Retro Roamers

25/03/2024

Beautiful rainy/snowy day in Sedona and Prescott.

We hiked Bell Rock in Sedona. We were so thankful for the rough weather keeping people off the trail. Sedona trails can get so packed, so it was nice to have some breathing room.

After Sedona, we meandered our way to Prescott where we walked down whiskey row, hiked Watson lake, and ate at the C**t Grill.
Whiskey Row had so many saloons and so many little shops. The pulled pork sandwich we got at the C**t Grill was honestly some of the best bbq we’ve ever had. Watson lake had some amazing views, and tons of great scrambles.

Pearl really loves all the rock hopping, but I think she enjoys meeting new people even more!

21/03/2024

Love the afternoon thunderstorms Arizona can have. I’ve never seen the sky light up the way it did yesterday evening!

10/03/2024

We love when our RV spot has a dog wash station! Pearl… not so much 😂

10/03/2024

This one is for all of the Pearl fans out there! She loves the water. Check out her cute little doggy paddle at Lake Pleasant.

08/03/2024

This past weekend we booked a hot air balloon flight with Aerogelic Ballooning out of Noth Phoenix. It's something we will never forget! The staff helped with our surprise proposal and made everything so special.
The takeoff in the crisp morning air was so smooth.
We had to meet at 6:15 to ensure we wouldn't miss the sunrise! It's hard to describe the calmness you feel at 4,000'. The only sounds are the blowing of the balloon torch and the “awes” of amazement.
Remember, you can do anything you set your mind to. Get on the balloon, and look at the world from a different point of view!

01/03/2024

The Dolly Steamboat Cruise in Tortilla Flat, Az.

The Dolly steamboat scenic nature cruise takes roughly 1.5 hours, while winding along 6 miles of Canyon Lake shore line. We were lucky enough to see a pair of bald eagles and a good size flock of big horned sheep! On board, the captain narrates the entire journey and points out any wildlife or natural phenomenon he can. At one spot along the lake there is a wall of petrified wood we never would have noticed. On board they only had snacks and drinks available for purchase so afterwards we drove to the physical town of Tortilla Flat.

Tortilla Flat is Arizona’s oldest operating stagecoach town. Fit with a saloon, gift shops, and an outside restaurant with a live band. If you ever make it here (which you should) watch out for the old lady with the sq**rt gun. She comes out of nowhere!

23/02/2024

Chapel of the Holy Cross.

Built on the red rocks of Sedona, Az in 1956, the chapel took 18 months and $300,000 to build. The chapel was originally going to be built in Hungary, but the outbreak of WWII led Marguerite Brunswig Staude (A local rancher who commissioned the idea) to build it at home in Sedona.

Parking is a challenge here, as thousands of people flock here daily. It’s so worth it to hike up the hill (unless you’re lucky and get a spot at the top) and open those doors. This is a place you have to see!

20/02/2024

You’re going to want to see all of these pictures!

Let’s take a hike to the Subway Cave via Boynton Canyon Trail.

The Red Rock Secret Mountain Wilderness in Sedona, Arizona has some breathtaking scenery. It’s hard to capture the true beauty of the red rocks that catch your eye from every direction.

Roughly 2 miles from the trailhead of Boynton Canyon is a secret turn off. A turn off that winds along a creek bed, meandering towards the base of some red rock mountains. You’ll know you’re close when you can hear the echo of the many tourists that flock from all over the world, coming from the cave. Once you make it up the steep entrance, the views will take your breath away. There were even some Native American ruins that were very well preserved,despite the high traffic.

18/02/2024

Pearl was built for rock climbing. Everyone is always so surprised when they see her at the top of all these hikes we do.

18/02/2024

18/02/2024

Cathedral Rock, Sedona, AZ

A short 1.2 mile hike gaining 751’ into the Arizona red rocks. The hike was a little tricky. We made it up just fine but there were several who turned around near the halfway point.

Cathedral Rock was formed from a costal sand dune near the shoreline of Pedregosa Sea. In early maps it was called “Courthouse Rock” as well as “Church House Rock”.

For some reason it won’t post videos and pictures at the same time, so check the comments to see pearl rock climbing!

10/02/2024

High on a hilltop in Southern Phoenix lies a very unique restaurant called Rustler's Rooste. As you head up to the entrance you’ll see a longhorn steer chewing his cud. You’ll sling open the door and walk a steep incline built around the hills natural rocky landscape. When seated at your table you’ll receive complimentary biscuits & fried bread with cinnamon butter, and a family sized house salad. When the check arrives, so does mint cotton candy!

10/02/2024

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06/02/2024

Flatiron Jim.

