It's About the (RV) Journey....: Prescott............

A couple of hours from Phoenix is the lovely town of Prescott. Since it is located at a higher elevation (about 5000 feet), we decided it would be nice to take a hike. Its getting just a bit too warm for us to hike in Phoenix! So, we laced up our hiking shoes and off we went to Watson Lake.

fueling up

a bit chilly here!

When we started our hike, it was still pretty chilly. We had dreams of walking totally around the lake....that is.....before we started! Apparently, this is a rather difficult hike, with lots of boulders to climb up and down on the one side of the lake. The other side of the lake was pretty flat and easy, but not nearly as scenic. You can always turn around, right? So...off we went on the trail to go as far as we dared..hhahahah. It was beautiful!

following the dots

cutting through the rocks

ooops....gotta watch for ice

our first view of the lake from the trail

this is gorgeous!

The trail cut across a picnie/boat launch area, and then we were in for a climb. The views were gorgeous. The landscape was reminiscent of places we've been in South Dakota! However, we did see a couple of cacti along the way.

some ducks hanging out at the boat launch

ready for the more difficult part of the trail?

At the boat launch area, the trail started to climb up and through and over the boulders. Things were starting to warm up too. That sun really beats down at elevation. The radiant heat is amazingly hot as well, so its not only the sun beating down on us, but reflecting back up too. It gets pretty hot even on a cool day (in my humble opinion)!

heading out

not too bad

the views were great

isn't that amazing?

hat off? you know what that means....its getting pretty hot

what did Tom spot? (hope not a snake)

cactus!

the trail was fun and the views were awesome

looks like the water level is lower than usual

there's the dam over there...this is a man-made lake

When we got near the dam, we decided to turn around. The boulder climbing was getting a little more intense for us old folk, and it was getting a lot warmer. The views were just incredible though! Wow! We sure did have fun on this part of the hike, but decided to head out toward the easier section.

a view towards the other side of the lake-with easier hiking

heading back down the trail

not so easy going down

is it getting hot?

isn't that view great?

There was no boulder climbing on this side of the lake, and the trail was fairly easy. Some of the views from this side were just as spectacular! What a beautiful place to hike, especially in cool or overcast weather.

the easy part of the trail

just stunning views

appreciating the view

especially nice with the reflections

isn't that a cool pic?

heading along the other (easier) side

its hot enough for my cooling scarf!

the red caught our eye

After our fun morning of hiking, we headed to the center of town of Prescott to Whiskey Row for a late lunch/early dinner. The banana just didn't cut it any longer....hahaha. There were several interesting bars/pubs to chose from, but we went with the Palace Saloon and were not disappointed.
The inside was so cool! Even had live music going on and it was mid-afternoon!

Whiskey Row

friend of yours?

after walking up and down Whiskey Row, we decided on the Palace Saloon for lunch/dinner

come on in!

cheers (with Tom's beer..hahahahha)

this saloon is so cool

After that delicious late lunch/early dinner, we walked a bit up and down Whiskey Row checking out some of the galleries and shops. One in particular caught our eye, and who could resist? Even though we were full from lunch, we managed to enjoy some ice cream after walking through the town a bit.

Senior Day Tuesday....hey....isn't it Tuesday?

we just couldn't resist!

As we headed back to Phoenix, we traveled the scenic route rather than I-17. The drive through the mountains on the winding roads was breathtaking. WOW! Were we still in Arizona? The landscape was very different from Phoenix, that's for sure. I tried to capture some of the drive via my pics, but they really don't tell the tale. It was a fun ride-to be sure! (FYI- we traveled from Prescott via 89, 93 and 60 to get back to Phoenix).

A funny thing....I was just talking with one of our fellow campers/quilters in the sewing room and they had driven their 37 foot motorhome, towing a car, on this very route. (Honestly, I remember seeing a sign warning no vehicles over 40 feet). Anyway, she was still recovering from the thrill of that little drive! She said she could see their car clearly at many of the curves, and it was really unnerving. Yikes!! Fellow RVers, be warned!