Meeting Fellow Canadians, Change Of Plans and A Roller Coaster Ride.

Our Location today is North Ranch, Congress, Arizona, U.S.A.

I should have never taken it for granted that being as tired as I was last night that I would sleep soundly. Instead I tossed and turned the majority of the night thinking about things that I couldn’t work on if I wanted to until at least Daylight. When the clock showed that it was finally 7:00 MST I just got out of bed and started getting some things ready for breakfast. Opening only a few Window Shades I’d barely turned my Computer on when Kathy joined me downstairs. When I mentioned the Sleepless Night she was the one who said, “Pretravel Night’s Sleep”. I hadn’t even thought about that when I went to bed but deep down my subconscious knew.

Rangers Station at Dead Horse Ranch State Park.
Jerome can be see on the mountain to the left.
Clarksdale can be seen right of center

We had everything closed up and were hitched up by 10:00 when a couple walking by inquired about the size of our trailer. Leo and Barb live in British Columbia and are presently on Vacation from their own business Wine Making. They have been visiting a number of Local Wine Makers and were surprised that many did not even grow their own Grapes. We exchanged contact information and will try to get together up the road someplace.

Jerome beyond the Rangers Station.

Minutes later after our final walk around we were headed up to the Dumping Station. With the clear sky it was definitely going to be a good traveling day. Minutes before 11:00 we were leaving Dead Horse Ranch State Park for the last time this year.

Part of the Ten Mile Climb on I-17.

Kathy had her list of directions and the GPS set up as a Back-Up. They both agreed that the quickest way from Cottonwood to Congress was by 89A and we were headed in that direction until I realized that it was the road through Jerome the one with all the Narrow Hairpin Turns up a Mountainside. We’d taken only the truck up there on Wednesday and I wasn’t about to bring our Home up there. Kathy was upset that I used a Round-About and headed back into Cottonwood.

Lots of Curves back and forth on SR 89 west of Prescott.

The other night I had used Map-quest and seen first where 89A went. After pulling into the Walmart parking lot I dug out my Laptop and the MiFi and showed Kathy the routes. At that point she accepted the change. Since we were stopped and there was a Karl’s Jr. in the parking lot we got our lunch before continuing on.

Lots of blind corners on SR 89.

We took 260 out of Cottonwood to I-17 where after a Ten Mile steady climb of Fifteen Hundred Feet of Elevation we finally exited to Arizona 160 heading for Prescott. Rolling through the countryside was relaxing until we got to maneuver through the town of Prescott itself. We had no idea that it was as large as it was. It appeared to be a clean and prospering town and the streets were packed to prove it.

Good thing this single lane is One Way on SR 89

When you look at Map-quest and you ask for directions it always gives you two route choices. It did so the other day and again when I showed Kathy in the Walmart parking lot today. As we were leaving Prescott on SR 89 we apparently missed a wee little sign that pointed to another route for vehicles longer then Forty Feet. (That’s the size of our Trailer alone.) For the next Forty Miles the majority of the vehicles we encountered or passed us were Crotch Rockets that were enjoying the thrills they were getting with all the curves in the road. When you are coming down a Mountain Road with a trailer attached it felt like we were driving a Motorcycle doing those curves. Kathy thought that she was going to lose her lunch a few times because she was feeling Sea-Sick from the constant back and forth sway of the road. We thought that the worst was over just before we went through Yarnell but then it started all over again on the other side.

Reflections from the setting Sun.

When we reached North Ranch an Escapees RV Club Rainbow Park in Congress our destination for today we had to stand by the side of the truck to steady ourselves before walking to the office to register. Since we’ve been Members Since 2010 we have used many of these parks which cost a fraction of others especially when you are a member and many RV Dealerships give bigger discounts to Escapees Members. It didn’t take long to set up the trailer and as I was closing down the back of the truck someone across the drive recognized us from Dead Horse Ranch.

Even though we only drove 116 Miles today we were worn out. We rechecked the Map-quest and just noticed there was a Third Route from Cottonwood to Congress on much more sensible roads for Large RVs. Too Bad we didn’t see it before.  Since we’ll be staying for a week we took advantage of ordering a few things from Amazon that will be delivered directly to our door. We’ve plans to see things in the area as well as celebrating the U.S Thanksgiving with our neighbours. Thanks for following along, feel free to leave a comment and click on the pictures to enlarge them. Be Safe and Enjoy!

It’s about time.

Krackers

The World's Great Proverbs

If you lie down with dogs, you will get up with fleas.