Tag Archives: photos

Prescription? Cottonwood.

 

After leaving the medical clinic, and arming myself with a large jug of Gatorade against the altitude sickness…. we followed the doctor’s advice and drove to Cottonwood, Arizona where the elevation was much lower. She told me to have lunch, slowly walk around and drink plenty of fluids.

 

 

Sadly, not my kind of fluids… but I obeyed because I was still feeling lousy.

 

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Cottonwood is an old western town and Main Street plays that up for the tourists.

 

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Although Santa looked a bit too happy if you want my opinion.

 

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I really have no explanation for this.

So we walked…

 

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And found a nice restaurant.

 

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With a bit of history.

 

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You have to hand it to their interior decorator.

Heck, I didn’t even know charred concrete was in this season.

 

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There were also cacti in soup cans on each table. Very high class…

 

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The husband ordered French Onion soup with Caesar salad, which came with an out of proportion loaf of bread.

I hemmed and hawed over the menu since…..

Sigh.

 

 

 

It would be an alcohol free meal.

 

 

But after not eating for 3 days I wanted comfort food…

 

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And went with the ham and cheese stuffed meatloaf, mashed potatoes and veggies.

And then… Maple Bourbon Creme Brulee.

 

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Because a girl can’t go completely cold turkey ya know.

After lunch we ducked in and out of a few shops where I saw purse that was screaming my name…

 

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Have wine, will travel.

 

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And passed by a plant called a desert spoon, which looked nothing like a spoon.

Really.. A spoon? How would you eat your Rice Krispies with that.

I think the botanist had my lunchtime cocktail. And then some.

 

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Heading back to Sedona there were rocks…

 

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Glorious, breathtaking rocks!

 

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And this….

 

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Beware!

 

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Hula Hooping cowboys ahead.

 

Mount Mingus, and beyond….

 

So we left Jerome and the Asylum.

 

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And made our way out of town….

 

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Passing what looked to be an interesting burger joint.

 

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Before we knew it, we were climbing again.

 

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I swear I never had any idea Arizona was this mountainous.

 

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This one was called Mingus.

 

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Which lead us into more snow, and the Prescott National Forest.

 

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It was rugged country.

 

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And clearly, they must have rugged cows.

 

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Up and over we went.

(Pay attention to that sign.)

 

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And down the other side to the dry grasslands of Prescott Valley.

 

 

A half an hour later?

 

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We were back at our resort…

 

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And I felt like death warmed over.

 

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It was 3:30 in the afternoon and I went to bed.

 

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Where I stayed for the next 3 days.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday? This was my view…

 

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I didn’t eat, sleep, shower or get dressed….

I was dizzy, nauseated, weak as a kitten and had the worst migraine headache imaginable. Turning over in bed took more energy than I could manage.

The fourth day…. our 35th wedding anniversary for which I had big plans?

We spent here –

 

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Where I was diagnosed with severe altitude sickness and dehydration.

 

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Isn’t that romantic?

I was flat on my back…. but not the way I intended!

The doctor told me I experienced too much elevation too soon and drank too much alcohol.

 

 

I was given anti nausea meds and told to pound the Gatorade. Constantly, day and night.

I was also told no caffeine and….

 

 

 

Positively no booze.

Yes… my nightmare come true. I couldn’t drink!

It was unfathomable, but fact. Alcohol and caffeine are dehydrating and were off limits until I acclimated and felt better.

 

 

This was not the vacation I’d planned.

 

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And this was not the liquid elixir I had in mind.

 

 

 

Cocktails at the Asylum…

 

Because when I hear there’s an old psychiatric hospital that’s been turned into a hotel and bar?

 

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You know I have to go…

 

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Sitting on the highest point in Jerome, Arizona… I knew it was my type of place as soon as we walked in.

 

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Talk about repurposing.

 

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The restaurant was attractive.

 

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With whimsical…

 

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And authentic hospital antique touches.

 

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The bar had a sense of humor as well..

 

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But having learned my lesson with absinthe, I bypassed the Sazerac…

 

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Started with the mule…

 

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And then moved on to the sangria…

 

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So, my lunch was a little liquid. Don’t judge….

 

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We, the committed… started with soup.

 

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At least the husband did. I can’t abide squash, souped or otherwise.

 

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To be honest, the meal was mediocre at best..

 

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But we enjoyed the atmosphere and the view.

 

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See that little building in the middle of the picture? It was the original church of Jerome… and since Jerome was a mining town? It was built out of dynamite boxes.

 

 

The rest rooms were interesting….

 

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And kept the haunted theme going….

 

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Probably further than they should.

Here’s a photo of the original building.

 

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And one of the original patients?

 

 

Could be.

It was that kind of place…

 

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After lunch we roamed around and explored.

 

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And saw how the locals did their drinking back in the day.

 

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Please note the hanging towels and buckets on this side of the bar.

Were you required to clean up your own vomit back then…?

