Saturday morning, September 15, we had a delayed start. Tom drove to a hardware store to get some necessary supplies to patch the exhaust pipe until we are able to get it repaired and then he set to work patching the pipe. (Tom posting; I was so busy making the temporary exhaust pipe repair that I did not take any pictures during the patching repairs. I used two layers of flashing material held in place by three hose clamps. Next I used the three cabinet braces and three hose clamps to hold the tailpipe onto the exhaust pipe. I than wrapped several layers of heavy duty aluminium foil around the repair area for some additional insulation against the hot exhaust.)
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| This Photo of my Repair was taken after Arriving at Camp Verde. It looks like my temporary repair worked. |
We were only moving to Camp Verde, 82 miles, and check in was stated to be 1 pm. A little after 10:30 am we were on the move, we needed to be out by 11 am. Leaving Williams heading east toward Flagstaff on I 40 we soon noticed smoke and then we were able to smell it. We later learned that there were a couple forest fires in the area. We left I 40 and picked up Az. 17 south to Camp Verde. We arrived at Distant Drums RV Park a few minutes past 12 noon and was checked in and escorted to our lot. We will be here 2 nights. This is a really nice campground that we have been to on several occasions. After getting set up we drove to Cottonwood for lunch at Black Bear Diner. Driving through Cottonwood was challenging due to a motorcycle rally occurring here, motorcycles and people everywhere.
Today, Sunday, we drove to Sedona, a most beautiful area of red rock mountains. We drove through Sedona and up through Oak Creek Canyon, about 12 miles, to the look out area.
In addition to being a look out area, there are Native Americans selling their jewelry, flutes, pottery and other Indian artifacts. Returning to Sedona we stopped at a Visitor Center to get some information. It was suggested to go up to the airport for great views which we did.
We saw a hiking path that went to the top of one of the smaller rock mountains so we stopped and took the path to the summit. It was a fairly easy walk for the most part, we just needed to take it slow and rest a couple times.
Driving back to the downtown area and getting a parking spot, we walked about that area getting lunch at a southwest style restaurant.
After lunch and a gelato for dessert we were back in the car driving on south through this gorgeous area. A brief stop was made at a craft/art show and then a stop at the National Park Visitor Center as we returned back to the campground.
The smoke from the forest fires around Flagstaff caused some smokiness in the Sedona area. The weather here is warmer than Williams as temperatures were near or at 100 degrees these 2 days with bright sunshine. Of course, it is a dry heat, right, it still was HOT.
