Cross Country from New York to Arizona –Arizona, the final leg!

We spent the night at Distant Drums in Camp Verde Arizona. It is an RV park close to the Cliff Castle Casino. We did not venture to the Casino, I like my money too much to give it away! The park does have a shuttle to and from the Casino. The Casino and the park are both owned and operated by TheYavapai-Apache Nation. The RV park was a beautiful place for an overnight or a few days or longer! The area is home to Arizona Wineries, Sedona’s Red Rocks, the Ghost Town of Jerome, and a natural wonderland to explore on foot or by vehicle!

There is a vast Indian history in this area, Verde Valley has had human occupancy for nearly 10,000 years. There is a rich history to be told here, it begins with the nomadic cultures led by the Clovis, then came the Hohokam, followed by the Sinagua, the Yavapai and the Apachie people who continue to make this area their home. Fort Verde State Park is in the area, as well as the three stone ruins left in this area. Montezuma Castle, Montezuma Well and Tuzigot are all National Monuments managed by the National Park Services. There are three other archaeological areas, managed by the US Forest Services, the Petroglyph Walls at V Bar V Ranch, V Bar V Heritage Site and the Cliff Houses of Honanki and Wapatki.

When we checked in, we told them it was an overnight stop to get into Phoenix before it got too hot … both check-in assistants laughed and said “good luck with that.” Well we woke up a little before 5am and got up and closed up the camper and headed out … it was 68 degrees in Camp Verde when we left.

Once again, we went down below 4,000 feet elevation and then again back up above 4,000 feet elevation. Up and down, up and down … 

The AguaFria National Monument, which is a 70,000 acre area of high elevation desert around the boundary between the Sonoran cactus lands and the grass-chaparral belt. You can see the distinct differences in these lands. This area is hometo reptiles and amphibians including the Leopard frog, the Garter snake, the Desert tortoise, can be seen in the monument. Mammals such as the Pronghorn, Mule deer, White-tail deer and Javelina are relatively common. The elk (wapiti), black bears and

Mountain lions are also found in the monument, but are much less common. 

The centerpiece is the deep canyon of the Agua Fria River, which is bordered by two grassy mesas, split by various smaller valleys. As well as the protection of the abundant natural life sustained by the river corridor, the national monument was established to preserve hundreds of ancient sites - ruins, pictographs, petroglyphs - which are found dotted around the hills and along the river.

We passed a road that I had to research … Bloody Basin Road. Who could drive by a road name like that and not want to know how it got its name! I learned this while I was reading up on Bloody Basin, it has been a fairly bloody place over the years. There are several myths that have sprung up regarding the naming of that piece of land. One of the most fanciful suggests that seven Navajo virgins were sacrificed at that spot by the Apache Geronimo to bring freedom to his own wives and children. Another myth, that makes a little more sense, suggests that this land was pretty much cattle country. However, Basque sheepherders would drive their flocks to the area to graze, rotating between the valley and the mesa from the summer to winter. Now cattlemen did not appreciate this. Cows and horses eat foliage down to the ground so it will come back quickly, but sheep take the foliage down to the roots, which means nothing will grow back for several years. The cattlemen had enough and so they slaughtered all the flocks grazing in the area. The blood of the sheep covered the land, and hence … Bloody Basin. Some historical sites indicate that it was the site of more than one fight with Indians, especially the Yavapais and Apaches. I guess, we cannot get a definite answer … pick the version you like best!

After all of the up and down Interstate 17, we stopped at a rest area called Sunset Point. We were there at sunrise, but I am sure that sunset pictures would be awesome from this vantage point! 

Photo courtesy of Wheelchair Travel Adventures

There is a large sundial at this rest area, the light was not good in my picture, so I borrowed this picture from Wheelchair Travel Adventures. If you are traveling on I-17 and can be at the rest area near sunset, I think it would be pretty awesome!

Charlie has spent some time in Arizona and as we passed Black Rock Canyon, he told me there used to be a dog track there. So, I had to do my research! The Black Canyon Dog Track was opened in 1967 by the Funk family. With the newly built I-17, residents of Phoenix had easy access to the greyhound races. The Funk family ran the track until it was closed in 1982. A few years later the track would play host to a variety of Swap Meet events, and eventually became abandoned in the late 1980s. Charlie could point out the old track, but not much else was visible!

Along Interstate 17 we found a few unique crossing signs. Anyone that follows my blogs, knows what a fascination I have with crossing signs … we have found turtle crossing, panther crossings and many others. Well, we can add Elk to the list. This signs was seen a variety of times on I-17 outside of Flagstaff heading toward Phoenix. 

Outside of Phoenix and then again closer to the city, we found a jack ass crossing sign. I can understand the Elk, as it is great hunting area for those animals near Flagstaff … but do you really expect to see a jack ass crossing I-17? I am talking about the 4-legged kind of jack ass … not the 2-legged versions!

We headed into Phoenix and were amazed at the amount of traffic on Interstate 17 at 7am on a Saturday! Yikes, we won’t be doing much driving around here! 

We got to see a bit more of Phoenix than we planned before we got to Tim’s house … the GPS routed us from I-17S to I-10 and then onto 51N … however, it did not tell us 51N until it was too late for us to negotiate the lane change. So, we made a big loop back onto 17N to I-10S and this time we were in the correct lane to get onto 51N. Just a few minutes later we arrived at Tim’s house. It was over 100 degrees at 7:30am! Yikes! We are staying put for a few weeks enjoying time with our son and Granddaughter!

Watch for our next two lane adventure as we head north to Williams Arizona to meet up with our Yankee RV Tour Southwest Caravan group!

Here are our stats for our two lane adventure from New York to Arizona:

• 2,563 miles from New York to Arizona, with an average of 256 miles traveled per day.
• $2.26 was our average price per gallon for unleaded fuel. 
• Highest prices was in Salem Illinois at $2.569. 
• Best gas price was in Miami Oklahoma at $1.919.
• We purchased just over 302 gallons of fuel at a total cost of $678.14. 
• Our average MPG was 8.417.
• We paid $306.04 for all our overnight accommodations.