Sometimes our RV trips have lofty aspirations: hiking at Mount Rainier, seeing wild bison in Custer, camping at a wild tiger sanctuary in Arkansas. Other times, our motivations are simpler: get a cold beer at a weird place. Such was the case in Parker, Arizona! The...
With Philip’s knee replacement surgery behind us and Elsie (our shiny new RV) just itching for her first real adventure, we visited a couple of “staycation” destinations right here in Arizona. CAVE CREEK REGIONAL PARK Between Christmas and New Years’, we parked...
Near the top of our always-growing “Hiking Bucket List,” the Granite Mountain Hotshots State Park memorializes 19 brave firefighters who gave their lives fighting Arizona’s Yarnell Hill Fire on June 30, 2013. The Memorial Park is located approximately 70 miles north of...
The first stop of the Lucky Charm’s 2018 Summer Adventure begins at the Grand Canyon National Park. Despite being “out west” for 36 years, Philip had never visited either of the two rims, North or South. Crazy! Behold …. beauty in many layers! Though only 11 miles...
No doubt, Sedona is beautiful and Sedona is magical. But its REAL CHARM lies in its hundreds upon hundreds of well-marked, DOG-FRIENDLY hiking trails. Just two hours north of Phoenix, it’s the perfect place to indulge in a little trail-lust! We had a goal … errrr...
Petrified Forest National Park is one of three national parks in Arizona … bonus points if you can name the other two! It’s known for its large deposits of petrified wood, i.e. trees that turned to stone since about a bazillion years have passed. Also in PFNP, the...
Prescott is a bustling north-central Arizona city afforded the title of “Arizona’s Official Christmas City,” and even the scroogiest scrooge would have trouble avoiding the holiday spirit here! And lookie here …. jackets!!! How ’bout that! The...
Summer hit hard at the end of May in Phoenix … a little cool-water therapy was in order! And … our new inflatable kayak (my 50th birthday present!) needed a test run. Would it hold air IN? Would it hold water OUT? Happy to report no tragedies, and...
It’s not often you can be in a County Park, State Park, and National Park all within the same 24 hours … but we did it, on a recent trip to Tucson, Arizona! With breathtaking sunsets and outdoor recreation galore, we marveled that we had not visited this area before! We...
The Lucky Charm’s first 2017 road trip took us to the beautiful shores of Lake Havasu and the Colorado River in Eastern Arizona. Destination: 7th Annual Havasu Balloon Festival and Fair! We knew the Lucky Charm would be close to the action with this trip, but no idea THIS close! During...