Prescott, The Granite Dells and driving back through Jerome

Thursday, November 16th

I was up fairly early after going to sleep really early. I guess all that walking the ruins tired me out as well as being outside all day yesterday. Ray was able to sleep in longer, which was good as he only got about 4 hours sleep the day before due to pain.

Another beautiful morning with few clouds in the sky. Today, Ray is going to take the day off and relax and Steve said he will be busy doing pictures again .... so Dianne and I will have a "girls day" and drive to Prescott to Costco today. The guys hate shopping anyways.

Every afternoon for the past 4 days, the clouds have come in so Ray and Steve were unable to get the sunset pictures in Sedona they want to take. We're only here until Sunday, so hopefully they get a couple of days where the skies remain clear in the evening.

Dianne and I were on our way by 9:15 am. First stop fuel and Fry's and get rid of our garbage in the cans. We are able to burn paper stuff at camp but "wet garbage" needs to find a proper trash can. We were back on Highway 260 to connect up to I-17. Unfortunately there's a ton of road construction as they are "twining" the highway and speeds were reduced to 35mph for about 10 miles. Took us about 1 1/2 hours to make it to Costco. Dianne and I went our separate ways but usually ended up in the same area over and over. We kinda shop the same way. Once that was done and the food stored in the car it was off to lunch. We chose "The Finn", a new restaurant up on a hill overlooking the town of Prescott.

The Finn Restaurant & Pub serves breathtaking views, inventive beverages, and fresh, local food. Signature cocktails and a wide selection of beer and wine pair well with original dishes artfully prepared by Chef Matthew Crawford and the talented kitchen staff.

View from the patio.

Lovely brand new dining room.

Dianne ordered Heirloom Tomatoes & Burrata ♥

Topped with micro basil, local olive oil, and aged balsamic. (Burrata is a creamy style of mozzarella.) Unfortunately this did not contain any lettuce... who knew, it was good though just not a lot of food.

I ordered a Flatbread Caprese: fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil, drizzled with local olive oil and balsamic ♥ It was delicious.

Both dishes were very reasonably priced. I would definitely go back there again. They also offered quite a few burgers. As I still had a long way to drive we opted just to have water instead of any of the craft beer on tap. As this restaurant is located in a Health Club, a lot of their menu was for tasty choices for "eating healthy".

Dianne and I could not believe all of the new construction in Prescott and Prescott Valley. Huge housing developements planned including The Dell's. Where do all of these people work? The town appears to be in the middle of nowhere.

Prescott is regarded as the region's trade center. Government is the dominant sector for the economy. Construction, real estate, healthcare, tourism, education, accommodation and food services and durable goods manufacturing are significant contributors for employment in the city. (Google)

Back on the road, we decided to head home through Jerome as we did not want to go back through the construction area between I-17 and Highway 260. First stop was at Watson Lake where the "Granite Dells" are located. Dianne and I checked this out as a possible destination for Ray and Steve for pictures next year. After looking at it I know we will be back next year. 

The Granite Dells is a geological feature north of Prescott, Arizona. The Dells consist of exposed bedrock and large boulders of granite that have eroded into an unusual lumpy, rippled appearance. Watson Lake and Willow Lake are small man-made reservoirs in this formation. ^[1]

The Peavine National Recreation Trail follows the former railbed of the Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railway through the Granite Dells. This winding portion of the railroad was known as the "Peavine" because its twisting curves resembled that of a pea vine.^[2] It connects to the Iron King Trail,^[3] which follows the route of the old Prescott & Eastern Railroad through the eastern Granite Dells. Both are rail trail conversions. (Wikipedia)

Camping options did not look too great, however close to the lake I will have to investigate a little more thoroughly. We could possibly stay at the Yavapai Fairgrounds.

Here are some pictures of the Granite Dells, some taken with my camera and Dianne's phone. The first fewpictures were taken at the scenic viewpoint before going into the park.

Nice path to take along side the lake.

We went into Watson Lake Park and drove down to the boat ramp for these next pictures.

This was taken along Highway 89A

After taking a few pictures to show this beautiful area, we were back in the car and headed to the windy highway 89A up the mountain and then down the mountain into Jerome and finally Cottonwood. Dianne was busy taking pictures as we were driving this narrow windy road. Quite the adventure. This road is 3 times longer than the Oak Creek windy bit.

The viewpoint coming down into the Verde Valley.

The road snaking down the mountain into Jerome.

First glimpse of Jerome.

After stopping at the Walmart in Cottonwood to pick up Freya's prescription we finally made it back home by 3:45 pm. A long but satisfying day with lots of technical driving. We sat outside for a short happy hour and then it was time to stow the groceries, shrink wrap the meat and make dinner. Time to relax for the rest of the evening although there was a spectacular sunset Ray ran out to take a picture of.

Fabulous