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saturday, MARCH 16TH - LUNCH AT PRESCOTT STATION
Lunch at the Prescott
Station restaurant in Prescott by way of Skull Valley
On Saturday, March 16th, 2019 we will
tour to Prescott by way of Wickenburg, Bagdad, Hillside, Kirkland
and Skull Valley. As you know from previous tours on this route, it is
sensational with many twisties, elevation changes and great scenery.
According to the 14 day weather forecast, there is zero chance of rain
but let’s not count on that 14 days ahead of time. The worst thing that
could happen is that we get a free car wash.
We already have reservations for our group for a
lunch at approximately 12:30 PM at the Prescott station restaurant.
Let's meet at the Albertson’s center on Carefree Highway
1/2 mile East of interstate 17 on the north side of Carefree Hwy.
Please meet at the east side of the McDonalds and arrive no later than
8:30 for a
departure at 8:45 sharp. Coffee, donuts and a restroom are
available inside McDonalds or the Albertson’s supermarket.
Please arrive
with a full fuel tank club name tag and bring your club Baofeng radio
along with a copy of this route guide .
We also encourage you to bring an Arizona map and a jacket because the
high temperature in Prescott is going to be in the low 50’s. You might
want to review this route guide and before you
start the tour, in order to avoid any wrong turns or confusion
and to get a general idea of the tour if it is your first time.
Upon departing McDonald’s, we will head west on
Carefree Highway to Hwy 60, (about 20 miles) and turn north to
Wickenburg where we will stop at McDonald's for a 20 minute comfort
break. Then pick up Hwy 60/93 from the traffic circle in Wickenburg and
drive North which is sort of a right hand turn out of the traffic
circle. About 5 miles out of town Hwy 89 branches off to the right,
DO NOT TAKE HWY 89
keep to the left instead, which is actually straight ahead
and
you
will be on Hwy 93 heading toward Kingman. It is
approximately 30 miles from McDonald's to the Hwy 97 turnoff and the
nearby town of Bagdad.
This
intersection is marked but not real well so pay attention, it is easy to
drive right past it, someone does every trip. Turn right on 97
and follow it until it intersects with Hwy 96. At that junction you will
turn right and follow Hwy 96 through the towns of Hillside, Kirkland and
finally Skull Valley. Consult the map you brought along. A safety
suggestion here, hwy 96 has a number of dips in it and blind curves, it
is common to be hitting the brakes so please don’t follow the car in
front of you too closely, allow some slow down and braking room and,
Please
don’t overdrive your ability on this road, we never leave anyone behind,
drive at your own safe comfort level, someone will wait up for you.
We'll be entering Prescott on Iron Springs Road,
keep following it as the name changes to Whipple Street and then to
Montezuma, continue on Montezuma Street to Gurley St, turn left and
go a couple blocks until you see the Hassayampa Inn on your left, turn
left on that street which is Marina Street and the restaurant is on the
corner to your right side. The restaurant is Prescott Station. They have
their own parking lot but adjacent to them, on the east, the church
allows restaurant parking on Saturday so you have two options to park.
We will need fuel to get back home and the most
convenient location is Woody’s Food Store & Chevron station. about
7 blocks east of Marina St. so, when you depart the restaurant, turn
left on Gurley Street which is also Hwy 89 and look for the Chevron
station on your right, several blocks down the road. We will plan to
meet up there for the return trip and get our group together again.
There are three possible routes to take to return
home which we will discuss following lunch. We may not all want to take
the same return route, driver's choice.
1) return the same way we drove up ( the most
driving fun and the longest)
2) pick up hwy 69 that takes you back to interstate
17 (the most boring) (lots of cops patrolling hwy 69 don't you dare
speed there)
3) take Montezuma St, south out of town that
becomes Hwy 89 back through the National Forest and to Wickenburg, a fun
and scenic drive, shorter than the Skull Valley route and lots of curvy
stuff. Maybe stop in Wickenburg for ice cream 😊
Please
email me your RSVP in a timely
manner, if you are undecided just send me a "maybe" and give me a final
response later when you know for sure one way or the other.
One more VERY important
piece of information. The city of Prescott has what they call a “hands
free” ordinance. The police do not allow drivers to be holding cell
phones, communication radios or other similar equipment in their hands
while driving. The fine is a very stiff one $100 for the first offense.
So, be aware of your surroundings and if there is law enforcement within
sight of you, be sure you are not holding ANY of these devices. If you
have to use your club radio be sure it’s not visible to anyone outside
your car.
Paul Ebeyer, President
Arizona BMW Z Series Club
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