On to Sedona

Even though we only had about a 4 hour drive, we left Tucson around 7:45 Friday morning because the winds were supposed to pick up later in the day.  Arizona continues to be a mixture of desert and mountains as you head west out of Tucson.

We were driving around the largest city in Arizona, Phoenix, within a couple of hours.  There was definitely a lot more traffic but it was moving along very well.

While in Phoenix, where we were at an elevation of about 1,100 feet, we turned north on I-17 which takes you all the way to Flagstaff.  We continued to see saguaros along the highway...

...and even on top of the hills, but we also began climbing in elevation and it seemed like the higher we climbed, the less saguaros we saw.

We knew after leaving Black Canyon City on I-17, we would have a couple of 6% elevation grades to deal with.  We climbed a 6% grade for about 6 miles,..

...rode along the top of a mesa for several miles where we were now at a elevation of around 4,000 ft...

...and then carefully descended a 6% grade for another 6 miles.

Our exit to the campground was near the bottom of the grade at Exit 287.  We went ahead and filled up with fuel at this exit so we would be ready for our long drive to California when we leave next week. 

Verde Valley Thousand Trails, the campground where we will be staying while in the Sedona area, was only about 8 miles off the interstate.  The drive to the campground was very short but the check-in process seemed to take forever.  They are very thorough in going over all the features of the park, directions to the campsites, and their rules.  And the drive to the campsites takes a while because the campground is so spread out.   

For the first time since we began this southwest adventure with Ken and Bonnie, we are not camped right next to each other.  :(  This park is still very full.  Their peak season is early March through the end of May.  Chuck and I needed a 50 amp site to be able to run both air conditioners and the park only had one 50 amp site left that we could fit on.  We're a couple of rows apart so we are still within walking distance for our nightly card games.  :)

After getting our campers all set up and eating some lunch, we walked around the campground to explore all the amenities they have.  We walked to the Family Center in the recreation area furthest from our campers and spotted a foosball table.  Of course, we had to play a couple rounds of foosball.  We checked out the store and restaurant and then played miniature golf and ping pong.  

On the way back to the camper, we checked out the recreation area nearest to our campers and found a very nice heated pool and sauna, another foosball table on which we played one more game, and some nice pickleball courts.  :)  

The setting of the campground and all the amenities do make Verde Valley a nice campground.  

We've just gotten spoiled to having Ken and Bonnie as our next door neighbor.  :)  After dinner, we got back together for a couple of games.  We played Cue Me which is a word game that was very different from what we had been playing.  We finished up the evening with a very close game of Pinochle which Bonnie and I came from behind and won!   :)

The weather forecast for the next week looks great and we're looking forward to exploring the area with Ken and Bonnie starting with a day trip to Sedona and a couple of hikes tomorrow.