Jerome and Old Town Cottonwood

When hearing we were going to the Sedona and Cottonwood area, several people suggested we should drive up to see a small town called Jerome. It was a copper mining and smelting town high in the mountains nearby.

When the copper mine finally closed down, the town died and many of the old buildings were destroyed. But at some point new "hippie" people moved in and Jerome became revitalized. It is now a destination that is not terribly touristy, nor overly "artsy." Some of the old buildings have been restored, and a few stand in their original condition.

The Jerome State Historic Park Visitors Center, great lunch spots, and fantastic views of the valley below make the short drive and difficult parking worth the effort.

We only spent a half day there because my walking is still limited by my ankle injury.

After lunch we drove down and walked around the Cottonwood Old Town business district, visiting a few galleries, antique shops, a book store, and several gift shops. 

I bought some wild new socks with pink and purple smiling javelinas as my souvenir. 
We also stopped  at an Olive Oil tasting room, where Craig got a small bottle of Cara-Cara Orange Vanilla Balsamic Vinegar.

Any souvenir must be consumable, wearable, readable, or for someone else when you live in an RV!






Did I mention there were four other Alfas here in our loop of the Dead Horse Ranch Park? It seems that wherever there is more than one Alfa, happy hour is celebrated. So we joined our Maverick friends and had some yummy bites for dinner. After having eaten lunch out we had planned on a simple salad for dinner, but the crab cakes, meatballs, deviled eggs, and an assortment of  fresh veggies were more than enough. 

The eating is GOOD!

A list of our future reservations:

Where We Are, and Where We Are Going

And Life Goes On

We had a pleasant family Thanksgiving.  We do not have family living near us, so only our daughter, her husband and our two grandsons were here.  Their German au pair, Anka, also came.  It is always interesting to share the holiday with an au pair because they tell us about traditions in their countries. This was the first time she had tasted turkey.  She said it was good.

Our son was not able to come this year and that made me a bit sad.

On Friday we took them to Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park to see our closest redwood grove.  It is not the most impressive, but this might be the Anka's only opportunity to see the big trees.  

There are none down near San Diego, and I don't think she will get to the northern part of the state during her year.



We also went for lunch and walkabout in downtown Los Gatos.  Some of the street trees are finally at their peak of color.

Each of our grandsons has his own special interest.

The twelve-year-old has always loved math, and has now found some internet sites that are helping him learn about math that's quite ahead of his grade.

Here he is not doing homework, he's just having fun.

The nine-year-old loves all things having to do with food and cooking.  The high point of the weekend for him was a trip to a local specialty shop for oil and balsamic vinegar tasting.  

It is now Saturday afternoon.  They just left for their long drive home to San Diego. We will see them again when we go there for Christmas.

I just wish these two holidays were further apart, or they lived a little closer to us.  

Maybe when we are full-timers we can spend the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas down there.  

Something to look forward to.  But now we will have to get back to work on the house for a few weeks.  We finished the stairwell deck railings.  The only ones left are on the upper deck, and we have decided to let them be until spring.  We will also do the stairs then.

Craig is eager to get started finishing four new doors and a bunch of baseboards and door trim wood that he bought last spring.  When the weather started to get nice in May he shifted to outdoor painting work.  Now it is time to shift back to concentrating on indoor projects.

I also want him to do a little patch work on some of the drywall up in my sewing loft.  It was damaged before we had the new roof put on two years ago, and has to be fixed so I can paint the loft and small bedroom up there.

My goal for between now and Christmas is to help Craig and to clear more stuff out of the studio.  Someday it will have to become a bedroom again. 

So, as the title of this post says, "Life Goes On."

What will you be doing between now and December 25th?