Things to do: AZ | AzWeatherChick

400 Miles: Mud, Pizza and Snow

November 12, 2012 by AZWC | 1 Comment

The last month has been an absolute blur. I really needed to get out on the road and clear my head. I have been researching some hiking trails near Payson, AZ, for the last 2 weeks, and settled on one. Fossil Springs Trail in Strawberry, AZ. Left Phoenix about 8AM, drove up the B-Line (Bush Highway) to Payson. It was a lovely drive, lots of beautiful clouds. This trip just happened to coincide with a cold weather front, which meant cooler temps, rain and snow up north. Got to Strawberry around 10AM. It is such a darling little town! Followed the directions to Fossil Springs, but once the pavement ended, the mud began. I was very optimistic I could make it the 2 MILES!! to the trail head, but it was not to be had. The mud had me slipping and sliding all over the place. It was like thick pancake batter. I am usually much more stubborn, and would have kept going, but after watching a dune buggy with huge treaded tires creep by me, having just as hard a time navigating the mud, I decided to call it, Fossil Springs Trail was not accessible. The mud was so thick in my wheel wells, it was touching the tires. I pulled over down the road and got a stick to aid in removing some of the mud. When I pulled out of the parking spot, it looked like a herd of elephants had gone #2 there.

I ended up at Tonto Natural Bridge. It was beautiful, as usual. It’s a trustworthy trail in any weather condition, and for those women out there who like to hike alone, they have a Ranger posted at the bottom. There were only 4 people total at the bottom, under the Bridge. I sat there for a while and enjoyed the view, watching big snow clouds float over. It was a dream. (To see pictures of my previous hike at the Tonto Natural Bridge, check out my “Things to do: AZ” category, there are three blog posts on the Tonto Natural Bridge.)

After the Tonto Natural Bridge I drove to Flagstaff for some snow flurries and PIZZA!! Fratelli’s Pizza, enough said, wait…it was an out of body experience, one of the better pizzas I have had in my life! Did I mention that it has been the BEST of Flagstaff for 10 years in a row?! http://fratellipizza.net/ <—pizza mecca

After gorging myself on pizza, I walked around the downtown Flagstaff area, to survey for cool restaurants and shops. It was pretty cold, about 28 degrees if I remember correctly. So I packed it in, and started the drive home, right before sunset. I had to pull over numerous times to photograph clouds and the pink sunset. It was an awesome day!

Head clearing mission: Accomplished

Strawberry, Arizona, near Fossil Springs Trail

Camp Verde, Arizona

These photographs were taken along the I-17 from Flagstaff to Camp Verde

XOXOXOXO’s AZWC

Sedona Hike: Huckaby Trail @ Midgley Bridge

September 25, 2012 by AZWC | 0 comments

Here are some photos of a hike I did with my best friend from California when he visited last week. The trail we chose was Huckaby Trail on 89A at Midgley Bridge. http://www.azhikers.org/day_hikes/Sedona/Huckaby.html)

XOXOXOX’s

AZWC

Sedona On A Whim

August 26, 2012 by AZWC | 1 Comment

Friday I had toyed around with the idea of going up to Sedona and take some pretty pictures that I could use as my “banner” photo on the main page of AZWC.com. I change the photo once a month, and I wanted something different than mountains and saguaros. I woke up Saturday morning feeling a bit lazy and tired. I was faced with laundry and other tedious household tasks, YUK! Laundry or Sedona? UM SEDONA! Got ready and headed out at 12 something. I had also checked the radar and some pop up storms were building along my route, which made me totally mental with glee.

I took this photo looking west to Prescott at the Crown King Exit off I-17.

Camp Verde, AZ. Never been here before but I loved it’s small town feel, somewhere I could live.

Beautiful shot of the rain west of Camp Verde.

Looking east from Camp Verde, if you look close, you can see head stones. I parked in Camp Verde’s Cemetery.

Sedona coming right up!

My attempt at artistic. Taking picture through yellow flowering weed.

Bell Rock to the right.

No idea of what “formation” this is. Don’t care either, it’s pretty.

I took this in the neighborhood south of the Chapel Of The Holy Cross. I did not go to the church, that is saved for special occasions.

MMMM clouds and red rocks….

This was my view for lunch at Sound Bites Grill.

Photo borrowed with respect from Sound Bites Grill’s website. The high top orange bar is where I sat, and met two cool chicks visiting Sedona from New York.

Sound Bites Grill

www.soundbitesgrill.com

101 N State Route 89A

Sedona, Arizona 86336

Highly recommend the food and view. Restaurant is beautiful!

