Arizona, On the Move Again!

We woke up early at our son, Tim’s house and loaded the RV frig from his refrigerator and freezer. I am sure his frig is sad to see all our food go, I don’t think it has ever seen that much food! We got on the road by 7:30am, trying to beat the heat … it was already 93 degrees! We took Arizona 51N, to avoid some of the surface street traffic. The thing about traveling on highways, is there is not much too see … not true for us!

I was watching the pedestrian bridges over the highway. These bridge were designed for pedestrians and in some cases cyclists, instead of vehicular traffic. Footbridges can complement the landscape or area and can be used decoratively to visually link two distinct areas. In this area, the pedestrian bridges are both functional and works of art. Also known as footbridges, they are situated to allow pedestrians to cross the highway.

In our ongoing quest for cell phone coverage and network access at all times, companies must erect more and more cell phone towers. While seeing these towers, indicates coverage for our phones. Some people see the towers as eyesores that painfully stick out and ruin landscapes. To curb this, some companies have attempted to ‘disguise’ cell phone towers to better blend in with their surroundings. We spotted one of these cell phone towers, it was disguised as a palm tree. I have heard of these, but never have seen one! Do you like it?

When 51 North ended, we headed onto the 101 Loop West toward US 17. We passed by an exit where our family members used to live, 7^th Street. Hey Donny and Donna, does any of this look familiar? It is amazing what you remember, Charlie remembered the QT on the corner of the exit ramp and 7^th Street. 

We headed north on US 17. We chose the highway because there were too many switchbacks on the two-lane roads we were considering taking.

As we climbed toward the rim, and hopefully some relief of this heat … there was a sign on 17, that said turn off your air conditioner to avoid overheating. Since we were climbing and towing the jeep, we heeded the warning and turned off the air! Yikes, it is 103 degrees! We opened the windows and enjoyed the warm

breeze! We could have started the generator and run the motorhome A/C unit … but now what kind of a story would that make! We passes a sign for Crown King. Our son and his friends with RAZRs were always talking about riding to Crown King, now I know where it is. Crown King, which was at the end of a branch rail line, was named for the Crown King Mine, which was a big deal there for a while between the late 1880s and early 1900s. We also passes a sign for Horsethief Basin, it certainly is a unique name. Research has several myths or legends for this name … I am going with Horsethief Basin was an area where outlaws holed-up until the heat was off and they could move with their hot horses!

Remember that when we started the climb it was 103 degrees ... at the Sunset Rest Area, near the top of the rim, it was a welcome 93 degrees! We walked around and enjoyed the cooler weather! I got a couple of cool pictures of the sundial, can you tell by the picture what time we were there? 

I also took this shot of a unique flower, with the blurred image of the mountains in the background!

Our friends, were in Cordes Junction during the Bug Creek fire was active. She had some awesome pictures of the fire and the firefighters fighting it. We knew we would be passing this area as we headed north. The Bug Creek fire scorched over 1,000 acres and came up to the edge of the Interstate 17. 

We took these pictures. You can see how lucky the homes in the valley are, as the fire looks like it was all around them! 

This sign had the letters melted off from the heat of the fire! In Cordes Junction, we turned off of I-17 and headed north on Route 69.

Along this route, I captured one of my favorite pictures … I might have to send this one into the Arizona calendar contest … it is a simple American Flag along the road, with the mountains in the background!

We passed through Mayer and worked our way to Dewey-Humbolt, where the town motto is -- "Arizona's Country Town." Most people see Dewey-Humboldt as a rural community with historic buildings, scenic vistas and wildlife. It is located in the high desert of Northern Arizona at an elevation of 4,556 feet. It is a mild climate which includes an occasional snowfall during the winter months.   Dewey and Humboldt represented two different communities during the last 100 years with Dewey providing an agricultural and ranching economy, while the Humboldt area had an economy based in mining. They incorporated in 2009, to stave off the Prescott Valley growth and potential annexation. An interesting fact about this town … there is a total of about 117 miles of roads within the town limits; only 28 miles of the roads are paved.

We traveled through Prescott Valley and stopped at Sam’s Club and got unleaded gas for $2.159 per gallon and a few groceries. We had about an hour and a half until we could check-in at the campground. We headed onto the outskirts of Prescott, missing historic downtown for now and turned north onto Route 89. We passed Watson Lake and arrived at Point of Rocks RV Campground.