John Wise

How long does it take to replace an engine in a VW? A damn long time since it has to be shipped in from Germany, apparently. So, I’ll just keep going out with the loaner to check out the places we normally don’t include on our itineraries. These stops are a bit gratuitous as we were well aware of the extra expense to our lease while collecting too many miles. Today’s stop is southeast of home at the Painted Rock Petroglyph Site.

Not sure if this was about all there was to see, as finding information about Painted Rocks was scant. Like nearly all locations, this one, too would benefit from some context.

Lake Pleasant is hardly that in my memories as it was a party place for people disaffected by the demands of modernity and so they retreated to the corners of the Phoenix area where they could meet up with other malcontents. This is likely the root of my underlying hostility towards beer and pickup trucks.

Stanton, Arizona, is effectively a ghost town. While RV’s still set up out here, the town if it could have ever been called that, is a dilapidated shell of an old mining camp.

You’ll travel a dusty old dirt road from out near Congress, Arizona, to get here. Pleasant enough and quiet; not much changes out in Stanton.

While it kind of looks like a prop in a staged ghost town, this old bathhouse seems legit with its hot water boiler there on the left. Wish I’d run into someone else out here who could have told me if there were some trails or other historic areas in the vicinity that would have made a return visit worth my while.

Everyone needs a break, even those who travel a lot. For the first time in nearly a week, it felt like it was a good day for a drive, and so, with it being officially in the depths of summer, meaning it is incredibly hot in Phoenix, I pointed the car north this morning for some sightseeing. Headed into Sedona and wasn’t much feeling it, so I continued over to Jerome.

Jerome is a nice little getaway with great bed and breakfasts like this one here that is dirt cheap.

Should you need to fill up your 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air, Jerome still has a functioning pump serving up leaded gas. Just kidding, there is no gas station in Jerome.

Yesterday, on the way to Caroline’s office, our VW Beetle called it quits. We’ve only had it for about 18 months, but in that time, we’ve put about 107,000 miles (172,000 km) on it. The bad news is that this car was leased for three years, and we were only supposed to put 36,000 miles on it. The really bad news is that the engine “spun,” thus destroying it, and we now need a new one. The horrible news is that this is going to cost about $7000. The good thing is that the dealer has given us a loaner, and I’m determined to get as much use out of it as I can. Because I’m still recovering from this tragedy, I’m not well planned yet on where I should go, and hence, I’m just on the other side of Phoenix at the White Tank Mountains.

This rather large lizard seemed pretty content with my approach and never flinched once as it pulled within a few inches to snap this closeup.

I wonder how the grasshopper’s worldview is altered with only one antenna.

Petroglyphs were my inspiration for heading out here. Sadly, many of them are damaged, and it’s obviously from other humans, not the lizards and grasshoppers. It’s also getting quite hot the further out on the trail I went. I think I’ll have to consider points north for my next solo trip out.