I can’t believe it’s been seven days since my last post! Our son flew in last Saturday to spend the week with us and it’s been a whirlwind ever since (in a good way).
The snow finally melted here (not at West Fork, as you’ll see below) and the weather’s warming a bit so we’ve made the most of it with day trips and lots of hikes.
Jerome, Arizona
We drove to Jerome, AZ on Tuesday. It’s an 1800's copper mining town but now the hotels, brothels and saloons have been converted to shops and restaurants for tourists.
The town was built on a mountaintop so the ride up isn’t for the faint of heart.
I took the picture above from an art gallery window. The building was built right on the side of the mountain cliff and the ground was hundreds of feet below.
West Fork Trail
The next day we drove up the switchbacks towards Flagstaff to hike the West Fork trail. It was higher in elevation than Sedona so there was still 4-6 inches of snow on the ground, this made for a slippery hike.
West Fork is a challenging hike on a good day, with 13 creek crossings in 3.3 miles, but was considerably more treacherous with the snow and ice. I’m happy to report none of us fell in the creek, we just had wet feet. Thank God for our skating legs, we had good enough balance to keep us upright. When driving up and down these mountains you can experience such wild differences in weather it's like experiencing three seasons in one day.
Bell Rock Trail
Our last hike of the week was Bell Rock Trail. It was sunny and in the low 60’s for this hike so it was absolutely perfect.
Without having to worry about slipping on the snow and ice we could concentrate on the spectacular views, which were breathtaking.
Our Bell Rock hike was longer than anticipated. According to my Apple Watch I burned 613 calories and got twice the exercise I needed for the day. We were all very ready for a meal after this.
Our son has to leave for the airport tomorrow and begin his journey back to Minnesota. We’re only here for another couple of weeks but plan on making the most of it. Following is a slideshow of all of our pictures from the past few days, we hope you enjoy them.
I saw my first honeybee today and the desert flowers and plants are just about ready to burst into bloom. I expect to have some great pictures to share very soon of Spring in the desert southwest.
All for now. Trust your instincts, invest in you, live boldly, and take chances.
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You know, those of us "back east" who've never been out west, wouldn't normally associate snow and ice with those desert regions. But I guess if you head up high enough, that's exactly what you'll get. I wonder if there are any Mountain Lion out that way? Wonderful pics!
I never imagined the weather could be so different in such a short distance either. We're in the high desert here in Sedona so they experience all of the seasons. Just a couple of hours south in Phoenix is much warmer and they pretty much have "summer" and "summer grande". Lol. There are all kinds of predators out here -- bears, mountain lions, coyotes, snakes, scorpions...the list goes on. Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it.
It sounds like you had an amazing week with your son in Arizona! :)
It was a wonderful week!
Great weather in the first few pictures. This is the first time I'm seeing your son, joining in on the adventure, sad to see he had to travel back quickly. The pictures are amazing.
Thank you! The week went so fast. We saw him off to the Phoenix airport this afternoon. We only have a couple of weeks left here ourselves and we'll be heading back to Minnesota. I hope the snow's gone by the time we get back.
Wow... What a great way to spend the time with your son.
Making memories that you will always remember.
The pictures are very fine too
Enjoy your weekend sir
Thanks! I hope you enjoy your weekend as well!
Thanks
Very cool! Do you get to go down one of the mines? The copper mining industry that once boomed the upper peninsula of Michigan is so fascinating. I think the coolest part was going down in the mone and touching rock that was millions or billions of years old. It looks like you are having an awesome time!
No, unfortunately, they don't allow you to tour the mines (that I'm aware of). That would be fun to do though. It was a fun week with Martese! We packed a lot into those seven days. I hope you and Mrs. Bozz are having a good weekend!
Doing our best! Getting our taxes done tomorrow so we will see if that makes it a good or bad weekend! I'm glad you had a good time!
I hope the taxes went well. That's always nerve-racking. Thanks!
Very well thanks! We also celebrated my nieces birthday, so that was cool too.
Very nice!
Really amazing experience. I think you really enjoy the experience of climbing a very challenging mountain. It's great that you still have the strength and two very strong legs to climb the mountain. I hope you are healthy, Eric. God bless you.
Thank you! Yes, hiking is fun and great exercise. We're lucky to still be in good enough shape to do this..hopefully many more years. Bless you too my friend! Enjoy your weekend.
That was so awesome! I love Arizona (as you probably already know, I lived there for a couple of years) and it thrills me to see someone really enjoy the amazing landscapes they have out there.
You will be moving someday to Sedona, yes?
Just seeing these touches a place in my heart. All of my friends tell me the weather has been perfect!!!! Absolutely perfect!
I'm glad you enjoyed it and it brought back memories! Our plan is to continue to spend part of the year here. We need to find a more affordable option for housing though. Short term rentals aren't going to be feasible every year going forward. It's SO expensive. We're racking our brains for a solution and have been considering buying some land. Sedona City doesn't allow tiny homes but just outside of the city it's legal. That may be an option for us. We've also thought about a camper van but that would just not be doable for months at a time at our age. The first few weeks of our stay were cold/snowy but spring is definitely here now and the desert is beginning to bloom!
That is a huge problem, and not all that unusual. Places that were affordable once upon a time have skyrocketed. To be fair, Sedona has always, always been expensive. You would hate a tiny house when you get older, especially s they have such tiny bedrooms and who wants to crawl on their knees to change the sheets on a bed?
