World United States Arizona Jerome

Chuck & Jan - 2008 & 2009

Jerome & Camp Verde Apr 2, 2009

Spent another great day just cruising around and seeing "stuff". First visit was to a mining community named Jerome. It's a testament to determination. The town is built on the side of a mountain, and many of the houses had half of them on stilts, and half dug into a mountainside. Unfortunately, the State Park has been closed due to budget restrictions, so we didn't see the museum part. Did get a couple of pics of the machinery, from outside the fence. Most of the buildings on the main streets seem to be the originals (1865 or so), including two brothels. One of them was called "the House of Joy", and is now used as a museum, mostly to the women who lived and worked in them. Interesting. The second stop was an 1860's military establishment - Fort Verde. There are four of the original buildings still existing. It was not a fort in the usual Holywood rendering, but was a collection of buildings, without a palisade. An early comandant felt it would be more effective that way. We intended to see a historic site called Montazuma's castle, but the signs didn't seem to make much sense, and we missed it. turns out there is a "Montazuma Monument", a "Monezuma Lake", and several other "Montezuma..." sites. Probably that's part of the problem. Next time. Once we came back to the campground, we began to winterize the unit, and to hook up, ready for the trip north starting tomorrow. We assume that we'll no longer be in areas where we can use the trailer, so will motel it from here on. Probably about four, perhaps five, days home. Felling like the old horse who smells the barn, and is anxious to get there. Chuck & Janet

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