Local eats

Mar. 28 - Apr. 10, 2013 Dead Horse Ranch State Park - Cottonwood, AZ

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RV LIFE:
Cough, cough, hak, cough, spit.
 That's the sound cutting into my beautiful peaceful afternoon. Our neighbor has been having coughing fits. It's very disturbing.

I've spent almost every day outside. I love Arizona in the Spring! I enjoy a cool morning walk with the dogs, then have some coffee, read, catch up on blogs and then head outside. While outside, I have some wine, read, catch up on blogs. Ahhh, what a life!

Bloggers:
While on my afternoon walk with the dogs, I had seen a truck that said 
How can you forget a name like that! I knew about their blog Boyinks 4 Adventure, although don't really follow it. They are a family of four living on the road in an RV for a year. So I shot them an email stating we were in the same park and just wanted to say "hello". They emailed back explaining they were just visiting Dare You 2 Move bloggers, who are also a family (of 5) RV'ing for a year. I met Kevin of Dare You 2 Move, while on our morning walk with the dogs. As I was walking toward him, I knew who he was but too shy to say anything. Kevin stopped, looked at us and said, "Can I ask you an question?", I answered, "Yep, that's me". We laughed, spoke shortly about meeting bloggers, etc. and on our way to finish our walk. They have a huge 5th wheel. I guess for 5 to LIVE in it semi-comfortably, you need as much room as you can pull.
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PETS: 
Devin has been having a blast trying to catch the little lizards scurrying around our site. He's also been keeping a careful eye on the silly quail running across the road.
I'm not sure if I mentioned the present I picked up for Devin while in Tucson. Nope, not biscuits, nope, not a tennis ball, nope, not squeaky toy...

 A kiddie pool! And yes, the water is brown. I can only change the water so much. While we were at Four Paws Kingdom in NC last year, we couldn't keep Devin out of the pool. He was very entertaining.

So even if Devin doesn't have Doris to play with, at least he's got the pool to wade in. He also is lucky enough to have Cottonwood Dog Park, just 2 miles from our RV site.

Those two dogs in the background are my Irish Setter, Devin and a local Irish Setter. They both can't keep out of the water buckets.

This is our English Setter, Lyla pleading with the woman to Pleeeeeeease, give me a treat that's in your backpack.

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DOG PARK REVIEW:

Cottonwood Riverfront Dog Park

My rating 3 out of 5

Size: Fairly large park, probably about an acre. L shaped which makes me have to get off my fat you know what to check on my dogs when they go around the corner.

Water: Water is only supplied in one end of the park. The dog "bowls" are really large plastic 5 gallon tubs that spackle, etc come in. This makes it difficult for small dogs to get a drink or even for large dogs if they are not filled to the brim.

Poop bags: No bags officially supplied, but park goers have hung up totes with plastic grocery bags stuffed in them. 

Shade: There is some shade. Remember this is Arizona, so don't expect too much for shade.

Land: grass, flat

Seating: Very little seating for such a large area. A couple of cement garden benches.

Atmosphere: I've been there three times during the week, and people have been nice as well as the dogs.

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FOOD:
Nope, not happening yet. I thought I was going to start cooking more, but that hasn't developed...yet. I am a put together something in the fridge in 5 minutes kind of girl. Scott is the plan it out, go to the grocery store specifically for what he wants to cook, start it too late to have for dinner (for Deb). Scott doesn't mind eating at 9pm. I'm in bed by then, maybe not asleep, but all comfy in my jammies.

The Southwest has definitely started to influence my way of eating.  My new must always haves now are tortillas, which are thin flat breads/burrito wraps
 and pico de gallo, which is tomatoes, onion, jalapeno, cilantro and lime juice. I've been on a vegetable wrap kick, consisting of cabbage slaw mix, avocado, & pico de gallo wrapped in a tortilla. How can something so simple be so delicious!?

