Boondocking near Sedona, AZ

Friday, November 10th

We all arrived at our "boondocking secret location" by 10:30 am and spent an hour or so setting up. More for Steve than for us :) The rest of the afternoon was spent enjoying the views. For dinner I threw together a War Wonton Soup for the four of us and then it was goodnight as we were all tired. I watched a couple of my taped programs and it was lights out by 9 pm again. I don't know if Ray and I will ever make 10 pm again.

Our Canadian Flag at half mast in honour of Remberance Day.

The end to another beautiful day.

Remembrance Day 
Saturday, November 11th

Here is a picture of Ray's Dad who served in the Second World War as a wireless air gunner. RIP Dad.

William Verner Kyle who died in August of 1986

We watched the Remberance Day ceremonies in Vancouver this morning on TV and Ray had our Canadian Flag flying at half mast.

Most of the morning I put on my "suzie homemaker" apron and made bread, a pie and some buns for hamburgers for tonight. (Steve is manning the grill this time.) It is nice to have a "down day" to just catch up on some stuff. Steve spent part of the morning over at the RC Airfield located behind us watching the planes.  There were also 3 balloons that flew near us this morning ... not really close enough for a good picture.

With the help of Steve and Dianne, I put up the First Up Shelter. It sure was warm this afternoon, about 75F, so it's nice to have a little shade. Dianne and I spent the afternoon reading, Ray played his guitar and Steve remained "hidden" inside their trailer to work on his multitude of pictures so they could catch up on their blogging. We had happy hour sitting under the shelter and Steve managed to join us. lol

As the the sun was sinking in the sky it got noticeably cooler so we all moved over to Steve and Dianne's "outdoor room" to enjoy their campfire in a can. Dianne and Steve hosted dinner tonight and Steve cooked the burgers for dinner. Delicious burgers Steve. Dianne made a great chocolate/coconut dessert. Yumm. Great evening again. Just love spending time with those guys. :)

Sunday, November 12th

Woke up at 5:45 after lights out last night at 9 pm again. We are sure sleeping well these days. The skies were lightening by 6:30 and by 7 am there were again 3 balloons flying near us. Another gorgeous day. Road trip planned with Steve and Dianne, departure 9:30 am. By the time we were scheduled to leave, the clouds came in. Good for Freya, not so much for picture taking, but as we were leaving her behind in the coach with the windows open and blinds drawn on the "hot" side of the coach we knew she would be okay. Temps today were only 68 to 70F. so not a very hot day to leave her behind.

First stop was at Midgely Bridge just out of Sedona for Ray and Steve to take some pictures. This bridge allows Highway 89A to cross over the Oak Creek. This bridge has a 60 foot span over the canyon and is one of the few places in Arizona where there are a lot of guard rails and fences keeping you from the edge of the canyon. Probably as this bridge has the unfortunate notority as the place known for a lot of suicides. The parking lot is also the trailhead for the Wilson Canyon Trail and the Midgely Bridge Loop Trail. We walked down the trail a short ways to get to the other side of the bridge.

Picture by Steve

Next up was Slide Rock State Park. We paid our $10 admission and off we went. Ray and I just love this park, walking along the pools and enjoying the red rock vistas. Dianne and Steve really enjoyed this as well. The boys took off to get their "perfect" shots while Dianne and I meandered along enjoying the day.

Old farm equipment on display. This state park still has a working orchard.

Picture by Steve

Picture by Steve

Picture by Steve

Dianne does not like heights and that is as close to the edge she would go.

Looking down onto Oak Creek

Dianne and Steve in the back checking his camera for his last picture he took!

Here are some of Ray's favorite water pictures:

Dianne and Steve on the far side.

The guys pretending to push the other off the bridge.

My attempt at taking a "water picture" with my phone.

And Ray's most favourite shot today:

Ray just missed getting the "real picture". The guy with the red hat just proposed on one knee to the girl next to him. How romantic!

Taken from the viewpoint on the upper trail.

The old fruit packing barn.

After an hour spent walking around it was time to get back into the car and drive the remaining distance to the Scenic Overlook on Highway 89A, a short distance further along the Oak Creek Canyon. The road winds up and up out of the box canyon to an elevation of almost 6500 feet. Unfortunately it was cloudy so the pictures will not be as good. Dianne and I walked through the Navajo Artisan Market looking at their wonderful jewellry and woodwork. No place to put it though living in an RV so our money stayed in our pockets!

The windy road up to the top of the overlook ... not trailer friendly at all.

The Navajo Market

Back down the mountain it was time to go back into Sedona and have lunch at our favorite Brew Pub, the Oak Creek Brewing Company. First we stopped into the Banjo Bill Picnic Area.

You drive over this road to get to the Restaurant and Lodge located on the other side.

I noticted this old suspension bridge that crossed Oak Creek near the road crossing. It was gated shut so I do not know if they still use it to get to the Restaurant when the creek is too high to drive over.

Lunch at Oak Creek Brewery.

Picture taken last year about this time at Oak Creek Brewery.

We all enjoyed our lunches and the beer. Made good time coming back home to the coach as the traffic had eased somewhat, being a Sunday. Fortunately we are camped not too far from Sedona and were home within about 10 minutes from leaving the Pub. The clouds had thickened substanially at home so fingers crossed it does not rain. There was only a 20% chance this morning with no accumulation. The weather report does not show any rain either. Good thing as this red dirt turns to glue if it rains.

On arriving home, Ray headed for a "toes up" session, and I gave Freya a walk. The day was a little longer than anticipated as being a Sunday, it took some time to get our meals.  By that time Ray was squirming in his seat with pain unfortunately. The rest of the afternoon we spent in our separate units relaxing. It was so cloudy outside, it was not very inspiring to sit out there anyways and I think we were all full and sleepy from our great lunch we all had.

It stayed cloudy all evening until dark and then the stars came out. Go figure!

Monday, November 13th

Ray and I were both up at 5 am this morning. Ray from too much pain, and I am worried about my Dad. I received a text and an email last night from Dad's caregiver and nurse. He has stopped eating meat and is barely eating anything other than a little salad with some cheese for the past few days. Not good news. I will phone later this morning and see what's up and if I have to fly home. Poor Dad.

It turned out that Dad is just depressed. His health has not changed and he is doing well according to his doctor. He is still eating a good breakfast and fruit and veggies in the afternoon. Dinner seems to be the problem. Dad's nurse Bev, had to put her wee dog down at the grand age of 14 last week. Dad loved that dog and because of Buddy being put to sleep, it had him dwelling on losing Betty last year, and the loss of their cat Opie. With the weather very wet and depressing I think he is having a bit of trouble feeling "good". He does not handle change very well. I noticed that when Ray and I spent the whole spring/summer at his house and his caregiver Larny started taking more of her time off that she was entitled to once her husband came over to Canada. This made him quite crabby for a few weeks. He tends to want someone to just "be there" 24/7 and be at his beck and call. Thankfully he is okay and as my aunt always says "this too shall pass".

Dianne and Steve went for a quad ride today, Ray had a "do nothing" day and I went into town in the afternoon to take Freya for her Vet check-up and picked up some more firewood.  Freya's checkup went well but we will keep her on the antibiotics for a second week just to make sure.

When I got back at 4 pm we all sat by the fire and had our happy hour. A lovely end to another great day.