Our 10th Anniversary Print
Thursday, 31 March 2005 16:00
Today Rick and I are celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary. Yes, two fools got married on April Fool's Day. It seems like just yesterday when we got married and we are more in love than ever. I feel incredibly lucky to have found someone who is not only my husband but is my dearest friend, my partner and travelling companion. We still have wonderful conversations, share the same dreams and enjoy each other's company as much as we did when we were first dating.

We woke up this morning from our night of "desert camping" to another perfect day and because of the time change, we actually slept in to 7:00 AM. Despite our early wake-up, we didn't leave until 10:00 AM with a temperature already of 23C, for our destination, Camp Verde. We started driving east on Hwy I-10 towards Phoenix, but very shortly took Highway 60, which would lead us through the Harcuvar Mountains, past Merritt Pass, at an elevation of 3,400 feet, onto Hwy 89. We drove past several either run-down, deserted homesteads or thriving agricultural areas, real contrasts, but by the time we reached Yarnell in the Weaver Mountains we had reached 4,850 feet and it was a pretty, quaint little town with businesses such as WotNot and Bufords Buzzard Post. There, we also came across huge, wealthy ranches with fences that ran for miles around cattle grazing on rich farmland.

Highway 89 winds through the mountains, zigzagging in every direction and at 6,100 feet, the views were incredible because we could see for miles. At one point we encountered a crazy skateboarder riding down the middle of the southbound side of the road, followed by a buddy in a car. Despite its switchback turns, the highway was wide with new guardrails and compared to the coastal highway of California, it seemed like a four lane freeway. As we drove through one area of the Prescott National Forest, we came across a vast area still showing the devastation caused by a forest fire three years ago. Soon we were making our decent to Prescott then Camp Verde and the vistas we had seen earlier almost paled in comparison to the red cliffs we could see in the distance. We are staying at the Distant Drums RV Park in Camp Verde for a week and from here we hope to explore those cliffs a little more closely.