12/11: Warmer climate .... ahhhhhhhhhh
Category: General
Posted by: The Agnew Family
The plan was to drive to Sedona and stay there a few days. When Ed phoned ahead to double check that there was room, he was surprised to hear that they only had one space left and we wouldn't fit in it. I guess that's what happens when a popular place has only one RV park, it's a weekend and not far from a city (Phoenix). Plan B came into play. We are in Camp Verde about 22 miles from Sedona in a very nice RV park run by a Native Tribe. As expected there is a casino less than 1/2 a mile away. Camp Verde is only an hour south of Flagstaff but it's elevation is 1000 meters less resulting in warmer temperatures --- only two layers today and I was warm.
Not far from the RV park is Montezuma's Castle National Monument and Montezuma's Well National Monument. The first vagabond groups of miners and soldiers visited the area and misnamed the sites after the Aztec emperor Montezuma, who in fact never came this far north.
Montezuma Castle, this is one of the best preserved cliff dwellings in North America. The Sinagua culture built this 20 room dwelling high in the limestone cliff.
This nearby water source made it a perfect place to live.
Montezuma's Well is about five miles from the Castle as the crow flies.
The well was formed by the collapse of a limestone cavern. Over one million gallons of 74F water a day flows continuously into the Well. The water exits the collapsed cavern via a "swallet" and flows through 150 feet of limestone before re-emerging from the outlet into an irrigation ditch. The Sinagua farmed this area using the irrigation ditches to water their crops. Many of the current residents of the area rely on this water for their gardens and livestock.
One of the dwellings in the side of the cliff ... one wrong move and you'd be swimming.
Ahhhh, this makes a walk perfect. Three strangers all petting me at the same time.
I don't see any tarantulas.... these signs are never right.
Oh, oh the sign was correct. A young tarantula is walking in front of the sign ... it's shadow is much bigger than the spider itself.
Not far from the RV park is Montezuma's Castle National Monument and Montezuma's Well National Monument. The first vagabond groups of miners and soldiers visited the area and misnamed the sites after the Aztec emperor Montezuma, who in fact never came this far north.
Montezuma Castle, this is one of the best preserved cliff dwellings in North America. The Sinagua culture built this 20 room dwelling high in the limestone cliff.
This nearby water source made it a perfect place to live.
Montezuma's Well is about five miles from the Castle as the crow flies.
The well was formed by the collapse of a limestone cavern. Over one million gallons of 74F water a day flows continuously into the Well. The water exits the collapsed cavern via a "swallet" and flows through 150 feet of limestone before re-emerging from the outlet into an irrigation ditch. The Sinagua farmed this area using the irrigation ditches to water their crops. Many of the current residents of the area rely on this water for their gardens and livestock.
One of the dwellings in the side of the cliff ... one wrong move and you'd be swimming.
Ahhhh, this makes a walk perfect. Three strangers all petting me at the same time.
I don't see any tarantulas.... these signs are never right.
Oh, oh the sign was correct. A young tarantula is walking in front of the sign ... it's shadow is much bigger than the spider itself.