Cottonwood, Az

Wed, Feb 6

When we have a choice, we always take the back roads rather than driving on the Interstate Highways.  When on the Interstate, we only drive 60 mph because of the limitations on towing the CRV, and at that speed, the large trucks fly by us and their wind stream makes the RV weave, which can be uncomfortable.  The other reason is that the Interstate highways out here (and most everywhere) have been torn up by so much large truck traffic.

So this morning, we found a good route to the Cottonwood/Sedona area that took us on some good 2 lane highways.

We had noticed that there were some "squiggles" on the map, but didn't pay much attention to them.

About half way, Bill took over the driving (before the squiggles).  Well, Bill got to experience some real mountain driving.  The Historic Jerome Clarkdale Cottonwood highway across Mingus Mountains  ranks right up there with the Million Dollar Highway and Trail Ridge Road in Colorado.

According to the tee shirt we've bought Bill, it has 158 curves in 12 miles.

Now Bill is an experienced RV driver with a trial by fire.

On the descent, we drove through the town of Jerome.

The main street, which is the highway through town has some very narrow sections that seemed to reach out to the RV.

The scenery is beautiful.

Definitely turn left here

We have settled into the Dead Horse Ranch State Park Campground, with beautiful views of the mountains.