On The Road.... 2013

We are back on the road again.... with a new rig.  The Montana was just too big for us, now that we were not living in it.  We wanted to be in something that would be more versatile and we could use to stay in State or National Parks without trying to squeeze into tiny spaces with something 37 feet long and 4 slides wide.  So, we traded in the Montana Monster for a lovely Forest River Cardinal, which is just a few years older than the Montana, but wonder of all wonders, still has its decals in good condition.  We have just as much cabinet space inside, maybe more... and I now have a window on my side of the bed so we both can get fresh air at night.  Part of the trade in deal was that they would install a washer dryer unit for me and it works great, we have already tested it out.   We had a shake down cruise to Tucson to make sure all systems were fine and aside from a few little things that they fixed on warranty when we returned to Phoenix, the only thing that we had to deal with was a blowout of one tire on our way home.  We think the rig was probably sitting for a long time before it was sold, as it is in such good condition, it seems barely used. 

So all new tires.... and on to Cottonwood for the annual Sedona Pastel Show.  Lots of good entries this year and to the right is Karen and Laura taking a break from all the hammering.  After the show was hung, Karen, Gary, Allan and I went to the Barking Frog where we had a relaxing lunch.  No photos of our lunch at the Barking Frog, but earlier in the week Allan and I went to the Red Rock BarBQue

for some really great ribs and probably the best sides we have had at a barbeque place.  The baked beans were fresh, not the gloppy stuff that is usually served at rib joints.  The potato salad was also fresh and tasted wonderful.   We shared one order and it was more than enough for both of us. 
The day after the hanging of the show, we had a visitor from home.  Dorothy drove up to stay with us for two nights and we prowled around Old Town Cottonwood Friday evening, ending up at Concho's Mexican Restaurant.  Very relaxing and Dorothy and I helped Allan polish off his "Chunk of Flan" before heading back to the rv.   Saturday we headed up to Jerome in the morning to check out the galleries and the consignment stores and I am happy to say that Dorothy and I helped out the economy by making more than a few purchases including a couple of paintings by Cody DeLong, a local artist in this area. 

Later in the afternoon we went by the Reception at the Sedona Art Center to see who got all the awards for best pastel paintings and were very glad to see that Jean Hildebrandt got Best of Show.  (Left)  As usual, some of the judges picks would not have been our choices, but it was great to see so many people we knew at the reception and get to chat with many of them for a while.

 After the reception, we had reservations at the Golden Goose, ranked 6th in Sedona.... and it was good, but not great.  Dorothy picked all the best selections as it turned out with an excellent house salad dressing, an unusual presentation of salmon wrapped in hash browns with sautéed spinach on the side, and

even got the best dessert of key lime pie.  My linguini with shrimp was unremarkable and Allan said he should have gotten a steak instead of the beef tips in Hennessey sauce. 
Dorothy headed out on Sunday morning for home and we headed back over to Sedona to run some errands and get ready for our workshop with Christine Debrosky  on Wednesday.  A final note.....Allan has been taking the dogs to the dog park every day and here is a photo of a happy camper named Elsie who is chasing the ball.