Cottonwood, AZ

Arrived on March 2 and got set up in our site.  We had to adjust our Happy Hours from the large groups in Yuma to just the two of us.  We smoked ribs and beef roasts throughout the three weeks here and our neighbors enjoyed the ribs we shared.  We also found a new Mexican Restaurant, Conchos, and will look forward to eating there the next time through the area.

Below is the view from the top of the campground, where we attend our Sunday Church services.  The view looks over Verde (Green) Valley.

Our neighbors dog, Cassie, a Cairn Terrier, 19 years old.  We actually watched her for a short time while her parents went to the lodge.  Pretty tough, as all she really did was roll in the grass.  

First trip out was to old town Cottonwood to do some wine tasting.  We tried a new winery called Merkin, and then went to two of our favorites, Burning Tree in downtown and Alcantara which is right by the entrance of the Verde Valley TTN RV park we are staying at.  We also drove out to two wineries on another day that we had not been too, Clear Creek Winery in Camp Verde, one of our new favorites, and DA Ranch in Cornville.

Alcantara's Wedding Chapel

Clear Creek's Tasting Room

DA Ranch's Tasting Room

Part of the grounds of DA Ranch

Once the weather warmed up into the low 80s (from the low 70s), we went on the Verde Canyon Railroad in Clarkdale, which took us up the canyon.  Beautiful seating and since we were a party of two in first class, we were assigned much better seats where we were on the side of the train that looked over the Verde Valley river on the way up and back.  On our way back to camp from the railroad, we stopped at a new winery called Tumbleweed, another new favorite.

     

We drove to Prescott to do some shopping but took time while there to check out Watson Lake.   Watson Lake is one of the small man-made reservoirs in the Granite Dells region.  The Dells consist of exposed bedrock and large boulders of granite that have eroded into an unusual lumpy and rippled appearance.

Our next adventure took us back to to Clarkdale to go through the Arizona Copper Museum.  We both learned a lot and refreshed our knowledge from our science classes on metals.

Military personnel used spent shell casings to make
decorative art.  

         

Bibesia, Roman Goddess, of
wine and drunkards.

Always trying to figure out how things work!

Grape Hod - still used to pick grapes.  

While in  Clarkdale we visited one of three Wine co-ops in the United States that assists winemakers with the production, bottling and services of the wine tasting room.  The Four Eight Wineworks is in the old Clarkdale bank building and serves wine and beer.  Very interesting concept to help future winemakers get their start in the business.

Another interesting visit we did was to Tonto Natural Bridge State Park, east of Pine, AZ.  This bridge is believed to be the largest natural travertine bridge in the world.  The bridge stands 183 feet high over a 400 foot long tunnel that measures 150 feet at its widest point.

We had been to Jerome before, but since it had been a couple of years we spent the day walking around the town.  Jerome was given the distinction of "Wickedest Town in the West" with saloons and brothels lining the street.  For a period of over 70 years Jerome produced over a billion dollars worth of gold, copper, silver and zinc until the last mine closed in 1953,  During the 60s and 70s artists discovered the community and there are some neat shops and wineries in the town.

Caduceus Cellars was the only winery
we did not visit the last time in town, so of course
we enjoyed a wine tasting during our visit.  

Since this is our third visit to the area, we have now visited every winery in Jerome, Clarkdale, Cottonwood, Cornville and Camp Verde.  We also attended the Spring Heritage Festival in Camp Verde where they had some of the local wineries as well as wineries from Prescott, Wilcox and Peoria.

Our last sight seeing trip was driving up through Sedona and up Oak Creek Canyon.

River along Oak Creek Canyon.  

The only javelinas we saw this year!

And as always, there are places we still have not been to and will keep in mind for our next visit; Palatki, Jeep Tour, Blazin M Ranch, Cafe at Rock Springs (best homemade pies in AZ), visit to Slide Rock State Park along Oak Creek Canyon.

We left Cottonwood one day early due to the weather predicted, rain in the local area and snow forecasted in Williams, AZ.