Elizabeth and I took a week-long trip to Flagstaff, Arizona to see the famous Meteor Crater, the somewhat less famous Sedona and the barely-mentioned Grand Canyon. We flew into Phoenix to save a little money.
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We arrived at our bed and breakfast, a private home
Eliz found on AirBnB, after driving about 2 and a half
hours from Phoenix to Flagstaff.
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The house literally backed up on a wilderness area,
where we took a walk before sunset.
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The next day, we drove out to Meteor Crater, which was
the main reason for our trip. That’s the crater’s
rim visible in the background.
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I was the main photographer (as usual), but Eliz took
some nice shots with her iPhone as well. (Any image
named IMG_* is hers.)
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This is the biggest surviving chunk of the meteorite
that caused the impact 50,000 years ago, and it was
found some miles west of the crater.
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A panorama of the actual crater. (We took a few of
these.)
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We were only allowed on a paved trail that extended
about a half mile along the rim, and had to be herded
by a guide the entire time. No wandering off and falling
in — dang!
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This is one of the several mine shafts dug by Daniel
M. Barringer, who hoped to find an iron meteorite about
the size of the crater. The poor fellow died disappointed.
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Commercial and private aircraft aren’t permitted
to fly anywhere near the crater, but the military can
go wherever they please.
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Obviously, they were enjoying the view, whether or not
we were really on their flight path.
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We asked a fellow straggler to take our photo on the
rim.
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Eliz has been working on a series related to the crater,
so this was kind of a field trip.
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They had a backdrop set up in the museum where you could
pretend to be at the bottom of the crater, since they
don’t allow visitors to go there anymore.
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After our tour and visit to the museum, we went out
the other direction to look at the crater from the points
provided above and below the rim to the east.
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It was very windy at the upper view point, though not
as windy as some days according to our guide. Eliz
had to hold onto her hat.
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I had to hold onto the railing.
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A panorama from the upper view point.
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Another passerby took another photo of us (#2 in the
series).
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The lower rim view point was more comfortable, with
a nice shade structure that was actually constructed
as a barrier to falling rocks.
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Some kids were enjoying climbing around behind the viewing
benches.
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The outer courtyard had a nice, framed view of the northern
landscape.
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On the way back from Meteor Crater, we stopped in the
ghost town of Two Guns, formerly along Route 66 (now
I–89 on this section of it).
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There were a fair number of these stone structures,
which dated from the latter half of the 1800’s.
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Still serving as a hideout for outlaws, these RV’s
were camping illegally, hidden from view of the highway.
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There was even an old outhouse structure, with a row
of 4 or 5 seats unoccupied.
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Here is a row of ruined buildings along the rim of Canyon
Diablo, whose waters were taken over for irrigation
many decades ago.
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The windows and walls survived, but the roofs were all
replaced by sky.
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The iPhone actually takes pretty nice pictures.
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Looking through to a round "hogan," a traditional
home of the Navajo (Dinea) people.
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Another view of the hogan.
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A two–story hogan.
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Me taking a picture of Eliz taking a picture of...
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Our second day, we drove south to Sedona, checking out
Oak Creek Canyon on the way.
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Sedona must be Spanish for "Pretty Rocks."
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This is the view from I–89A.
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This was taken partway up Doe Mountain, which is more
of a mesa, really.
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On the trail up Doe Mtn.
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We’re about 250 feet above the parking lot at
this point, maybe 3/4 to the top.
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Eliz on the trail.
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Me just off the trail.
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Me way off the trail.
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View from the mesa.
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Wider view from the mesa.
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I didn’t recognize this cactus, which was about
knee–high. I had many spines from prickly
pear in my knees as well.
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Four Sisters
After Doe Mountain, we drove a few miles to Boynton
Valley, where we wandered into this formation. Eliz
said it looked like four sisters.
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Elizabeth’s father passed away recently, so she
used a soft rock to write his initials in memorium.
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A lone cactus branch just tall enough to reach the sky.
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Two mule deer we saw along the trail.
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Watcher of the Moon
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Face
I thought this one looked like Winnie the Pooh
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The Screamer
Eliz thought this one looked like a shouting person
(with high hair).
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More pretty rocks
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Probably too wide to jump
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Two–toned mountains
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At this point, we thought we might be near the end of
the trail, but some other hikers informed us that the
end was at least 40 minutes away. So we turned back.
