It's About the (RV) Journey....: January 2016

Since we have been staying in this campground here in Phoenix for several weeks now, we have met a lot of people and have become very busy without even leaving the campground its seems! There are so many activities and classes (for me) that are of interest, plus our own hobbies and classes that we take online, that it is actually cutting into our hiking and sight-seeing time! We have to set better limits on ourselves...hahaha. So, though the blog has been inactive-we haven't been.

still enjoying those Arizona sunsets!

the sky glows

Football day (and by the way, that's Tom making dinner!! The grilling part, anyway! Don't work too hard..hahhahah)

hobby time

project time for me too!

Weekends are a little more free for us, so Saturday we set off about an hour and a half north of Phoenix to visit Montezuma Castle and Montezuma Well, located in the Verde Valley. For more information, click here. The drive through the mountains (17N) was beautiful, especially near Cottonwood and Sedona. We had a late start because of course there was something I wanted to do here at the campground first. I'll tell ya, sometimes my head spins, but I am usually very good at managing my time and fitting everything in....hahahah.

Verde Valley

first order of business....lunch :)

I asked Tom to sit down so I could take a nice pic of him (he fell for it, but he knew I was up to something)

the sign right next to him! We had a good laugh

After lunch, we checked out Montezuma Castle, a very well preserved cliff dwelling - from about 1100. That means the cliff dwellings are over 800 years old! Its amazing they are so well preserved, since they are built into limestone walls. The residents used ladders to get to their "home". Later, when early visitors came to see the monument, they had access to the ladders and could climb up the limestone into the dwellings. Of course, this caused lots of damage, so access to the ruins by the public was discontinued in 1951. We've seen a lot of ruins in our travels, and these really are so well preserved...at least the part we can see.

the cliff dwellings

very well preserved

can't get much closer....no climbing into these

the "old neighborhood"....about 45 dwellings here...on 5 different levels (think a 5 story apartment building)

these ruins are part of "Castle A"

okay...its getting warm now

the limestone isn't very stable...check out the fold

what is that?

swallows nesting in the cliffs

diorama of life in the cliff dwellings

we love this stuff

The question still remains....why did the Sinagua Indians leave? They really had the perfect location in the Verde Valley. The river runs right near the cliff dwellings and the land was very fertile. In this day and age, those "waterfront condo's" would be prized.

I"ll pass

again....gotta say no thank you

Next, not too far away, we visited Montezuma Well. This is not really a well, but a giant limestone sinkhole that fills with water from an underground spring. About 10% of the water drains out each day, and is refilled-the well is filled with over a million gallons of water a day. Around the circumference of the "well", cliff dwellings were built into the limestone walls. Not sure how the residents got to their apartments though! The dwellings are nestled under the limestone outcroppings, and they are located around the well. A sort of Lakefront Property! Again, the question arises...why did they leave this ideal location?