We have got to start getting to our hotels earlier so I'm not up half the night working on these blogs!! Like I've said before, I'm the one navagating all along the way while Daren is driving, so I have to focus on which turn to make where as I'm reading the guide book, which means I don't have time to work on this in the car, so I'm stuck doing this after we get the kids in bed--it's pretty late tonight too!
Now I realize that many who read this won't really care that we spent the day today in Prescott, Arizona searching out and finding all the places Grandma Waterwheel knew when she was growing up there, so if you want to skip ahead it's ok...I won't know the difference anyway. :) I wish I had her life history here with me, but I don't so I'm going on memory here (which, previously noted, is not reliable) but will do my best. We spent quite a bit of time on Copper Basin Road at the south end of town, searching out the first home she lived in, which was on that street. We finally figured out it was this house, and Grandma confirmed it after I emailed her a picture of it. (Note: all images pertaining to Grandma's bringing up were first cleared through her today, so the author is not responsible for any misleading information!!) Grandma, aka: Verona Despain in her younger life, was born in 1921 and lived at 555 Copper Basin Rd., a home which her father, Walter G. Despain, built for his family (not sure of the year at the moment). Gma speaks fondly of this house, and it was her favorite, with many fond memories there-- including the story of her dad attaching a rope swing to a big branch out on a tree in front so she and her siblings (she has 6 other brothers and sisters) could swing out over the road! Yea, that wouldn't really happen today, but there were hardly any other homes, or vehicles in the area at that time. After driving around there too, it isn't any wonder that she loves Mt. Baldy, a cute little mountain village in Southern Ca. where she lives now, so much, because it looks just like Copper Basin Rd. I'll talk about her second home in a minte.
Since we spent most of our morning on Copper Basin Rd., around lunchtime we took a break and got some lunch to eat out on the grass in the shadows of the old courthouse building. This is about as close as I get to being in pictures!! And anyway, my hair is going to be straight this entire trip becase I, like the blonde that I am (?!) forgot my hairdrier at home. You would think that I'd pack better and be more organized in getting ready before we left home for a month-long trip, but no. Oh well, that's ok. Anyway, this picture is on the west side of the courthouse whre Gpa and Gma Waterwheel came out just after they were married back on June 8, 1940.
Enjoying lunch in the park...and Jake got a hold of my camera again!!
Now I realize that many who read this won't really care that we spent the day today in Prescott, Arizona searching out and finding all the places Grandma Waterwheel knew when she was growing up there, so if you want to skip ahead it's ok...I won't know the difference anyway. :) I wish I had her life history here with me, but I don't so I'm going on memory here (which, previously noted, is not reliable) but will do my best. We spent quite a bit of time on Copper Basin Road at the south end of town, searching out the first home she lived in, which was on that street. We finally figured out it was this house, and Grandma confirmed it after I emailed her a picture of it. (Note: all images pertaining to Grandma's bringing up were first cleared through her today, so the author is not responsible for any misleading information!!) Grandma, aka: Verona Despain in her younger life, was born in 1921 and lived at 555 Copper Basin Rd., a home which her father, Walter G. Despain, built for his family (not sure of the year at the moment). Gma speaks fondly of this house, and it was her favorite, with many fond memories there-- including the story of her dad attaching a rope swing to a big branch out on a tree in front so she and her siblings (she has 6 other brothers and sisters) could swing out over the road! Yea, that wouldn't really happen today, but there were hardly any other homes, or vehicles in the area at that time. After driving around there too, it isn't any wonder that she loves Mt. Baldy, a cute little mountain village in Southern Ca. where she lives now, so much, because it looks just like Copper Basin Rd. I'll talk about her second home in a minte.
Since we spent most of our morning on Copper Basin Rd., around lunchtime we took a break and got some lunch to eat out on the grass in the shadows of the old courthouse building. This is about as close as I get to being in pictures!! And anyway, my hair is going to be straight this entire trip becase I, like the blonde that I am (?!) forgot my hairdrier at home. You would think that I'd pack better and be more organized in getting ready before we left home for a month-long trip, but no. Oh well, that's ok. Anyway, this picture is on the west side of the courthouse whre Gpa and Gma Waterwheel came out just after they were married back on June 8, 1940.
Enjoying lunch in the park...and Jake got a hold of my camera again!!
So after lunch, and after talking to Gma to clear up a few things, we were on the hunt again and practically drove right to every spot we were looking for. Prescott is such a beautiful town with its rolling hills and huge trees everywhere--and cooler weather. We found the second house Grandma lived in. When she was 16 years old, her dad wanted to build a house in a different location so that he could have more (flat) property to have a garden and more farm animals, and she lived here until she married Gpa. You should see the picture Gma has of her dad standing by this massive cow of his! Gma was so sad to leave the first house, because it always was her favorite. Her dad built this house at 845 Middlebrook Rd., with flagstone on the outside, just not too far around the corner from their old one. Most of the flagstone has been covered with stucco, but the front part with stone is still visible.
This used to be the old LDS church building Gma went to while she was growing up
We also found her high school that both she and Gpa went to, but now it is a middle school. She and Gpa used to get in trouble for talking outside the classroom door after class had already started. One teacher of Gma's told her, "Oh Verona, forget about him...It's just puppy love, it won't last!" And look where that puppy love got her!! I love the courtyard in the middle of the school.
