Wrapping Up Our Stay in the Verde Valley

We've spent a wonderful month in Cottonwood, AZ, enjoying its quaint Old Town, convenient shopping, and close proximity to Jerome and Sedona. The weather from mid-March to mid-April ranged from the high 60's to about 90 degrees the past couple of days and the trees have bloomed and leafed out during our stay...making this a lovely time of year to visit. Here's a few more things we did in the past couple of weeks...

Thanks to the new RVers social network, RVillage, we met Sean and Marian. We spent a day hiking Hangover/Cow Pies in reverse, dinner at their great spot at Sedona Pines, along with spa time...a perfect day! And, we get to meet up again at the Grand Canyon in a couple of weeks! Thanks RVillage for making this connection possible!

Lisa, Hans, Sean and Marian enjoying the incredible views from the Hangover Saddle.

We saw a young collared lizard...love!

On one of our trips to Jerome we visited Jerome State Historic Park. There's a wealth of information about the history of Jerome housed in the former Douglas Mansion, built by the one time owner of the Little Daisy Mine, James S. Douglas.

Great view of Jerome State Historic Park, housed in the Douglas Mansion, from the town of Jerome.
The Mansion has a fantastic view of both Jerome above and the Verde Valley below it.

Lots of interesting mining history both inside and outside the Mansion.

One short, but sweet, hike we took was the Fay Canyon Trail. Like any short, shady and easy trail in Sedona, it is popular. But if you go early on a week day the crowds aren't too bad. The side trip to view the arch up close is worth it, but steep and rocky. It's also neat to climb the cliff at the end of the trail for some great views down canyon.

As we head in to the canyon the arch is barely visible off to the right.

After a steep climb up to the arch I could see how substantial it is, and the view was great too!

We ate out a few times during our month in Cottonwood...oh, and there seems to be a consensus among Yelpers and Trip Advisor reviewers that Cottonwood has better restaurants than Sedona. Since we never ate out in Sedona (except for hot dogs at Oak Creek Brewing) I can't comment on that, but Cottonwood did have some decent eats.

Juanitas Taqueria - They don't have a website, but the reviews don't lie, this Mexican take out joint is very good. I had one of the best Chile Rellenos I've ever had; a very light batter with a lovely ricotta-style cheese inside, nice tomato-based sauce on top. They have about 10 tables inside. Order at the counter and they'll bring the food to you.

Nic's Italian Steak and Crab House - We don't usually go out for steak or Italian, but when our friend Billy Bennight rolled through town one evening we took a stroll through Old Town Cottonwood and decided to give it a try...once again, the reviews were spot on! Nic's was hopping early on a week night and rightly so. Though the Tuscan-style entrees were very rich, the flavors were wonderful. The manager even brought us a delicious complimentary Vanilla-Orangecello apertif at the end of our meal. This meal was a tasty indulgence that we simply worked off on the trail the next day! For a steakhouse, the prices were reasonable.

Lastly, I 'd like to give an honorable mention to Pizzeria Bocce. While the "Not a Meat Pie" pizza did not blow us away (it was a bit bland), the spinach salad was excellent, the bar menu was extensive and the ambiance was really wonderful. They have a lovely patio bar that makes this place worth a second try next time we are in the area.

Tomorrow we're off to Prescott for a week on our slow meander North. New adventures await!