Scottsdale and Cottonwood, Arizona

April 29-May 13, 2018

Trying to catch up! A week before we hit the road again, we closed and moved into our new home in Austin. We had been waiting for a town home to come available in the community near our old house.   Two finally did and one of them accepted our offer. We were able to get nearly everything unpacked and sleep there one night (for the kids) before heading out again.

Oh and we got a new doggie, Ellie!  She came to us as a foster from a euthanasia list and we decided to keep her.  At the time we left Austin, she was 11 months old.  We are not sure what she is, but the vet has suggested pointer mixed with a smaller breed.

We have been back on the road since the end of April and we have been so busy! Our very first stop was Benson, AZ to have lunch with Aunt Carolyn!

After lunch, we continued on our way to meet up with the Riggs family. We met them a year ago in AZ and wanted to catch back up with them.

We first camped at MCDOWELL MOUNTAIN REGIONAL PARK IN SCOTTSDALE. This was a really nice park. 

(Rock art at camp host site)

(the very cool playground)

(more of the playground)

The saguaros and ocotillos were in bloom and so pretty! 

There were some fantastic biking trails, too. 

Unfortunately, Ellie met her first teddy bear cholla cactus on one of those trails.  Poor Greg had to deal with this one on his own since the rest of us were 45 minutes away.  Those things do not come out easily.  Hopefully, Ellie now knows to avoid those nasty things!

Originally, the other family was supposed to stay at the campground also but some family health issues forced them to change their plans. BUT, we were still able to spend a lot of time with them and had a blast. We went swimming in her sister's amazing pool and hot tub,

had pizza at the Organ Stop (It was amazing to watch this guy play),

visited the Botanical Gardens,

(the birds loved this)

hiked the Hieroglyphics trail,

then hiked up to Hole in the Rock,

stood under Tonto Natural Bridge,

hiked some random Valentine trail (that we never discovered where it ended) and the Waterwheel trail.

(The kids had a blast on this rock "slide"!  Not sure what's up with this video)

The next week, we moved to VERDE VALLEY THOUSAND TRAILS RESORT IN COTTONWOOD, which is where we met the Riggs' originally. We didn't do too much while there during the week except a trip to Slide Rock State Park.  The water was frigid and I tried to avoid it, but after accidentally slipping and falling in, I agreed to test out the water slides.  It was fun but a little rough on the bottom!

On Friday, we met up again with the Riggs family for the weekend. Greg had to work Friday, but the rest of us went on the Fossil Springs hike. It was 10 miles round trip and pretty tough with an elevation change of 1500 feet! The kids did great, probably because they had friends to talk to.  The rest of us did pretty well too, although we struggled the last couple miles. But the waterfall at the end was so worth it!  You can't see it in my picture but just to the right of the falls about halfway down was a pool area known as the "Toilet Bowl" because you can swim into it and then down into a tunnel and be "flushed" out under the rocks and into the main pool area below!  So cool!

And for our last day, we put on our jackets and strapped on our headlamps to hike through the Lava River Cave.  This 3/4 mile lava cave was discovered in 1915.  The temps inside are between 32 and 40 degrees!

(the entrance of the cave)

It's always hard to say good-bye but I know we will see this great family again.