Saturday, July 16, 2016

T minus 2 days until SW Grand Cirlce Caravan - Traveling from Prescott to Williams AZ

We departed Point of Rocks Campground and headed North on State Route 89. We passed by the Granite Dells and quickly out of that area. It is very interesting that these Granite Dells are so visible and then so quickly fade from the landscape.

The first town we came to after Prescott was Chino Valley. It is nestled comfortably in the mountains of central Arizona, at an elevation of 4,650 feet this town offers a mild climate, gentle four seasons and 300 plus days of sunshine every year. It is close enough to larger towns, yet far enough away to maintain that small-town feel. 

There is ample grasslands and we were lucky enough to see a few Pronghorn Antelope in the grasslands. The Pronghorn Antelope is also the "mascot" on the town's shield. The town of Chino Valley has several theories of origin attached to it. One is that during the historic 1850s survey, a Lieutenant chose the name Chino Valley. The Mexicans called the range grass ‘de china,’ or ‘the chino,’ hence the name. 

We found many roundabouts or traffic circles on State Route 89 between Prescott into the Chino Valley. But which is it, a traffic circle, a rotary or a roundabout? Roundabouts are not the same as traffic circles or rotaries. Traffic circles or rotaries have high-speed entries, allow lane changes within the circle, are low capacity, and have many high-speed crashes. Sometimes motorists in the circle must yield to those entering. They are large and scary to drive – a “free for all.” Roundabouts are the opposite. They require motorists to yield on entry, don't allow lane changes, speeds are low, capacity is high, and crashes are few and minor. We were passing through Roundabouts!

One of the roundabouts, at Road 4 South and Highway 89, in Chino Valley had three bronze horse statues in the center. They were installed in 2013 and these three horses represent the gate to the town. Thus, these statues represent the guardians of Chino Valley, Arizona and were recently named “Lock, Stock and Barrel.” Lock is the horse that faces Williamson Valley in the west. Stock looks east, toward Jerome. And Barrel, who seems to have a bit more attitude than the other two, looks south, greeting drivers as they arrive from Prescott. A contest to name the horses was opened to the residents of Chino Valley. The other two finalists were Earth, Wind and Fire and Tribute, Jubilee and Sundance. The Town Council voted on all three finalist names and selected “Lock, Stock and Barrel.” They really are the guardians of Chino Valley.

Just north of Chino Valley along highway 89 is a road east to Del Rio Springs. There is an historical marker along the highway at this site. This location is of particular interest for the founding history of Arizona Territory. The name derives from the fact that these springs are a source for the Del Rio River. Water sources like this, have often been places for settlements. In January of 1864, the governor’s party arrived and set up the first Territorial capital in Arizona here. In May, 1864, Fort Whipple was moved to Granite Creek, closer to the settlement that would become Prescott. In 1900, after the fire in Prescott, the town acquired the main springs and in September 1901, began pumping water to Prescott through a 19-mile pipeline. By that time, the Santa Fe RR spur had a depot in Del Rio Springs and the city sold water to the RR at 72 cents a gallon. The railroad then provided water for Ash Fork and the Grand Canyon. This water enabled the Grand Canyon to develop the resort hotel of El Tovar. In 1956, the Del Rio Ranch was sold to developers.

Continuing north on Route 89, you will come to Hell Canyon, so named because of the difficult wagon road in and out taken by the stage from Ash Fork to Prescott. Judge Joseph P. Allyn, traveling with the Governor’s Party to Prescott in 1864 writes of this canyon, “About ten o’clock we got under way and an hour brought us to the most infernal canyon for wagons I have yet seen. It was about 300 ft deep and the sides nearly perpendicular, and covered with rolling stones.” 

Soon after Hell Canyon, the Santa Fe RR branch line crosses the highway and nearby there is a turnoff for Drake. Drake was originally named Cedar Glade, a little community that sprang to life with the mining of lime and quarrying of local sandstone. The railroad bridge here over Hell Canyon was completed in 1901. In 1920, the name Cedar Glade was changed to Drake, after William A. Drake who was in charge of railroad construction in the area in 1899. Today the historic ruins around Drake have been obscured by the construction of a large cement plant. It is a Cemex plant, for a minute I thought we were back in Florida!

The town of Ash Fork was named for the ash trees located on the town site. Stage coaches connecting the Santa Fe with Phoenix started from here for many years, until the spur railroad could be taken to Prescott and on to Phoenix. In the 1950s, Route 66 gave a boost to the town’s economy, but the construction of the interstate by-passed the town. In 1960 the Santa Fe Railroad moved its main line north of town and a 1977 fire destroyed many businesses. The economy and population never recovered from this triple blow. Ash Fork is where we picked up Interstate 40 and started to head east toward Williams.


If we did not think we were high enough already, it was a steady climb on I-40 toward Williams! 

While on Interstate 40, we were notified that we were in Elk country again!

The owner, of Yankee RV Tours, and our Wagon master for this caravan is named Rod Coe, looks like we found his restaurant!

We arrived in Williams and were glad to get back onto Route 66.

We ended our 100 mile journey at the GrandCanyon Railway RV Park. This will be our home for 4 days as we start our caravan with Yankee RV Tours.

No comments:

Post a Comment