WICKENBURG

Our trip from Prescott was actually quite eventful but I have nothing to show for it! Me - I was too busy with my fingers crossed to take any pictures. We left Prescott without filling our gas tank - I know, I know - tell it to the driver! I must have also been holding my breath - I don't recall much of the trip - or is that because of all the twisting and turning on this route as well - I guess I have blocked it all out.

CAN YOU BELIEVE THE HILL THAT WE HAD TO COME DOWN BETWEEN YARNELL AND CONGRESS! MY OH MY!

Anyway, we left Prescott quite late but we figured we weren't going far. We pulled into Congress on what felt like fumes - but we made it - so let's not dwell - right Derek?!

We were headed to a BLM boondocking spot just south of Congress but it was not to be - the roads were there alright but so were the gates across them.

What to do now? Just as the sun is setting. Not HUGE fans of having to find overnight parking in the dark.

It worked out just fine thanks - we found a stealth camping spot in town. All was ok but with the way the semis parked I don't think they were huge fans of us sharing their spot. 

The next morning we headed into downtown Wickenburg to look around. If you've been with us a while you may recall that we stopped into Wickenburg last spring on our way north. Unfortunately we only stayed a few hours because Cassia was not feeling well. 

Funny - we had longed for years to make it through Wickenburg and now we've been there TWICE! Isn't traveling fun!

FIRST STOP - THE WICKENBURG CHAMBER

I'm a big fan of stopping in at Visitor Centers or Chamber of Commerce offices for info. Shiny, colourful maps and brochures do the trick for me. Nothing better then walking out totally armed with all you need to know about a place.

Thanks to the Wickenburg ladies!

Somehow we totally missed the talking people last year - well not this year! Although strangely enough this lady had a very masculine voice. Not sure why they had a man talking about ladies in the old west.

Look familiar? Yup - I took a similar picture last spring - just couldn't resist a retake.

Hmmm - I didn't notice until later that this was actually a family photo. Nope - we didn't tell Cassia what the writing said ....

Wickenburg is home to the Desert Caballeros Western Museum which I'm sure would be a great place to visit but we haven't - yet. Our third visit might do the trick.

GO DIRECTLY TO JAIL!

And so we did - the Jail Tree that is. While reading our visitor info stuff we realized that last year we had completely missed the Jail/Hanging Tree.

THIS had to be rectified!

Hmmm - Derek missed his calling but maybe Cassia has a future in the dramatic arts?!

The old schoolhouse deserved a picture just for being so darn cute. Pretty neat the 1905 Garcia Schoolhouse is now the location of the Wickenburg Children's Cultural Org. Makes sense.

24 HOURS OF LUXURY!

For us! Yup - even the frugal living van dwelling Wood Clan needs to hitch up to the post now and again. With our Good Sam's Club Membership and Voucher in hand we saddled up and rode into the Horspitality RV Park for a night of full hook up bliss, showers, laundry and wifi.

I mean LUXURY because that is exactly the type of price tag is attached to a place like this.

$32.50 per night. 

Now, I don't mean to offend but is that price crazy or is it crazy?! WHO spends that kind of money on a place to park. With our $25 voucher it cost us a whole $7.50 - stomachable. But $32.50! Yikes!

Hmmmm - do you think we fit in? Actually - we had to laugh - other than the friendly office ladies you would have thought we were lepers. 

Ahhh - they can have it! Really.

SO MUCH TIME SO FEW PLAYGROUNDS

The next day we decided to spend some time at the park. After all a little girl needs her time to run and play - and maybe even find a friend.

I don't know what I was thinking but I forgot to take pictures of Cassia and her five year old girlfriend Miley. They played for quite awhile which I'm sure Miley's mom appreciated as she tended to her one month old son Luke. Later, Cassia was pretty curious about this little Navajo boy. 

WE STOP FOR - OR STAY IN TOWN FOR - DOWNTOWN OPEN MARKETS

Have we mentioned that we are HUGE fans of MARKETS! Having read the day before that there was to be one Thursday night we decided to stick around for it. 

A little smaller than expected and threatened with rain but we enjoyed our few stops nonetheless.

First up - Decio Pasta. Now - I'm not the biggest pasta fan in the world but if I had this pasta close at hand I think I would be pretty quick. 

You had us with - Spinach Basil Garlic Linguine!

Seriously, one taste of this stuff and we were all convinced. Even Cassia! If Cassia likes it WE like it!

So we happily walked off with the Spinach Basil Garlic and Szechuan Orange Spice Linguine and Autumn Orzo.

And now on to the honey - Eagle Eye Honey. We stop for honey also. I had already sampled the mesquite and light and dark wildflower honey. It was Derek's turn. 

Of course we couldn't leave with out a jar of the dark wildflower for ourselves. And 4 honey sticks for Cassia!

Shortly after this it started to rain.

And thus ended our three days in Wickenburg. We returned once again to our truck stop parking lot for the night - we parked in the far corner as to not bother the truckers. Sheesh.

On the road again the next day - Buckeye was calling our names!

Teresa

TODAY'S INTERESTING LINK: Since I've been spending such little time cruising around the internet this link thing is giving me trouble these days. Link, link, link - think, think, think - with only Winnie the Pooh on the brain. I've so missed my favourite blogs since we've been on the road! In the interest of time I'm just going to pass along one of my most favourites - Frugally Sustainable - I've linked this site before but not in along time. Andrea has TONS of good stuff to read up on.

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