But thankfully it was gone by the time we got to the campground.
Every time we stay at Fort Tuthill, there is something going on. I love it. Last time we went up, Steve Martin was there with his bluegrass band. The campsite host just assumed we were there for the concert, but we had no idea he was going to be there! e didn't even think he meant the real Steve Martin. But he was there for the bluegrass festival. I'm kind of hoping we make the trek up there for this year's bluegrass festival, just to see who else might be there.
This time there was some "extreme" adventure course going on that would have been really fun if we had more money. But it was definitely fun to watch. They had a huge ropes course set up in the trees with all sorts of obstacles that apparently took several hours to complete. Maybe next year they will have it again and we can give it another try! Time to start saving the dollars.... (the whole 42)
Us being us, we forgot all sort of equipment. That normal. Usually we forget pillows or blankets or stuff for eating. This time it was definitely the eating. We brought food, but no plates, no can opener, and nothing to eat with. Kevin reached pro status and figured out the lack of can opener, but we had to get a spoon from campsite host Dave. He was nice and tried to bring us all sorts of stuff to cook with, but I wouldn't let him. He had already driven our firewood to our campsite and given us kindle and newspapers. Much more than what was done for us last time we were there. Dave was pretty awesome. (Almost as cool as the campsite host from Colorado National Monument who really wanted to be our friend. I still feel a little guilty for not inviting him to dinner or something.) The rest of the night was spent hiking around the woods. They have an equestrian course/ old firing ground that we got to walk around.
The next morning we got up pretty early and high-tailed it out of there. We couldn't decide where we wanted to go, so we just started driving. And then two minutes into our drive we had to make a u-turn because we actually decided where we were going. And our choice probably wasn't the smartest, but it turned out to be an interesting adventure.
For the longest time we have wanted to go to the Verde Hot Springs, but there are no real direction on how to get there. You just have to follow some forest road and hope you get there. And we were definitely on the right track. All the description we had read said the scenery was beautiful. And it was. It was weird that Camp Verde is so barren, but ten miles outside of it is green and hilly and gorgeous. But that forest road was the scariest road of my life. It looks tame in the picture, but we could only go ten miles an hour, and we couldn't even do the last leg of the trip because the road just got so much worse. So plans changed and we went back to the civilization at Fossil Creek. And I'm glad we chose to go to Fossil Creek. It looked like something that couldn't have come out of Arizona. But there we were. And it was a pretty strong creek too! I got swept off my feet a couple of times. And Kevin had to chase down one of my flip flops that had gotten away from me. I didn't take any pictures because I didn't want to drop my phone into the creek. That probably wouldn't be good.
But the couple hours we spent there were pretty amazing! There was a ton of wildlife and you only have to walk a quarter of a mile to feel like you are completely isolated. There were all sorts of different butterfly species, dragonflies, fish, and Kevin even got to see a turtle! I spent most of the time trying to catch fish with my bare hands. Because I'm that cool of a kid. Sadly, I didn't catch any....
The fun didn't last very long. After a couple hours some serious storm clouds started to roll in and we had to outrun them before it started pouring. Neither of us wanted to be on that awful road in the middle of a rainstorm. There were a couple of times where is started sprinkling, but we got out before the rain really started to hit. We didn't even get much rain. It just rained all around us. Rain might not even be the right word. More like it down-poured all around us, but not on us. Only for about five minutes tops.
This is definitely a trip we want to repeat. We have to bring a few extra things before we do, though. Like we definitely can't do that road again in either of our cars. Especially the Nissan again with the sport shocks. A little too bumpy of a ride for us and the car. We're going to have to invest in an ATV or lifted golfcart or something before we go back down (and yes, we spent all last night trying to find a cheap one. No such luck) I also want to bring an inner-tube or something to try to go down the creek in. I was being serious when I said it was a big creek. There is also camping out there and I think it would be a great spot to camp. It's a free for all except for within 100 feet of the creek (no camping).
Oh and if anyone is looking for Wendy and Rich, I found them....
