Jerome, Clarkdale, Cottonwood

November 21 (Tuesday)

Back on the tourist trail again today. We headed over to Jerome via Cottonwood and Clarkdale. The road to Jerome is quite twisty and certainly gains elevation. This old mining town has been rejuvenated since the copper mine operation closed for good in 1953. Lots of artists, galleries of course, and quite the gathering of off the wall shops and restaurants.

The views from Jerome are pretty impressive.

We made our way to the Jerome State Park and intended to view the mansion that has been converted to a museum. Unfortunately the State thought today would be a good day to repaint the lines in the parking lot so they closed down for the day.

There was an outside display that showed us some of the old mining equipment. The old shaft was still there. A glass panel covered it that you were welcome to walk over. Apparently the shaft is 1980 feet straight down! I did NOT walk over it!

There is a glass panel over the shaft that you can walk over. Not me!

Shift Whistle

Can you imagine climbing into this thing and be lowered 1000 feet down a shaft?

We headed over to Gold King Mine to see what they had to offer. They had some cool junk, but honestly other than a collection of unique old pieces owned by a long-time gentleman that has since passed away there wasn't much to warrant the admission.

So we did!

Nice RV

Motor home

We took a trip through town and up to a viewpoint just east. Incredible views, but the trip through town is 'entertaining'. The roads are extremely narrow and meeting traffic is a slow maneuver. I was sure the mirrors on the truck were either going to scrape the walls of the narrow street or meet the other guys mirror coming the other way. I didn't get a chance to look around much!

Viewpoint above Jerome

Heading back down

Next stop was back down the hill and over to Clarkdale. We didn't have a chance to go through the Copper Museum. They were working on the building and we didn't want to walk around the ladders and tools. These displays are outside.

Mash kettle

Copper ore

We had a nice quiet picnic lunch at the Verde Canyon Railroad station. The train had left and we were the only ones enjoying the quiet, the shade and the birds. So nice to get away from the crowds at Jerome.

Then back to Cottonwood for some shopping. Then on to the highlight of our day…….drinks and pizza at the Pizzeria Bocce with Steve and Dianne, and Ray and Deb. 

It was so good to see them and of course get them to answer more of my questions! It's so nice to pick the brains of those with experience, and they have plenty of that! Safe travels you guys! See ya later.

That was Our View From Here!