Left to right, Beth Ann and Aileen from New York. Looking for their “Chi” in Sedona! It was great meeting you fabulous chicks, made my day alot more fun!

Back to chasing…on my way to Cottonwood, little verga never hurt nobody!

My car veered off of 89A at Page Springs Road. I ended up at Page Springs Cellars! They allowed me to go down to Oak Creek. I put my feet in the water and relaxed listening to John Mayer playing on my Iphone.

Lavender and Grapes, Mother Nature’s Valium.

Can you see the grape bunches? I snuck a few grapes and they were amazing.

Sunset in Cornville, Arizona.

I had the best day!

My First Football Game at University Of Phoenix Stadium Raiders/Cardinals Pre-Season

August 21, 2012 by AZWC | 2 Comments

I love NFL football. I love the Oakland Raiders. QUIT ROLLING YOUR EYES!! I am a Nor Cal girl, that will never change. For my birthday, my best friend got tickets to see the Arizona Cardinals take on the Oakland Raiders in a pre-season game on Friday August 17th. I was a tad bit nervous because I have heard Cardinals fans are worse than Raiders fans. I didn’t want to go and get beer thrown at me, or be verbally harassed the whole time. I opted not to wear my jersey until we got to our seats, but that went out the window as we were walking into the game. There were plenty of Raiders fans walking around, so I felt “safe” HAHAHA. The Stadium is beautiful, and very large. I was even more impressed upon entering the stadium. The layout is wide open, you can see the field well from the concourse, which is very important when on a beer run. It felt like anywhere you were, you had a great view, except the bathroom of course. The game was fun to watch, a lot of scoring. The fans were nice, except the rude old man sitting 5 seats away, he kept standing up and launching stinky air biscuits towards us. Considering his age, one would think he would have better manners. There were a few scuffles nearby, started by Cardinals fans. I just wish fans could appreciate one another’s love for football and behave civilly. But that would be like wishing for world peace. Ain’t gonna happen

Janikowski is our MVP : )

Verde Valley Tour- Last Stop- Page Springs Cellars

June 8, 2012 by AZWC | 1 Comment

I have never EVER heard of Cornville, Arizona, before I read about it’s wineries in Sunset magazine. I love wine, period. Page Springs Cellars in Cornville was the last stop on our Verde Valley tour. I was thirsty and dying for a tasting. The drive from Jerome to Cornville was about 15 minutes. We took 89A (of course) to Page Springs Road. The landscape on 89A was high desert, the usual. But I swear as we turned on to Page Springs Road it was like being transported to Napa, on a smaller scale. Huge Cottonwood trees everywhere, the road was windy but not anything to get car sick about. There were a few campgrounds alongside Oak Creek, a very beautiful creek running quite well this time of year. We passed a few other wineries along the way, but were intent on visiting Page Springs first. As we pulled into the driveway, a simple black and white sign greeted us. The parking lot was quite full, that is usually a good sign of good wine. The parking lot was surrounded by Grenache vines. We made our way into the main lobby/tasting area. It was very tastefully decorated. There was a V.I.P area for members that was appointed with nice furniture and had full service. I b-lined for the tasting bar and ordered two of the Arizona Flights. Five tastings of their red blends. I loved all of them. The outdoor deck seemed like a tree house, high up above the springs and vineyard, in the shade of large Cottonwood trees. A spring from Oak Creek runs thought the vineyard, watering the vines. We secured a table and quietly sat and enjoyed the shade, wine and the view. We did not chose to eat there, which we would later regret. But looking around at other patrons food selections, I could tell it was good. The staff were very nice and knowledgeable about the wines. There was nothing pretentious about this winery. Some patrons were snobby, but that is always to be expected. Most were willing to engage in conversation with us. I wanted to see what else the winery had to offer. We took a walk around and found an amazing little trail that led us to a vine covered pergola and picnic area overlooking Oak Creek. The sound of the water made me SO happy. Page Springs also offers a massage out in the vineyard. Their gift shop has some funky wineglasses, shirts, artwork, and local gift items. I really enjoyed my time at Page Springs Cellars. The wine I sampled was super good. Next time I am going to order lots of food and nosh out!! This is a great place to take out of town guests on a day trip from Phoenix. The drive is easy and scenic, and you are only a hop, skip and jump away from Sedona, Jerome, Cottonwood.

Page Springs Cellars 1500 North Page Springs Road, Cornville, Arizona. (928) 639-3004 www.pagespringscellars.com To learn more.