Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Way, Way Beyond Sacramento – Prescott, AZ



I know this is really stretching it, but I couldn’t resist doing a piece on my vacation destination of Prescott, Arizona.

Over the week following Memorial Day, my daughter and I ventured north from Phoenix to one of my favorite little towns, Prescott, about an hour and a half from Phoenix, depending on what part of town you start from and how fast you drive!

You start up Interstate 17 towards Sedona and Flagstaff, then head west on Highway 69, winding around through thoroughly desert terrain, until suddenly you head out of Prescott Valley and begin to enter a more alpine area.

Prescott was the first capital of Arizona, so it is rich in history, but what I find most intriguing is it’s curious mixture of old and new, alpine and desert with a touch of “red rock” thrown in. Within a five-mile radius, you can travel to several small lakes, stroll along quaint old town streets, visit a handful of museums and go to the mall.

The Sharlot Hall Museum, named after and founded by the territory’s very influential woman, is a nice diversion, and explores the pioneer area of Arizona. There are other choices, such as the Smoki Museum, but we didn’t have time for all that was available.

Several of the town’s streets are tree-lined and hold little architectural treasures of their own, with both tiny and palatial homes that step right out of the past.

The downtown is built around a square, with the county courthouse at its center, a relic itself, and provides a wonderful variety of dining choices and enough shops to keep a shopaholic busy for most of the day.

My very favorite spot, which I will return to whenever I visit in the future, is Lake Watson, an idyllic laying down of water amongst gorgeous, awe-inspiring juts and valleys of red rock. Just sitting on a bench and staring at the lake brought my blood pressure down a few notches, I’m sure.

So, if you pass that way, take a trip to Prescott. You’ll find yourself slowing down and relaxing, in spite of yourself.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Ironstone Vineyard In Delightful Murphys





Looking for a place to simply wander with your thoughts? Well, you can’t go wrong by taking a side trip to the Ironstone Vineyards, just outside the main section of the charming little burg of Murphys.

Ironstone offers beautifully landscaped grounds, with walkways to wander with lots of places to sit and contemplate. There are ponds and picnic areas, gardens and of course, vines to look out on.

The amphitheatre area is a lush green and hosts many top-flight entertainment acts. This summer Michael McDonald and Boz Scaggs, the Moody Blues, Alan Jackson, Dianna Krall, Chris Issak and Brian Setzer, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Crosby, Still & Nash will all take the stage on various weekends.

There’s also a restaurant, the Pit, just inside the beautifully appointed tasting room, which offers special Thursday dinners. Additionally, there are many events throughout the year at the vineyards, from car shows to barbeques, which you can check out on their website at www.IronstoneVineyards.com.

If you travel to the vineyard, be sure to stop in at the Heritage Museum to view the gold rush era artifacts and a huge nugget about the size of a dining room chair back. It’s actually a “crystalline gold specimen” that weighs 44 pounds and is the largest of it’s kind in the world. It’s rightfully called “The Crown Jewel.”

Ironstone Vineyards is located at 1894 Six Mile Road, Murphys, CA. For more information, you can visit the website or cal 209-728-1251.

I'm Back!

There have been a couple of inquiries lately as to when I planned on getting back to my blogs. Well, today’s the day! Although, I won’t post this until Monday, I’m sitting in Wanda, my RV, enjoying an absolutely beautiful Sunday. It can’t be more than 85 degrees, if that, at least here under the trees.

Having returned from vacation in Arizona three weeks ago, I’ve really appreciated the climate here. It was already 105 degrees in Phoenix on Memorial Day, but my daughter, whom I was visiting, and I did get away to Prescott where the temperatures were 25 degrees cooler, day and night.

I think it was the temperature changes that brought on the Mother-of-All-Colds. Yow! I was really miserable for two weeks solid.

That, however, has no relationship to why I’ve been away and frankly, I’m not really sure what the whole story is, because I truly love writing my blogs. Two things coincided – I finished the novel I’d been working on for three years and I started therapy. Did my brain just decide I was finished on one hand and occupy itself with figuring out the complex workings the Kathy-being on the other? Don’t really know, but I do know just typing this is relieving a certain stress and giving back to me what it always does – a sense of expression.

So, now it’s onward, as they say! Glad to be back and don’t be too surprised if you see a lot more action on my two-blog sites. A good friend suggested I market them a little more and I plan to do just that. So, hang on for what I hope will be a wild and happy ride!

Thanks for hanging in there with me, all you faithful and regular readers, who number over one hundred by the way!