Dead Horse Ranch State Park

A few of these shots are from last night in Lake Pleasant. The rest are from the state park we have moved into, near Sedona and Jerome AZ. The story of the park's name begins with a Minnesota family looking for a ranch to buy in the late 1940s. At one of the ranches they discovered a large dead horse lying by the road. After two days of viewing ranches, the father asked the kids which ranch they liked the best. The kids said, “the one with the dead horse, Dad!” The family chose the name Dead Horse Ranch and later, in 1973, when Arizona State Parks acquired the park, the Ireys made retaining the name a condition of sale.

The beauty in the park lies in the vista of the nearby mountain range, capped with snow. The site of Jerome, half way up the side of the mountain twinkling at night is spectacular. This is a unique ecosystem known as a riparian gallery forest, one of less than 20 such riparian zones in the world.

This is our base camp to explore the region.

Lake Pleasant

We are in yet another regional park in Maricopa County AZ. Just a short drive from Phoenix sits Lake Pleasant (actually a reservoir), the most highly used water recreational area in AZ. As with all the regional parks, this one is exceptional and we have a beautiful room with a view. The desert has changed with the rain and it seems softer with the green that has come to life. With the rains, the reservoir is up 10 feet and will continue to come up until some time in March. After that, the water supplies the needs for the city of Phoenix.

We're here for just a few days and enjoying every moment before we head into the northern/higher elevation of the Camp Verde and Sedona areas. We have been waiting for a warm weather window to head north, we have it in the next week.

Best sites 8-16

Happy trails Mr. Tig

Today Gary and I lost our beloved traveling companion, Mr. Tigger. After months of doctors and tests, with no clear idea of what the problem was, Tigger was beginning to suffer from the process, so we had to let him go.

We love our pets, they are a part of the family and while we have had many pets, Tigger was really special to us. He was a funny and loving little cat; tolerant and very well behaved; he talked to us when we asked him too; he traveled well and enjoyed the sites along the way.

Sad news from us, but he had a good seven years with us and we showered him with love. We will miss him.

OK corral it's not

But the regional park has a nice outdoor shooting range. Everything from field hunting simulation to close pistol practice (just for the cowboys) and even long distance. The one picture has a person lying on the ground shooting at a distance I could hardly see. The noise was very interesting, as people would shoot, you could hear after the shot, the sound traveling up the hill behind the range.

Archery and a hike

Who ever thought this one up was really thinking. Today we walked the Usery Mountain Regional Park Archery Range and 3D course. If I were a bow hunter, I would be in heaven. The combination of this beautiful hike and the challenging target options for as little as $6 (or free if you are camping) is fun for all. I was shocked to hear that this regional park is not making money, the activities are great, the moonlight walk had over 300 attendees and many of the workers are volunteers. But as is true in many parks, especially the state managed ones, they are not run well. Very said as many parks are going to close and these are a valuable resource for both locals and visitors.

As we walked the archery courses we thought of Brian and Scott who would love the hunt.