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This was supposedly the nicest part, anyway.
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I think this is the Screamer from the other side (on
the left).
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After our hike in Boynton Canyon, we drove up to the
Sedona airport, which we heard was a marvelous vantage
to watch the sunset. Seems we weren’t the only
ones who heard about it....
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It was quite a view.
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Our shadows were getting pretty long at this point.
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Viewing conditions were perfect.
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It looked like one of the clouds was trying to drop
rain, but the dry air absorbed it before it ever reached
the ground.
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I took a whole series of these, but this was the nicest.
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The next day, we drove back to Sedona because it was
too cold for the Grand Canyon that day, and we liked
Sedona and wanted to see some things we missed, like
this lookout point.
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One of the photos I took from the lookout.
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Midgley Bridge
On 89A
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Another view of Oak Creek Canyon
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This morning, we headed to the Palatki Heritage Site
at the end of a 4–mile dirt road.
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There we had the lunch we picked up from the grocer
in town, with spectacular views all around.
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The ruins of a pueblo blended almost perfectly into
the rockface, which we weren’t allowed to approach
since someone heard the rocks above making "cracking
sounds" the year before.
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We didn’t notice the second set of ruins at first,
since they were in shadow as well as camoflage.
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These stones had clearly fallen from somplace much higher
up, but probably not too recently....
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Up close, they were even more impressive.
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Just to the west, some more overhanging rocks were home
to pictographs drawn by former inhabitants.
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The guide told us that many of these pictographs were
drawn before this was used as a fire pit, and the smoke
turned the light pigments dark.
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A close–up of some of the pictographs.
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These walls were constructed by a more recent settler,
a reclusive widower who occupied the land until the
middle of the last century.
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View from the doorway
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View from the back
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After Palatki, we took to another dirt road that led
to the hike to Devil’s Bridge. I was dragging
at that point from the long day, and we weren’t
sure how long the road was before the trailhead. We
only knew our rental car couldn’t make it.
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This seems to be a red velvet ant, which I’d never
heard of until I googled it just now. Apparently, they’re
a kind of wasp, the female of which lacks wings. Their
stings are supposed to hurt like heck, so I’m
glad we left it alone.
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Our climb to Devil’s Bridge.
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We kept our eye on this precariously balanced rock during
our climb.
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Some interesting patterns on the vertical face we passed
on the trail.
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The rocks across the small valley were also pretty cool.
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The view near the top.
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Another in our series of "Could you take our picture?"
pictures.
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Devil’s bridge, as seen from the trail (barely)
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The view of the bridge from nearby was amazing, and
hard to take in a single shot, even wide–angle.
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Eliz walked out on the bridge, which was actually a
lot scarier from this vantage than it was from on top
of it.
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We even found someone to take pictures of the two of
us.
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A parting shot on our hike out — precarious rock
still perched
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In the evening, we took our hosts out to dinner (salad
and pizza) in town.
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The next day we finally made it to the Grand Canyon,
which was my second visit there and Elizabeth’s
first. We decided to take the classic South Kaibab
Trail down to Skeleton Point.
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The trail is shared with mules and their riders, who
enjoy the fantastic views from slightly higher up.
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The initial set of switchbacks curl neatly into a finger
of the canyon, and its fun to watch hikers go back and
forth along it.
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The ground squirrels were none too shy around people.
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One of the more interesting rock faces. (More pictures
of rocks yet to come.)
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The first stop along the trail is the aptly named "Ooh
Ahh Point." We oohed and ahhed and pointed.
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Great spot for a panorama, too!
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Another in the series.
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More rocks, as promised.
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Lizard Tracks
Fossilized lizard tracks.
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You didn’t want to stray too far from
this section of the path.
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This is where we sat down and had lunch, a good distance
from where they parked the mules.
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There are some hardy trees in Arizona, to be sure.
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One of many century plants we saw.
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The last leg of the trail to Skeleton Point.
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The view from Skeleton Point, with a small section of
the Colorado River visible in the middle of it.
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The river gorge has many fingers leading to it from
all parts of the canyon.
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The Colorado looks a lot closer than it really was in
this telephoto shot.
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Next to the river is a green area near Phantom Ranch,
reachable in a day but not the same day you hike out(!)
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Looks like this cave would be a nice place to live.
A "No Solicitors" sign wouldn’t be needed.
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This is the part of the South Kaibab Trail we were told
to avoid on a day hike, leading down to the river gorge.
