Thanksgiving Week

Did you realize that Thanksgiving is late this year?  It really becomes more clear when I think that next week we will be heading up north for Christmas!!!  Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and enjoyed time with your family, friends and loved ones and gave thanks for all that we have!!  We had a great week with Jason and Jen — lots of laughs!!

They flew in late on Saturday night so we got back to the house about midnight.  We just showed them around and then we all went to bed.  We had planned that Sunday would be a low key day since we probably would all be kind of tired.

Sunday

David made a fantastic breakfast of pancakes and eggs and we enjoyed a lazy morning.  In the afternoon, we took a short hike on the Jail Trail in Old Town Cottonwood.  It was nice, but not much compared to the hikes we have taken in other areas here or even up in Grand Marais.  It was just nice to be outside in the sun.  We walked around Old Town, wandering in some of the shops and then headed to Bocce, one of our favorite restaurants in Old Town.  Since it was really a late lunch, we took a pizza home to have later in the evening.  Then we set up to play Viticulture.  This is just one of many games that Jason comes up with when we get together.  We first played it last summer and although it took a little bit to try to understand the flow of the game and the strategy, we ended up playing a few sessions while they were here…always with the plan in mind to try to beat Jason!  🙂

It is not your typical board game in that you can half play and half let your mind wander because just a little wandering and you will just crushed like the grapes to make wine!  Jen did finally beat Jason in the last round that we played.  I would have loved to play more, but we really ran out of time.

Monday

I have always wanted to rent ATVs here and go up in the hills.  We found an ATV dealer that gives Polaris employees a discount, and of course, we would only ride Polaris vehicles.  So we rented to for the afternoon on Monday….but first went to Crema for breakfast.  If you are ever in Old Town be sure you check out Crema for breakfast or lunch — it is amazing.  Part of it is inside and the other half is on the patio but they have ceiling heaters all around so you do not feel any of the chill that may be in the air.  We went to Crema probably 3 times this week!!  So definitely a thumbs up!!

Back to the ATVs — we got a General and Jason and Jen got a RZR.  This is us starting out on the regular road (these are street legal, which was also fun).

The beginning of the ride was fairly flat, and the scenery was AMAZING, although we tried to catch every water puddle we could, so did get some bragging rights about the dirt on our ATV and our clothes!!  🙂

Then we got to some of the hills…which when we got back the ATV manager said these were just moderate climbs compared to some of the other trails in the area.  At the bottom of these hills, Jason suggested we only go up one at a time and in low gear.  Believe me you would not want to be right behind an ATV that started sliding backwards down the hill!!

They call these hills the “stair steps” and you did feel like you were going up and down a set of stairs!!  It really was so much fun and I would definitely do this again.  Unfortunately it started to get cold towards the end of the ride so we headed back about 15 minutes early.  Both of our ATVs were pretty muddy (YEA US!!!) to prove that we had fun.  The people there were excited to know that Jen worked for Polaris and talked to her a little about the machines.

Tuesday

For breakfast, we decided to get it from Violette’s, a little quirky place in downtown Clarkdale.  It is actually a restored caboose, which goes of the theme of the town since the Verde Valley railroad scenic ride starts in this town.

They have this little location in Clarkdale, barely enough room for 4 people to wait inside and then a full fledged bakery in Old Town.  The breakfast sandwiches were fantastic and their famous waffles (why the chef started this bakery) were mouth watering.  It is a wait, if you ever go there because it is one cook making one or maybe two things at a time.  But it is worth the trip!

David was battling a toothache so Jen, Jason and I decided to visit a couple of the local National Parks.  We first went to Tuzigott, which David and I have visited last year.

We did some great hiking there, although the enclosed rooms at the top were closed off due to heavy snow and rain.  That was too bad because when we went last Spring that part was open and it was really interesting to walk inside.  Hopefully it can be repaired and opened again soon.

Next we went to Montezuma Well.  Last year we took them to Montezuma Castle, but did not take them to this park.  David and I saw it in the spring, but this time, we took the trail that led down to the bottom of the well.  Got some great pictures from the bottom looking up.

