Today is an easy day, again. The distance from Williams to Phoenix is about 200 miles. I got up at 8:30, wrote the report, and left the motel at 11:00. On the way to Phoenix, there are some spots to see. I decided to drop by Tuzigoot National Monument. I took the I-40 to west, changed to the State-89, which goes through the Kaibab National Forest and the Prescott National Forest. It was a pretty good road. Just before the center of Prescott, I switched to the ALT-89. This road went up to Mingus Mountain, and took me to a small town called Jerome. This is a historic town of copper mining. I stopped to have a lunch. I enjoyed walking around the town, watching some shops along the main street. Tuzigoot National Monument was just near Jerome. It is a remnant of a Sinaguan village built between 1125 and 1400. I watched the structure made of stones, walking along the trail. But what attracted me more was a waste pond of copper mining below the monument. The mining mountain has already closed, but there still remains a large orange expanse. I found a sign say "Hazardous Area"

After that, I drove into Cottonwood. Strangely enough, I found cotton drifting in the air. Is that why this town is called Cottonwood? I was driving slowly along the street. There, I found a shop selling strings of Chili Peppers. I couldn't stop buying one of these. This is really cool. Once, I had bought a string of garlic in Gilroy. Some day I want to get both of these and hang them in my kitchen. This Chili string was hung in my Jeep. At Cottonwood, I took the State-260 to get to the Interstate-17.

Driving along the I-17, I found many cactuses. This is Arizona. I also found a cactus in front of the executive tower of the state capitol in Phoenix. I reached a motel just next to the airport at 17:45. Tomorrow, I will leave to Japan for my daughter's birthday. She will be three years old. I hope she will also love this report and my way of life when she grows up.