Monday, April 24, 2017, Norman, K7VF

I was walking Sam along the road outside of our campground, Krazy K RV Park in Camp Verde, AZ, and admiring the massive HAM radio tower in someone's yard.  That "someone" was at his mailbox as we passed, so we started talking.  Norman, a long time HAM, was happy to help a newbie with questions.  I noticed the company logo on his shirt and learned he worked 31 years for the same company that relocated our daughter and son-in-law to Oregon.  He had been retired for 17 years, so of course, they never met.  But still, what are the chances?

Norm's antenna had a few issues that needed attention and I volunteered to help.  I had no actual antenna experience, but I hoped I could provide some muscle and maybe learn a little in the process.

I'm happy we are spending a month here - I have so much to learn and Norman seems happy to help me develop my new found hobby.

Saturday, April 22, 2017, Star Party

The USDA Forest Service was hosting a "Star Party" at the Red Rock Welcome Center/Ranger Station with Solar Gazing from 2-4pm, an Astronomy Presentation at 7pm and Telescope Viewing from 7:45-9pm.  The Village of Oak Creek near Sedona, AZ, is now an “International Dark Sky Community.” I wanted to take part in the solar observing as well as the star party, so we made a day of it - Joani is very accommodating for me!

I met volunteers, DJ and Karen, who both really love astronomy. They support a lot of public outreach programs all across the state. They had a refractor with a solar filter (sometimes referred to as a white light filter) and a Lunt solar telescope with a narrow band hydrogen alpha filter.  The Lunt allowed viewing of solar prominences and detail across the solar disc.  Unfortunately, the sun was very quiet which meant there were very few sunspots or prominences.

To fill in the time between sun and stars we went to Famous Pizza for a couple of slices and then explored the Village of Oak Creek for a while. 

The view that some of these people have from their homes is absolutely breathtaking.  Do you suppose after a while they become complacent and forget to appreciate their view?

The house below takes the award for most unobtrusive RV port home. Built on a slope, it was hardly even noticeable how tall the RV garage compared to the overall roof line.

When we returned to the Red Rock Visitor Center there were a few more telescopes set up for viewing.  I met another of the club members who had the exact same scope I have.  I asked him about an issue I have encountered.  I think he was able to point me in the right direction to fix my problem.

Below, I was talking with JD about his Celestron 11 GPS (it is the big brother to my 8 inch GPS). I found he also has a second Celestron 11, a Celestron 14 and a Ritchey-Chrétien among others. He certainly has embraced his hobby with a well-rounded array of equipment.

During the viewing I answered enough questions by this beautiful 6-inch refractor that most people assumed it was mine - I wish!

Explore-Scientific 6" Refractor

While I was talking astronomy with the club members, Joani found the Hummingbirds to be equally fascinating.  Some of them cooperated for a quick photo, but the neon blue-throated one that was her favorite was not very cooperative.

The throat on this guy looked as if it was lit from inside, it just glowed.

As the sun sank in the west, everyone headed indoors for an interesting and informative talk about the wide world of astronomy.

Courthouse Butte (5,451 ft.) took on a glow in the late afternoon.

By the time JD was finished with his talk, it was dark outside. After a few minutes for our eyes to adapt, the crowd of an estimated 150 were treated to views of dozens of night sky treats.

Thursday, April 20, 2017, Exploring Sedona, AZ

Our first drive into Sedona, AZ, gave us a good idea of why this area is so popular.  The red rock cliffs provide a spectacular backdrop in nearly every direction.  There are hundreds of miles of trails to explore and we only have a month.  We can already see this will be one of those places we visit more than once.

Red Rock Visitor Center and Ranger Station were only 17 miles from Krazy K RV Park.

How ironic that Smokey had the time to pose with Joani and Sam while there was a grass fire smoldering just a few hundred feet away. It looked like a controlled burn to get the scrub vegetation under control around the auxiliary Ranger facilities so I guess Smokey trusted his rangers.

Sam always wanted to meet his hero, Smokey (look at that smile on his face.)

Chapel of the Holy Cross has a tiny parking lot that was full and overflowing down the hill.  We decided to return earlier on another day.

I think everyone in Sedona must make a living creating or selling art. There were galleries everywhere.  We stopped at Tlaquepaque Arts and Crafts Village and spent more than an hour looking around.  Many of the shops offered free cookies to patrons and treats for the four-legged visitors. 

Tlaquepaque is not Spanish. It's a Spanish rendition of a Nahuatl (Aztec) word. The "tl" is actually one sound, but the word is typically pronounced tuh-lah-keh-pah-keh.

