We had another wonderful day and we think it even topped yesterday.  Our first stop was to Montezuma Castle National Monument, a cliff dwelling that was constructed around 1100 AD by the Sinagua Indians and it is still a mystery why they left the area around 1400 AD.  It is thought to be the best preserved cliff dwelling in America.  Not only did it house 250 people, they managed to build a canal system along the Beaver River to irrigate their crops.  The dwelling sits high along a cliff wall and was accessible by ladders.  We had only walked 1/3 of a mile and stepped back into the past.  Since the tour didn’t take as long as we expected we started planning the rest of the day.  We had read about a small mining town, Jerome, built half way up the Mingus Mountain and thought it was worth investigating.  The highway took us through some small towns and then we started to climb and climb along switchbacks to reach Jerome.  The town buildings sit precariously on the side of the mountain, the main road is narrow and winds through the town in hairpin curves.  In order to walk from one street to another, steep stairs are placed between buildings.  At one time Jerome was the 3rd largest city in Arizona and had a population of over 15,000 with mining the main industry.  We stopped and wandered through some unique shops, had an ice cream cone then headed down the mountain side.  With some sunlight left, we decided to head back towards Sedona to view the scenery once again.  We can’t imagine how anyone ever would get tired of seeing the rugged red rocks and steep cliffs in the area.