I hate to say it, but, you would be better off learning how to be trailer trash and get a double wide. I am only half kidding. You will get the space and they are low-cost. Something to think about.
I know you will figure out a great plan for you and your wife! Always good to see what is going on with you!
That is so true about how this place has always been expensive. The tiny homes we're looking at are all one level and can be configured in clusters so you can add space as you need it. They're really thoughtfully designed. The mobile home would be a LOT more cost effective though and probably better in the long term, especially if we're just going to be here part of the year.
Thank you Denise! I hope you have a great week.
The photos of the town looks great! ai hope your experience for that is wonderful 👍
Thanks!
Glad to see you are enjoying with your friends and family. The biggest advantage of going to such a place is that one's mind becomes very fresh, one forgets some of the tension of one's life and spends a few days in peace because the natural views that are there are the ones that one can see. The heart feels much better and one breathes much more comfortably there. A person must go for such trip once in two to three months, it is very important for his health.
Thank you! So true, stress melts away here!
That YouTube vid is excellent and glad that you guys are having a good time Eric.
We all simply have to make our days count.
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it! We're at the age where we're definitely trying to make the most of the time we have left.
Pleasure and it was a touching post, as I am my son have become strangers.
My two girls however love me and that makes things a bit easier.
I am also in my twilight years now and you are right that we simply have to make the best of it.
!PIZZA
I'm sorry to hear you and your son have become estranged. I hope you can find a way to reconcile.
Jerome is a cool place to visit. Went there a couple years ago. The music in the video was really nice
Thanks! I liked that track too. We always have fun in Jerome but it's definitely in decline. We noticed quite a few shops have closed since last year.
Fantastic! Thanks for the fun.) Very beautiful nature. Here are rocks of an unusual red color, and a desert with cacti, and even a forest, a real pearl of nature, and all this beauty is literally within walking distance. Amazing place
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures!
That was actually Three Seasons in One Day 🙂
very beautiful scenery! never went camping, had no time to travel. I think it needs to be fixed after the war!!! peace to all!
Thanks! I hope the war ends soon so you can see the world. Peace to you!
I forgot to mention this in my 1st reply.
I'm glad no one broke their backside while hiking in slippery conditions. We don't go outside this time of year without a pair of these on. They work great and are a cinch to slip on and off of any type of shoe.
Thank you! We had a few close calls, that's for sure. Those do make walking in the ice and snow so much easier! A lot of people back home use them. I see we have snow in the forecast again next week here in Arizona...if I order some on Amazon Prime now they'll be here in time. Lol.
Close calls but no falls.👍
Close calls but no falls.👍
It always gives you happiness when your kids who are living away from you comes to meet you and spend time with you. You three are a Perfect family and I wish you a happy life ahead. You son is younger version of you ;) Glad to know you have break your own record of burning calories in a day.
Thank you!
Your always welcome mate.
Wow! Those were the mountains I wanted to see. They always talk about the Arizona desert, its canyons and red rocks. It must be awesome to see them so close. Is it my imagination or do you see on those huge rocks images of faces? You can tell they really enjoyed it and they are all "vaqueanos". Hahahaha. I think this is the first time I've seen your son. In the video I saw, I think, a figure of Chaplin, and I have read that in Sedona there is an artistic community with very interesting proposals. What do you say? Do you plan to attend any event of this type? I'm glad to hear from you. Take care of yourselves. Hugs, Eric
I would highly suggest visiting. Northern Arizona is a sight to behold. They have all kinds of names for the rock formations, Coffee Pot, Snoopy, etc. Yes! That was a statue of Chaplin in Jerome, AZ. There is a fairly big creative community here but not as large as it used to be. The high prices have driven a lot of struggling artists out to other towns. They still converge here for art fairs and showings though. Thanks and take care, Nancy! Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
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It is superb to see you with your family, perfect trip of the beauty of nature. Perfect views and its not easy to climb mountains especially with family. I pray you will be healthy like this and keep sharing such a beautiful views with us.
Thank you very much!
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I like to hike nearby or over a creek and follow it along the way, listening the sound of water. I think it must have been very noisy as the snow had been melting.
The creek was running very fast because of the melting snow. There were, surprisingly, quite a few people out there on the trail.
I think it will run much more incoming months, therefore it would be good timing for camping.
Thank goodness you have good balance, a fall into that icy water would be quite a shock! I'd need a walking stick to not topple over🙈
So many seasons and different landscapes, we do live in an amazing world not so!
Glad you're enjoying your travels Eric!
Raymi and I almost fell in a few times! Lol. Not only were the rocks slippery but some wobbled. Luckily, we found a walking stick on the way back and it helped tremendously. Thank you Lizelle! I hope you both are well. Your big trip is coming up soon! It's in May, right?
That's the plan, I'm just battling to get my passport renewal application done. They're forever offline so I now have another appointment next week, holding thumbs🙏
I'm happy to see that you folk are having such a great time. Talk about precious moments, a week spent with your son, that must have made for some wonderful times.
613 calories, that takes a considerable amount of spent energy to burn that many calories. I hope you went to an all you can eat place for dinner.
The pictures are stunning and from the smiles on everyone's face, it looks like things couldn't have gone any better. Good for you folk.