Tlaquepaque, (meaning the best of everything) named after a Mexican city on the southeast edge of Guadalajara, is located on Oak Creek, but it's the magnificent sycamores that define this property.

The buildings look like they have been here for hundreds of years.  That was the plan when construction began in 1971.

Before 1970, this creekside property was a nursery owned by the Girard family.  They were finally convinced to sell, but only if their beloved sycamores remained untouched and healthy.  So the buildings were built around the trees and it makes for a magical place.

If a tree wants to occupy a space that is presently occupied by a building, the building is notched to let the tree win.  I love that!

Although the shops are very high end, they were all so friendly and welcoming.

We didn't even try to go inside the chapel (next time I will).

David is always happy to help others to capture the moment.

David took the opportunity to discuss the world of physics with Einstein.

The shops were just as charming on the inside.

Copper Wind Sculptures by Lyman Whitaker
outside the Vue by Renee Taylor Gallery

Ken Rowe, the owner of the Rowe Gallery, was sculpting a horse in clay.

This was the inside of the Rowe Gallery.  The Sycamores were welcome and so was Sam.

All of the Galleries were dog-friendly.  They didn't mind Sam sniffing the $37,500 sculpture.

Midgley Bridge will deserve a closer look as will the other bridges (Navajo Bridge, Salt River Canyon Bridge, and Pump House Wash Bridge) along Hwy 89 to Flagstaff.

Wednesday, April 19, 2017, Move to Camp Verde, AZ

Our drive was about as long as I like them to be, 144.4 miles (81,949.1 total).  Long enough to see a change in scenery, but not so long that you are worn out (and certainly not long enough to require headlights).

Our first choice park in Sedona, Rancho Sedona RV Park, was full. (They laughed when Joani tried to book only a month in advance and said try a year in advance next time.) Reviews brought us to Krazy K RV Park along I-17 in Camp Verde, AZ.  It was about 15 miles from Cottonwood and about 25 miles to downtown Sedona.  There were a lot of day trip options in our plans for the next month.

Moving day could have been a lot more complicated if our car had not finally been returned the night before we moved.  We did not want to drive the rental to our next campsite and have to return (114 miles) just to pick up our car.  It looked pretty good - the paint matched well and the car had been detailed so it looked far better than it had in quite some time.

Early this morning, just before leaving we found the passenger window would not fully open.  Joani ran it back to the shop where they found the window was hanging up on the side view mirror wires. It was quickly fixed and we hit the road just 30 minutes later than planned.

There was a lot of uphill climbing as we headed north from Phoenix.  A couple of times I was in third gear crawling along with the big rigs at thirty miles per hour.  Our home kept its cool and we had no problems. You can see from the picture below, we were no longer in the flat, flat desert.

The snow-capped mountain is probably Humphrey's Peak just north of Flagstaff.

Saturday, April 10, 2017, Piccacho Peak SP

April is the end of the busy season for Arizona RV Parks.  Almost everyone heads north to their favorite summer spot and the Park goes into hibernation mode.  To empty out the parks refrigerators, they had a $2.00 mystery dinner. You get what you get at a bargain price.  We couldn't resist.

While dining in the mess hall, we met a nice lady, Pam, and her son who were avid hikers.  She highly recommended the trails at Picacho Peak State Park.  Today it was a bit cloudy and not too warm (highs expected in the low 80's), so we drove south 30 miles to explore.  In the picture below, the extremely steep peak in the distance (center of photo) is Picacho Peak.  We realized neither of us was in shape for a 1,200-foot ascent and chose to hike a couple of less challenging trails instead.

The Children's Cave trail ended at this "cave".  Joani is peeking out of the cave, but is also as far into the cave as you can go - it was more of an indention into the rock than an actual cave.

It was difficult to imagine just how you get to the top of the peak.  There were cables to help with the climb, but still, it looked like it was nearly vertical everywhere we could see.  I was happy to accommodate Joani's choice of the much less challenging Calloway trail.

We asked a volunteer if they knew what caused the ripples in the cactus below.  They had no idea but ventured a guess that it was due to periods of plentiful moisture.  It seemed strange, however, that a rippled cactus was sometimes next to one without ripples, so a google search was in order.  It seems no one knows with any certainty. 

After many google searches with no answers, I am going to guess that Fasciation is the answer.  This is what causes the "Cresting" anomaly that is found in some Saguaros.  What causes fascination?  No one knows.  While researching, I ran across a blog called "tywkiwdbi."  This entry was so interesting, I think I will start at the beginning and read a few back entries every day.

I will now keep my eyes open for examples of fascination while hiking - fascinating!