10/07/2020
GOING STIR CRAZY!!! Yes, COVID is driving us to take drastic measures, like a nice, bumpy dirt road.
OK, so we would do that anyway but that sounded much more interesting.
This road heads to Perkinsville, once a stop along the Verde Rail Road. Today it is just a little bity spot on the map.
We started from Prescott in Chino Valley and wound our way along the quiet dirt until it exited in Jerome.
Jerome is one of our favorite places, and normally we would stop for a meal at The Asylum Restaurant in the hotel, but not now since COVID is active and Jerome is packed with people.
So we will be contented with enjoying a nice, bouncy ride amid some beautiful desert scenery and save The Asylum for another year.
We actually did part of this one week - from Jerome to Perkinsville - then went back the next week to do the entire route from Prescott to Jerome.
Most of the road is in really good shape with just a few rough spots. The scenery is lovely, it is quiet, only minimal traffic and those are mostly ranchers who live in the area.
Very nice way to spend a few hours.
The open road becons
We stopped to admire the fluffy white things in the sky since we do not get clouds all that often
Just a road shot
An informative sign.
We took a ton of shots across valleys - that redish line is the road
Beautiful valley with a nice view of the mountains
The area around where Perkinsville used to be
The old bridge - no rail roads now just cars
And I am still under the weight limit of 15 tons so the bridge holds. Yes, COVID pounds are adding up
The Verde River - a small tribute. The river has several little splits here
So refreshing amid all the heat and dust
Another informative sign. Sounds much more onerous than it really was.
But the truck was having a good time judging by the dirt covering
We drove through a few slots. It gets very quiet between the walls
Great rocks
That little cut up there is a gap carved out of the hills
Inside the gap
More nice rocks and an old mining flume. There are tons of old mines all over Arizona
Yes, we had volcanoes a long time ago
Back on the pavement and heading to Jerome
The old pit mine in Jerome. Ore bearing copper, gold, silver, and other metals have been mined here until about 1953
Looking down on the Ghost Town Its not really a ghost town, but he does have some neat old vehicles
We did this once a long time ago and really enjoyed it