There are three dams near the town of Roosevelt, starting out on highway,well,not really a highway but a sand based dirt road, the first dam you come to is the Roosevelt dam.
Its impressive ,especially once you realize how it was built, and where it is located. I took photos of the signs, easier then to write it all out, and the photos will also speak for themselves. The road is rough in places, but it had rained, and it looked like they had graded it not too long ago, but its not a road for large motor homes or 5th wheels, we met 3 cars in total, and it was a challenge to pass each other. The day was cloudy, quite dark, but it made for good photos, so much better then bright sun.
The road winds around large rock cliffs, giant cacti growing up the banks, at least 30 feet tall,it is an amazing landscape!!!

Saguaro cactus and the best place for breakfast.

We took the interstate 17,to Camp Verde, then turned east again on the 260. We kept going south, through beautiful wilderness area, and ended up near Tonto Basin, and stayed overnight at Fishermans RV!!! The owner laughed at out Westy, she is used to very fancy, very long RV’s,but after a closer look ,she realized that we had everything that was needed for a comfy stay!!
The next morning we had an incredible breakfast at a local spot, nothing fancy, but the food was amazing!!! We always find that if you look for the local spots, where the people go for meals, and its busy all the time, go there and eat!!! Down to earth, home cooking!!!!

We stayed overnight in a pine forest,near Williams,it was almost dark, and there were no proper camping spots, so we just put Westy on a as much possible level spot and cooked our dinner.
All night long ,the coyotes howled and yapped, in the morning , a can with water , left outside, was frozen solid!! It was -6!!!! Doing a bit of exploring, i found carcasses of deer, and also 4 calves, maybe all eaten by the coyotes, not sure……
We drove on to Flagstaff that day, through beautiful mountainous areas ,the elevation was 7655 feet, so no wonder it was cold!!
Flagstaff is a nice town, it has character and we found a nice coffee shop where all the locals seem to hang out. We heard them talking about the snow coming that night ,so…. needless to say, we headed out of town that morning, on the way towards Phoenix,south!!!

Driving into Oatman , was like driving into the past, an old ,western town, lots of dust and cacti, but the main attraction were the Burros!! Burros everywhere, moms and babies, larger males, all very sure of themselves, everywhere are signs , warning not to go to close to these animals, especially dogs, the Burros really dislike them, but people still thought these were such cute animals, like little horses, but really, you dont want a kick from one of these guys, or even a head butt!!!!

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We started off on hwy.66,towards Needles, but gave that up pretty fast, the road was in total disrepair, unbelievably rough, huge chunks missing, here and there, poor Westy had a hard time with it, and i started watching nervously in the rear view mirror, if we were losing any parts!!!!
So, back for a while to the 40, then, near Topock, we ventured out on the 66 again, and this time it was acceptable, this route, towards Sitgreaves pass, Elevation 3.523 feet, was marked as a very scenic route.
It was beautiful, very wild, very rugged, not much growing here, but it had an overall different atmosphere.
We stopped here and there, to take pictures, and look for wildlife, at one of these spots , a car was parked with two gents sitting in it, and a Burro standing by!!!!
These Burros are wild, looking like a small donkey, but they have a black cross on their backs, and because of this they sometime s are called Jesus Burros!!
The fellows came to talk to us, they had been target practicing, NO, not on the Burros, but in the desert.
Their trunk was open, and the Burro sauntered over to it, stuck its head in and looked to be very busy.
Now it so happened, that the trunk contained a case of water bottles, a definite must out here, the Burro kept working on something, and hauled out a bottle in its mouth!!!! One of the gents took it and opened it, and the animal drank the whole bottle down, as if it does this every day!!!!
I figured it was pretty special to see one of these animals until we came into Oatman……..

We again left the big highways and turned onto a little road, towards Acton, we had seen a KOA sign , for camping, but had no idea what to find or expect. The area is called the Desert View Highlands, and we had to go over the Soledad pass, which has an elevation of 3.179 feet!! the area is beautiful, giant Aspen trees sway in the wind, they still had their leaves but were turning color ,a combination of yellow, green and orange.
we found the KOA ,thank goodness, almost turned back, as the road became smaller and smaller, but there it was, nestled under these Aspen, close to the railroad tracks. By the way, no matter where we went , there were railroad tracks, and trains, all night long, but i did get used to them after a while, unless they blew their horn, right alongside the camp spot!!!!

While Bert went into the office to pay for our spot, the silence was broken by a roar…… Yes, a roar, so i am sitting there, trying to determine what kind of animal that was, somewhere in the back of my head it said….LION????….. yeah right, out here????
well, long story short, yes, it was a lion, out here, on Soledad canyon road, there is the Shambala Wild Life preserve.
There are tigers, lions , leopards, and many more other critters, they live here, mainly animals that have been rescued from a circus, or some kind of road show, they get to live their lives here in peace, and yes, you can see them, but you have to make an appointment, we did not, i just wanted to listen to them, i have a very hard time with animals in captivity, and yes, i know, these animals are treated very well, and they cannot go into the wild, but even so……
I will not go to a circus, the last time i went was when i was very young, i think around 8, and i saw some terrible things being done to the animals, this was in Scheveningen, in Holland.
Read about this preserve on Shambalawildlifepreserve.com Very interesting.

On route to Soledad canyon

LIFE IS ABOUT WHAT WE GIVE,NOT ABOUT WHAT WE GET!! KEN DUNCAN

THERE ARE ALWAYS FLOWERS FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO SEE THEM. HENRI MATISSE

THOSE WHO BRING SUNSHINE TO THE LIVES OF OTHERS CANNOT KEEP IT FROM THEMSELVES! JAMES MATTHEW BARRIE