Finne's Follies: The Spirits of Arizona

We spent nearly the whole month of September in Arizona this year. After our visit to the Grand Canyon, we spent just short of two weeks in Verde Valley, a very pretty area south of Flagstaff. Verde Valley is still in the higher elevations, and even though it was hot enough during the day, the humidity was low and the nights were cool.

Our campground was a Thousand Trails campground close to Cottonwood. It is one of the nicer Thousand Trails parks we've been in. The roads inside the campground are in good shape (always an important factor to me), and the grounds are well kept. Also, they have a swimming pool, which Mark tends to use more than I do (these days, anyway).

We took a few side trips while we were there--to a semi-ghost town, an ancient ruin, and a town known for its spiritual connectivity...I guess you could say we checked out the spirits of Arizona.

Jerome, Arizona -- a city on the side of a hill

Jerome is an interesting little mining town near Cottonwood, built on the side of a hill. In its heyday, it had a booming population--somewhere in the neighborhood of fifteen thousand people. But today it's closer to five hundred, relying primarily on tourism. It is, in most respects, a ghost town.

We visited the museum on the hill, and for $7 each, learned about the glory days of its past.

Rocks & precious gems in the museum

Old mining equipment

The Jerome Museum

We also drove over to the Montezuma Castle National Monument. Twenty years ago, you might have been able to see the inside. But these days, it was merely a photo opportunity. They no longer allow people to actually go up and walk around in it because of the obvious problem of degradation, caused by...well, the wear and tear of people walking around in it. The ladders that used to be there have been removed as well, to keep people from sneaking in when nobody's looking.

These ruins are estimated to be about eight hundred years old. There's a lot of conjecture about what happened to the original builders and inhabitants, but the truth is, it's a mystery. Nobody really knows. The Hopi Indians discovered it already abandoned.

Our last sight-seeing trip was to beautiful Sedona-- New Age mecca. Here is where you can go to connect with your spiritual side, or just spirits, if that's your thing. Several rock formations are marked on maps as "vortexes." I'm not exactly sure how they know where the vortexes are, or even what they're supposed to do, but they seem to be pretty popular. Sedona is also supposed to be a hot spot for UFOs...but we didn't see any. It's probably a good thing. I have a strong suspicion UFOs are just demons in disguise anyway. And I sure don't need to see any of those. But we took lots of pretty pictures while we were there.

Sedona from the airport trailhead

Mark's niece, Becky, and her husband, Ty, came up from Phoenix to see us just before we left the area. We all drove into Old Cottonwood and walked around a little bit.

On that weekend they just happened to be hosting an annual motorcycle rally, and the streets were lined with them. It was a little more crowded than usual, but everyone was well-behaved and we had a nice afternoon. Becky and Ty treated us to lunch-- Thank you!

Our original plan was to stay a week at the Thousand Trails campground in Las Vegas, but while we were in Verde Valley, we heard from several of our fellow campers that the Las Vegas campground was terrible--run down and in an undesirable part of town. So Mark got on the phone and booked an RPI campground in Bullhead City, Arizona, instead--about an hour and a half south of Las Vegas--called Silver View RV Resort. It's a very nice park up on a ridge overlooking the valley. We will definitely return to this park if we're ever in the area again.

Coming into Bullhead City on Hwy 68 from Kingman

The view from our front window with Laughlin NV and
the Colorado River in the distance

The only excursion we made while we were in Bullhead City was to the Hoover Dam. In order to see everything Mark wanted to see, we had to take the "Whole Dam Tour." So we did. It took us down into the generator room and the tunnels. The security at that place is tighter than your average airport! It's too bad such efforts are necessary, but I'm glad they take it so seriously.

Walking across Hoover Dam

Before we left Bullhead City, Mark was blessed by a visit from an old-time friend, Miss Betty (and her husband, Steve) from his days in San Diego. They have since moved to Henderson, NV, and made the trip down to see us while we were in the neighborhood.

Miss Betty and Steve from San Diego (now Henderson NV)

Today we left Arizona for California. And, yes--we fueled up before crossing over the border! (Saved ourselves a dollar a gallon!)

God bless! And safe travels to all!

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

More pictures...

Village ruins below Montezuma's Castle

Beautiful riverbed near Montezuma's Castle

These are a variety of Sycamore tree. I was fascinated
by the bark on them. They reminded me
of paint-by-number pictures.

This was as close as we got to the inside of Montezuma's Castle.

Sedona, from the airport

Chapel of the Holy Cross in Sedona

Crucifix inside the Chapel (recently added)

The smaller rock formation is called "Madonna and Child"...
this was taken from the Chapel

The rock formation to the right is a "vortex" called Bell Rock

Bell Rock up close... still no UFOs

Mountain landscape around Bullhead AZ

Hoover Dam

The generators at Hoover Dam

Tunnel going through the width of the Hoover Dam.
At the end is a grate to the outside.

The grate looking out toward the river.

The dam was built in block, which they identified with
letters of the alphabet. This is a seam between two of them.
You can see there has been minor movement, as the copper pegs
above the letters and the letters themselves are no longer on level.

The power poles are built sticking out at an odd angle
in order to clear the rock face. (The copper building is
the visitor center.)

Nevada time on the Nevada side

Arizona time on the Arizona side

Lake Mead water level is managed by the state authorities
as they decide how much water to release downstream.
As you can see, it's currently very low but is expected to
fill up in the spring from the winter snow melt.