Williams to Sedona

Horrible Zoo

We visited a deer farm / petting zoo near Williams on Route 66. The pigmy goats were seriously cute and seemed to take turns in the bath tub in the middle of their small compound. The deer expected to be fed by the visitors as you were prompted to buy a cup of deer feed on the way in as you bought your ticket. Some deer were full up and content to lie in the dust in the shade in the middle of their compound others looking like they were eating for two would follow you around waiting to be fed.
I was concerned by the lack of stimulation for many of the animals who did not have visitors in their compounds. All they had was a small area of red dirt and a little shade.
Some of the animals, like the caribou are used to cold climates and must really suffer in the heat of the Arizona summer when daily temperatures approach 90f.


The whole place had not one blade of grass, just rocks and red dirt. Tiny fenced compounds with no enrichment, at best a shed offering some relief from the Arizona sun.

All in all I did not like this place and believe it needs looking at by someone with the animals welfare at heart.

Oak Creek Canyon

This leads down from Flagstaff to Sedona and is a mini grand canyon. The road was impressive and I wish the information given by the visitors centre had been the same. We were expecting to stay in one campground which was closed even though the web site said otherwise, the one we were directed to was open but took tents only although the web site said short RVs were acceptable, our final site we were directed to was miles away and there were several others closer that we were not told about. We finished up in Cottonwood at The Dead Horse Ranch State park. It was OK just further than we needed to go.

SEDONA

Next day we back tracked to Sedona which was a find. The weather is great. We are back in shorts. The shops are interesting. Carol is happy and goes shopping. There is a good flying field nearby. John is happy and goes flying. There is a really nice RV park inside Sedona within walking distance of the free bus service which runs around the interesting bits. So the Trek is happy and gets a rest.


We spent a day using the free shuttle bus and exploring the shops, art galleries and quirky little courtyards on offer.

Sedona is a four seasons playground for everyone. It has history and archaeology; arts and culture; power shopping; outdoor sports. It also has much to offer in the spiritual and metaphysical fields plus internationally known Vortex meditation sites which are locations having energy flows in those deeper dimension that the Soul can soar on.



All of this with a backdrop of some of the most spectacular scenery in the world including SNOOPY.



Finally flying after many frustrations

I got a good days flying in with the Central Arizona Modellers,
after fiddling with the tank on my big Yak and replacing the throttle servo on the little delta which then performed nicely now I have increased the size of the fin to avoid the involuntary inverted spin.

Sacagawea

As we explored the North East USA we kept coming across references to the heroic exploits of Lewis and Clark whose journey across ¾ s of the northern USA had been the second non native expedition to the Pacific. However we found out in Sedona that one reason for their success was their Indian companion, Sacagawea, and her infant son. This Shoshone woman, married to the French trader Toussaint Charbonneau, accompanied Lewis and Clark from the Mandan villages to the Pacific Ocean and then came back with them.
Indians who might have suspected the explorers were on a warlike mission would have been reassured by seeing Sacagawea and her child with the soldiers. According to William Clark, "The Wife of Shabano our interpreter We find reconsiles all the Indians, as to our friendly intentions. A woman with a party of men is a token of peace."
She did all this carrying her child on her back in a papoose carrier.