While staying in Cottonwood, we drove up to Jerome, AZ, which is an old copper mining town up in the mountains. They call it a ghost town, but it seems pretty active to me.
We drove to the Jerome Historic Park which is part of the Arizona State Park system. They have turned the mansion once belonging to James S. Douglas into a museum. Mr. Douglas led the United Verde Extension Mining Company which produced millions of dollars worth of copper from the Little Daisy Mine in the early 1900's.
We found the museum to be a worthwhile way to spend an hour or so. H was pretty impressed with the central vacuum system installed in the mansion. There are lots of mining artifacts, as well as lots of information on the history of mining in that area. One room was dedicated to the geology of the area; and in that room there is a "closet" called the fluorescent room that, for me, was worth the price of admission. Sadly, we couldn't get a good photo; so you'll have to see it for yourself.
From the museum, you can see how the town was built on the mountain. You can also see the two mine shafts called Audrey and Edith. On the hill across from the mansion is the Little Daisy Hotel, which today is a private residence!
We drove into the town of Jerome in hopes of getting some good BBQ for a late lunch; but it was Sunday and full of tourists, so we stayed on 89A and took the beautiful drive south through the mountains. An hour later, we found ourselves in Prescott. It was getting late in the evening; but we spent about an hour on Whiskey Row where we saw the Saloon frequented by Wyatt Earp, drooled over some fabulous Cowgirl boots, and then finished off the tour with a big bag of caramel corn.
Since it was getting late, we decided to head back to Cottonwood. Just as we were leaving Prescott, the truck began to act up. And by acting up, I mean the computer kept shutting things down. At one point, the truck delivered a very large clunk! There's nothing quite so demoralizing as having your vehicle threaten to quit on you while you're someplace far from home. We limped into a subdivision and H looked things over. Since there was nothing pouring out of the truck like oil or transmission fluid, and because it started up and seemed to run more or less normally, we decided to try and get back to the campground. After holding our breath the whole way, I'm happy to report that we made it back with no more incidence. But a trip to the shop was in the truck's very near future.
You can see photos of Jerome and our trip through the mountains in H's Gallery.
We drove to the Jerome Historic Park which is part of the Arizona State Park system. They have turned the mansion once belonging to James S. Douglas into a museum. Mr. Douglas led the United Verde Extension Mining Company which produced millions of dollars worth of copper from the Little Daisy Mine in the early 1900's.
From the museum, you can see how the town was built on the mountain. You can also see the two mine shafts called Audrey and Edith. On the hill across from the mansion is the Little Daisy Hotel, which today is a private residence!
We drove into the town of Jerome in hopes of getting some good BBQ for a late lunch; but it was Sunday and full of tourists, so we stayed on 89A and took the beautiful drive south through the mountains. An hour later, we found ourselves in Prescott. It was getting late in the evening; but we spent about an hour on Whiskey Row where we saw the Saloon frequented by Wyatt Earp, drooled over some fabulous Cowgirl boots, and then finished off the tour with a big bag of caramel corn.
Since it was getting late, we decided to head back to Cottonwood. Just as we were leaving Prescott, the truck began to act up. And by acting up, I mean the computer kept shutting things down. At one point, the truck delivered a very large clunk! There's nothing quite so demoralizing as having your vehicle threaten to quit on you while you're someplace far from home. We limped into a subdivision and H looked things over. Since there was nothing pouring out of the truck like oil or transmission fluid, and because it started up and seemed to run more or less normally, we decided to try and get back to the campground. After holding our breath the whole way, I'm happy to report that we made it back with no more incidence. But a trip to the shop was in the truck's very near future.
You can see photos of Jerome and our trip through the mountains in H's Gallery.
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