Monday Oct 9, 2023 - Dead Horse Ranch State Park to Bisbee

OK, time to go home. Dead Horse has been a perfect place to camp for these last 4 days because Cottonwood is just a short hike away if you want to go into town, have a bite, or shop. Jerome is nearby which has more shops and the museum, there are state parks and national monuments nearby, and the campsites have full hookups which for us means just electricity, but just electricity is a jump up (you can use a toaster).

We were all up early and we helped each other get packed up and hooked up. Dave and Deb have the 19’ camper, which became the central command post so all the chairs, the propane fire ring, the Coleman stove were all setup at their site with a 10’ x 10’ canopy for shade. 

So this morning we all left around 7:30 so not bad.

Carmen is going to Yuma for another week to see friends there and Dave and Deb were going directly back to Bisbee. Deb and I are making a stop at Montezuma Castle National Monument, so will be a little later getting back to Bisbee.

We stopped at McDonalds for coffee and a breakfast sandwich and then headed to Montezuma. Carmen was there as well, and we all walked through the park and ruins (and got in free!!). The Sinagua (without water) people were here from 1100 to 1400 and then left. Some think the climate changed and some think it was other more aggressive tribes moving in.

After saying our goodbyes to Carmen it was a coffee stop and interstate all the way back home. We stopped in Casa Grande for lunch at Culver’s, but other than that it was light traffic on I-17 and I-10 since today was a holiday. Back in Bisbee by 3:45 to unpack.

90 nights sleeping in the van

Sunday Oct 8, 2023 Dead Horse Ranch State Park Day 4

 

Deb here again. We woke up to a cloudy day, which was a welcome change after the previous hot afternoons. Deb, Carmen, John, and I decided to walk from the campground into Cottonwood, so after breakfast the four of us headed out along with the dogs. The walk was a couple of miles, ending on the Jail Trail down by the Verde River, which led us right into Old Town Cottonwood. We looked in a few stores while we waited for Dave to pick us all up in the truck. By the time we were back at the campground it was lunch time, so we had lunch while we plotted our next move.

Carmen had suggested a visit to Red Rocks State Park, about a half an hour away, so we left the dogs in the air conditioned camper and off we went. The afternoon was cool and cloudy with a few sprinkles, so a perfect temperature to explore the park. We all loved Red Rocks State Park, a beautifully thought out and maintained park with a great visitor’s center and family friendly hiking trails. We took off for the Apache House of Fire Trail, which was a spectacular loop up to a home that was constructed in the 1930’s by a couple but never finished. Quite a sad story attached to the house but what a view and location. The red rocks in this part of the state are so unique and special.

We then returned to our campsites for a bit before regrouping for dinner in town. Deb’s son Matt had recommended we try Merkin Vineyards Hilltop Winery and Trattoria, which just had its grand opening a couple of days earlier. The restaurant sits high above the old town, with vineyards surrounding it and a long staircase (and eventually a tram) up to the top. The place was hopping, so we added our names to the waitlist and waited about half an hour for an outdoor table. We all enjoyed our dinners, with pastas, pizza, a cheese board, and local drinks. Back to the campground by 8 p.m. and said our goodnights.

Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023 - Dead Horse Ranch State Park Day 3

Deb here. Another hot and sunny day ahead, so after a lovely breakfast of eggs, English muffins (yes, I brought a toaster along, quite decadent) and fruit, we hatched a plan to make the most of the cool morning.

We started with a visit to Tuzigoot National Monument, which is only a few minutes away from our campground. Tuzigoot is an interesting place that John and I visited before but were happy to return to. It’s a Pueblo ruin above the Verde River that had 110 rooms built by the Sinagua people, between 1125 and 1400 AD. It was excavated between 1933-35, and then the ruins were prepared for public display, reconstructing the stone work. Cote and Benny went with us, and we all enjoyed the walk and the info.

We then headed back to our campsites, with a stop at one of the park lagoons to walk around the lagoon and down by the Verde River. Several folks out fishing, and lots of activity on a sunny Saturday of a long weekend. Lunch was next, eating in the shade of Dave and Deb’s canopy.

In the afternoon we left the dogs in Deb and Dave’s air conditioned trailer, and the five of us headed out. Dave and John dropped Deb, Carmen, and I in Clarkdale at the Arizona Copper Art Museum. Clarkdale had its Clarktoberfest going on, so lots of booths, food, drink, and music on the blocked off Main Street. After checking that out we entered the museum, which had an overwhelming amount of info concerning the history of copper, and rooms filled with copper artifacts. Quite a niche museum!

