Jan. 3 2018. Pink Jeep and Boulder Climbing

Jan. 3, 2018

   Yesterday we scheduled a two hour Pink Jeep ride up into the mountains of the Coconino National Forest and the Red Rock area of Sedona.  The Pink Jeeps are a local tourist adventure taking people into the rugged hills that surround the city.  We chose the Broken Arrow tour which took us off road and into the back country.  The drive ascended to about 4,000 feet up terrain that was rocky and dusty.  Our guide drove over boulders and rock faces that bounced us around in the open air Jeep.  We slid from side to side and came close to cliff sides that dropped thousands of feet.  The stop that allowed us to boulder climb was exhilarating.  It was like standing at the edge of the earth looking at the beginning of  time.  These rocks have been around for thousands of years with layers of colors indicating the formation of various periods in geologic time.  Our guide pointed out the variety in vegetation along the way, pinion trees, agave cactus,  and brush juniper.  I noticed several large and beautiful  juniper trees growing  between two  rocks with seemingly no soil or water to nourish them.  The difficult surroundings do not prevent them from becoming strong hardy trees. They are surviving with little help from nature; a metaphor for the power of determination, resilence and inner strength.
 
   Since, we arrived back at our RV Park too late to cook dinner, Mark and I walked to town for a quick meal at the Secret Garden.  We forgot our flashlights so the walk home was a bit sketchy in the dark.

   The RV needed to be cleaned out and reorganized so we decided to once again go through all of our cabinets and get rid of the  things that we weren’t using or would not need.  It turned out there was quite a lot so we packed it all up and sent it back to Kate.  She should receive it in about a week.  It has been two months on the road and we are getting by with very little clothing.  It is quite freeing actually, not be needing so much stuff. Just to be clear, we do laundry every other day so our clothes are relatively clean.

   Today was a day off from touring and just getting the RV in order and taking care of personal things like cleaning the RV,  food shopping,  banking and laundry.  The RV park is a comfortable and private location for us and we are truly enjoying our stay here.