Cottonwood, Arizona

We traveled from Willow Beach to Cottonwood to our membership Thousand Trails park between Camp Verde and Cottonwood.  As we were driving we both were glad that we waited two extra days as there was snow from Kingman until we got about 40 miles south of Flagstaff.  All on the side of the roads, but we could see where they had plowed the roads.   Arizona got very creative with their Highway Dept. Reader Boards - "Trust the Force, But Always Buckle Up".

Once we got to Cottonwood, we still had a couple of cold nights, about 23 degrees at the coldest, but the days were bright and sunny and ranged about 50 - 65 degrees, but we had some beautiful sunsets.

First day there we saw 4 Javelina's walking through the camp.  We later spotted deer in the park.

We also got our first "real" haircuts since mid-August.  I did cut Craig's hair once with clippers on our trip and it didn't turn out too bad, but he didn't hesitate at all getting his hair done by a professional!

We enjoyed our sightseeing outings to the wineries in the area.  There are so many, but we went to those we hadn't visited on our last trip through the area, except for two of our favorites.  We really like Burning Tree in old historic downtown Cottonwood and Alcantera, which is located right outside of the Thousand Trails park.

Alcantara

We also visited three additional ones:  AZ Stronghold Vineyards, Javelina Leap and Oak Creek.

We spent one day in Prescott, visiting the downtown area to include Whiskey Row.  The town has some of the best preserved examples of 19th century American architecture in the Southwest.  The town was founded in 1864 in an effort to secure the area's mineral riches for the Union forces during the Civil War.

Besides some of the old buildings, they had multiple murals.  This one is by the library, and is called "Beyond Words" which is a journey of thought, portraying 6000 years of world knowledge.  Besides the murals, the town had two different world timelines that were quite interesting.

Capitol building in the background.  

Palace Hotel 

Famous Bird Cage Saloon on Whiskey Row

Jersey Lilly Saloon, another famous spot.

We attended various Christmas celebrations in the park with other members;  Christmas Caroling, Candlelight Christmas Eve Service and social and a Christmas potluck on Christmas Day with entertainment and lots of food for the 60+ attendees.

We took one day and drove out to the Montezuma Castle Natl. Monument and the Montezuma Wells.   The Castle dates back around 1100-1300 and stands in a cliff recess 100 feet above the valley.  It is 5 stories with about 45 rooms.

The well is a natural limestone sinkhole, fed by springs, with small dwellings build into the sides around the well that range from one-room houses to large pueblos.  Between 1125 and 1400 about 100-150 people lived here.

We also drove by the worlds largest Kokopelli.  According to Wikipedia: Kokopelli is a fertility deity, usually depicted as a humpbacked flute player (often with feathers or antenna-like protrusions on his head), who has been venerated by some Native American cultures in the Southwestern United States. Like most fertility deities, Kokopelli presides over both childbirth and agriculture. He is also a trickster god and represents the spirit of music.               

Worlds' Largest Kokopelli

After 12 days, we drove into Buckeye which is SW of Phoenix on Dec. 28.