WOW! Today was an eye opener! Neither Phyllis nor I have ever visited the Southwest except for connecting flights at an airport. Jerome was a copper mining town. Our leader had an excellent commentary on the way here plus an excellent video of the history of the area.

I grew up outside of Washington DC and was somewhat familiar with the coal mines of Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia but nothing like the mining out west which was gigantic in scale. The company owned towns. Foreign labor from miner families, saloons, bordellos or brothels, drinking, gambling and other shenanigans that had nothing to do with mining. Fires destroying towns time after time. Really too much to tell you about. You need to go visit! I included pictures of historical plaques if you care to enlarge them and read them.

We went to the Verde Canyon Railroad for a 4 hour train ride hugging the Canyon walls with beautiful views surrounding calls. Our group almost filled up a car with a table for 2 on one side and 2 extremely comfortable loveseats facing each other with a table in between on the other side. The next rail car was open air with about half being covered perfect for viewing and picture taking. Really an impressive operation. The coach driver told me it was much nicer than their competition.

We ended up at the “Blazin’ M Experience”. “Cowboy Fun, Dinner and Live Show”. Husband & Wife owned small business employing a bunch of extremely well trained young people who ran like a well oiled machine. Each kid had a job and did it to perfection. Fed almost 200 people quickly, cleaned all the tables quickly and efficiently. Closed with about a 45 minute music show which was great and sometimes a little corny. A Fun evening and a great way to end our trip.