Jerome and surrounding area

We got up yesterday with grand plans; breakfast at the Mile High Grill in Jerome and then sightsee in town and the surrounding area. We would end the day back at the Mile High Grill for a burger. The drive from Prescott Valley to Jerome on Highway 89A is very scenic but a narrow road with lots of switchbacks with mountains on one side and sheer dropoffs on the the other side of the road. We got our first up close view of snow this year as there was still some snow on the side of the road near the summit at 7000 feet. We were on this road about 20 years and let us tell you it is sure different in a Ford F-350 dually than in a rental car :-)

Why the Mile High Grill you ask? Our blogging buddies Jim and Sandie from Where are the Dixons Today said the best burger they have ever had was at the Mile High Grill, even better than In-n-Out and 5 Guys in that order so Bob just had to try one. Why for breakfast you ask? We checked some of the other restaurants in the area and the menu at the Mile High Grill looked the best. It was a good choice; Bob got the chimichanga breakfast burrito which is a breakfast burrito with sausage, egg, potato, carmelized onions, black bean, cheese and green chiles deep fat fried and then covered with salsa verde (green salsa). Their green salsa is a combination of tomatillos and green chiles and it is excellent as is the burrito. Jo got baked oatmeal and fruit and it was also excellent. What both meals were also is huge which will figure into the rest of the story. Since we did not have a cooler we decided to finish all we could from the meals which we did.

As we were walking around Jerome it began to hit us, that sick feeling you get when you have eaten WAY too much, that feeling that kinda drags you down, well we had it, Jo worse than Bob. We figured if we drove around some it might help so we headed towards Cottonwood and the Dead Horse State Park which was kind of a disappointment. After Watson Lake Park we guess our expectations were way high. For what it is it is an OK park with fishing in lagoons, river access, trails and camping. We drove to the lagoons and sit on a bench and walked around the lagoons hoping we would start feeling better.




Here is a picture of one of the fishing lagoons.














Well it did not work so we decided to call it a day leaving the Jerome State Historic Park, the Tuzigot National Monument, the Verde Valley Railroad Depot, and other sites for the next time. This early departure and the sick feeling in our guts also meant no hamburger from the Mile High Grill. We don't eat meat on Good Friday so Friday is out and if you have ever been to Jerome you know there is hardly any parking and we had trouble finding a place on a Thursday so we don't want to fight the weekend traffic. The close proximity to Goodyear means that we should be able to stop again in the area either on the way to, or from, our winter location, so we will be back.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo