TEXAS IN TIME FOR TURKEY Day 14 October 15, 2009 Out of Africa Wildlife Park, Cottonwood, AZ

Today we traveled down the highway a few miles to Campe Verde where we took in the Out of Africa Wildlife Park. It is a Wildlife park that has animals from Africa and North America that have been rescued, donated or born into captivity.

When we arrived we found there were two sections to the park. The first was a bus ride through an area that housed animals with hooves. They actually gave us pieces of carrots so that we could feed the animals. It was a great hit with the kids. The one aspect of the bus ride that surprised us was how close and personal you could get with these animals. You could not get off the bus but the animals did come up to the bus looking for food.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once we finished with the bus tour we caught the shuttle up to the caged area where the rest of the animals were. In this section was a show area where they brought in pairs of animals. The one we really enjoyed was called “Tiger Splash” and that is just what it was. Two trainers actually got in the caged area and pool and played with the tigers. It was quite enjoyable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next show was the snake show where they brought out two Burmese Pythons for everyone to pet. We passed.

The last show was back in the pool area where they brought in two Hyenas. There was one male and one female and they have been at the park for 7 and 11 years respectively. We also learned that the female is always the boss in the relationship. When they were feeding the Hyenas we were able to hear their laughs which was really their way of saying “Hurry up and feed me”. I was surprised at how big these animals are as they go about 140 lbs.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Once the final show was over we walked back down to the entrance so that we could see the rest of the animals. Upon completion of our viewing we headed back to the resort and called it a night. It was a good day.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TEXAS IN TIME FOR TURKEY Day 9 - 13 October 10 - 14, 2009 Sedona, AZ

We have been here 5 days and have done a variety of things. 1) We have enjoyed the resort and the cottage we are in. It is quite nice inside and out. 2) We ventured downtown and took in Sedona 3) We drove Oak Creek Canyon. 4) We took a drive up Schnebley Hill for an overlook of the city and area. 5) We enjoyed the break from traveling.
The resort is quite nice and it is great to have a little more room. We haven’t used as much of the resort as I expected but it was still nice just to sit around for awhile.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Downtown Sedona is very busy. It is set up to cater to the tourist industry as they get between 4 and 5 million visitors a year. That’s quite an influx when the permanent population is only 12,500 residents. I am not sure when the peak season is but October with nice weather is very busy. It is a quaint little city and the décor is very similar all the way through. If fact the MacDonald Restaurant is the only one in the world with Teal Arches as the city council did not feel Yellow would blend in with the look of the city!

 

Sedona is in the Upper Sonoran Desert and its main attraction is its stunning array of red sandstone formations, the Red Rocks of Sedona. The formations appear to glow in brilliant orange and red when illuminated by the rising or setting sun. The Red Rocks form a breathtaking backdrop for entire city.

One drive we did enjoy was into Oak Creek Canyon and back down into Sedona. The canyon is on Hwy 89A and you pass through it on your way to Sedona. The canyon rim is at 7000 feet and you drop about 3000 feet into Sedona. It took a number of switch backs to navigate the drive down and vehicles over 50 feet are not allowed in the canyon.

The scenery was pretty nice.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The drive up Schnebly Hill Road was short but spectacular. We drove as far as we could go before the road got very rough. At this point we stopped and had lunch at a scenic lookout. The view was very picturesque and with the temperature in the mid to hi seventies it was a very pleasant and peaceful lunch.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The main purpose of the stop into Sedona was to relax and that we did. We really enjoyed and needed the break from being constantly on the road. We sure couldn’t have picked a nicer spot as everywhere you looked the view was just incredible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TEXAS IN TIME FOR TURKEY Day 7 & 8 October 8 & 9, 2009 Wells,NV to Sedona, AZ

Thursday and Friday have been travel days as we have to be in Sedona around 4 PM on Friday. We had booked ourselves into a rehab centre just outside of Sedona. We are both a little travel weary and will welcome the rest.

The amount of miles we have left ourselves does not allow for a lot of stopping for things like pictures. The road through Nevada was pretty flat and straight which made for easy driving and we made good time. The scenery started to change as we got closer to Las Vegas. The mountains were closer and the landscape was a bit more rugged.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

We followed Highway 93 south right into Vegas and much to my surprise Kathy did not insist we stop and hit one of the casinos. We did stop in Vegas but it was at camping world as we needed a few necessities.

We decided to push on and head to Kingman, AZ for the night which meant we had to cross the Hoover Dam. Since 9/11 all vehicles are stopped prior to crossing the bridge for an inspection and all RV’s are searched. We were fortunate as the time of day we were crossing it was not busy and we weren’t held up that long. We also got a look at the new bridge they are building so that you will not have to cross the bridge.  It is pretty amazing.

The border between Nevada and Arizona is on the dam so after crossing we were in Arizona. The drive from the dam to Kingman took us through desert the entire way. It was pretty barren and the only animals that live there is the Big Horned Sheep but we didn’t see any. We hit Kingman around 7PM found a RV Park and settled in for the night.

Friday found us heading for Sedona along Interstate 40 and again we weren’t in a position to stop and take a lot of pictures. However we did get a couple of the landscape.

We stopped for lunch at Seligman, AZ which is the starting point of the Historic Hwy 66. This is not the start of the original Hwy 66 but the Hwy between Seligman and Flagstaff is some of the only original highway left. We stopped for lunch and I had a burger.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I didn’t ask what kind of burger.

We left Seligman and headed for Sedona with a quick stop in Flagstaff for groceries. We then turned south off of Interstate 40 onto Hwy 89A. We arrived in Sedona around 5PM, headed for the resort and settled in. We will be here for the week.