While we were there, Dave and John went to the Jerome State Historic Park. John and I were there last year, but it was a new stop for Dave, and the guys really enjoyed their visit. The Jerome mine was owned by the same company as our Bisbee mine so there were a lot of similarities in their history. Great museum.

We'd hoped to meet up at the Clarkdale Brewery, but it was packed due to Clarktoberfest.  We opted to return to the campground, eat sandwiches for dinner (along with some tasty gin and tonics) and then s'mores over the firepit for dessert. Another great day!

Friday Oct 6, 2023 - Dead Horse Ranch State Park Day 2

 

Deb and Dave made chorizo eggs in tortillas and fruit. The plan was to go to Jerome which is part of the Cottonwood - Clarkdale - Jerome three town area. This was the home of a copper mine for many years. The two dogs, Benny and Cote, are joining us today as well so we all piled into Dave’s truck (yup, 5 adults and two dogs) and headed for Jerome. I think we have all been to Jerome before but at different times. Downtown Cotttonwood is a nice mid-sized tourist town with lots of shopping, and Clarkdale is small with a Copper Art museum and a brewery. It was built by the mine to smelt copper and is still the railroad hub, although now it is just tourist train excursions. Then up the super windy skinny road to Jerome. Jerome is small with skinny streets that zig zag up accross the face of the mountain. You can still see signs of mining with old mine shafts here and there and light brown industrial buildings left over. The town itself has that feel like Bisbee of a late 1800’s mining boom town that is now just a tourist spot. The buildings of Jerome have a history of sliding off the sides of the mountains between the underground blasting and the steep side hill. Lots of old foundations that had different buildings built on top of the last building that slid off the hill. The town was buzzing with shoppers. It’s 1-½ hours to Phoenix and not far from Sedona and Prescott, so this must be a popular daytrip for tourists. Parking is impossible, but they did make a large parking lot up the hill with lots of shaded free spots under solar panels, and a shuttle bus down into town, but it’s such a short walk we opted to walk into town. Dave and I watched the dogs while the women shopped. Nice people watching and the dogs were good conversation starters. After Jerome, we headed back to the park and made lunch, then a little afternoon siesta, reading and napping. Dinner was fajitas and a long night of laughing around the fire pit with the stars overhead.

Thursday Oct 5,2023 - Bisbee to Dead Horse Ranch State Campground

No rush this morning since we have all day to get to Dead Horse. Usual closing up the house and collecting everything to take in the 27 gallon “Provisions Box”. There are 3 rigs and 5 people. Our friends Katie and Pam cancelled because one of them had a bad cold and just got back from a big trip back east. They are always a lively addition to this group but we'll try to compensate. 

We always pile everything up at the end of the driveway and then pull the van up and shovel everything in. We live on a steep one way street and can only park one vehicle in the driveway.

We left by 9:30 and stopped up at Dave and Deb’s to see how they were doing. They were almost packed up and in good shape so we left to head north. They have a 19’ camper they pull with their Chevy truck, and Carmen has a toy hauler she pulls with her Chevy truck.

We went over the divide to avoid the construction in the tunnel. They're putting new lights in and maybe something else so they have one way traffic.

We stopped at the Horseshoe Cafe in Benson for a nice breakfast and arrived there 10 minutes before the breakfast cutoff at 11:00. Onto the I-10 and then ground our way through Tucson and then Phoenix. Filled up with gas somewhere north of Phoenix ($3.99) then on to Dead Horse. We'd been here before Christmas last year, so easily remembered our way through Cottonwood and on to the park.  One nice thing about this weekend as far as packing goes is we're next door to Cottonwood which is big enough to have all the big stores, so no danger of forgetting anything.

We found our site (91) which is perfect because it has a nice shade tree in the right spot. The weather forecast says highs of 87 to 92 the next few days and lows of 49 to 55. The bathrooms here have hot and cold running water along with nice showers and dish washing stations, so luxury accommodations all around. Cost is $30 per night.

We are right on the cusp of wishing we had air conditioning, but the cool nights make for perfect sleeping.

Our friends pulled in shortly after us and we have three adjacent sites (91-93). Full hookups (electric, water, septic) but we only use electric which changes things a lot. We brought a toaster along since we have electric, which is a first for us. We have only hooked up to power a few times since owning this van because the battery power has been perfect this last year.

Dave and Deb have the bigger rig so it ends up being the party center. The other folks both have A/C, so if it gets really hot we can escape in there. But it was a very pleasant evening with a slight breeze drifting through the campground. Every site is full and kids are riding bikes around the park. 

Deb N. made potato soup and we had birthday coconut creme pie since Dave and Milo just had side by side birthdays.  Tonight we watched the stars and we can see the lights of Jerome up on the side of the mountain. Nice night for sleeping.