Montezuma Castle and Well

Yesterday, after a late breakfast and early lunch at Denny's we made a short drive to Montezuma Castle Natl. Park. The we included Anne & Henry, Jake & Nancy and of course Dean & I. I finally got to see some cliff dwellings and these were impressive. There were also ruins of another dwelling just past Montezuma, but erosion has taken it's toll there. Montezuma Castle is well preserved thanks to our National Park service. It is a five story, 20 room dwelling that was built in the early 12th century. It stands in a cliff recess about 100 feet above the valley. Early settlers assumed it was Aztec in origin, hence the name Montezuma Castle. Montezuma was never here! By clicking on the pictures they will enlarge and hopefully you can read some of the story of the Sinagua, the people who lived here and how the castle was built.










This is a model of how it would look inside the dwellings....





These are pictures of Castle A, pueblo ruins just around the corner from Montezuma Castle. The park service is working at preserving what is left. This was once a six-story "apartment complex" with about 45 rooms.





Our next stop was at Montezuma Well, again named by early settlers. The well is a limestone sink formed long ago by the collapse of an immense underground cavern. The springs that feed it flow continuously. The Southern Sinagua irrigated their crops with irrigation ditches dug from the well. There were also Sinagua dwellings here, again in the side of the cliff. There are also ruins of Hohokam pithouses on site that were built around 1100 A.D. The walk to the well was up the side of a steep hill, but worth the view after getting there!









The pithouse ruins....



Our last stop of the day was at the Cliff Castle Casino, owned by the Yavapai-Apache Nation. Typical Indian owned casino, tight slots machines. Nancy and Jake played blackjack and actually won about $150 between them, not bad. After an hour of playing we met a Johnny Rocket's Diner (inside the casino) for more food. The others had never been to a Johnny Rockets so they enjoyed the performance by the staff and of course the food, especially the milk shakes.

We returned home happy but tired. It was an early to bed night.

Grand Canyon Part 2

We just didn't get enough of such a Grand place so on Thursday, we decided to drive back to the Grand Canyon. Well, we actually rode with Henry and Anne which made it even nicer, letting someone else do the driving.

The day started out overcast but eventually the sun did come out from behind the clouds. Some of today's pictures have a little more color because of this. Not only did it help with picture taking, but kept us a little warmer also. When we arrived at our first overlook, the wind was blowing so hard and it was so cold, I was wearing gloves and a wool scarf! By afternoon, it was almost warm enough to get rid of the jackets! What strange weather. OK, enough talk about that and on to our day.

We drove the road that goes to the East of where we were yesterday. You are still looking at pretty much the same part of the canyon, but just at a different angle. If some of these pictures look similar to the ones posted in my previous post, that's because they are. As I said before, the Grand Canyon is something that needs to be experienced personally to get the full impact of just how big and grand it is. Pictures just don't begin to do it justice, no matter how pretty they are.

With that said, here are some more pictures taken the second trip back to the canyon.


Isis temple...... This is why some people fall into the canyon and die.......



More views of the Grand Canyon.....





Here we are.....



And a couple more views of the canyon.....





We saw these cute little critters - mule deer - as we were leaving the park headed home....
He's got a good size rack on him.....




Cute baby......



We had a great day with Henry and Anne, as we always do, and ended the evening with dinner at Pancho McGillicudy's - what a name, but the food was Mexican. Not the best I've had, but OK. The company made it great!

We are hoping to get to the north rim of the canyon when we head into Utah. Check back....

The Grand Canyon

Henry, Anne, Dean and I boarded the Grand Canyon Railroad train in Williams, AZ for the ride to the Grand Canyon at 9:45 with departure at 10am. This was after watching a Wild West Show in an arena outside the train station. Very good actors, cute show. Our seats were in first class facing each other. Dean and I rode backwards going up and then facing front coming back. With the large window by our seats, either way had great views. During the morning ride, we were provided a buffet of danish, muffins, fresh cut up fruit, juice and coffee plus complimentary sodas and bottled water. There was also a strolling musician but he didn't spend much time in our car. We arrived at the Grand Canyon around 12:15 pm.

The first peak of the canyon came as we were approaching the train station. Dean and I were on the right side of the train to catch the view and I knew by the first sighting, we were in for something bigger than either of us had imagined.

From the train we boarded our tour bus for the ride around the rim. Well, unless you have been to the Grand Canyon, there are no words or pictures that can really describe it so that you get the same feeling as seeing it, especially for the first time. Awe inspiring, grand, huge, deep, beautiful, unbelievable, serene are just a few of the words that come to mind. As for the pictures, I took 130 total pictures of which I can only post a handful. Choosing which ones will be difficult. Our bus driver had to be one of the best! He was really funny, full of stories and took us to the best photo sites, even telling us where to stand and point the camera to get the best pictures. I don't usually care for bus tours, but he made this one enjoyable. After each story he would give a good "Yee Haw" or ask if we wanted to hear "The Rest of the Story". He also had an infectious laugh. A very good rim bus tour.