There are a number of cliff dwellings that can be seen more clearly at this bottom view point.  Apparently the ducks love this well.  This is just a couple that we could see closer when we neared the bottom.  According to the information posted at the well, the water is mainly full of leeches and other underwater species that are not seen anywhere else in the world!!

This well is still considered sacred by many of the local tribes.

The constant supply of warm, 74 degree water was the life-blood of the people who made their home here. Over 1.5 million gallons of water flows into the Well every day, a rate that has not fluctuated measurably despite recent droughts throughout the state of Arizona. This water enters a “swallet” near the end of the trail into the Well and flows through over 150 feet of limestone before re-emerging from the outlet into an irrigation ditch on the other side. Sections of this ditch date back over 1,000 years. The value of this water is recognized still today, as many residents of nearby Rimrock, AZ, rely on water flowing through the irrigation ditch for their gardens and livestock. (Source: Exploring Montezuma Well National Park)

We did take the walking path on the other side near the outlet and it was just amazing to see the constant flow — and it was so clear!!  The rock formations were almost spooky as they hung over the edge of the walkway.  There were also discovered dwellings in this lower area.

Definitely a great place to visit and well worth taking the additional paths to below the well and the outlet area.

Wednesday

Our main activity on Wednesday was to take the Verde Valley Scenic Railroad trip.  This trip goes through the Verde Valley Canyon and is only accessible via this train.  Unfortunately the weather was not great for this trip — kind of chilly and cloudy, but we did spend some time on the open air cars to get a 180 degree view of the surroundings.  Here we have just left the station.  The tracks wind around the mountains so you could often get a view of both the front and the back of the train.

It does have a tunnel to travel and at the beginning it is such a curve that you cannot see out the other end so it is completely dark.

The scenery was really incredible…and the view from the open car was really the best.  There were a good number of cliff dwellings here also.

After 2 hours we reached the almost deserted town of Perkinsville.  Here is a little history of this town from Wikipedia:

Perkinsville is named for A. M. Perkins, who established a cattle ranch here in 1900. In 1912, the shortline, financed by William Clark to service his copper smelter in Clarkdale and his copper mine in Jerome, opened a station in Perkinsville. The railroad buildings included a depot, water tower, and the station master’s house. Nearby were a limestone quarry and kiln for producing lime, used as a flux in the Clarkdale smelter.^[2]

Briefly in the early 20th century Perkinsville supported an estimated 10 to 12 families. It had a small school, general store, section house, and post office. The smelter closure in the early 1950s eliminated the need for the quarry and kiln, and the advent of diesel locomotives eliminated the need for the Perkinsville water stop. The hamlet soon became a ghost town used in the 1960s as a filming location for scenes in How the West was Won, including blowing up the only water town in town, which only made it to the cutting room floor and never in the movie!

Once in Perkinsville, the train cannot turn around, but the engine goes on a side track and then hooks up to the caboose for the return trip.  That was kind of cool to watch.

You know riding a train can be so tiring.  The sight seeing, the gentle rocking and maybe a couple of adult beverages probably also helped.  (I did get permission to post this picture)  🙂

It was a great trip!

Thursday

Pine Shadows provided a great Thanksgiving meal, with everyone bringing a dish to share and the management providing the turkeys and potatoes.  There was so much food and so many desserts — it was really a great meal!!

Friday

Was kind of a wind down day.  Jason got us hooked on 90 day fiance and we watched all of Season 5 on the Plex.  We also played more Viticulture and also a good round of hand/foot!!

All in all it was a great weekend with a lot of new adventures for all of us.  We always seem to go, go, go when they are here visiting so it was really nice to have the mellow day on Friday.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving week!  Hard to believe Christmas is just a few weeks away!!

TIFN

Oh, we need a Jaxen picture…of course.  Not like many people in Minnesota, the snow put a great smile on his face.  There is also a picture of Caley, home from Fargo, with Jaxen and Kaydence (Jermar’s niece).