Sedona Rocks

We rolled into the town of Camp Verde, Arizona looking for one thing – ice cream. Luckily, we found Udderly Delicious with no problem, and it was just as advertised. The owner was super sweet, and so was the ice cream. We added on a take-out lunch, and moved pn to our next camp – Verde Valley RV Resort. The folks at the gate seemed to take their job very seriously, letting us know they ran a tight ship and that we were in the the new section. Sounded good to us. Turns out, the new section was a gravel parking lot instead of the the tree-lined bank of the Verde River as we had hoped. No matter, as we did not spend much time in Franklin and instead hopped on our bikes and hit the the pool where we did some serious relaxing in the sunny sun, switching between the pool and hot tub.

Once we’d washed off the road, we wandered over to where the woman at the gate had told us we could access the Verde River. Almost immediately we thought we were in the wrong spot. Where was the river? Or a trail to the river? Once we did find the river, there wasn’t much of a bank for us to enjoy. Luckily, there was another access point. So we rode over there. This one had a padlocked, chainlink fence and a steep drop-off with a couple of broken wooden ladders to get down to again, no river.  Or trail. We found ourselves picking our way through a wide, rocky wash, an area that was created when the river flooded during monsoon season. Eventualy we did make it to the bank, which once again offered little space for us to enjoy. Overall, Verde Valley RV Resort was a bit of a disappointment and a little bizarre, but nice pool and hot tub.

We were only there one night, and the next morning we drove up the road toward Sedona and checked out Red Rock State Park. All of us us were determined to find some of that famous red rock, and this park did not disappoint. Our goal was to get to the gate when the park opened, because we’d heard parking was tight. To our surprise, we were the second car in line! The friendly ranger gave us the lowdown on a great hike that followed the rim of the entire park, giving us views of some of the best-known Sedona natural features like Three Sisters, Cathedral Rock, and Coffee Pot. Red Rock gave us a great intro to Sedona, and we were excited to head into the town to check it out.

Sedona has one road running through a valley surrounded by incredible mountains. Parking was tough with Franklin, and after trying several lots unsuccessfully, we asked a crew working on an empty lot when they would be done. It looked like they were landscapers finishing up, but it turns out they were getting the lot ready to resurface, and it would be closed all day. So sad. Oh, but wait, we could park on the other side of the lot they had just finished yesterday, don’t worry about the cones or the arrow pointing the wrong way. Score! An empty lot all for Franklin. Jess said waking around the town that it reminded her of the mountain version of Provincetown on Cape Cod. We passed galleries, souvenir shops, bars and restaurants, amongst the many other pedestrians, strolling the lane. Great people watching. 

After our stroll around town we drove back to our new camp site in Dead Horse State Park. This was a nice spot, nestled in some rocky hills covered with scrub brush nearby the Verde River. The boys were excited we could mountain bike right out of our camp site down to the river and three ponds shaded by cottonwood trees. While Cramer and the boys did this, Jess was racing in Franklin to the local bike shop to get a new tube after riding over a thorn. She made it just before they closed at five, and drove back to meet us by the ponds, where Cramer changed the tire. While he did this, the local camp host pointed out a bald eagle perched in one of the cottonwoods. Turns out there was a mating pair in the park! We got to see both of the eagles and their nests. 

The next morning was a big one – horseback riding through the park. Trailhorse Adventures, a multi-generational mom and pop operation, is right in the park, and a short bike ride from our camp. After a brief tutorial from our guide, Dave, we were introduced to our horses. Cramer was paired with a small draft horse named Bud, Sammy was riding Copper, Henry was paired with Rowdy, an apparently ironic name, and Jess rode Jack Daniels, who didn’t seem to have time for any of this nonsense. The ride meandered through the valley, as Dave pointed out local flora and fauna, and tested out his new-dad jokes, as his seven month old daughter wouldn’t be ready for them for a little while still. We ducked Mesquite branches, AKA cat claws, learned about the many uses of sage, and snatched up clumps of creosote to crush and smell. We all had a blast. 

After a little post-ride relaxation and lunch at our camp site, we decided we weren’t; quite done with adventuring. Tuzigoot National Monument was visible just a few hills over from our camp, and we figured we could ride our bikes there no problemo. We hadn’t bumped along the rocky trail for long, before Jess commented she felt like the people one sometimes sees on ski slopes wearing jeans. These trails were pretty serious mountain biking trails for the Cramer Crew, but the riders and a couple of the bikes were not so serious. We made it to the valley below the monument but couldn’t quite figure out the trail up to it. We had to ask a ranger for directions, and found out the trail was a bit longer than we had anticipated. We also discovered the path up the hill to the monument was pretty steep and we would have to push our bikes up it. Closing time was at 4, and we made it about 20 minutes before that. No worries, it was enough time for us to explore the ruins and the museum. Excavation of the site originally took place in the 1930’s. Probably constructed around 1500 years ago, Tuzigoot was a village perched on the hillside overlooking the Verde River valley. First built and occupied but the Mogollon people and later by the Apache, it was thought to have been an important point along a major trading and migration route. A settlement from this era that was this permanent and provided so many artifacts is rare. 

Heading back to camp, we figured the ride would be easier now that we knew the route and what to expect. This was not to be the case, as we discovered Sam now had a very flat tire. Fortunately, it wasn’t so flat he couldn’t ride back through the valley, but once we made it back to the rocky hills around our camp, we had to walk his bike the rest of the way home. Guess what time it was. Almost 5 o’clock, the time the local bike shop closes. Franklin got us there just as they were locking the doors, but the friendly staff got us a new tube, and Cramer made sure this time to also pick up a patch kit and hand pump. We strolled through the adorable Main Street of Cottonwood, which had a very old-west vibe. Sadly, being a small old-west town means that everything closes at 5, except the restaurants. We scored a table on the patio at Belfry Brewing, where is was burger night, and they had Impossible Burgers! 🍔 

On our way out of Sedona, we wanted to visit Slide Rock State Park, which was just past the town. The ranger at Red Rock had told us to expect a line even if we arrived before the park opened, but we lucked out and were again the second car waiting to enter. Like Red Rock, we were so happy we made it there early, as we had this gorgeous park to ourselves. Located in a narrow canyon above Sedona, the park was a homestead and apple orchard, and it still has apple trees, original farm machinery, and barn and farmhouse on site. The main attraction, however, are the wavy red rocks, carved by the Oak Creek River that form natural slides and playground-like features for scampering on up and down the river. It wasn’t long, though, before other people were streaming in, and we could imagine the rocks covered with people on a hot summer day. We weren’t brave enough to test the waters, but we watched a few others who were, and it looked cold.

One more test for our day as we drove on toward our next stop, the Grand Canyon. The road out of the canyon was notorious, shooting up at a dizzying rate along too many switchbacks to count. The climb from the canyon floor to the Mogollon Rim is 4,500 feet, and we were worried about having to drive 5 miles an hour while a long line of angry drivers stretched out behind us. Normally road construction is not a happy sight, but on this occasion it was. A little road work at the bottom of the canyon squeezed the road to one lane, so we had to wait to pass, which gave us a string of slow-moving vehicles in front of us and an excuse for going slow. Turns out the drive wasn’t all that bad and was actually breathtaking. At the top, we pulled over so Jess could appreciate her job well done.