Camp Verde, Arizona

There was only one way we were going to die yesterday...crossing the tall scary bridge. I've mentioned this bridge several times in the past week. As a reminder...here it is:

So tall...so scary. Probably, I shouldn't make light of this because I know some of you really are afraid of bridges. Bridges have never scared me...it's the other drivers on the bridge that usually cause me angst. Mike was a little skittish about pulling the RV over, however.

So let's just back up to the first few miles of yesterday's journey to Camp Verde. And, take heart...the fact that you're reading this is proof we made it safe and sound. As we drove out of town, I took one last shot of pretty Lake Mead.

Just a little farther on, we started seeing the signs...

We took our cues from the American flag outside this casino...not too windy.

After that, we started getting excited. Just to prolong the suspense, we first passed through a tunnel. "Is this it?" I asked Mike. No...not yet.

On the other side, we could see the bridge. You can see it just to the left and above center in the image below.

Because of the wind possibility, high profile vehicles are advised to stay in the center lane. "High profile vehicles..." that's us.

And just in case you weren't paying attention...

Just around that bend...we were there. It doesn't look so scary when you're on it. In fact, you wouldn't even know you were on a bridge if it you weren't expecting it. We noticed the barriers on both sides of the lanes were a couple of feet higher than usual. You wouldn't want anyone blowing over the side, now would you? That would be embarrassing.

When I downloaded these images, I noticed for the first time the names on the bridge. You might remember Pat Tillman was a professional athlete who joined the military after 9/11 only to be killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan. As for the other guy...Mike O'Callaghan was an American politician. He was the 23rd Governor of the U.S. state of Nevada from 1971 to 1979.

Regarding the bridge, there was a time when folks drove over Hoover Dam to cross the Colorado River here. The bridge opened in 2010, and it was the key component of the Hoover Dam Bypass project, which rerouted US 93 from its previous routing along the top of Hoover Dam and removed several hairpin turns and blind curves from the route. Also, I imagine it was a security measure after 9/11 since Hoover Dam would certainly have been an enticing target for terrorist activity. (Perish the thought.)

I'd hoped I might be able to see the dam as we crossed over, but all I could see was black rock. The canyon here is known as the Black Canyon.

Just over the bridge, we crossed into the state of Arizona for the first time this trip. We'll be in Arizona for the next couple of weeks. Also, we've crossed into the Mountain Time zone.

From there it was just a long and winding road...although these were the most curves we saw on the whole drive. It was mostly straight.

The hillsides were lovely, and we passed through varying kinds of growth from sage brush to Ponderosa pine to juniper.

For a short time, we were behind this rig towing a helicopter. I got so excited I couldn't hold still for this picture. Now that's something you don't see every day.

And on we went...you can see the Colorado River in the middle of the image below.

As we approached Flagstaff, we started seeing snow by the side of the road. We were at about 6,000 feet of elevation here. We saw snow for many miles after this, but the roads were clear and dry.

As we got closer to Flagstaff, we could see Hymphreys Peak. It's is the highest natural point in the state of Arizona, with an elevation of 12,633 feet. We could see ski runs here.

We made one stop along the way for some lunch and refueling. There was a little display of glass figurines. Of course, I had to take a picture of these cats. You'd have been disappointed if I hadn't, wouldn't you?

From there, we had less than 100 miles to go. We descended a relatively steep grade for 18 miles, going from 6,000 feet to a little more than 3,000 feet.

As we passed the turn-off for Sedona, we saw this formation, which I always associate with Sedona. We've seen it many times...just never gone off the road to visit the town.

I picked up a visitor's map of the area while I was checking in. I believe this is the same formation depicted on the map.

On the other side of the sheet was a less detailed map of the area. There are several little towns in this area, and I noticed Montezuma Castle National Monument just nearby.

And that's one I've never visited. It's hard to believe we lived just down the road in Phoenix for three years and saw so little of the area. That's what happens when you're poor starving students. Here's a link to the website for the national monument. That's definitely on our list of things to do while we're here.

When we were parked and set up, I wasted no time stitching the day's inchy. Check out those bullion stitches.

So that was the last of the little inchy squares. Now there are more details to stitch in. The day's instructions should be posted soon, and I'll get going on whatever comes next.

On today's agenda, we'll either visit Sedona and the Castle/Cathedral Rock formations. It just so happens there's a quilt shop right nearby. On the other hand, we might go the other direction and visit the national monument. It's a mystery just at this moment which we will do first. We have two days here before we move south again.

If you can stand one more kitty video, I tried again to get them shooting from guns through the door upon our arrival. If you can't see the video, then click right here.

That's all I have for you today. There's lots to take in over the next 48 hours, so there's no time to waste. You might want some sunscreen for today's journey. It's a bright sunny day here in Camp Verde.