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Published: June 10th 2006
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Heading out of Tucson via I 10, I am on my way to Cottonwood, AZ. "How did I pick, or for that matter find Cottonwood, AZ?" I was asked in a bar later by the owner of the local Denny's in Cottonwood? "Easy, I couldnt afford to stay in Sedona" I would respond. But I am getting ahead of myself here. There was plenty to see before I actually arrived in Cottonwood.
Once I reach Phoenix I get on I 17. However, its early in the day, I've got nothing particular to do so instead of heading directly for Cottonwood I decide to get off on 69 which leads me into Prescott as I saw on the map there was the Yavapai-Prescott Indian Reservation just outside of Prescott. This actually turned out not to be true, or at least I couldnt find the Indian Reservation even doing something I seldom do, asking for directions. But I did get a good meal in Prescott at Annalina's, a Mexican restaurant. After walking around town for about a 1/2 hour I decide to head for Jerome, AZ which is located on 89A.
I had read before my trip that driving 89A was
View of the valley from Mingus Mountain
I'm just guessing I was on Mingus Mountain as its the only mountain listed on the map in that area. a must do if you are in the area and this is absolutely true. In fact I recommend that you drive all of 89A from Prescott to Flagstaff. Granted, I havent been that many places but this is definitely right at the top of the most scenic drives I have ever done. I took a couple of pictures along the way and as you can see, there are some great views. Also, the road is quite fun to drive and I would imagine it would be a lot of fun in a higher end sports car as the road has a lot of elevation change and is quite twisty between Prescott and Jerome.
Arriving in Jerome I drive through the town to take a look-see at what is going on. Many of the homes and businesses are built right on the side of the mountain (by the way at this point we're at about 7,800 ft elevation) providing for some excellent views of the area below. I was going to stop at the mining facility they had there but for whatever reason I decide to get out of my car and just walk around the town for about an
hour checking out some of the stores.
Jerome and Prescott are similiar in the fact they both seem to be built around tourism. Prescott had more of a town type atmosphere as there was a park in the center of town, etc, but there was a lot of traffic, which kind of ruined the experience. Jerome, however while still built around tourism, had more of a unique feel as there werent as many people probably because its a little more out of the way and also the way the town was built on the side of the mountain and had more of an artists village type of place. If I had a ton of money, I could see myself buying one of the homes here. Maybe take up driftwood sculpture or something like that...importing the driftwood from faraway places and....ok I'm getting off track here. Anyway I go into this shop that has all sorts of crystals, gems, and stones for sale. I end up buying a piece of partially polished rock from Jerome that is used to make copper. Its pretty cool I guess for a $20 rock.
After Jerome I drive down to Tuzigoot National Monument
(which is Apache for "Crooked Water") is an area that has ruins from a Southern Sinagua village. The village was built over time between 1125 and 1400 so I would imagine this would probably be some of the oldest ruins that exist in the United States. Whats weird is nobody knows why the Southern Sinagua abandoned these homes as well as the others in the area, which kind of adds a bit of mystery as you tour the pueblos. There is a fairly large display of Southern Sinagua artificats inside the Parks building. It doesnt take long to tour the ruins as there are only two sets of buildings, but it was pretty cool seeing something that old.
Finished with Tuzigoot I head on down the road to my hotel in Cottonwood, AZ
The View Motel where I am to spend 3 nights. If you are looking for a place to stay in the area and want to save a few bucks by staying outside of Sedona, I highly recommend this place. Its pretty close to Sedona, about a 20 minute drive, and it DOES have a great view. And its quiet even though when I was there I'm pretty sure it
Tuzigoot ruins
I get the "big" room!!! was fully booked up. Next time I come here, though, I think though I want to stay some place just north of Sedona as there are a lot of cabins and hotels in the woods up there...really cool area. That night I walk across the street to some steakhouse where I eventually meet some local people and we talk for an hour or two. Granted it was mostly me listening to these great stories of them living outside of the Oakland/San Fran area in the early 80's as two of the people I met were originally from that area and hung out with some of the celebrities from that era. Lets just say after hearing all these stories, I'm not quite sure how Oakland won all those superbowls in the late 70's/early 80's. It was a great night, but I had to get to bed as I had some hiking to do in the morning.
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