Another Adventure, A Quick Trip Up The Road and Cooking Ahead.

Our Location today is Dead Horse Ranch State Park, Cottonwood, Arizona, U.S.A.

We are finally getting rested up enough that we are waking a little earlier each day. I was up and getting everything ready for breakfast by 8:00 this morning before starting my morning reading on the Computer. That was around the time Kathy came downstairs apologizing for sleeping in. It’s not like we are on any schedule for the time being. We are Retired and even though this is our everyday life we are enjoying it. 

We were out the door later then we expected to be this morning. After having over prepared ourselves for yesterdays Adventure we were much more laxed about our plans for today. Today we each walked out with only our Hiking Water Bottles, Ball Caps, a single Walking Stick each and the Cameras. 

The Monument from the yard.

Where the grain was ground into flour,

We needed to make a stop before going too far but when I dropped Kathy off at the door she was met by a sign that indicated the place was “Closed on Wednesdays”. With Snowbirds migrating south for the upcoming winter that could be bad for business. 

Rooms surrounding the main Tower.

Kathy waiting for me to catch up.

It was nearly noon by that time so before leaving Cottonwood we stopped at the Dairy Queen to have lunch. Kathy had the $5.00 Meal Deal while I splurged and had the $6.00 Meal Deal. How many places do you know that serve you a Sandwich, Fries, Soft Drink and an Ice Cream Sundae for dessert for that low a price. 

Kathy entering the tower.

This shows how the ceiling was supported.

Our destination today was Clarksdale which is the community closest to the Tuzigoot National Monument. We had planned on visiting this Monument along with Montezuma’s Castle and Well yesterday but that got Nixed when we had trouble with our GPS. 

Rooms abutting rooms that abutted the tower.

Some Volcanic Rock used in the structure.

The red arrow points to Jerome on the mountain side.
Picture taken from the tower at the Monument.

Following the road to the Monument as you approach it stands visibly above the valley floor. Since no other vehicles were behind we made a brief stop to get a picture from below. Just then a car came speeding up from behind didn’t slow down just veered around us over a Double Yellow Line before stopping in the Parking Lot. There had been a Sherriff’s Patrol Car parked facing the direction we were coming from when that happened. He immediately turned on his Flashers and blocked that car and its occupants in. We never did see those people inside. 

The Picture we took from the road.

The Tuzigoot Monument is different from what we saw yesterday where they built Dwellings in the face of the cliffs. This 110 Room Community was built using Rocks and Stones mortared together on a Ridge that was 120 Feet above the Valley Floor. The village was built around 1100 AD and continued to grow for the next Three Hundred Years until people started moving away. As with the other monuments this was occupied by ancestors of the Hopi Tribes and had not been meant to be a Permanent Home. Listening to their Inner Nomadic Instincts they eventually abandoned these dwellings and moved on. After spending over an hour walking the paved paths of the Monument we were ready to head off.

Up the Road to Jerome

As we got back in Clarksdale we saw a sign that indicated the direction of Jerome just up the road. Even though Kathy didn’t think it was worth visiting from all the research she had done I had seen it mentioned in other Blogs and was curious so up the road we went.

If you noticed that I wrote Up the Road. That is because Jerome is built on a Mountainside and the road is a combination of Zig-Zag Roads, Switchbacks and Hairpin Turns. This would be a great road for anyone on a Motorcycle but there were even a few smaller 5^th Wheels up there. It is an Eclectic Combination of old buildings that have living quarters upstairs and businesses downstairs. It’s mostly comprised of Bars, Eateries, with Candy and Souvenir Shops. Kathy’s description was that it looks like a place where “Time Stood Still”. We headed back Down the same Road we drove in on. We are sure it would be appealing for some but not for us. 

Back Home at Dead Horse Ranch State Park we had things we needed to do. After getting our Hiking Water Bottles and Hiking Sticks that we didn’t use today along with the Cameras inside we both had chores that needed doing. 

More streets of Jerome

While I assembled our Weber Q out by the Picnic Table, Kathy prepped the Bacon on the Cookie Sheets so I would have easy access to it. We grill the bacon this way so it doesn’t raise the temperature, there is no splash on the Walls, nor does it leave the aroma of Bacon throughout the inside of the trailer. While I grilled the 3 lbs. of Bacon on the Grill Mat on our Weber, Kathy was busy cleaning the last of the meat from the Chicken we purchased the other day. She also started boiling the Bones to make a nice Chicken Stock by the time I had finished grilling the Bacon. Kathy showed me how to take off the grease and repackage the Bacon so it could be refrozen and used quickly when needed. 

Grilling Bacon on the Weber Q.

Homemade Chicken Vegetable Soup

After getting a couple of Frozen Steaks out of the Freezer and removing the packaging I put them on the Weber Q on a very low heat so they would cook completely through. Kathy was still busy inside turning that Chicken Stock into a Homemade Chicken Vegetable Soup as well as making a Spinach Salad and cooking some Green beans to go with our Steaks.

Everything tasted great and we have some Homemade Soup that we’ll enjoy for some upcoming meals. Not sure what we’ll be doing tomorrow but when you are living the Fulltime Lifestyle every day is an Adventure. Thanks for following along, feel free to leave a comment and click on the pictures to enlarge them. Be Safe and Enjoy!

It’s about time.

Krackers

Classic Bumper Sticker #225

You never really learn to swear until you learn to drive.