Kartchner Caverns State Park!!

We have arrived. The last time we were at Kartchner Caverns was 2008 and we decided we had to come back and volunteer here. Now we are here, are parked in an RV spot in the volunteer village, picked up our volunteer shirts and are ready to go. gulp.

Bella must be allergic to AZ and has developed a severe case of hives.  Poor baby.  Off to the vet.

YAY, we  have arrived!

Does every plant in Arizona hate us?

Our new uniforms

The walk to work

Hummingbird Garden

Chris working the gatehouse at the park entrance

Poor Bella is really allergic to something!  Hives all over her.

Home for the winter

The view of the Huachuka Mountains out back

Looking down on the Discovery Center from the cave entrance

The cave entry

Lost Dutchman State Park

Spent a few days at Lost Dutchman State Park near Apache Junction, AZ. Beautiful park looking on the Superstition Mountains.  It was nice to sit in the sun with Chris and relax with a drink.  The sunsets were fabulous each night. Bella tangled with some jumping cholla and we found out the plants of AZ hate people and dogs. We took a bit of time and explored Tortilla Flats and the local museums and tourist traps in the area.

The view of Superstition Mountains from our campsite

Ahhhhh, what a nice campground

Time to relax with a cool drink

Jumping Cholla will grab your shoe
or your dog as you go by

Home

Tortilla Flats restaurant

Canyon Lake

Elvis Presley Memorial Chapel at Superstition Mountain Museum

Superstition Mountain Museum

Goldfield ghost town, a bit of a tourist trap

Badger Springs Trail - Agua Fria

Hiked down the wash on the Badger Springs Trail to see the petroglyphs. It was a fun walk, though a bit hot, until we got to a point in the wash where boulders lined the trail. You had to walk down a narrow path between the rocks. As we started I spotted a snake coiled up in a notch in the rock. We would have walked within 6 inches of it if we had not spotted it. I was told it was a Western Diamondback rattlesnake. Rattlesnake is all I needed to hear! Anyway, we detoured and still got to see the petroglyphs. They were pretty amazing but the Aqua Fria River was a series of mucky pools with cattle resting alongside. Not very picturesque.

Are you friendly?

Petroglyphs on the rocks

The Aqua Fria was pretty well dried up

Lots of tracks in the dried mud.  I guess we were not the first down this path!

Jerome, AZ

We spent a day exploring the old mining town of Jerome. The town was built into a hillside near a giant copper mine. It is a charming town that has developed into a bit of an art colony. If you go there, do not miss lunch at the Haunted Hamburger. The burgers are great and the drinks huge. Very fun place. The Gold King mine museum up the old dirt road was a huge antique collection. Not a lot of info there on mining. There is another museum that is a state park and another museum in town on Main Street. We did not have time to go to either of those. We did poke around the Audrey Shaft Headframe Park. An interesting side area to the state park.

Haunted Hamburger Restaurant, a must see.

It's either a Bloody Mary or a meal

A bookshelf in the ceiling complete with  books

Gold King Mine Museum.  Lots of old junk.

It's a long way down the Audrey Shaft

Going down?

Camp Verde

We left Flagstaff and headed south and checked into Distant Drums RV resort in Camp Verde for a few days. We explored Montezuma Castle, Toozigoot ruins, Cottonwood, Jerome, Badger Springs and got some overdue work done on our refrigerator.

Interesting rock house in Camp Verde

Distant Drums RV resort

Warning...AZ may be hazardous to your health

Quite the ruins at Montezuma Castle

Looking up at Tuzigoot

Tuzigoot ruins