After Lake Havasu our plan was to have an extended stay in the Sedona area. We had been before, but only for a day. On our first trip we were not excited about the RV parks in Sedona, so we looked for something in the nearby area and found Rain Spirit RV Resort in Cottonwood. It turned out to be a great central place to base our adventures. The airport was close and there was a great old historic downtown right around the corner. It overlooked a valley with spectacular sunset vistas. One night we had a full moon come up over the local Tuzigoot Indian ruins just below the RV park.
As it turned out, the Cottonwood airport folks would come in very handy in diagnosing a problem with the plane not making proper power. In the long run it turned out to be the muffler again. But a lot of detective work was done by experts around the country as the muffler being the problem was not obvious. In the end Bob, one of the eagle eyed pilots at Cottonwood, spied a small crack on the muffler requiring it being removed for repair again. When the muffler was off the original problem became apparent as things were rattling around in the muffler. The internal baffle had come apart and was partially blocking the exhaust. A new muffler system was required.
I was able to attend a local EAA Chapter meeting just 100ft. from where the trailer was parked and was invited back to present to the group in early March.
Our first adventure in the area was to Prescott over the nearby mountains to the West. Some of the vistas were breathtaking. Prescott was famous mainly due to the Whisky Row that had been the haunt of some prominent wild west figures.
But the real find on the trip was a town called Jerome that was on the mountain looking over the valley where we stayed. It was a mining town that had a sketchy past which the locals today take great advantage of. The views in the afternoon as the sun sets are fantastic which can be viewed from the local restaurants . On the weekends the town is packed. And this was in the winter! If you are in the area, burgers are half price on Wednesday's at the Haunted Hamburger. Great view, great food!
Another fun side trip was to the Indian ruins in nearby Camp Verde. The first was Montezuma's Castle. Much of it has fallen in ruin today, but the park information provides a glimpse of what it looked like in its heyday.
Just down the road was Montezuma's Well. This is a naturally occurring well with some interesting features such as unique animals that live in the water that has high concentrations of arsenic. Indians did make homes here, but they likely learned that those drinking from this well did not live as long. The Indians created a nice water feature with overflow of water from the well.
Next post will be the Sedona trips by 4x4, hiking and by air. Not to miss!
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