Cottonwood

As big as this country is..it's a small world.  My friend, Lois, from Minnesota that I haven't seen in several years posted on Facebook that she just arrived in Sedona, Arizona, which is only 30 miles from where we are!  So I messaged her and we agreed to meet up in Cottonwood today.

Bernie and I waited for the frost to melt off our car and for it to warm up a bit before we left this morning.  It did warm up to 72 by this afternoon.  We found Lois and then a cafe in Old Town Cottonwood and had a great time catching up.  What a treat that was to see her again!

Old Town Cottonwood, Arizona

After lunch, Bernie and I looked around the town, and Lois went her own way.  There is an interesting shop in Cottonwood called the Hippie Emporium.  It's a blast from the past.  We went inside and looked at all the beads, and tie-dyed clothing, LP records, drug paraphernalia, and such.  You can also get a massage in there.  Lovely store!

Hippie Emporium

 When we were done with Cottonwood we went to nearby Tuzigoot (Apache for "crooked water") National Monument.  This is the remnant of a Southern Sinagua village built between 1125 and 1400.  At one time this was probably inhabited by about 200 persons.

Tuzigoot National Monument

 After walking around Tuzigoot we started driving back to Campe Verde.  Along the way we passed the "Out of Africa" wildlife park and decided to stop and check it out.  We had been seeing a lot of advertising for it in this area.

Out of Africa Entrance

 We learned that it was going to close for the day in about one hour from now, so we did not want to pay the $36 per person fee they wanted.  We did stop in the gift shop just for kicks.  Behind the counter was a cockatoo that said "goodbye" when we went in.. and "hello" when we went out.  His/her name is Tarzan, and is a sweetie.  Someone had abandoned it at the park's entrance about 6 months ago, and they took it in, so they don't know it's history or even if it's a boy or a girl.

Tarzan

We still have more to see in this area so we extended our stay at this RV park until Friday.