Donna went down to the pool area and did her workout on Friday morning while I posted to the blog. She sent me a text saying there were a few guys playing pickleball – there are two courts here at Thousand Trails Verde Valley RV Resort and Campground. We considered playing, but opted instead to take a day trip.

Around 11am, we rode south on I-17 climbing out of the Verde Valley and hit AZ169. We went to Prescott Valley and checked out the RV sites at the Elks Lodge there. The sites would be tight for us – the camp host told us we would have to drop the trailer in the parking lot. However, he’s booked up for the rest of the month. Alternatively he told us he has dry camping areas that we could use. We don’t know where we are going when we leave Verde Valley on Monday, but I don’t think it will be there.

From there we rode north on AZ89A. This took us past the Mingus Mountain Recreation Area – part of the Kaibab National Forest – a 6,000-plus-foot pass. Highway 89A climbs quickly with many tight turns and switchbacks through a forest of pine trees. Once over the pass, the road drops down toward Verde Valley. I got a workout piloting the Spyder through turns with speed advisories of 20mph.

We stopped in Jerome. Jerome is a funky place that bills itself as “America’s Most Vertical City” and “The Largest Ghost Town in America.” The traffic through the steep switchback streets of Jerome was heavy and moving very slowly. Everyone was looking for a place to park, including us. When we had the scooter, parking was rarely an issue. With the Spyder, we need about as much space as a small car. We found a triangular space that looked to be custom made for the three-wheeled Spyder.

We walked the streets and stopped for lunch at the Mile High Grill and Inn. Jerome was founded in 1876 and takes it name from Eugene Jerome – the original secretary of the United Verde Mining Company. Jerome sits above what was the largest copper mine in Arizona. It was operated by the United Verde Mining Company until 1935 when it was sold to Phelps Dodge. The fortunes of the town and its population grew and fell with the demand for copper. The mine shut down in 1953. The people who remained in Jerome started promoting it as a historic ghost town. In 1967, Jerome was designated as a National Historic District by the federal government.

Today there are about 450 residents in Jerome, mostly working in the galleries, restaurants and saloons in this tourist attraction. There are many artists here as well. We walked around and poked through a few shops and galleries.

Jerome literally sits on the side of a mountain – Cleopatra Hill – 5,200 feet above sea level. There are stunning views of the Verde Valley below and mountain peaks to the north and east.

We were back home around 4pm after making an 85-mile loop. We relaxed and read for a while, then Donna fixed a tray of hors d’oeuvres for a light dinner. We ate at the picnic table outside our coach.

I’ll close today’s post with a few pictures from our last week in Mesa, Arizona. I like to post pictures and descriptions of the meals Donna prepares in our motorhome. I do this to illustrate the fact that full-timing isn’t camping out and it doesn’t mean eating out all the time. We know other full-timers like us who cook nutritious, delicious meals regularly – Lisa McGuire (Metamorphosis Road) comes to mind.

Donna’s been making some single skillet meals lately. This one is lemon-butter chicken. She browned bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs in a cast iron skillet on the induction cooktop, then finished it in the microwave-convection oven.

Another night she made Marseilles-style shrimp stew with rouille toast.

On our final night in Mesa, she made tortilla-crusted tilapia with fresh tilapia from Mexico that we found at Sprouts.

The sunsets in Mesa can be spectacular. Here in the Verde Valley, the sun sinks behind the mountains before we know it and I haven’t captured a sunset image yet.

Today we plan to play some pickleball, then head up to Sedona. I want to check out the Elks lodge there and we’ll kick around town with all of the other tourists.