He’s the reason we wanted to do this hike so bad and I’m so happy we were able to meet him. He hikes the Flatiron at least 3 times a week and has done it 25 times so far this year! He is a legend. Did we mention he’s 92! 92 and was physically moving like someone in there 40s. (Not as cool when they say that about us 😂) Cameron checked for scars indicating a knee replacement. Nope, he’s all original. Well, that we know of.

Some people forget to get old, but maybe Jim flat out refuses too. At 92 he should be an inspiration to us all!

05/02/2024

This weekend took us to Lost Dutchman State Park.

We hiked the Flatiron, one of the most intense hikes in the Phoenix area. They say you’re not a true Arizona hiker until you accomplish the Flatiron.

The Flatiron is 5.5 mile out and back trail, gaining 2,627’ in elevation. Siphon Draw is the easy and maintained portion of the trail. After that, you’re climbing on your hands and feet straight up. We’ve never been challenged on a hike like this before. The last 20’ is the most challenging as you have to freehand rock climb (basically) to the final destination above. The views of the Phoenix valley below were incredible.

The flatiron lies in the Superstition Mountains. The mountains were formed around 18 million years ago by volcanic activity. Over 600 people have died or gone missing in the Superstition Mountains while looking for gold. Legend has it that there is over $200,000,000 worth of gold hidden somewhere in those red rock cliffs.

All along the hike we heard what we thought was thunder or a jet going overhead. Nope! We later found out that it’s seismic activity echoing through the canyon walls!

As always, Pearl was such a champ. Very few dogs hike this trail, and we even witnessed a dog being carried down. Not Pearl…. We couldn’t go up fast enough to keep her happy. She was stopped by so many people eager to pet her. Now she is curled up in her bed fast asleep. A freight train through a china shop couldn’t even wake her.

I wish the pictures could do the mountain justice. If you’re in the Phoenix area, I hope you find yourself at the base of the Flatiron.

01/02/2024

We used our Blackstone to cook a Hot Honey pizza!

What’s your favorite camping meal?

29/01/2024

This last weekend was filled with fun!

Live music from the Psychobilly Rodeo Band at the Rusty Spur Saloon and leaderboard putts at the Puttshack gave us a weekend we won’t forget!

We also went to the Phoenician Resort for some of the best pomegranate margaritas and grabbed killer dinner at the Culinary Dropout!

It was great to have Cam’s parents here to share the great weekend with!

We continue to see and try new things and are learning all the dos and don’ts of Arizona. We are so happy to have the privilege to continue sharing our adventures with you.

29/01/2024

One of the best things we ever did! It made traveling across the country so much easier and less stressful!

If you have any questions about Harvest Hosts let us know!

25/01/2024

We can’t express enough how fun The Stillery is!
They always have the best entertainment, the best food, and the service is always great.

Tonight we listened to Danny Austin. Man, could he sing some George Straight!

We over indulged on dinner. We ordered the “MC Burger”, the “Hot Chicken Nachos”, and the “Sticky Sweet Pizza”. All of it was so good!!!

Next time you’re in town, do yourself a favor and stop by!

22/01/2024

We know you guys have been wanting a tour!

If you have any questions on this ole’ thing, let us know!

21/01/2024

Time to come in and try our Prickly Pear Lemonade!
Photo credit Retro Roamers

21/01/2024

Tom’s Thumb ⛰️

A neat 4 mile hike on the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. This moderate trail zigzags its way up the bouldery landscape gaining over 1200’ in elevation.

The trail had some incredible views and even though it was a very popular trail, there was no shortage of wildlife. At the beginning of the trail, each plant has a small plaque with its name and description. Ever heard of a Teddy Bear Cholla? It’s fuzzy, but it’s certainly not cuddly. (See last picture)

Pearl had a blast jumping and climbing on all the rocks with us. She’s a true adventurer and one tough pup. We appreciate the fact that she can always keep her cool, even we force her to scale some ridiculous rock ledges.

18/01/2024

92 miles southeast of Tucson, and 11 miles north of the Mexican border you’ll find the marvelous mining town of Bisbee, Arizona.

Bisbee was founded in 1880 on the backs of the thousands of miners after copper, gold, and silver. In the last 100 years, Bisbee has produced 8 billion lbs of copper, 6,375,00 lbs of silver, and 175,000 lbs of gold!

We were able to tour the Copper Queen Mine. Benny, our tour guide, was an actual Copper Queen Miner from the sixties! He mostly laid track through the mines at exactly a 2° grade to allow water to run out of the mine, or into a pit to be pumped out. Benny made it clear, the mine made him rich, but his last two divorces did not.

Another town with that old west feel. Make it a point to find your way to Bisbee. Have coffee and breakfast at the Bisbee Coffee Company, and definitely take a tour of the Copper Queen Mine. Specifically ask for Benny because he is hilarious. Don’t forget to check out all the local shops, you could find something you can’t live without.

