A Drive into the Mountains

Our background check finally came through so Tom started hosting this week.  His schedule for December is going to be Monday through Thursday, so that leaves our weekends free for exploring and adventure, which works well with my schedule and the kids’ schoolwork, too.

Besides school and work this week, we had visitors, too!  RV Dreamers, Dave and Maxine, stopped by on Wednesday for the afternoon.

We met back in 2011, when we were neighbors at the RV Dreams Sevierville Rally, and have been keeping up with each others’ travels through our blogs and facebook.  We compared workamping experiences and travel plans, and they told us all about their gig last year running a Christmas Tree lot in Texas.  That one sounded pretty interesting!

The weather had started to turn chilly on Wednesday, but we were still able to BBQ and have a campfire, until the sun began its descent and the wind picked up, driving us inside for dessert!

We had a nice visit, and it was great catching up with them . . . thanks for stopping by, guys!!  We’ll look for you in Quartzite next month!

On Friday, we decided to take a drive into the mountains . . . maybe see some snow!  Our first stop was Prescott, where we walked around the square in the historic downtown,

and did a little shopping.  

Apparantly, Prescott was once home to several famous saloons, and a few of them are still operating!

 

 

 

From Prescott, we drove across the mountains,

towards the towns of Jerome and Sedona.  As we came over the mountain and reached the shady side, we saw something we haven’t seen for quite a while!

 

S-N-O-W!!

We had to pull of the side of the road for a few minutes, so the boys could get out and make a few snowballs to throw at each other!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We made our way down the other side of the mountain, and soon were back out of the white stuff!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We arrived in Jerome, which wasn’t anything like Tom and I remembered from 20 years ago . . . we didn’t stay long since we wanted to get to Sedona before dark, but I did get a few pictures in town,

and on the way out of town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We could tell we were getting close to Sedona as the landscape began to change color . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The red rocks really looked beautiful with the late day sun shining on them.

As we arrived in town, people were gathering for the tree lighting and the arrival of Santa Claus. 

We listened to some carolers singing around the Christmas Tree,

before walking through a few shops.   

Sedona is another town that has grown up quite a bit since Tom and I were here last.  We didn’t remember half of the stores or restaurants that are in town now.

 

 

 

As we walked along the rows of shops, we heard sirens announcing the arrival of Santa Clause.

 

We enjoyed a few more spectacular views before the sun went down,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and then found a spot to have pizza, followed by complimentary cookies and hot chocolate! 

We had an almost 2-hour drive back home from Sedona, so we got on the road.  I think we probably missed quite a bit of beautiful scenery in Oak Creek Canyon on the way out, so we might just have to take another trip up there during the day . . . we have plenty of time for that!