We woke up to….
See em?
There they are at 7am! Aren’t they so cute!? Sleepily, we head to the gym across the way to get our motors going. I have a few surprises in store.
After our workout, we have coffee, bars, and beef jerky for breakfast (sigh…sorry family but we are being frugal). We pray, do our devotion, and read about St. Patrick. Who was he? Well, we find out that after his capture for 6 years, he becomes a believer. He later returns to Ireland (he’s originally from Britain), to love on the people and bring them the good news of Jesus. He uses a shamrock to explain the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. WOW!!
SO, I give each of us a new shirt. We will wear the shamrock today to celebrate. First stop, Tuzigoot! This is a National Monument near Jerome. The people who built and lived in the rooms of the Tuzigoot (meaning “crooked water”) pueblo were a tribe called Sinagua (without water) around the year 650, 1400 years ago…this is when people began settling in the Verde Valley. Here we are in front.
First, don’t we look cute in our shirts?
Ok, so off we go to explore the pueblos.
The pueblo at Tuzigoot consists of over a hundred rooms; after the people left, sometime in the 1300s, the pueblo stood empty until the early 1930s, when it was excavated by American archeologists and then turned into a national monument on July 25th, 1939.
We are going to climb to the top!
Here we are Hay family!
It was a short but educational visit. Now we decided to go to Jerome to visit a mining town area. We had NO idea what to expect.
Factoid about Jerome:
Jerome is a town built way up high on the hill and was built above a vast deposit of copper. The mines helped wealth and formed Jerome’s history. It is definitely a ghost town to see! The Gold King Mining Company is one treasure trove to visit. Little did we know it is really not about the mines that make it unique. It’s all the antiques and character!
We paid our admission, and entered into a world of the past. First we were asked to drop our pants at the laundry mart.
Then we entered to wash our clothes. My grandma had to use these machines!
Doug was fascinated by this huge generator.
We came upon the oldest home in the area. This used to have about 300 people populating this space. Then down to 1.
Animals everywhere. Especially this little rooster. He must be the town gossip because he seems to be in everybody’s business.
Tatum just wanted to go to school and learn more. Look at this little room filled with old typewriters!
Later, we met the owner of this whole place, Mike, and he shared some history. He also told us how he gets his treasures. Like this car for instance. Paid $600 but it’s worth probably $5000.
His home is right above this land…built with all the wood from the property.
Oh, did I mention the animals? This poor little guy? pregnant pig? has not missed any meal or snack or dropped morsel. Nothing at all!
Then we met the blacksmith, Will. He has bible verses all over this exhaust, and I was intrigued.
He had a note about Harry Potter up there that got us sharing our common dislike for him and the glorification of wizards. Interesting man, but he loves Jesus!
We found a few funny signs. This weather rock…..holy rocking’ moly!
BAAAAA!!!
Or this..
We hope we never get to this point!
Later in the gift shop, we found my honey. Oh dear. What happened to you Douglas? I wonder about the person who actually purchase this beauty.
Off we went to check out Jerome and the Haunted Hotel. Seriously hard to find parking in this ladder of a town, so we skipped it in search of lunch. Back to Sedona to eat and head to the golf course.
On the first hole, Tot grabbed the flag and discovered it was made of NOT wood but fiberglass. And…. Daddy had to go fetch the tweezers. We sat on hole 9 and did surgery for a few minutes. Meanwhile, this beautiful scenery surrounded us.
After the dramatic splinter scene, I took a few shots in the last hole. Now, remember, I may look good on the swing, but the result is usually only 80 yards or so. My honey’s swing gets it much farther or at least into a tree limb, tearing it down. Quite powerful!
We headed to the pool after this even though we needed the hot tub, headed to dinner, and came back to our room to laugh, eat, and collapse.
The next morning, we’d head out after a hike if we are feeling ambitious.
What a fun day of exploring!