15/01/2024

Tombstone, Arizona…

You might think the first sounds you’d hear walking into the legendary town of Tombstone would be gunfire, hooping and hollering or the sound of some drunk getting thrown out of a saloon. That would be the case if it were still 1880. Today however, you walk into town and hear the footsteps of tourists and locals alike clanking down the 140 year old wooden sidewalk either after “The coldest beer in town” at the crystal palace or headed to one of the many western mom and pop shops. A sound you also hear is the creaking, squeaking, and grinding of the many two horse teams pulling the bright red Wells Fargo wagons. Being here is like a step back in time. The original floors, bars and bullet holes are here to be seen just as they were 140 years ago.

In 1877, Tombstone was founded by a man by the name of Ed Schieffelin. Ed discovered the silver rich land while scouting for Apache Natives. After founding Tombstone and making his fortunes, he left town. Ed traveled all over the country looking for more minerals - from Arizona to California and then all the way up to Alaska! Now here’s the cool part. In 1897, he died of a suspected heart attack while checking the purity of a new gold claim he had. The new claim was worth nearly $2000 dollars per ton of raw material. That happened to be in the last place we would ever think, none other than Douglas County, Oregon. Canyonville to be exact! It’s a small, small world.

We watched two shoot outs and they were not what we expected. They were basically comedy shows and we belly laughed the whole time!

There is so much history here. From the fight at the O.K. Corral, the Bird Cage Theater, and the Boot Hill Cemetery. We could go on until we had a novel.

All we can say is, GO TO TOMBSTONE!
Do your research, make a list, and go see a great piece of history.

12/01/2024

Before we head there, what is everyone’s favorite thing to do or see in the Tombstone/Bisbee area?

09/01/2024

Our first weekend exploring Phoenix has been great. We’ve hiked parts of the Sonoran Preserve, watched some live music, and eaten great food!

The Sonoran Preserve is only about 10 minutes away from our “rolling estate” and has at least 15 different trails and loops. Sunday we saw a coyote watching us and carrying an old t-shirt just 15 yards away.

The Stillery is a dance bar down the road from us. Sunday we went and watched Harry Luge put on one hell of a show. He called us out for not dancing so we had to hit the floor. There was a group of about 30 folks from their late 60s to their late 80s that came to cut a rug. We were so impressed with how some of them just forgot to get old! We befriended a gal named Peggy who is encroaching her 80th birthday and she confirmed that dancing and a good social group keeps you young! It was so inspiring! She also gave us all the great places to go get lessons.

The menu at The Stillery is probably one of the best I’ve seen. Great apps and awesome burger baskets. They have something scheduled nearly everyday, whether it’s live music, DJ dance party, or half off appetizers! Definitely a place to check out.

06/01/2024

We made it to Phoenix!

What a great feeling it is to finally be parked and set up in a more permanent home. We are staying in the area for the next three months so what we post will change in a way.

Instead of 300 mile jaunts everyday with our rolling estate attached, we will be more like weekend warriors. The goal is to hit every corner of Arizona while not missing anything in between.

Some highlights from today are; we saw our first saguaro cactus and we saw regular gas at $6.09.
We decided to take our chances and try the next town.

We were talking about how suspiciously smooth this trip has gone and then about 140 miles from Phoenix we got a flat tire. We called Patriot Emergency Roadside and we were back on the road within a half hour.

Tomorrow we will start exploring Phoenix. We can’t wait to share all of the hot spots, fun hikes and great food the city has to offer.

What everyone’s favorite thing to do in Phoenix?

05/01/2024

Today was a pretty laidback day. Most importantly, we started by playing ball with Pearl. We drove roughly an hour to a Walmart to park the rv (isn’t that what all rv’ers do?) before heading into Las Vegas. We spent roughly 4 hours taking in all the sights and gambling our money away.

Here’s a few fun facts about Las Vegas:

1.) There are over 150,000 hotel rooms in Las Vegas.

2.) Roughly 39 million people visit this gambling oasis per year.

3.) The people in Las Vegas eat rough 30 tons of shellfish a day. That’s more than the rest of the United States consumes in a whole year!

The drive from Las Vegas to Kingman, AZ was the best stretch of road we’ve been on yet due to the views… not the infrastructure. Driving past Lake Meade and through the red rock outcroppings felt like a dream.

We arrived at the Desert Diamond Distillery in Kingman, where the host had a rum tasting waiting for us! Our favorite was the agave rum. They also had infused olive oil - the cayenne pepper was the best.

We appreciate all the likes, shares, and comments. They mean so much to us!

Next stop, Phoenix!