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Guess this is a sunflower.
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A cactus that reminded me of the minions from "Despicable
Me."
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Another hardy conifer.
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We saw a lot of ravens like these, a few vultures, and
one or two hawks.
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Another grand squirrel.
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El Tovar lodge & restaurant.
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They were (over)booked for dinner, so we went elsewhere.
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The doorway to the Hopi House was perfectly sized for
us.
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We’re almost at the end of this series (for this
trip, anyway).
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While waiting on our dinner reservation, we checked
out the Kolb photography and artifact exhibit right
on the rim.
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The Kolb Brothers were explorers and documenters of
the Grand Canyon, and amongst the first guides to the
area.
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We were both pretty tired and hungry, and ended up ordering
buffalo burgers at the Airzona Room as the sun set out
our window.
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The last rays on the canyon walls
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Night Shot
This is a night shot that went for about 20 seconds
on a little tripod I brought. Campfires are visible
in the lower right, though I didn’t notice them
with my naked eye at the time.
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We think this was a Mexican Spotted Owl, several of
which were making friendly noises as we walked by in
the dark.
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Our penultimate day, we returned to Meteor Crater, stopping
here at Walnut Canyon National Monument just east of
Flagstaff.
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The rocks in the canyon were originally seaside sand
dunes, so the geologists claim.
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The most interesting part of course are the abandoned
cliff dwellings, built by the Sinagua somewhere between
500 and 1400 A.D.
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The original walls extended to the overhang in most
cases, and were fully intact at a few sites.
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Think modern apartments without all the amenities.
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Still, pretty cozy
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An intact doorway with smoke vent at the top
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The lintel was made of wood and mortar.
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View of the inside, lit by the doorway and vent hole
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Eliz postulated that a dwelling was buried behind this
rock slide and might be in pristine state, like the
others before raiders had their way.
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Heading back from Meteor Crater, we stopped this time
at the abandoned "Twin Arrows," really just
a gas station and convenience store.
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Not so convenient anymore.
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In the evening, we joined our hosts Rob & Aude on
their twice–daily walk with their dog.
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Sienna loved rolling in and eating the snow, which was
still hanging around from a few weeks ago.
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There were some awesome clouds that day.
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Electric Tram
Following a fond farewell to our fabulous hosts, we
headed south through Sedona again, this time stopping
in the ghost town of Jerome.
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Headframe
This was Audrey Headframe, a crane that lowered miners
1600 feet into the cavern (and brought them out again,
hopefully).
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One of many abandoned copper/silver/other mine shafts
in the area
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An abanoned truck or van of some sort. At least, I
hope it’s abandoned....
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Azurite is a beautiful blue ore containing copper and
other minerals.
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The Jerome museum is a former residence of the Douglas
family, some of whose rooms are preserved. Ah, the
lap of luxury.
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More luxurious than the cars miners rode down in, anyway
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An ore loader, methinks
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One of many abandoned store fronts in town
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Not a good place for a sock hop
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Oddly enough, the sign out front looks pretty new.
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This is the bar of the BBQ place where we ate lunch
— our seats were outside since the weather was
so nice.
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An old–time movie projector, back when the lamps
were carbon arcs and the film was highly flamable celluloid.
Not too many of these survived....
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The post office was still active — I’d love
a look at their "dead letter" pile!
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Must have been shiny at one point
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Still shiny, this is the aimable lamp on an old fire
truck.
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The Surgeon’s House
One of the most stylish private residences still standing
was built for the company surgeon. After the mines,
the hospital was probably the busiest place in Jerome
during its heyday.
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Hippies moved in at some point and revitalized the town
after all the valuable minerals had been tapped out.
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This one speaks for itself.
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All the porches sloped one way or another.
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This particular porch was leading the way down the hill.
I wonder if the price was dropping as well....
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Home? Shed? Dumpster?
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The Jail
Construction codes must have been quite lenient.
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One of the few original buildings still standing and
in use.
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We loved this place.
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I’m not sure what they were selling — or
what they weren’t.
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This was from the shop across the street, also very
fanciful.
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We saw some pretty old cars in town — this one
had a "historic vehicle" plate to prove it.
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...although these wheels looked even older.
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The "Open 24 Hours" sign refers to the roof
these days.
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It’s got a great view — looking out!
Page created April 11 2012 8:47:19p