Yesterday was a nice laid-back day here at the Verde Valley Thousand Trails preserve. Terry’s sister Lisa and her husband Jim came by for a delicious breakfast of crepes that Terry made, and then we sat outside in lawn chairs visiting and enjoying a near-perfect Spring day.
A little after 1 PM Jim and Lisa reluctantly said goodbye and climbed into their pickup for the trip back to their home in Mesa. We’re going to miss them until the next time we can get together, early next year.
Long-time readers Dan and Jenny Sheppard are also here at the Thousand Trails and we went over to visit with them for a while in mid-afternoon. When we arrived, Dan was off geocaching but he returned shortly after we got there. Dan has been an instructor for the RV Driving School for quite some time now, and they were also active with Life on Wheels for several years. It was nice to have some time to sit and visit, talk about the RV lifestyle, and their adventures traveling this great land of ours. We plan to get together with Dan and Jenny for dinner tonight and we’re looking forward to it.
This is one of our favorite Thousand Trails preserves and we really like the Verde Valley area of Central Arizona. It’s 10 or 15° cooler than Phoenix and the scenery is spectacular, with the red rocks of Sedona to the north, and mountains in every direction we look. It’s a great place to hang out, especially this time of year.
There is also a lot to see and do here, including Montezuma Castle National Monument, Tuzigoot National Monument, the Old West town of Jerome which clings to the mountainside above the Verde Valley, historic Fort Verde State Park, and a whole lot more that I don’t have room to list here. You really need to add this part of the Grand Canyon State to your travel plans!
We don’t have a whole lot planned for this trip. We have some paperwork we need to get caught up on, I want to get some writing done, and we may even sneak over and soak in the hot tub a time or two. Yep, we plan to do a whole lot of loafin’ in the next few days. 🙂
We booked two weeks here, although we will probably only stay a week or so. But I always make a reservation for the maximum time allowed under our membership, just in case we decide to stay longer. It doesn’t cost anything and we can always leave early and cancel the balance of our stay, and it doesn’t count against our allotted number of days.
We may also make a day trip to Prescott while we are in the area. It’s one of my favorite towns in the whole country and I never miss a chance to visit when I can. But as always, our plans are written in Jello. Life is just simpler that way if you are a fulltime RVer!
Thought For The Day – The key to being at peace with others is to stop being at war with yourself.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
That is a great area of Arizona ….we love it too. Would love to hear more pros & cons about membership campgrounds, from your perspective. It sure seems either folks love ’em…or hate ’em.
I agree with Nick – wait a year before buying a campground membership and talk to people about the pros & cons. We joined everything in the beginning and then started dropping them. We settled with Thousand Trails National membership and then upgraded to 3 weeks and being able to go from one campground to the next without being out of the system. Also had RPI and ROD. Using these during the high fuel prices one summer we spent less than $100 for the whole summer camping in Oregon. The CGs were about 3 miles apart. Even with the membership fees it was a win-win for us.
Don’t forget to visit King Mine on the road behind the Fire Station in Jerome! You could write a lovely story about that place in addition to having an eclectic experience.