The red rock area of Arizona

We have been in a Thousand Trails park southeast of Sedona, AZ for close to a week now. Once we got done with the awning installation we headed up the valley to Laughlin and then east towards Flagstaff. We ran into a little snow at the rest area west of Flagstaff, turned south for about 50 miles and settled into this park close to Cottonwood, Arizona. We're learning that these Thousand Trails parks are both very pleasant and very well hidden. Anyone driving by on the highway would be completely unaware that there was even a campground here let alone how large or well serviced it is.

This park has around 200 sites, some of them with 50 amp service and all of them with at least 30 amp service. There's a large well appointed swimming pool and a couple of recreation facilities. This one even has a kitchen and restaurant onsite. I estimate that there is at least 300 acres in the grounds here. The one we stayed at in Texas was similar. The sites are relatively close together but not nearly as close as most high end trailer parks. The roads are paved and laid out so as to prevent high speed driving through the park. Yet driving by on the highway all you see is a poorly marked turnoff with a small sign that says simply "Thousand Trails".

We're still in the desert so the nights cool off rapidly, the mornings are chilly and the afternoons can get pretty hot. Marilyn has her sewing machine out and she is steadily repairing Grandma's quilt. The appliques on the quilt weren't that well stitched to begin with and would clearly not survive a washing anymore so they need to be redone before the quilt can be washed - and it needs washing.

The more places we see in North America the more we like the Shuswaps. The wind here is a major annoyance. The days would be pleasant enough but already at noon the wind is whipping the awning around and actually rocking the bus occasionally. The part I hated about living in Regina was the damn wind and I have never got over that. I guess it must get windy in the Shuswaps too but the trees and the mountain ranges protect us so we don't notice it.