 

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The husband loved all the antiques…

 

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And I found a tacky gift store that was worth a laugh.

 

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Though unfortunately I missed the opportunity to buy genuine dinosaur poo.

 

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Which is clearly more popular than their bones.

A day late and a dollar short, that’s me.

 

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As we made our way outside the husband spotted this antique torture device.

 

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He told me it was a washing machine, to which I replied…

Same thing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jerome, Arizona

Relax.

This will be a red rockless post.

Our next trip was 20 miles south of Sedona to an old mining ghost town called Jerome.

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And like the 20 mile north trip we took to pine forested, snowy Flagstaff….

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This was a radically different topography as well.

Goodbye red rock canyons….

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Hello flat open grasslands that turned into hills…

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And switchback filled mountain roads….

Leading ever upward in elevation.

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We saw signs of the town’s mining past.

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And kept climbing.

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And climbing..

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And climbing, straight up.

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We bypassed the mine…

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And climbed farther up…

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Where the road narrowed to crazy proportions….

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Until we finally glimpsed our destination.

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If there’s an asylum?

You know I have to visit.

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The Jerome Grand Hotel, which used to be a hospital with a slightly checkered past.

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Perched high above the town…

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With a bar that used to house mental patients.

Now that’s my kind of place.

( To be continued.. )

Enchantment…. and rocks.

 

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Don’t worry Forrest, Sedona’s got more than enough rocks.

 

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They were everywhere..

 

 

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And they were glorious.

 

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This was Boynton Canyon.

One of the most stunning scenic drives we found….

 

 

 

I know, you’re getting tired of rocks…. but come on.

 

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You have to admit they’re beautiful.

 

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At the end of Boynton Canyon is the Enchantment Resort.

 

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I’m not quite sure why it was enchanted…

 

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Though they did have some nice rocks.

 

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And houses built into the rocks…

 

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Rocks.

Houses.

And a couple of scattered cacti.

 

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Nice.

But not my idea of enchanting….

 

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The teepee?

 

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Maybe.

But I’m guessing it was the rocks…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rocks… Cathedral and otherwise.

 

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No problem Dick…. you’ve come to the right place.

Day 2 dawned in Sedona and we saw some sun.

We even saw the promised Red Rock from our kitchen window.

 

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Did I mention things were red in Sedona?

 

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Even the sidewalks were color coordinated.

Our first destination was the Back O Beyond Road…

 

 

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Where they build houses on rocks.

And if you want your own rock…

 

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This .40 acre can be yours for $489,000.

I said Sedona was red…. not cheap.

 

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At the end of Back O Beyond Road?

 

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Cathedral Rock.

 

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A rock that looks like a cathedral? Okay, if you say so.

A fellow tourist parked next to us said WE HAD TO drive up to the Sedona Airport mesa and take in the view.  BEST VIEW IN SEDONA they shouted.

We listened, we went.

The drive up was lovely…

 

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The disappointment when we got there? No parking and no stopping signs plastered all over the place.  A little farther up the road? A ticket booth, a guard, a gate and a “viewing” parking lot.

Pay to jump out of the car for 20 seconds and take a picture?

 

 

These are my captures as the husband was flying back down the hill…

 

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Did you know that only 19% of Arizona is privately owned?

 

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That means the vast majority of land is open to the public and you can pretty much camp, picnic or hike anywhere.

 

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Which they do. If there’s 3 feet of shoulder? It’s filled with cars and someone, somewhere is hiking.

The rock formations never failed to fascinate me and most of them had names….

 

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There was supposed to be a Snoopy rock and a Chicken Head rock, but sadly, we never found them.

 

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Though believe me…

 

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It wasn’t for lack of trying.

 

 

 

A rainy day in Arizona….

 

I didn’t even know that was possible, but sure enough we woke on our first full morning in Sedona to fog and drizzle.

 

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Okay, not that much rain…

 

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But even the fog couldn’t hide the beauty.

 

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Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte rise majestically above you as you travel up Hwy 179.

 

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179 is an amazing road that cuts right through the canyon.

 

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It was my first real look at Red Rock country and I was hooked.

 

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Even through the fog, rain and spotty windshield, it was fabulous.

 

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We’d heard a lot about the famous Chapel of the Holy Cross, and even though I’m not the least bit religious…. decided to do a drive by.

 

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I have to say it was pretty magnificent….

 

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Rising out of the red rocks.

 

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The walk up to the top is long and steep, so there are golf carts to help the fat and lazy like me.

 

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But since the weather was bad, we just drove up and turned around.

 

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And planned on going back for a proper visit when the sun was shining.

 

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We noticed some snow on a far peak and marveled at the difference altitude can make. It was 60 degrees down in the parking lot..

 

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So we said goodbye to the church in the rocks….

 

 

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And passed by this little hacienda…

 

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Apparently the locals were livid the mansion was built so close to the chapel.

 

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But when you have that kind of money, I guess you can buy any piece of rock you want.