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It was once again sad leaving Bartlett Lake. We are always sad to leave cool spots especially when we are camping on the water but we did NOT want to be there on the weekend! Mommy stopped at a cool coffee spot and had her first coffee in 11 days. She was flying high after that! She “had” to get it to use their Wi-fi. At least that was her excuse! She looked up some places to go on Free Campsites.net and decided the first stop would be the ranger station in Camp Verde to get some maps so off we went north! As she was leaving, she saw a guy with a gun in the coffee shop. She knew she wasn’t in California anymore!
Camp Verde was a really cool town. It wasn’t very big but it had that cowboy town feel to it. The people were super nice too. The lady in the ranger station told us some good dispersed camping spots. We told her we wanted water and trees which is a tall order in these parts!
We decided to head toward Cottonwood on the 260 making a stop at a RV park to fill up our tank with water. We ended up camping on FR 147A. It was PERFECT! A huge flat area with just a few other campers who mommy ended up making friends with. She loves talking to the other campers!
Once we got parked and leveled, we took off for the mile road down to the Verde River. It was very windy but we went anyhow. Lucky for us the wind died down because I didn’t want to blow away like Toto on the Wizard of Oz!
The river was a nice surprise for me. I think I have swam every single day on this trip! We met a dog named Fluff in the river and it was his one year birthday. I didn’t want any parts of him, but mommy was playing with him. There is something about puppies that drives me crazy!
We explored the trail by the river for another mile and then headed back up the road. It was a nice night at camp talking to the neighbors and relaxing. We have been quite busy on this trip if you haven’t noticed but I am used to that with mommy! I rest when I go home.
The next day, we took off toward Cottonwood to check out the town. Super cool town. They are really in to wine around here. Even the pet store had wine in it!
And a fashion show…. ( I am so glad mommy doesn’t dress me up! )
Mommy got me some CBD oil to see if it helps with my arthritis and of course it is known to help fight cancer too so that is a win- win. This kind he is called Pet Releaf and it is t 3rd kind she has got so I hope this one works for me. The first one messed up my poop and the second one made me spacey.
We walked around town and met a nice couple with a Cairn Terrier the same age as me. Cole was very laid back and just waiting for his parents to finish lunch. Of course mommy had to chat with them for a long time so I laid down and took a nap!
After we left there, we headed to a camp spot that someone told mommy about. It was called Sycamore Canyon. The best part about it was the Verde River! We stopped so that I could swim.
Then we took off down the very bumpy road that put mommy in a bad mood. We are really beating Spirit up on this trip. The road that they told us to turn on was bumpy too and the first camp spot we saw was under power lines so we turned around and went back to where we camped the night before. We liked that spot and the nice people there.
We were glad that we did because the next morning we were woke up by the sound of cows mooing. It was pretty funny. The cows wanted to come camping with us!
We were going to take off to a place called Beaver Creek but mommy was over the dirt roads so we went to Sedona instead! You can’t go wrong with Sedona! It is the only place that mommy keeps returning to! ( she doesn’t usually like going anywhere twice!)
We went back to the same place that we went swimming last time that we were here, Lower Oak Creek park. It was $10. To get in but it was worth it!
We went on a trail that had a bunch of Cairns on it! Everyone that walked by was making them! It was cool!
Of course, we stopped a few times so that I could swim!
We crossed the creek and ended up on the Templeton trail. It started off nice and shaded in the trees.
Then, It took us up the hill….
And to Cathedral Rock.
Mommy and I climbed up Cathedral Rock last time that we were here. She had to carry me for part of it because you kind of have to scramble in parts but it was really cool at the top. This time, there were too many people on it and mommy does not like to hike on crowded trails. But it is beautiful to look at from the bottom.
The flowers along the way were nice too. I helped the park out by watering them!
It was just the right distance for us today. We headed back down to the creek and that made me happy! We found a perfect rock to hang out on away from all the people. Mommy and I went swimming together and it was really cold!
We had our snacks and then headed back to Spirit. We got back to the parking lot and there was a line of people waiting to get in! Man! You have to come early to this park especially on a Sunday! They were happy when we left because we took up 3 spots!
We decided to take the 179 out of Sedona because the 89A is very steep and windy. The 179 is a pretty drive and takes you to the 17.
There are a lot of cool rock formations on the way out of Sedona. To be honest, we have hiked most of them. When mommy goes anywhere, she likes to do everything in the entire area in case she never comes back. It drives daddy crazy and that is why he doesn’t come with us!
It was a great day and we ended it by staying on another forest road 7 miles south of Flagstaff off of exit 333. We were back in the pine trees!
We had a beautiful view of the snowcapped mountains. We think it was a ski resort!
We know where we are going this time! We are headed to Lake Havasu to finish up our adventure. This will be my 8th body of water that I swim in on this trip. We are once again going to be in hot weather at a lake so stay tuned for the Grand Finale! Thanks for coming on our journey with us!
