Move, day 7

Date - September 3
Departure location - Fort Defiance, AZ
Departure Time - 9:30 AM

Day 7 was the first day of the trip where we didn't cross a state border, why not spend all day in McCain Country?. Heading south out of Fort Defiance, our goal was to not have a big mileage day so that we could pull into a campsite early enough to enjoy it.

Stopping to enjoy the scenery off AZ Hwy 12

Cool rock formations at an Arizona rest stop off of I-40

We hopped off the Interstate in Flagstaff to take in a scenic route - a good move on our part.

Arizona Hwy 89 winds like a small intestine, dropping a thousand feet or so over a relatively short span. Glad that the van has very strong brakes. 89 would have been a blast in my WRX.


Sedona has the reddest earth that I've ever seen, downright burgundy in color. I wish I had a pic of it.

Coffee Pot Rock in Sedona. The names of the streets in this neighborhood included Grounds Drive, Maxwell House Drive, Hills Drive, Farmer Brothers Drive, Sanborn Drive and Lipton (??) Drive .

Home for the night was Dead Horse Ranch State Park, just outside of Cottonwood. The park is in on the Verde River and has a fair amount of shade. Celeste did some wading in the creek, always on the lookout for critters. Thankfully the temps cooled from the 100 degrees it was at 3 PM, overnight was a great night's sleep w/o the rain fly on the tent.

Too lazy to rotate the image, not too lazy to give it this lousy caption.

Nice late afternoon light down in the cool river valley.

Celeste built the log cabin-style fire for us. I've never bought 2x4s for firewood at a campground before, but they burned hot and did a fine job roasting a marshmallow. Celeste ended up eating nine "raw" and only roasting one.



Arrival time - 8:00ish
Arrival location - Cottonwood, AZ
TOTAL MILEAGE - 269