3:30 pm had us boarding the train for the return ride to Williams. Our treats during this ride were cheese and crackers, veggies with dip, danish, muffins and for a small charge some really good Canyon Sunset drinks. I have to admit, I had two! There were also complimentary champagne, sparkling cider and sodas. About a half hour out of Williams the train was held up by the same group of actors from the morning show. The kids on board got a big kick out of this, even some of the big kids!

The four of us returned happy but tired. It was a long day and being so tired, we decided to stay in for the evening and just have a snack. Dean and I were in bed by 8:30 pm and the TV went off just after nine. We went off to dreamland tired but happy.

Unfortunately, the day was overcast with very little sunshine. Because of this, the colors of the Grand Canyon don't show well in the pictures and it also caused a whiteish misty look in a lot of them. Maybe if I had used a filter they would have been better. We are returning today by car and the sun is shining, so I'm hoping to get some really good pictures with some color. Meanwhile enjoy these.....



Allegator rock (the top of the ledge looks like an allegator) with the Colorado River way below..



Another of allegator rock with the river....



Battleship rock...



More views.....



More views.....





I'll be back with a Grand Canyon II post.

Oatman, AZ Home of the Wild Burro's

After a bumpy ride through the desert, we took a shortcut on a gravel road, we arrived at Oatman, AZ. A tourist trap, yes, but one that really should not be missed. Historic Route 66 goes through the middle of town and the town itself has retained it's historic look. Take a look at a couple of these pictures of the post office, the hotel and a building called Glory Hole.







The big attraction are the wild burros that come to town for treats. The shopkeepers say that they come most days, if they feel like it. About 2 hours after we arrived, the burros must have decided that it was going to be a good day to come to town, about a dozen began strolling the street looking for carrot's their favorite treat.

In search of carrots......



Dean and our favorite burro in deep conversation - the burro sees the bag of carrots....



This one was so cool, he would bite off a piece of carrot, not try to take the whole stick.....



How cute, one of the babies.....



If you have a bag of carrots, they will find them.....



More burros on the search for treats......



In the early afternoon, there was a gun fight on main street with three outlaws and the sheriff. In this picture you will notice that one of the outlaws is wearing a Shriner's hat. After the gunfight, they go through the crowd with their hats out, for donations. The donations go to the Shriner's Children's Hospital. They do so much good, so if you go to Oatman, please give a little. The outlaw said that they have raised over $44,000 for the hospital.



This poster was on the outside of one of the buildings in town, how true!



Historic Route 66, hard to believe that this was once a major highway - how times have changed! I even drove part of this highway back in the 60's when I moved to California. Of course there was a lot less traffic back then.



We returned to Laughlin via paved highway, ate at the Aquarius Casino (not very good), played the slots and lost and came home. After such a busy day, it's so nice to come HOME and not return to a motel room.

Hoover Dam

To all who have responded to my previous post, Thank You! I will probably begin posting regularly to My Trip Journal within the month. There are a few items that I want to check on before making my final decision.

I will post the link on here again, when the decision is made to make a permanent switch.

Meanwhile, Dean and I went to Hoover Dam today. Only one word can describe seeing this dam in person - WOW! I can't begin to remember all the history, facts and trivia about the building of this dam, but I encourage you to do a search on the internet to find out all the information - it's almost unbelievable that something this huge could be built. Of course, I took pictures and here are a few.

Lake Mead......



Dean at the Hoover Dam



Me at the Hoover Dam



We took the dam tour. I wasn't sure that I could do it since I have a tendency to be claustrophobic, but the worst part was the elevator rides.

This is the Nevada side turbine center, all were operational while were there - the light being on on top indicated it's operational. Just to show how large this area is, notice the man walking on the right side.....



This is the outside of one of four tunnels used to redirect the river during the building of the dam .. they are still used today, but now the feed the turbines.



This is a view of one of the tunnels from inside (underground)...



Some interesting facts about Watt's.....



With the construction of the new by-pass for Rt 93, all the high up viewing areas were closed as we approached the dam. This is the best of the face of the dam that I could get, it's so big! The second picture is looking down at the river and the turbine plants, one on each side - we were in the one on the right, or Nevada side.



Lake Mead from the top of the dam. The white on the bank indicates the water level, which is very low right now. When the water is to the top of the white line, it is only 6 feet from the top of the dam. That doesn't happen very often, but when it does they open the spillways.



Some big fish in the Lake....



The lake side of the dam....



It was a beautiful day for the visit to the dam. Temps were in the 80's and as you can see, the sky was clear. The drive up to the dam and back was very nice. We went up Hwy 95 and came back Hwy 93 & Hwy 68. On Hwy 68 you drive up and over a pass that is over 3000 ft. high. The grades are a steady climb of 6% for miles, then a downhill grade of 6% for miles again. This is the route, Hwy 68 to I-40, we will be taking to Williams. Should make for an interesting ride with the 5er in tow.