Headed to Cottonwood along the I17, and it is quite the scenic drive. It is also the first of probably many extensively long uphill/downhill travels. Throw in a bunch of switchbacks, and it only goes to confirm that I am truly not a fan of the experience. Not only is the drive a little white knuckle, because of that, I rarely get a real good look of what is passing me by. Oh well, such is travel.
Cottonwood is a nice town, with an old section that is great to wander around. Dead Horse Ranch State Park was a long time working ranch, and when that time was up, the owner gave up the ranch on the condition that the park kept the original ranch name. As the story goes, when the owner was looking to acquire a ranch, he looked at many, and when talking with his family about which might be the best one, his young son stated that he liked the ranch where he saw the dead horse...and thus the name.
The park is quite large, with several camping areas, all surrounded by cottonwood trees, our site especially so. It is well maintained and there appears to be a couple of camp hosts, and they keep the place looking sharp. Wherever we have seen camp hosts in campgrounds, they keep busy doing their tasks, and without fail, the parks are in good shape and very organized.
We spent one afternoon in Jerome, a short drive away...a short ‘switchback’ drive away I should add. We had heard not to venture there with the Alto in tow, and that is definitely wise advice to follow. The town sits at an elevation of 5280’, surrounded by peaks that go even higher. Jerome is literally perched on top of one of these peaks, and when you get there the few roads within the town are all switchbacks, to get to a higher section of the town. There is no level spot in Jerome, all the roads and sidewalks are either heading up or down, and of course, slanted one way or another, which was unnerving...to say the least.
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| way up there, and perched |
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| all the building are old, with little renovation or new builds |
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| the main hotel and attraction |
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| everything goes every which way in Jerome |
The town was once home to the largest copper deposit in the area, and that was the only game in town. When the mines left, so did most of the town, until it eventually was reborn as a artist colony and cute tourist destination. Destination might be a touch strong, perhaps it is more of an interesting afternoon jaunt. Lots of shops, cafes and breweries to keep your mind off the wonky feeling one gets just walking around.
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| shades of Dr. Strangelove... |
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| who knew rice crispies had so much influence? |
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| I've got nothing to add here... |
On our way back from Jerome, we stopped in Clarkdale and Dale discovered a historic area with more adobe. The buildings had a number of common design details.
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| an original fence as well |
In Old town Cottonwood we discovered a smoke house restaurant called ‘The Colt Grill’ which was a good find, as the BBQ was excellent, and it seemed a favourite of the locals. We ordered a whole rack and sides, and ended up with enough for a good take home second feed.
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| cool sign...but I suspect repurposed at some point |
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| spotted this beauty |
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| paint was perfect |
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| is this a special model, or did it actually run "The Ring" |
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| very funky art gallery |
We did some basic housekeeping chores while we were here, and I also got an oil change on the Santa Fe. Never hurts to freshen the oil up before loading on the miles home. The only downer to the stay was that Dale picked up a nasty stomach bug that knocked her back the last couple of days of our stay. Although she was still not feeling great, with Sedona less than an hour away, and we had a site there for seven nights, we made made the dash there as planned. That turned out to be a good call.
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