Friday:(04/05) Cereal for breakfast. We were on the road by 0830 stopping at Affinity RV again to do tank duties and get propane. Then we were off on Highway 69 to Highway 169 to I17 to Highway 260 into Cottonwood. We had hoped to stop at Dead Horse Ranch State Park but they were full through the weekend so we stopped at Rio Verde RV Park for a couple of days. After we settled in, Lou made hamburgers for lunch. After lunch we visited the local thrift stores and antique stores and walked around old town. Dinner was at the China Buffet near the RV park.
(GPS: 34.72188, -111.98925)
Saturday:(04/06) Breakfast was cereal for Lou and donuts for me. We drove up the hill to Jerome, an old mining "Ghost" town on the hill above Clarkdale and Cottonwood. It's a typical tourist town with shops selling tourist stuff but also had a strong local artisan presence. For lunch we stopped at the Haunted Hamburger House for haunted burgers. Lou, of course, had hers bun-less. They probably make the best hamburger in the world.
A view of the main street from up by the hamburger joint. We especially enjoyed talking with a potter at one of the shops and watching the glass blower at work at another. On the right is a view of the front of the glass blowers shop. What looks like only the brick front of a long gone building is the front of his shop. We enjoy watching him do his job and he does a great job explaining what he is doing.
We then took a drive of about 17 miles out the Perkinsville Road to Perkinsville. Perkinsville really doesn't exist or at least is not accessible via the road. I understand you can get to it on the train from Clarkdale. The road goes to the Perkins Ranch where a spur road becomes private and gated. The Perkinsville Road actually continues another 25 on up to Williams. We decided not to continue that far and returned to Jerome. We did discover a nice camping spot (above left) by the Verde River near the junction of another road that came from Chino Valley. That road is 23 miles. It's a nice spot but I'm not sure I'd bring the RV out there unless I was planning on a longer stay to make it worth the slow dusty bumpy drive. Above right is a view of Cottonwood and Clarksdale from the Perkinsville Road.
For dinner Lou made shrimp tostados.
Sunday: (04/07) We decided to spend another day here in Cottonwood. Cereal and bananas for breakfast. First, we did a little shopping. I wanted a couple of things to prepare for my Grand Canyon hike. I also got an oil change for the Jeep at Walmart. Then we were off to Sedona to look around. It is really a tourist trap. We looked at two Forest Service campgrounds along Oak Creek North of Sedona and picked where we'll move tomorrow. We also got some information on Jeep roads and hiking trails nearby. Lunch was a ham, peppers and tomato salad. Dinner was BBQ ribs with baked potatoes and asparagus.
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