I found it!

 “The perfect tow vehicle!” said ABN.

Not, says Captain; “it can’t carry the tandem.” (But don’t necessarily count it out as Captain seems to gravitate more and more toward bohemian.)

Camping this week at Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Arizona, we checked out the artsy community of Jerome.

Jerome reminded us a lot of Bisbee (our fav); not as colorful but better views.

Wanting to get in some riding, we explored Cottonwood on the tandem. Looking for a 20-25 mile bike ride, Captain checked out Map My Ride for the Cottonwood area. He found one that said it was a bit of a challenge but as most bicyclists know, that is subjective. And we needed to a little “hill work.” Captain set out to plot it on the Garmin; whoops he neglected to pack the cable that would transfer the route from the computer. No worries, he says “I’ve got this; it is only four turns and I have memorized the route.” Okay, after all we are seeking adventures. So off we go on a long climb on a busy highway (but it has wide shoulders.) And then we turned on scenic 89A, the traffic increases and the shoulder is not very smooth but it only about 5 miles until we turn (that’s 5 miles up hill.) Finally we turn off the highway and the traffic decreases and it was a lovely ride

(ABN didn’t take many pictures as she was either working hard to climb or hanging on tight as we descended.) But we made it without injury, without walking and without getting lost! And we realized we were stronger than we knew!

Sedona is beautiful

and prefect for hiking.

The 5-mile hike to Devil’s Bridge was worth the climb (62 flights of stairs according to Fitbit.) But would have been better if we had chosen not to hike it on a Saturday; way too many people!

Actually ABN nixed the last section of rock climbing due to the crowd. Captain climbed the bridge but had to wait in line to cross it. 

The most excitement was a lady dropped her cell phone over the cliff while taking a selfie with a selfie stick. No way to recover it!

West Fork Trail is supposedly the most popular hike in the Sedona area. Roughly a 6-mile out and back, it begins at the ruins of what was once a resort for well-known celebrities. Following the west fork of Oak Creek, there is little elevation gain, making it a relatively easy trail,

Except for the areas that were packed snow and ice

and the dozen or so stream crossings (out and back makes for 2 dozen crossings.) 

We are happy to report neither of us fell! It was a beautiful day and a beautiful hike

Driving back through Sedona, Captain asks ABN if she wants to shop; ABN observes the crowd of tourists and says she really doesn’t have a need for vortices or crystals. However, she could go for pizza and beer, so we stop at Oak Creek Brewery and Grill. Nice!!!

Today we are headed east, making back to Texas.

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