Verde Canyon Railroad

KOKOPELLI Country>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

On our last trip out west for the winter we spent four months in Yuma, AZ. We had expected to stay five months but the wind blew so bad that last month we decided to leave early with the “snowbirds”. Our long time traveling companions were traveling with us but were going west after we got to Williams, AZ.

Before we departed Yuma we spent some time scouting locations up in the mountains north of Phoenix, AZ. We centered in on Camp Verde, AZ and the Rancho Verde RV Park. A nice friendly family run CG well off all of the highways. We did so many side trips from there It’s hard to remember them all. It was a great location, quiet and reasonably priced.

One side trip was the Verde Canyon Train Ride. The train depot is located at 300 North Broadway, Clarkdale, Arizona and an easy ride from the RV Park. We made our reservations on the internet. We got the first class tickets and that put all four of us at a nice table location right next to the gondola car - great for taking pictures.

The day of our ride was clear skies and short sleeve weather. Beautiful conditions for picture taking and observing the wide open country. There was a wild horse round-up taking place and the cowboys were out in large numbers. At the far end of the trip out into the desert we rode through the temporary stable areas.

We saw a number of mature bald eagles soaring the air currents high above the river areas. It’s a wonderful relaxing ride out into the vast open lands of Arizona.

Here are just a few of the pictures we took. Click on any one to get the larger view in slideshow format.

http://www.verdecanyonrr.com/





The FastEagles
   Cal & Linda

Great Smoky Mountain Railroad

Are you going up into the Great Smoky Mountains this summer (2012)? Plan on visiting the casino in Cherokee? Going to drive up thru Maggie Valley on the tourist highway (US-19)?

Finding a good place to park your RV in those there hills is very important because there is so much to see and side trips abound.

We have stayed at various RV Parks/Campgrounds in the area. The Flaming Arrow CG has become our favorite. It’s close to shopping and restaurants but situated off the road where its quiet. It has a sort of horseshoe entrance road that goes all the way around the CG. Great view of the mountains.

http://www.flamingarrowcampground.com/feature.htm

The highlight of this posting is for train lovers or those of you that just like to ride the scenic ones. We like the scenic rides and have ridden them at different locations all across America. So this will be the first in a string of posts revolving around scenic train rides.

The Great Smoky Mountain Train Station is located in Bryson City, NC. Yep, it’s up on that popular US-19 highway.



Here are a couple of useful references. The link to the train ride and below it is a link to a great PDF file that is super informative.

http://www.gsmr.com/
http://www.gsmr.com/sites/default/files/gsmr_2011_hyperlink2.pdf

During your train ride experience you will be given the opportunity to visit the Lionel Train Museum. Model train lovers just must see this museum. Many of the items found there can only be found there as they are one of a kind items.


















You can click on any of the pictures to start the slide show.

The FastEagles
  Cal & Linda