Mesa and Northern AZ.

     Debbie and I have spent the last 2 days playing tourist around Mesa and Northern Az, but today is going to be a rest day.  It's not easy being a tourist every day!  The weather has been gorgeous each day.  Highs in the lower 80's and nice and cool at night for nice sleeping weather. With very little humidity, the temps are quite pleasant, even for me.  And Debbie seems to tolerate them much easier than the higher humidity of Florida.  Florida may be in for a challenge on next year's travel itinerary.  Mesa seems to be a bustling little town with lots to do.      There are 41 golf courses within a half hour drive of Mesa, which would be important if I were an avid golfer.  But since I'm not, we'll just file that away as a little factoid.  The big attraction seems to be spring training baseball of the Cactus League.  I'm not going to list all the teams that call the Phoenix area home during spring training, but there seems to be plenty of them.  Of course, not being a National League fan does take away some of the excitement, but it's always fun to grab a hotdog and a beer and sit back and watch the boys of summer.

 On Sunday we ventured over to Hohokum Field and enjoyed a game between the Chicago White Sox and the Oakland Athletics.   It's only a few miles from our spot here at Sun Life RV Resort, and parking was ample and easy.  The Mesa PD blocks the lanes for "game traffic" and it's easy in and out for everyone.  Parking was $5, so that's not too bad.  I only took the GoPro with me on this venture, because of it size and ease to carry. It seems to take a pretty good picture though. After parking, we hustled over to the ticket window to see what tickets were available.  For some reason. Debbie and I tend to like sitting on the right side of the field, so that's what I asked for.  I think the girls could see that my fair Irish skin would not tolerate the AZ sun, so she asked if I would like some seats in the shade.  "Absolutely" I responded, even though I had taken the necessary precautions and coated myself with my factor 50 sunscreen.

 Lots of people seemed to be enjoying themselves out on the lawn in the outfield, but I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to tolerate that sun. As you can see there not a cloud in the sky offering any protection, and by the end of the game I saw a few sunburned fans returning to their cars.  Chicago won the game quite handily and there was plenty of offense to keep the game enjoyable.
     For another little factoid: Oakland actually has a pitcher that seems to be able to throw with either hand.  I've never seen anything like that before.  He wears a specially designed  glove which allows him to wear it on either hand, and if I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't have believed it.  That certainly is going to change the dynamics of the game.  No more pinch-hitting batters to face an opposing right or left handed pitcher.  The pitcher just changes sides depending on the batter.  I haven't looked up the rules on this, but he must have to declare which side he's going to pitch from before the batter gets up there, I would think.
      Yesterday we went for a journey north from Mesa up to Sedona and the Red Rock area.

 Arriving in the Coconino National Forest just outside of Sedona, we realized that we were in for some magnificent vistas.  Through the pine trees in the distance we could see cliffs of beautiful red rock looming in the distance.   As we continued in to Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon, the traffic lane was reduced to a single land and traffic seemed to snarl up as each cliff came into view and of course everyone wanted to stop and take a picture.  To the right is a photo of Bell Rock, so named because of its shape.  The canyon also included Cathedral Rock, Castle Rock, and Courthouse Butte.

 We had stopped at the Ranger Station and were advised to try and see the Chapel of the Holy Cross.  Unfortunately, they must have advised everyone to visit there as traffic became snarled well before there was any parking area.  I'm sure the residents of the area get sick of the tourists turning around in their driveways.  So we passed on the Chapel and continued on, using the GoPro to capture the views as we meandered along Hwy 179 toward Hwy 89A.
     Sedona is a very attractive town, filled with "artsy fartsy " shops for the tourists and lots of restaurants.  But in my opinion, they've unfortunately taken the beauty of the valley, and embedded their town up against these magnificent canyon vistas, which prevents everyone else from enjoying them.  Limited parking areas prevented us from getting out to enjoy the views, as parking was taken up by people hiking out in the canyons.  We were able to find an overlook out by the airport that offered a breathtaking view of the valley, but again, we seemed to be miles away.   Sedona is not a National Park, but a working town in a beautiful canyon, and  I would encourage everyone to come for a visit.
     From Sedona we circled over to Jerome, AZ located HIGH on a mountain overlooking the desert below.  Jerome was famous as a copper mining town, with the first claims being filed in 1876.

 It is self described as being one of the wildest, wickedest mining towns of the west.  "Drinking, gambling, brawling, and frolicking with the ladies of the night occurred around the clock in two dozen magnificent saloons."    It must have been quite a trick just getting up to Jerome.  The road today is nearly straight up the mountainside along numerous switchbacks.  Fires repeatedly decimated the town's wooden buildings but they were repeatedly rebuilt because of the thriving copper industry.  Off in the distance are the snow covered San Francisco Peaks above Flagstaff.  Hopefully the picture gives you some sense on how high above the desert floor Jerome is located.                                                                                            

Jerome is a neat little ghost town, and the residents are doing a nice job enticing the tourists to stop,  I even convinced Debbie I needed a Jerome, AZ T-shirt.  There were some additional shopping 1 block UP, but I didn't see any reason to go up there.  You really have to come see how this town is perched on a mountainside to believe it.
     Like I said, today is a rest day to get caught up with daily living.  Out mail should be here tomorrow from Dakota Post our mail forwarding service.  That's always pretty exciting.  After lunch we're heading over to the pool and then poolside Happy Hour this afternoon.  Saturday we head for California!  I bet my navigator has my A-I-S by 8 AM.