We drove for two hours from Quartzsite, Arizona to Luke AFB at Glendale, Arizona. Luke is a fighter aircraft base flying the F-16 and F-35 aircraft primarily. Last year we stopped at Luke to check out the status of the new RV park being built. It was still quite a ways from completion. It is now complete and it is beautiful. Sixty-one level, paved and well-landscaped sites. They are all drive-throughs with full services. Since the temps were near 100 degrees, the park had at least fifteen available sites. The cost is a little high at $30 compared to other service oriented Family Camps.

We parked the RV, made sure it was secure, and then hit the road for Prescott, Arizona. We had reserved a hotel room in Prescott for the night so that we could see the area. Our goal was to explore the Prescott, Prescott Valley, and the Sedona region.

Wednesday, May 7, 2021 - We arrived in Prescott, Arizona by mid-afternoon. We checked into the Sheldon Street Hotel which is a quaint little hotel with nine individually decorated, small rooms. It was very nice and worked extremely well for us as we visited Prescott. Tom, the manager, is extremely friendly and we had some great conversations. We were somewhat disappointed in the Prescott area. We thought that there would be high mountains and lots of pine trees. It turned out to be rolling, high-desert area with scrub trees and cottonwoods along the dry washes and creeks. We drove through the downtown area and then walked the same area. Lots of antique shops and places to eat. The Yavapi County Courthouse is located in the plaza right in the middle of town. This is a beautiful building. We took several photos, so be sure to see the photo gallery. We then decided to eat at the Palace Restaurant and Saloon just across the street from the courthouse. Lots of history with this saloon which was frequented by Wyatt Earp, Virgil Earp, Big Nose Kate, and Doc Holliday; it even has bullet holes in the ceiling. The food was okay and we had a good time there. The manager, Mike, was friendly and the waitresses/waiters were all dressed in period clothing. Since we has such a large meal for dinner, we decided that we would drive to Sedona (about 45 miles away) for breakfast in the morning.

Thursday, May 8, 2021 - We decided to drive around Prescott to get a "feel for the community" before heading off to Sedona. In an older, but well-maintained part of town (similar to the Fab 40s in Sacramento), we stopped to look (and price) some of the local homes. As we were parked in front of a home, the owner, Rick, came out to see what we were up to. We do look like a couple of "shady characters." Rick was a delight to talk to. At 87 years young, he knew all about the area and the homes (including prices). He gave us all the info that we needed. His home was worth over a million dollars, so we immediately wrote off this area as a place to live. Rick is a fascinating person who has done many things during his life. We learned a lot from him. In fact, people have been moving to Prescott for quite a while and the value of homes is pretty high there. We also decided that the Prescott area was not a potential home site for us. We drove to Prescott Valley on our way to Sedona. Prescott Valley is a nice area of rolling hills and lots of new commercial growth. Lots of subdivisions springing up there.

Sedona has been receiving new people to the area for quite a while. It is very tourist oriented with lots of places to buy things and places to eat. It does not look like it has much room for future growth. It is mostly situated in a river canyon. We drove to the Red Rock Cafe at the entrance to town and it was pretty easy to understand where it got it's name. Huge red rock buttes all around the region. The restaurant was excellent and the staff were very nice. Very beautiful area! Also, the homes in Sedona were mostly built in the adobe style and were painted with very neutral, desert colors. We clearly could not afford to move to Sedona if we wanted to. As a retirement community, the Sedona area does not offer us what we are looking for. Sedona is beautiful and a fun place to visit. We plan to go back in October when we can hike and enjoy the beauty. We then drove back to the Glendale area (Luke AFB) to prepare to our departure tomorrow for Tucson.