Traffic was amazingly thick for a Monday morning. So much so it was giving me a headache and this trip was not supposed to be about the headache, so I got off the main interestate and headed north west to Prescott. Slightly better for awhile until I started getting closer to the town. You know what the great thing (and also what the greatest curse) about America is? Every town now has a McDonalds, a Red Lobster and of course, a Denny's. Followed by Kmart, Walmart and a Best Western. They make it so that even when we go some where we don't feel out of place. It's very weird and I'm sure were I to drive across country I'd find the same things in the different cities all across the continent. It's really weird when you start to think about it. Are we all just the same?
Anyway- I drove through Prescott and parked near the capitol and took some pictures of the old buildings. Downtown Prescott is really old and they've tried to preserve it. It has a really old time old west sort of feel to it. Everything is made of brick and close together. A dozen little cafes/saloons and store fronts (now turned into antique stores for the tourists)populate the area. It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky unfortunately (I love me some clouds)but very cool and fall-y. After walking up and down countless hills I decided to get back in the car and head out. (I had already packed my car full of salty snacks and water).
I decided to do 89 north- which is off the main drag and takes you the backway into Jerome. Jerome, for anyone who wants to know, is a former copper mining town turned artist colony that is at the top of a very (very) high mountain called Mingus. 89 north takes you up a swirly, curving path until you reach the very top and then brings you down again. It was very dizzying. Cool. But dizzying. I was snapping gum to keep my ears and my stomach in check. I had the windows down and the music playing. It was very peaceful. Calming. Every now and then I would get a glimpse of the red rocks of Sedona through a break in the mountain and it would make my breath catch in my throat and I would stop the car and just look at it. There was hardly any traffic going up so I felt pretty safe doing this. I felt a million miles away.
Jerome is interesting in that the streets are beyond narrow and they have very few of them. For a town that survives on its tourism you'd think they try to change that. Nope. And I think it's better this way, anyway. I didn't go into the shops too much but I did walk around town and take some pictures of the old buildings and whatnot. There's this great biker bar there that has to be seen to be believed! You know what the first thing I did when I got there was though? Walked up these stairs to this little park they had and sat in the swings. I drove all that way to sit in a swing set and swing. Let it never be said that I am not a kook.
After swinging to my heart's content I wandered about and then decided to head back down the mountain, this time taking the southern route into Cottonwood where I promptly got lost. (I always get lost in Cottonwood). Traffic was horrendous. Which adding to my impending allergies, made my headache flare up again. And I was tired so I decided to head home. I was only a jump, skip and a hop to Sedona but I figured I would save that for another time.... ah... vacation is good for the soul.
to be continued