Link to Tuzigoot and Jerome Facebook Pictures

It was actually COLD last night!  We had the windows zipped up and rainfly on to contain our heat.  When we woke up in the morning, the sun was shining strong and warming up the tent.  We started off the day by taking a much-needed solar shower and rearranging the things inside the car.  Tons of people that had been camping the night before were driving down the FS-515 road, kicking up tons and tons of dust as they left.

We went into town and down to Red Rock State Park and visitor center.  We asked the forest ranger there (an older man) for some suggestions for local hikes.  He talked to us, NO EXAGGERATION, for over an hour.  If I would have retained everything he would have told me, I could be a walking encyclopedia of hikes in-and-around the Sedona / Red Rock area.  Luckily, he circled a bunch of the trail-heads on the map that he gave us, so we will have somewhat of an idea when we try and plan everything out.  I decided to buy a topographical map of the area for $12.  He is part of the local search-and-rescue team, and said they rescue anywhere from 40-60 people a year who get lost / stranded in the dark.  Molly and I are going to try our hardest to not become one of those statistics.

After that, we headed towards Ace Hardware to see if they had my Saguaro cactus antenna topper.  Once again, everyone knew what we were talking about, but nobody knew where to find them anymore.  It became somewhat of an obsession to find this thing.  It is the elusive cactus; the rubber cactus that doesn’t want to find its way onto my antenna.  We went to two Ace Hardware’s, across the street to some local trading post-type store, to another Walgreen’s on the way to Tuzigoot National Monument…frankly, I am tired of searching for this thing.  If anyone can locate one on Amazon / eBay, I will take it.  Thanks in advance.

Next we had a pretty luxurious meal at a place called Wildflower Bread Company, similar to Atlanta Bread Company, or Panera Bread, but with a much stronger hippy-feel to it.  I had a sweet potato sandwich, which consists of:

Roasted sweet potato, fresh mozzarella, fig confit, tomato, arugula, marinated fennel and Balsamic Vinaigrette on Herb Focaccia

It was delicious.  I had never tried anything that tasted like that, but it was refreshing and all of the ingredients seemed to blend together flawlessly.  Molly had a half-sandwich of turkey and brie, with a chicken and lentil soup.  It was a good start to the day!

After Wildflower Bread, we headed towards Tuzigoot National Monument.  It’s another old dwelling built by the Sinagua (without water, in Spanish).  It was built around 1000 A.D. and they left the area around 1400 A.D.  This one was like a little city – it’s crazy to think that these houses have lasted so long.  I just don’t think they build things to last this long anymore..

After Tuzigoot, we drove towards the town of Jerome.  We stopped at Goodwill (in search of Arizona t-shirts), then Walmart (for a hat for me), and Home Depot (for another headlamp).  After those errands, we headed to Jerome.  Jerome was a mining town which became a ghost town after the mines closed down.  In the 1920’s, the town hosted about 10,000 people.  The mines closed in the 1940’s, and the population dipped to under 100.

In the 1970’s, the hippies realized that they could buy these homes for little-to-nothing (by paying back-taxes), and that is what is there today.  There are literally miles and miles of tunnels underneath this town, which is already built on a hillside.  They have endured multiple landslides and earthquakes.  The town jail had to change its address, after it slid two streets down due to a landslide.  It’s a town, waiting to slide off of the edge of the mountain, in my opinion.  If being on the side of a mountain, known for landslides and earthquakes wasn’t enough for you, try cutting through said mountain with tunnels upon tunnels.  It’s basically a giant mountain of Swiss cheese!

This is a model, depicting the tunnels underneath the city.

You can see some of the houses built into the mountainside, as well as the large “J” on the mountain-side.  I’m not sure what that “J” is made of.

Downtown Jerome.  There are tons and tons of hippy-type shops, selling arts and crafts, rocks/gemstones, and the like.  Molly and I didn’t buy anything.  I was still looking for my damn Saguaro cactus antenna topper (no luck).  We ate lunch at a place called the Haunted Hamburger – recommended by the same forest ranger that we got the hiking tips from earlier.  When I mentioned that a forest ranger had recommended the restaurant to us, the waitress knew exactly who we were talking about.  Apparently we aren’t the first ones to succumb to this “suggestion”.  I think he is getting commission in the form of free burgers!  At least we could keep him fed for another meal.  The burger was delicious, and the view from the restaurant wasn’t bad, either.

After Jerome, we headed back to Walmart to get some groceries (eating out 2x in a row was expensive) and then went to a McDonald’s to charge up our electronics.  Whew..that was a lot to write.  It’s dark now, but at least we know exactly where our campsite for the night is.

Tomorrow’s plans involve trying to wake up rather early and explore some of those hiking trails that the forest ranger suggested to us earlier.  We are thinking a nice hike to Cathedral Rock, and then checking out Devil’s Bridge..and I don’t remember what else as of now.  We’re going to try to AVOID hiking from about 12-4, which is the heat of the day.  Well, until next time everyone!