This used to be the old LDS church building Gma went to while she was growing up
We also found her high school that both she and Gpa went to, but now it is a middle school. She and Gpa used to get in trouble for talking outside the classroom door after class had already started. One teacher of Gma's told her, "Oh Verona, forget about him...It's just puppy love, it won't last!" And look where that puppy love got her!! I love the courtyard in the middle of the school.
This was a brand new high school her senior year, in 1939. It's great to see so many places she remembers still standing, many thriving. This was posted above one of the doors to the auditorium building, just off the courtyard.
After we left Prescott we headed north back toward Route 66, and 16 miles into it we were in the small town of Chino Valley. This is where Gpa Waterwheel's family moved to when he was a teenager, just before he met Gma--and for the record, his name is Ward Summerhays Cottrell. This abandoned LDS church was about all we could find there which related to his earlier life. The house he lived in is gone, it looks like to new development
This is Chino Valley High School, but it wasn't always there--they used to have to go into Prescott to go to high school in Gpa's days. On this site used to be a small elementary school, and there used to be dances there for the older kids. This is where Gpa and Gma met (I believe she was 17 and he was 16--I guess robbing the cradle runs in the family!), when her sister was trying to line them up. After the dance Gpa drove her back to Prescott, kissed her, and, if my memory is correct, Gma told her mom that night that she was going to marry him. Awwwh!
And that was pretty much the end of our Tour de Prescott (which reminds me, yet another tangent here, the Tour de France starts in just a few weeks and we are big fans. We take a little hiatus from life in July when the tour is on--it really is fun to watch. Hopefully someday we'll be sending a blog from our trip to watch the tour in person!). On our way out of town we stopped for gas and donuts, because it is Donut Friday in our family you know. We had to start that a long time ago when Ben was only two years old, because our donut intake was getting out of control--you know, those yummy Dunford chocolate cake donuts they sell at the gas station and Costco. Will only likes to eat the top part where the frosting is!
After we left Prescott we headed north back toward Route 66, and 16 miles into it we were in the small town of Chino Valley. This is where Gpa Waterwheel's family moved to when he was a teenager, just before he met Gma--and for the record, his name is Ward Summerhays Cottrell. This abandoned LDS church was about all we could find there which related to his earlier life. The house he lived in is gone, it looks like to new development
This is Chino Valley High School, but it wasn't always there--they used to have to go into Prescott to go to high school in Gpa's days. On this site used to be a small elementary school, and there used to be dances there for the older kids. This is where Gpa and Gma met (I believe she was 17 and he was 16--I guess robbing the cradle runs in the family!), when her sister was trying to line them up. After the dance Gpa drove her back to Prescott, kissed her, and, if my memory is correct, Gma told her mom that night that she was going to marry him. Awwwh!
After we told Gma last Sunday that we were going to Prescott, she had a hard time sleeping that night, thinking of all the places we could go see that she knew. She finally got up at 5am and drew out a couple of maps for us, and I have to say that for not having really been there except one time since she left over 60 years ago, she was right on with so many things and where they were. Thanks for all your help Grandma--it was so fun to see everything there.
So we finally got back to Route 66, and got to drive an old 1932 alignment for a couple of miles. Boy, it had to have been rough back then! This is near Ash Fork, in the high country full of pine trees.
As we neared Williams, Will got a hold of my camera and took about 27 pictures of himself watching Star Wars--thank goodness for digital cameras!!
We stopped in Williams for dinner at Ron's Steak House, and I'm not kidding, it was one of the best filet's I've ever had...if you are ever in the area! Williams is the town where you can catch the train which takes you to the Grand Canyon, and we thought about it on this trip, but it didn't work out--we are going to do it for sure sometime though.
While we were waiting for our dinner, a traveling "Civil War" band came into the restaurant and played a couple of old civil war tunes, and then Daren, being the nice guy that he is, bought a couple of their CD's to help them go to college. Hmmm....
So we finally got back to Route 66, and got to drive an old 1932 alignment for a couple of miles. Boy, it had to have been rough back then! This is near Ash Fork, in the high country full of pine trees.
As we neared Williams, Will got a hold of my camera and took about 27 pictures of himself watching Star Wars--thank goodness for digital cameras!!
We stopped in Williams for dinner at Ron's Steak House, and I'm not kidding, it was one of the best filet's I've ever had...if you are ever in the area! Williams is the town where you can catch the train which takes you to the Grand Canyon, and we thought about it on this trip, but it didn't work out--we are going to do it for sure sometime though.
While we were waiting for our dinner, a traveling "Civil War" band came into the restaurant and played a couple of old civil war tunes, and then Daren, being the nice guy that he is, bought a couple of their CD's to help them go to college. Hmmm....
After dinner we loaded up and were on our way. My navigational skills were severely lacking tonight and we made a wrong turn and missed a small portion of the route, but we eventually made it to Flagstaff, where everyone is snoozing hard right now. Including me soon! This is my update of a couple of my favorite signs for the day: The Motel Mile Hi in Prescott, and the Grand Canyon Hotel in Williams--what I love about this one is the "fine print" at the bottom of the sign...Vacancy $3.50 up. My how times have changed!!
Tomorrow it's on to Albuquerque, NM!!
Total mileage to date: 2,230.7
Weather: 92 degrees and sunny (not much change, almost boring!!)
Premium gas paid: $4.19, a welcome relief!
p.s. One of Will and Jake's little friends, Rhett Painter, fell off his bike last week and one of the handle bars went into his stomach, tearing the pancreas. He had to have more than half of it removed, and he can't really eat or drink anything. I just found out he is going back into surgery tomorrow because he has an infection, so please remember him in your prayers...the more the better.
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