Ales on Rails

This past weekend Jonathan and I headed out of town to indulge in a break from the norm and experience the Ales on Rails event on the Verde Canyon Railroad.  Even though we spent just over a day away from Phoenix, the railroad trip with its lovely scenery, tasty micro-brews and the freedom it provided from house projects and work, was a much needed getaway! (trip photos can be seen in the slide show on the right)

After loading the beach cruisers into the truck and dropping Jackson off at his buddy's house down the street we headed North to the Verde Valley.  We were staying in a bed and breakfast, because for some reason I thought it fitting for the weekend adventure.  By the time we arrived in Cottonwood we were two hours past the "preferred" check in time so we decided to check in and set our stuff down in our room before heading out to dinner.  The room was an ok size, but it was literally a bed, in a room, nothing more.  Much to my displeasure, and despite what I thought I read on the website, we did not have a private bathroom and instead shared one with the guests in the room next to us, who by the way, we could hear through their door.

Cottonwood is a strange town, in fact its more like the convergence of one highway to another, bringing to life small communities of double-wides on large land plots, fast food chains, grocery stores, and a small, strangely remote downtown.  We enjoyed an authentic Mexican dinner and obligatory mini-vacation-margarita at El Torreo before heading back to the B&;B for a little cable TV surfing before bed.

The next morning we got started with a lukewarm shower, strike 2 for this place, and headed to the very disappointing breakfast service.  I have not stayed in too many bed-and-breakfasts, but for the love of cheese and rice, put some effort into the service!  Not one item, besides the bagel you toasted yourself, if you so chose, was hot.  I wasn't really there to fill up on breakfast as I had some Oktoberfest lunch plans in mind, but still a bit disappointing.  I also realized just how much I don't necessarily care for the company of non-family chatty Cathy's during breakfast.  I don't mind a little banter, but sally-non-stop had a one-up story for everything and could not seem to appreciate the beauty of a silent moment.  I felt a hint of awkwardness while I crunched on my seemingly deafening, fibertastic dry cereal as she talked at me, but I quickly relinquished any guilt and enjoyed the noise of my cereal replacing that of her voice. I sure sound pretty curmudgeonly, but lesson learned, bed and breakfast with strangers may not be my cup of tea.

Leaving breakfast with a bit of haste, we mounted our cruisers and cycled to the downtown district.  Despite the "bike friendly community" signs along our route, which usually indicate a bike lane, we opted to ride on the sidewalk that contained what seemed like an obscene abundance of driveways instead of ride on the highway. Once down town we racked our bikes and headed for some real coffee.  We apparently managed to get to town before nearly every shop owner but came across a few open shops to meander through.  Despite one shop's plethora of items we managed to walk away without any new whirligigs for our house, an accomplishment indeed.  Back on the bikes we had about 2 miles to go before we reached the train station.

For a little backstory, when I ride my cruiser, I tend to feel like I imagine Kermit felt as he pedaled along singing his Kermit song.  However there are times, like on this ride, when I feel more akin to a slightly naive hipster. Facing 3 waves of hills I shifted into my 2nd of 3 gears and smiled at the people driving by in the opposite direction as they craned their necks to witness my hamster wheelesque peddling. Silly out-of-towners.

Before we sat down to enjoy some brews, brauts and sauerkraut, we walked into the ticket/tourist shop to pick up our pre-purchased tickets.  I provided my last name, as well as alternatives starting with an S, a K, or an H, or an R (Rupp has happened before) and they still could not find our tickets.  Turned out, the B&B we were staying with is notorious for not ordering the tickets requested and paid for by their customers.  Insert aggressive grumble. Thanks to the impressive customer service by the rail tour company, within a short amount of time we were able to secure another set of first class tickets and headed back to the courtyard for lunch.

Its really amazing how a great husband, lovely weather, tasty food and an adult beverage can wash away any notions of rage.  I mean look at that face, how could I stay flustered? 
 
 

Once loaded into the Sedona car, we enjoyed our complementary champagne while we listened to the summary of our trip, as well as the car's bar specials and complementary food service.  Our route would be a 40 mile round trip ride through national forest land, turning around in Perkinsville. The pace was moderate and the scenery was gorgeous.  We were not expecting fall colors seeing that Cottonwood is still more desert landscape than not, but the valley with its groves of cottonwoods, flowing river, bright red rocks and cloud free blue skies was absolutely stunning.   From our car we walked though the Phoenix car to reach and enjoy the outdoor car. This car was hosted by a rather entertaining guide who pointed out various rock formations including 3 monkeys, two frogs, and a gargoyle, to name a few.  He also took great joy in playing photographer and describing some of the local wildlife.  I appreciated his style because he was witty and informative but not overwhelming or smothering.   

                                  






The slide show to the right contains photos of the various rock formations however I included one of the more interesting formations to the right and below.  This cave about half way up the side of a mountain displays a face, thought by the natives to protect the cave. When I first saw the cave, the face I saw was that of a feline which is circled in the photo directly below. Whereas when Jonathan saw the cave, see the photo on the right, he saw the human face which was the face that was being pointed out. Oh perception, you fickle beast.

 When we reached Perkinsvile the Engine passed us by in a loop to reconnect to what was previously the caboose, for our trip back to the station.  As the engine passed our outdoor car they handed off a tasty treat of ice cream sandwiches for all interested customers.  We spent a majority of our trip back in the open car but settled in our seats for a bit before arriving at the station.  After debarking the train we prepared to ride what I was expecting to be a semi challenging ride back to the B&B but thankfully it turned out to be a much easier ride on the way back than it was on the way there.

           

Seeing that there was really no redeeming quality to staying another night (soft bed, bad breakfast, no private bathroom, and bland fellow guests) we opted to drive back to Phoenix much to the delight of Jackson and the kitties. Despite some disappointments in our lodging we had a wonderful trip and will certainly be back for another train adventure with family or visiting friends.