Friday, May 19, 2017

Red Rock, Ruins, and Repairs

 

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It’s been a very windy, cool week here in Sedona, with some clouds and a bit of rain, which was okay since we had other issues to take care of. Jim spent hours trying to find a replacement for our ailing inverter but wasn’t having much luck. Thanks to discovering an unconnected wire and a little help from the Lazy Daze forum, he was able to contort himself under the refrigerator to connect what was a loose ground wire. Problem solved.

Some photos from a loop hike on the Ridge, Carroll Canyon and Old Post trails, which we accessed off Shelby Road. We were fairly protected from the wind during most of the hike, and did not see anyone else on the trails.

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New construction with a view.

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Jim wanted to get a small inverter we could use to charge the computers if need be, so we paid a visit to the Cottonwood Walmart. I’m glad Jim was driving as he had an incident with a curb, which resulted in replacing all four tires on the Subaru. At least we were close to a Discount Tire, and they had a suitable tire in stock. The tires were three years old and the tread was pretty worn anyway so we didn’t feel too bad.

Some scenes from Hwy 89A along Oak Creek Canyon just north of Sedona. It’s a beautiful drive even on an overcast day.

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While running the generator to test the inverter the other day, we noticed it sounded much louder than normal, almost like a muffler with a hole in it. I thought it was something rattling in the kitchen cabinets, but checked and couldn’t find a cause. Jim had replaced the air filter a couple months ago so he went outside to look at the generator and found the cover over the filter had come loose and was just lying there, along with the wing nut. Probably happened while driving the bumpy road to get to our site, so he put it back on and made sure the nut was tight. Another problem solved.

Yesterday we took a short hike and tour at the Pulatki and Honanki ruins. These cliff dwellings were built and inhabited by the Sinagua people around 1150 AD. They are located in a scenic canyon, and this is the view from the two RV host sites next to the visitor center. They have no internet at their sites, and it’s a slow 10 miles on a rough dirt road to get out for shopping, but it might be a nice gig for a month or two.

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It’s a lovely hike to get to the ruins.

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I’m glad we took the tour to give us some background information about the site. It was inhabited for about 200 years, and is not known why they left.

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Ripples in the rock showing evidence of an ancient sea bed.

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There is also a huge pictograph site. Looked like the kids kept busy painting on the walls. The docent told us the Sinagua had a life expectancy of only 20-25 years, and a very high infant mortality rate.

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Some of the original art was painted over by later people, such as the Yavapai and Apaches.

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The Honanki ruins are about 6 miles from Palatki, and the last 2-3 miles of the road gets pretty bad. We did see a couple of sedans and the Subaru made it just fine, but it’s a very slow go. It was a good test for our new tires.

These ruins are similar and it is a self-guided tour so it was good to take the tour of Palatki first.

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To round out our list of malfunctions this week, last night I turned on the Panasonic Lumix FZ200, our “big” camera which Jim usually uses. He took loads of photos at the ruins yesterday and it was working fine but I could not even get it to turn on, so we charged the battery, removed the SD card, and it still wouldn’t work. This is the camera that got full of red mud when Jim fell in Capitol Reef a few years ago, and we had it repaired so we really don’t want to spend more money on getting it fixed again. It has been doing fine until last night, so I guess we’ll be in the market for another eventually. We have been hemorrhaging money lately, so Jim may just use his phone for awhile. He will miss that long zoom, though.

I opened the shades to this sight at 6:30 this morning.

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There were 6 of them and one landed very close to us.

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What a nice surprise. I just hope we have only pleasant surprises and nothing else breaks today.

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10 comments:

  1. Boy, if it's not one thing, it's another! I too am in the market for a new camera. My Nikon Coolpix is a piece of junk, and not a very old one either. It's looking like the inexpensive compact cameras are being replaced by the next level up...over $500 is supposed to get you a decent compact.

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  2. Well I hope all the breaking is over for awhile!!
    What lovely hikes and incredible views!! I just love this type of history!!
    The hot air balloon was a "huge" surprise....pun intended!!

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  3. RE: Zoom camera - The 60X Panasonic Lumix DC-FZ80 (1) was recommended to me by Gordon Wolford (2)to replace my Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ150. It has the same smallish sensor as your Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200, but its dandy zoom has caught my eye.

    Virtual hugs,

    Judie


    (1) http://tinyurl.com/leq5m25
    (2) http://www.gordonwolford.com/

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  4. Sedona sure is beautiful. I still feel it should have been a Nat'l Park instead of all the development!

    I feel the pain with you on the repairs. We too have experienced the pain lately. I tell Marsha we're getting old and so is our equipment! :-)

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  5. Thanks for sharing all the great pictures. I really enjoy you posts.

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  6. That's your three problems! You should be good for awhile now:) Glad that most your fixes were fairly easy. We use our phone almost exclusively. But I carry the camera just for the zoom.

    We visited both of those ruins. We lucked out at the one and they were having a special group into the closed area, and we were invited to join them. Definitely worth the trip. Most people don't get to these.

    Thanks for the beautiful photo! The balloons were a great surprise:)

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  7. Dang, quite a list of repairs so hope that's over with. Seems a time for cameras going down. My Nikon Coolpix is also on the way out. Never was very happy with it anyway.

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  8. Gayle, I hope you reamed Jim a new one the way he did you for forgetting the brake several months ago! Don't get mad, get even. ; - )

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    1. She was too nice for that but that would have been a good opportunity.

      Jim

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  9. This post made me a bit nostalgic for our old Sedona home. But then I remember what the town is like during peak season and I move on. I hope by now you have figured out what you are going to do for a new camera. I am still undecided, although I am fairly certain my next camera will not be a Panasonic.

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