, maybe Spank wasn’t that great with heights… but we pressed on. Once we reached the top, we had some incredible views. Tara and I were even able to talk Spank into taking a picture, with each of us, near the edge, for the view behind us.

With a great hike under our belts we headed back towards town to our hotel. Yes, we got a hotel for this night, mostly because we would be heading out for a couple hours and didn’t want to chance leaving Murphy in the camper in Arizona heat… for a couple hours. So, we pulled into the Sedona Real… As I’m trying to park the camper in the one RV parking spot a woman pulls in and is making it really difficult for me to pull forward then back it in a little straighter than it was… despite my frantic and possibly offensive hand waving and gestures, she didn’t move her car. She actually got out of her car, walked over to the passenger side door and popped her head in the truck and said “So what are you doing with this camper?”… I thought, “I’m trying to park it, but you’re in my way”… but I said something like, “well,…. we’re currently road tripping across the country”, there was an awkward pause and she asked some more questions and then it came out… she’s one of the “Ladies on the Fly”, which for those who don’t know, is an organization of women across the country who seek out (hunt for) vintage campers to refurbish and… well, I don’t know if they sell them, use them… but she was the second “Lady” we’ve met on our trip, though she’s the first to follow us into a parking lot. Her questions continued, I’m sure she was hoping we’d offer to show her, or that my answer to her question would have lead her to believe I wanted to sell the camper, but that’s not the case… Sorry Lady of the Flies, we’ve only had it for two months ourselves… so… kick rocks. (I’m sure the Lady’s on the Fly are nice woman, this one just went about everything wrong. The last one we met, was a really nice lady who just wanted to chat about it and I think that’s a better approach than “What are you doin’ with that trailer”)

We checked in to our hotel (we knew we’d be gone for most of the afternoon/night and opted for a hotel that night so Murph would have a nice air conditioned place to post up while we were out), grabbed a quick, small lunch and then got ready… tonight was the Cowboy Evening Rendezvous. (I’d also like to point out that I didn’t need spell check for Rendezvous) On a recommendation from a coworker (holla at ya girl, Caitlin *Tara typed that*), Tara booked spots for the three of us at the M Diamond Ranch for a one hour guided horse back ride, a wagon ride up the ranch to a small pavilion, where there was live authentic country music sung by the one and only Alvie Self (he’s in two different Halls of Fame), It’s great and it’s kind of a sing a long too… and he’ll do requests. In addition to that, they cook up the most incredible steaks, which are from their ranch cows. The owner of the ranch gives a talk about their ranch and the history of ranching in Arizona. Did you know that only 20% of Arizona land is privately owned? I didn’t… I don’t know… maybe it’s the setting, maybe it’s the authentic country music, maybe it’s the meat, but that was an incredibly delicious dinner. Huge thanks from us would have to go out to Louie and Chrissy (our guides on the horse ride), I had never ridden a horse and was borderline terrified, Spank had only ridden a horse when he was a kid and it was a mean horse that bit him all the time, and Tara had only ridden camels… Louie and Chrissy made it very comfortable and gave introductions to the horses. Tara rode Two Tone, affectionately called “Tony”, Spank rode Sid, a “Half Draft” who had no trouble letting my dad know that he could do whatever he wanted with those damn reigns, Sid was in charge… ah, which leaves me with my steed, Tick. As I boarded Tick, Louie said, “This is Tick, just like a tick… don’t ask me why his name is Tick.”… and that’s where we left it. Tick took me out, showed me around, and didn’t go all “bucking bronco’ on me.