We're moving on to the next RV campsite, still in Arizona, in a place called Verde Valley. It's a little north of Phoenix, and it'll be a good center point for a few different adventures.
From the Petrified Forest Gift Shop where we spent the night, it's just 3 hours away.
It was an easy drive, though there were a few hills to pull the RV up. We hopped in the slow lane with the rest of the truckers and eventually made it to our turn-off.
As I pulled off the road onto the road leading to our Thousand Trails site, I drove over a cattle guard and came across this sign. Open Range?
Ah. I see. Yep, there's a herd of 12-15 cows wandering around this area. This one found a perfect patch of grass right in front of the RV resort.
Theresa said it made her smile every time, just to see the cows wandering along the road whenever we went back and forth to the main road.
There's two major sections to the Verde Valley RV resort. We can pick just about any spot. And all those dotted lines are trails that we can hike. Excellent!
The upper section with fantastic views overlooking the plains.
Or down in the valley. We ended up picking a spot in the valley, closest to the pool and other activities.
Unfortunately down in the valley, there's no cell service, which means for us, there's no internet signal. Whenever we needed it, we hopped over to one of the lodges where there is complimentary wifi.
At the Petrified Forest we were in Arizona, but we were trying to squeeze a lot into just one day. Now that we're settled for a little while, we have time to put our sticker on for Arizona.
There we go! One more state added to the map!
How do you get the kids really into cooking? Excessive praise for anything they make. Ian is now an expert guacamole maker, and now he wants to do it every time. We do have a pretty delicious recipe.
The places we've visited since leaving Colorado have been HOT! One of the things we were very excited to pick up from storage was our Vitamix blender. Now we can make smoothies!
They are a perfect treat!
We're fairly close to a Planet Fitness, so many of the mornings Theresa would head there with the truck while I figured out something to do with the kids. The hills nearby have some hiking trails, so I grabbed a bit of water and we went off exploring. Alli needed a picture next to this pink flower on a cactus.
At the main lodge we found a giant chessboard, which the kids promptly turned into checkers. It was a neck and neck game, with the advantage going back and forth. Finally after 30 minutes, Ian's 4 kings had cornered Alli's 4 kings to where any move would result in a jump. Congrats Ian!
I asked what we should make for lunch, and despite being the middle of the week, they opted for pizza as long as they could help. Sounds good to me! Instead of my thin crust recipe, I opted to make my old pizza recipe with a yeast dough. We're skipping the rise time and seeing what happens.
They spread the sauce on their own, and added their own toppings.
I'm sure that's going to be tasty!
And with the extra dough, I made a loaf of bread. Delicious!
And the pool will be great for cooling off in the heat!
Theresa joined us with the guitar, strumming along to some classic songs.
We enjoyed some beautiful sunsets.
And we got out in the field finally and got to throw the ball around. Alli has to get used to throwing left handed with this new glove. She'll get there!
Wow! Even more beautiful sunsets.
Yesterday's bread was so good, I had to make more. Can't beat fresh bread.
For dinner I was already frying something, so I opted to try making a few of them into dough balls, frying them, and coating them with powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar. They were tasty, but not quite the donuts I was hoping for.
Ooh. A couple brave warriors with shields and swords! Love their creative minds, and that they have the craft area to support it.
They're getting into baseball right now, so we had to get back outside to play more.
Just behind our RV is a hiking trail. Walking down it, we came across lots of rock art that people have made. Hi!
A smiling cat of some sort.
Alli loved the heart.
That's a big face.
Looking down the hill towards where our RV is parked, LOVE!
Peace.
There's beauty here, in so many different forms.
Without internet, we definitely worked on getting our walking miles in.
Mostly after the sun started setting. It's hot here!
With two weeks here, we were able to get out and do a lot! We'll continue from there next!
That was a very nice ending photo encompassing contrasting landscapes of greenery, rocky/dry land, and the "mesa", as well as catching the sweeping skies and clouds. The sunset photo with the volleyball net was very unusual and pretty with the pastel, soft hues, instead of the usual "fiery" reds and oranges I'm use to seeing. Lots of hiking trails to explore, along with lots of rock art...hikers really got into a creative mood. That one speck of bright color (hot pink) from the flower on the trail stood out like a solitary "rebel" against the gray landscape. Have to be so careful driving the roads with the open range cows! A different mindset kicks in when no cell service is around...definitely forces you to do things in a different way and do different things. Hooray for the Arizona map sticker :-)...map is getting very colorful! The pool became a necessity for that hot weather; and being able to make smoothies is another great way to combat the heat. EOM
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