Carefree & Cave Creek, AZ

We were off on another day trip, this time to Cave Creek, AZ. But on our way there, we saw huge boulders in Carefree, AZ. I asked my husband, Vel to pull over to see what these were. We pulled into a parking lot, but it was a hotel. So we turned around and pulled into another parking lot. A low and behold it was a beautiful church, Desert Hills Presbyterian Church surrounded by the huge boulders. We got out the car to investigate and behind the church was beautiful scenery of the desert and these boulders. I couldn't contain myself the boulders were humongous and beautiful. We walk a little further and there was a remembrance garden of people who had attended the church and have since past on. Around the corner the church had a beautiful outdoor gathering area with seating. To the right of that, a strange formation caught my eye... It was unique! There was a obscure path leading into the desert to take you to this formation, so we climb up.

I am truly glad we stopped to see the boulders, but finding this beautiful formation and getting to take a picture with it... was something else. I always have to remind my husband, "It is not always about getting to the destination, but letting the destination reveal remarkable things is what it is about!" Had we just kept on driving, we wouldn't of got to experience such a peaceful place!

We continued on our journey and came across a shopping area in Care Creek. called Frontier Town. This place had wonderful shops that sold souvenirs, authentic jewelry and trinkets. It was set up like an old western town. We had a lot of fun going in the buidings and taking pictures. But my favorite part was hearing the stories behind the jewelry and artifacts in the stores.

Afterwards, we were getting hungry and stopped for some lunch at Bryan's Black Mountain BBQ. The food was delicious and we had views of black mountain. It was a well needed rest and we were able to refuel to finish our journey for the day.

We stopped at other shops and saw some unique things: Dinosaurs, lions, pigs, cow carcass heads, jewelry, furniture, Kachina dolls... yeah we saw some unique things. There was awesome yard art and artifacts. Would love to go back one days soon! After we finished in Cave Creek it was on to our last destination...

Our last stop of the day was to Bartlett Lake. What a peaceful, beautiful find. You don't even know that it is even there. There are no signs of a lake, just miles of desert landscape and them 1 hour later... you are treated to amazing views of the lake. We found some unique rocks make of quartz. We even found some seashells. We didn't stay that long, as it was getting late and the sun started getting dim, so we headed back to the resort to check in and get dinner! This was a great day trip! :)