FOOD PRODUCT REVIEW:
El Super Leon Pepitoria Mixed Seed
My rating 5 out of 5
This is similar to a brittle only lighter and not as difficult to eat or bad for your teeth. This is a rice cake size but thin wafer that is easy to break and chew. The Pepitoria I had was mixed seed which consisted of peanuts, sesame seed, almond, pumpkin seed, coconut and sugar. Simple ingredients and DELICIOUS. I picked this up at the local convenience store reviewed below.
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RESTAURANT REVIEW:
Verde Lea market, Cottonwood, AZ
Our rating 4 out of 5
This is basically a convenience store with a grill. But oh the food they make! We had passed by this while driving into town and laughed because it looked like a small family run...run down...market. We weren't going to set foot in there until I read reviews on Yelp. We ventured in and was pleasantly surprised. Your typical convenience store items as well as beer and wine. They had a deli case filled with pre-made wraps and sandwiches. With so many pre-made they must be expecting a good business to sell all that. Sure enough, as I was looking over the menu, some regulars stopped in and all they had to do was give a couple of hand signals and the woman behind the counter knew exactly what they wanted. I asked if they sold tortillas and she said, "Just a second, I have one coming off the grill now". She gave me a freshly made delicious tortilla. I was sold! Who gives samples anymore?
I then asked what Horchata was. Again, she gave me a generous sample to try. Yum! Horchata is a cold rice milk beverage. It tasted like liquid rice pudding. Delicious.
We ordered a chicken Torta and a Carne (beef) Torta. Love the roll it was served in. Nice hearty sandwich.

Chicken Torta

I bought a package of homemade tortillas that were on display at the register. I will crave these when we move on out of this area. They are wonderful. I'm using these tortillas to wrap all my meals with.
Overall a friendly place with delicious food. There are also a few tables in the middle of the store if you want to eat in.

Georgie's Cafe, Cottonwood, AZ
Our rating 3.5 out of 5

Nice bright atmosphere. I like the way the tables have different print material and then covered tightly with a heavy vinyl. Looks clean but homey because of the fabric.
Wait staff was very nice.
We were here for breakfast.
Corned beef hash was real corned beef, which was nice, but the hash itself was unremarkable.
Eggs over easy cooked perfectly.
Home fries were fresh sliced potatoes grilled. Very simple but whatever seasoning they may add, just gives the right touch.
Pancakes were average. I probably would not order again, but not because they were bad, just that I'll wait for a lighter, fluffier pancake somewhere else.
Coffee was good for a little homey restaurant.
A decent breakfast at a decent price. We would return.

The Tavern Grille, Old Cottonwood, AZ
Our rating 4 out of 5
This is really a nice sports bar with booths around the walls. Many, many TV's but the sound was off, so didn't bother us. Scott was happy to watch hockey while we waited for our meal.
Wait staff was very good. Our waiter was efficient and there was a bus girl that as soon as a plate was empty and pushed aside, she stealthly passed by and cleared it away.
We don't usually order alcoholic drinks but for some reason Bloody Mary's called to us. I highly recommend the Bloody Mary. Rich, thick, with a bite. A big hunk of celery stalk, 2 olives on a pick and a slice of lemon and a slice of lime on the rim. A great looking Bloody Mary as well as a great tasting Bloody Mary.
There were so many interesting items on the menu, but we can only eat so much. We opted for onion rings and French onion soup as appetizers.
Onion rings: above average. The onions were not as sweet as I'd like. The ranch style dipping sauce was very watered down. When we dipped the rings in it, the dressing just slipped off.

Onion rings

French onion soup: heart and absolutely excellent.
House Salad with Champagne Vinaigrette dressing: Nice salad with fresh sliced mushrooms. Dressing was light and pleasant.
Prime Rib: Very, very tender. Unfortunately, it was not as tasty as others we've add. It needed a more robust rub or seasoning.
Stuffed Meatloaf: Disappointing. According to other reviews this was good, so I ordered. Bland all the way around. When I finally found the cheese (by sight), I never really tasted it. Supposed to  be wrapped in bacon, but I barely tasted that also.

Stuffed meatloaf & cheesy mashed potatoes

Cheese mashed potatoes: Good. Although they were doctored up instant, they were doctored up nicely.
I upped my rating from 3 to 4 simply because the wait staff was excellent and I'm intrigued by the menu. I would return just to try other items on the menu.
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WHERE WE'RE GOING

Apr. 11 - Apr. 17, 2013 Trailer Village - (Part of Grand Canyon Park), AZ

Apr. 18 - Apr. 24, 2013 Meteor Crater RV Park - Winslow, AZ

NV, CA, OR, ID, WA, MT, ND, SD, WY, then south for the Winter of 2013/2014