Today was the last day of summer.
It is moving-in day here at the University, the school is jambed, the stores are mobbed, traveling is a nightmare. The 500 more enrollees this Fall breaks last year's record of 1000 enrollees over the previous year. The University is bulging at the seams.
Stuffed into that context was the most exhausting two weeks I've had in a very long time. Besides the many regular employees we've had at the bus barn for the summer, more student drivers returned last week to get trained in their CDL, while Full Timers returned this week for preparatory training as well. I had to find things for 30 drivers to do when classes hadn't even begun yet. Hours of overtime accrued for me.
Finally, with temperatures soaring to 
near-record levels (for here, anyway lol), a fellow bus driver and I had to tear down what we call our Extreme Skillz course out in the Dome parking lot. That included hauling heavy wood pallets, concrete poles and 100-pound stones (that we used to hold the pallets upright against wind). Lucky I had help from this kid, because it made a 4-hour job into about 1 1/2 hours. Heavy work against near-90-degree temps.
By the time I got home I was exhausted and thirsty. I tanked up so much that now I feel bloated and spent.
It will get better though when I have had a chance to relax for awhile. But this was sure an exhausting and long two weeks, and I'm not unhappy the summer is over.
My bud Dustin needed to get his car inspected, which meant taking a trip from the northern Arizona high country down to Phoenix (his car is registered down there), and he asked me to go with him. So on Saturday, 15 August 2009, we made a day trip out of it.
Originally the trip was only going to be a down and back. But we decided we were in the mood to explore.
Our route south was I-17. Our trip back north was the "scenic route," as Grampy would have said.
We decided to drive the far more exciting return route west of I-17 (see map above). More exciting because it involves driving over four sets of mountain ranges each with its own set of hair-pin curves. The four sets were north of Wickenburg, outside Prescott to the south, before and after Jerome and in Oak Creek Canyon between Sedona and Flagstaff.
Plus, we decided to make ourselves tourists and stop for awhile in the ghost town of Jerome.
This is my bud and fellow co-worker, Dustin. It was his car we needed re-inspected.
After grabbing a few breakfast burritos and quesadillas (yummy!), we headed on our way south to Phoenix along I-17.
We approached and passed some roadies (cyclists) training out on the freeway. In most western states, bicycles are permitted to ride the shoulders or breakdown lanes of Interstate highways.
Then we began the descent into the lower desert regions. The tall Ponderosa Pine forest segued into Juniper and Pinion Pines and finally into desert scrub and Saguaro.
Speed limits on Arizona Interstates are 75 mph for the most part.
The downhill grades in the Verde Valley region stretch for about 11 miles, making it a challenge for buses and large trucks to keep their brakes from overheating.
The next picture shows the Verdy Valley, with Mingus Mountain on the far side off in the horizon, and (probably not visible) the town of Jerome on the mountain's steep slope. We would stop at Jerome later.
Once we had reached Phoenix and had successfully passed the inspection of Dustin's car, we headed north again, leaving I-17. It was a cool 100 degrees as we entered Wickenburg, the boyhood home of one of America's most beloved vice presidents, Dan Quayle.
An hour later, we drove along Route 89A into the former territorial capitol of Arizona, Prescott (pronounced press-kit).
The next picture is the center of Prescott, Arizona. It was amazing how busy the center square was this Saturday.
A portion of Granite Dells, just north of Prescott as we left.
But the place Dustin and I were most interested in checking out was Jerome, a former copper, gold and silver mining town -- built on the steep sides of a mountain -- that busted in the 1950s.
Originally, Jerome began in the late 1800s with the discovery of copper ore and other precious metals. Its population swelled to about 15,000 until the ore ran out. Jerome then subsisted as a ghost town with a population of about 50 until the 1970s or so when it revived through tourism and the arts community. A museum documents its colorful history. What is so great about Jerome is that everything is old and rusty, a bit off kilter, and reputed to be haunted. 
The following photos are of our descent into Jerome (el. 5200') from the top of Mingus Mountain (el. 7023') on Saturday. Road construction limited a short stretch of the alpine road to one lane, allowing me to get a picture showing the switchbacks below Jerome, the town of Cottonwood, the Verde Valley and the red rocks of Sedona off in the horizon.
Once we were in Jerome, we hiked around town, checking out this smelter from 1882. Read the sign (click any picture to enlarge); it's just amazing how some things were done a hundred years ago!
We both grabbed some mint chocolate chip ice cream (they didn't have hot fudge sauce so I chose the mint) and walked around the sloping streets. This picture is the lower main street in Jerome.
And this picture is the old jail, which now lies nearly in one piece after sliding down the hillside 200 feet from its original location, due to dynamite blasting.
As stated, a lot of Jerome is old and preserved. These two pictures show the remains of a once-luxurious hotel: a set of side entrance doors and perhaps the main entrance to the hotel with its grand staircase.
One of the buildings of the King Gold Mine one mile north of Jerome is this amazing wood house. It is almost something Disney would build in his Frontierland! Because the King Gold Mine complex was closing for the day, Dustin and I decided we will have to come back for another visit. There's much to explore in Jerome.
Finally, after grape cream slushies at Sonic in Cottonwood and the red rocks drive through Sedona and the switchbacks of Oak Creek Canyon, we finished our day of travel. Much fun and too much to see. Dustin and I plan to retrace some of our ride someday on motorcycles. We'll see how that goes.
