For those new followers to the blog, October of 2018 was the last time (and first time) we visited Prescott. I recommend going back and reading about it. Hurry up, we are waiting for you.
Now that you have read the first posting about Prescott, here is some new information. To the unknowing, Prescott is pronounced “Press” “Kit” with the ending sounding like the ending in the word “biscuit.” If you already knew that, you can skip this part of the blog.
SUNDAY
Anyway, we chose to drive this trip and headed off early on a Sunday morning. The drive was rather uneventful, which is a really good thing. I waited to refuel until we crossed over the border into Arizona and was rewarded with gas that was $1.30 a gallon cheaper. If that isn’t crazy enough, once we got settled into our Airbnb cottage, I watched a slideshow of the most expensive gas in America on my computer. Number 2 most expensive was Hawaii. Number 1 was California, and by a whopping 40 cents a gallon. How can a state our size have to pay 40 cents a gallon more than Hawaii, an ISLAND!!!! The gas has to be shipped there on a boat and it cost 40 cents a gallon less. We are taking it in the shorts and just keep taking it. Oh well, enough about how screwed up California is.
We checked into our Airbnb in Prescott and it was amazing. This was our ninth stay in an Airbnb and by far the best. The cottage was a two bedroom one bath home built into a hillside a scant 3/4 of a mile from the historic downtown district of Prescott. Here are a few pictures of the place.
The house is a registered Historic Place.
The back yard was very nice as well and had a spa in it we would take advantage of later on in the trip.
Unfortunately, right before our stay, a storm knocked a large tree branch into the backyard crushing the brand new BBQ. The damage was so new, they had not had time to have the offending tree branch cut into pieces and hauled off yet. We felt really bad for the owner because he really loved the BBQ and it was brand new. No loss for us because I had no plans of BBQing on this trip (or most trips for that matter).
The storm was last weekend, had been windy, and had dropped about a foot of snow in the area. Here is all that was left of the snow a week later.
After getting settled into our place, we had dinner at Auggies Restaurant, came home and went to bed.
MONDAY
The next morning started with a tour of Plum Creek Alpacas in the Prescott Valley area. We drove to the alpaca farm, in Prescott Valley, where we met our tour guide Brian. He is not only the tour guide, but he also owns the farm. The tour started with our meeting the security guards, a pair of white Great Pyrenees dogs. This breed makes outstanding farm guard dogs because since they are puppies, they are taught by their parents to run circles around their property all night long protecting the livestock. If any predators try and get on the property, the dogs will bark to alert the owner and attack the predator. Here is Cisco, who woke up for our visit and was very friendly.
The tour starts with us being given a bag of “Alpaca Candy,” basically alfalfa pellets. At each alpaca pen, we would enter, keep our backs to the fence to avoid being kicked, and feed the alpacas some of their “candy.” Here are a few alpacas.
All of the babies had little jackets on because of the cold.
Look at this mother and her mini me.
During our tour, we learned a great deal about alpacas. They are part of the Camelidae Genera and are related to llamas and camels. Because they are prey, they do not like their heads touched. That means when you pet them, you pet their necks, backs or sides. If spooked, they will kick straight backwards, so that is why you stay with your back to the fence. And they spit, but rarely at people. They tended to spit at each other if they felt the other guy or gal was getting more food/treats then they were. And we experienced several spitting alpacas which luckily was not only not directed at us, but didn’t hit us either. We really enjoyed the tour and highly recommend it if you are in the Prescott area.
We had dinner at the Cracker Barrel and followed that with a walk around the historic courthouse, which was decorated for Christmas.
We wanted to go into the spa, but it was around 46 degrees outside and we wanted no part of that. We realized the only chance we had of “hanging out in the spa,” would require a much earlier start.
TUESDAY
Tuesday was our day to visit the Heritage Park Zoo. We visited this zoo last year and will visit it each time we come back. The entire zoo can be seen in just a few hours and you get close up views of the animals.
Here are a few birds.
The Ring-tailed Lemurs were fun to watch.
Here are the Collard Peccary, or Javelina, or by the term most of us know, bacon!
And here are a few kitty cats.
Here are some deer, mules, horses and other hoofed animals.
A raccoon, fox, and wolf.
So………last year when we visited this zoo, we were there in time for the tiger feeding. That was really fun. This year we were in time for the bear feeding. Also quite enjoyable.
On the way out, there is a “Peacock Crossing” sign. Last year, we did not see any peacocks, let alone one crossing anywhere near that area. But this year was different. Check this out.
While this peacock is merely laying, he must have crossed to get to this point, so the sign is pretty darn accurate.
We spent the rest of the day touring nearby Chino Valley and were able to cross it off the list of potential places to live. We returned earlier this time, got some pizza to go from Park Plaza Liquor and Deli, and headed back to our place.
A quick note about Park Plaza Liquor and Deli. It looks like a run down store from the outside located in a less than attractive little shopping strip. However, once you enter, it is a whole different story. They have a huge, and I mean huge, selection of wine, a seating area to order and eat food, and a bar area for drinking beer and wine. And the pizza was pretty good too.
Back at our place we ate our pizza, had some wine, and went into the hot tub. The hot tub was very nice and relaxing until…………………we had to get out. It was about 50 degrees and we had to quickly cover the spa and run into the house to try and get warm.
WEDNESDAY
We started our day by looking at new housing developments in and around Prescott. While we are not ready to move yet, Prescott is on our short list. We found a few neighborhoods we really liked, but again, we are not ready to move. After our housing tour, we did a short hike at one of the many hiking trails around Prescott. We hiked “The Constellation Trails.” The area was beautiful and we had a very enjoyable hike.
We had dinner at Prescott Station, about a block from the historic downtown district. This was another confusing restaurant. From the outside, it looks like a cafe type place. But on the inside, it is a really nice steakhouse. And the food is outstanding. We highly recommend having a nice meal here when you are in town.
THURSDAY
This was our travel day home. We got up, ate breakfast, and hit the road early. We stopped at the Morongo Casino for the all you can eat steak and lobster buffet. On our way back to the buffet, we saw a man who had won a chance to be inside a booth with money swirling around. He had 30 seconds to grab as much cash as he could and stick it in a slot in the booth.
It was hilarious to watch. The guy ended up winning around $150.
The steaks were super tough, but the lobster was delicious and we really enjoyed our meal (except for the steaks, obviously). We made it home safe and sound to start planning our trips for 2020!