RVing With a Purpose

To Jerome, Sedona and Page, AZ

Sunday, May 31, 2026

On Friday, May 29th, after our last breakfast and goodbye hugs on Mingus Mountain, we started down the mountain and ultimately toward Page, Arizona. Fortunately, the trip down the mountain was uneventful although still a bit nerve racking. It was a beautiful day, and we saw beautiful flowering cacti, and other plants, but we also could see the road we would soon be traveling, way down below and not many guard rails.

Between Mingus Mountain and Jerome we saw several agave in full bloom.

After about 30 minutes we parked on the side of the mountain in Jerome, Arizona. It’s only 10 miles but takes 30 minutes to safely traverse the mountain. What a lovely small town Jerome is. There are many nice shops to visit with our favorite probably being the Nellie Bly Kaleidoscopes and Art Glass store. All the people we met were very welcoming but the people at the kaleidoscope store were special. They answered all our questions regarding the town and the mining and the kaleidoscopes. For example, we learned that while the town of Jerome is now occupied by about four hundred residents, in the prosperous days of copper mining the town boasted some 15,000 residents and was so filled with vices that it earned the nickname of the “wickedest city in the west.” Today, the Nellie Bly store is the World’s Largest Gallery of Kaleidoscopes. The store is fascinating and yes, we took home a small kaleidoscope as a keepsake. Haven’t yet decided what will have to leave the RV. We can wait until we get back to Fred to make that decision.

Jerome provides free parking for larger vehicles with a free shuttle to downtown.

Several of the shops sell folk art items.

One of many expensive kaleidoscopes in the shop

The most expensive kaleidoscope costs $8,000.

We spent quite a bit of time looking through the various kaleidoscopes.

One of the nice ladies in the shop took this picture through a kaleidoscope for us.

We were told by several friends that another can’t miss attraction in Jerome is the Haunted Hamburger. We debated but decided that since we would probably never have the opportunity again, that we would have a Haunted Hamburger for lunch. It was quite good. After a little more window shopping, we departed Jerome and headed to Sedona, Arizona.

Several friends recommended we visit here.

Sedona is a very artsy town with lots of places to pick up some really nice things but we resisted the temptation this time. Sedona reminds us of Gatlinburg. We had friends suggest that we should see the Chapel of The Holy Cross while in Sedona. We went there and we were able to snap some pictures but there was no place to park so we didn’t go inside.

Pretty scenery between Jerome and Sedona

After getting out of the traffic we made our way to Culver’s in Flagstaff and then on to Page, Arizona Walmart for a night of boondocking. We had a number of RVers join us in the parking lot but it was a very quiet night of rest.

NOMADS – Mingus Mountain, AZ 2026 – Week 3

Saturday, May 30, 2026

Week 3 of the NOMADS project at Mingus Mountain Camp and Retreat was a push to the end for everyone. Those working to repair and improve the men’s bathroom completed that task Wednesday afternoon.

LuAnn cutting baseboard for the bathroom

It was everyone working on the Camp Store on Thursday. Wednesday had been an extremely windy day and high winds were predicted for Friday. We really needed to get the tin roofing installed but Wednesday we couldn’t safely manage the tin in the 40mph winds. We decided to give it a try first thing Thursday morning and God answered our prayers. The winds remained manageable and we safely completed the roofing about 10:00 am Thursday. After that, we painted the store, installed shelving and cleaned up the construction debris. We didn’t quite complete the painting on Thursday but two of our members were staying until the first of the week and they completed the second coat of paint on Saturday.

One of the attendees at this week’s program even helped install the rafters during his break.

The full team plus the camp director helped put the metal roofing on.

… and LuAnn began painting as soon as the roof was finished.

The outside was finished by the end of the day

Suzanne and Steve finished painting the inside on Saturday

Below is a list of all the projects completed by NOMADS the past three weeks. It was another successful project and the Camp Director seemed very pleased.

NOMADS – Mingus Mountain, AZ 2026 – Week 2

May 25, 2026

Week 2 of our NOMADS project at Mingus Mountain Camp and Retreat started on May 18th and was much like Week 1. We continued all our projects with our Nomads friends, finished some and started some new ones.

On Monday we discovered a railing on one of the camp buildings was very loose, so the team stabilized it.

The team continued in one of the men’s bathrooms by installing the new vinyl plank flooring.

LuAnn and Steve working on the gaga ball pit

Another big project we started this week was tearing down the old wood shed to build a new camp store.

Taking down the old wood shed piece by piece

The rest of the team helped with raising the first wall.

The weather has been the same as last week. Lows in the low 50’s overnight (didn’t bring enough warm clothes) and climbing into the low to mid 70’s during the day with a few days in the low 80’s. There has still been NO rain! No threats of rain. The only clouds are the white puffy ones, otherwise it’s just beautiful blue sky. There is no dew on the ground in the mornings. No change in the forecast for this week. Very different from what we are accustomed to in Alabama. Also, we have friends in Alabama that have had tornadoes this week and are now experiencing flash flooding. Please say a prayer for them! Don’t think we told you about the elevation. We are at 7,600 feet so that explains the cool evenings. Friday when we were in Prescott Valley doing laundry the temperature was 84 and it was 74 when we arrived back at our campsite on Mingus Mountain.

On one of our hikes around the camp we found this agave in its “death bloom.” Agave live for 10 to 30 years, bloom once, then die.

NOMADS – Mingus Mountain, AZ 2026 – Week 1

May 24, 2026

Our last post on May 8, we drove through some beautiful scenery to reach our home for the night in Cottonwood AZ. After refilling the refrigerator and the propane we had a good night of sleep. We really appreciated hospitality of the Methodist church. On May 9 we began our drive to Mingus Mountain, our home for the next 3 weeks. It was a beautiful although harrowing drive. We drove up through Jerome, but it was before anything was open. We plan to stop there as well as Sedona when we leave. Both areas are interesting and beautiful, but it was time to just get settled in after eighteen days on the road.

The drive from Cottonwood to Mingus Mountain was another interesting …

This deer herd walks through the camp frequently.

They look a little different from the deer back east.

We arrived at Mingus Mountain Camp and Retreat before lunch, found our place to park and set up our campsite. We were greeted by our NOMADS leader Suzanne and later that afternoon the rest of the team, Steve, and Doyle and LouAnn arrived. Suzanne went ahead with our opening meeting since we were all gathered together and asking her questions. It was nice though since it gave us all a free day Sunday. Monday we met the camp director and program director when they joined us for devotion. After a tour of the facilities, we began our work for the week. We made a lot of repairs. Repairs to the entrance signage and painting it, the pump house roof, the heat strip on the pavilion roof, a door, lots of painting, built a trash can enclosure, an entry ramp for the dinning hall, repaired the 9-square game and began working in the men’s rest room which is a big three-week project. We began by removing all the tile, preparing the flooring for new vinyl laminate and started the painting. By the end of the week we had it so the rest room could be used by guests for the weekend.

Preparing the entrance sign for painting

Steve and Doyle repairing the pumphouse roof

Doyle and Steve re-installed a door that was blown off by the wind.

Doyle and Steve made the dining hall more accessible.

Repairing heat tape on pavilion roof. We were probably the only people in Arizona working on heat tape this time of year.

The camp director wanted enclosures for the trash cans to keep animals out.

Steve working on the trash can enclosure

Over the weekend we visited Prescott Valley. Wow! Another steep drive with minimal side rails. You can see the roadway, way, down below. We also bought groceries and visited Culver’s while there. Saturday, we hiked to the top of the mountain where there is an area for hang gliding. No one jumped off the mountain while we were there but the scenery was beautiful.