Arriving Phoenix

I headed south after The Grand Canyon looking for some warmth. There was still snow in Flagstaff. Instead of taking the freeway south, I drove down Oak Creek Canyon. It parallels the freeway and there are several campgrounds along it. The canyon was scenic, the campgrounds all closed because of snow. Interestingly, the canyon ends at the town of Sedona where it was sunny and WARM. I must have passed through the snow line coming down the canyon. Sedona was not a sleepy little town, but packed with people and this was Friday. It is sort of the art center for the region, very scenic and growing rapidly. It's like LaConner on steroids.

The question now was, “Where do I camp?” It turns out that on Saturday morning there was a hamfest (an amateur radio flea market) at a Casino outside of Scottsdale. I can't say I was super interested, but in talking with some local hams I found out that there was a Native American art show going on at the same place. Decision made. When I got to the casino there was a area set aside for hams in the parking lot with several motor homes and trailers already there. Sweet! I paid my $10 and was told to just pick a spot to park. What I didn't realize until the morning was that unlike all the hamfests I've ever been to in the Northwest, where they are indoors, this one was outdoors and I had camped right in the middle of it. I'm sure I was the only RV in there, along with cars, trucks, etc. not selling things. I just pretended that I had sold out and enjoyed the wander around at what was there.

My motor home is the first one, right in the middle of all the action.

The Native American art show was fun too. It was not as large as they had planned for as only half the vendor spots were filled. Most of the art was from the region, but there were artist there from other areas as well. There was even one there from Spokane. As it turns out, I spent a lot more for the one piece of art I purchased, a birthday present for my daughter Christine, then all the ham radio parts I bought at the hamfest.

While at the hamfest, I ask around about where might be a good place to camp. One ham mentioned Lake Pleasant Regional park just northwest of Phoenix He said I could pay and camp inside the park, or just outside for free on BLM land. I thought the first night I'd pay which I did. Sometimes I can't believe my luck. I should buy lottery tickets. There are four campgrounds in the park, or you can just camp near the shore. I'm out on this little peninsula, on top of a small hill at the end with a 300 plus degree view of the lake. At night I can see the lights of Phoenix off in the distance. I get 40 some channels of TV, AND, it is only about 20 miles from the Mariner's stadium in Peoria where I have tickets for some spring training games. No surprise, I'm just staying here until I head back north.

Only part of the view from my campsite

Looking from across the lake to my campsite. That little white dot on the hill above the far shore is me. It was an OK campsite....