There was a hat contest. Gee, can you figure out which one was MY hat?
Then Shay and I jumped in the car to meet Steve and friends over in Jerome.
The drive was about 3 1/2 hours, but took longer because of an accident that closed down the Interstate for a little while. You know things aren't looking good when you see this on the Interstate.
Cars sitting still rather than going 75 is not good.
Shay and I had lots of time to talk, so I educated him on what Legislating From The Bench means, and why it's a pet peeve of mine.
We were glad to make it to our destination in time for dessert at the hotel restaurant, which is called The Asylum. Our hotel was a hospital built in the late 1800's, which has been converted. The old 1926 elevator with the gate is still in operation. The rooms were actually okay, for such an old building.
Here's the view from our room:
We had one on the backside of the hotel, while our friends had a room on the front side that sits on the edge of a cliff. Here's what their view looked like: (well, minus the blonde kid)
We went to the site for the truck show, which is a place up the hill called the Gold King Mine. It no longer has a mining operation, but is owned by an old-timer named Don who LOOKS like a miner, and he has an enormous collection of vehicles, trucks, buses, you name it.... But there's still shacks and buildings on the property from the old mining days. Very fascinating.
I once watched a documentary about the town of Jerome. It was called "The Wickedest Town in America" by the New York Sun in 1903 because of the type of people who were attracted to the place. The population had gone from nothing to thousands in a very short time, with the sudden successes of the mining operations there. Eventually schools, a hospital, and of course bars were established. But then the mining fell off, and the people moved away, in 1953. It remained a ghost town for a while, but then artists began renting the buildings and turning them into artist colonies. The old high school, elementary school, and surrounding establishments are all occupied by artists and hippie-types. The shops are cute, but I can never find anything I can't live without. Many of the buildings owned by Phelps-Dodge Mining Company were purchased by Jerome locals for pennies on the dollar, and turned over to the historical society in an attempt to create a sort of "tourist district." It worked. Jerome is one of the more popular tourist attractions in the state.
What we really enjoy is the weather. It's almost 30 degrees cooler than it is here in Havasu. That's a good enough reason to drive 3 1/2 hours!
