Seeing the AZ Sites With Friends!

Hey everyone!  I hope you are having a marvelous weekend!  I think hope we have seen the last of the triple digits around here until next year, but we just never know.  It was a bit warm for our "web-footed" friends from the Great Northwest this past week, but they were very good sports and pushed through.  The Man has known these great people since high school, and we've all been happily married to our original spouses for 43+ years -- isn't that cool?  They came to see us for a couple of days before heading on up to their timeshare in Sedona (the weather should be perfect up there).  Even though it was hot, they were game for seeing "stuff," so we loaded everyone up with bottles of water & hit the road.

The Man and I have always thought this was such an interesting historical site, and it's only 25 miles south of us, so Casa Grande National Monument was our destination.

Just look at these tourists!
The Man (far left) does just fine with the heat, but our friends are already feeling the effects of our desert.

I think it is wonderfully amazing that the Hohokams had such a vision and were able to build 

this 3-story structure and carve out a productive existence here in the middle of such a harsh environment.

                      

The narrow steps have, obviously, been carved into the ruins to provide an observation area for curious tourists.  There is a locked gate to prevent access directly into the ruins.  The steps would have originally been a simple ladder.

The National Parks Service has had to cover the remaining walls with some kind of material to prevent further deterioration.

They can keep people out, but they can't stop the pigeons from wrecking havoc!

You may be able to see some graffiti which occurred before anyone realized this was truly a wonder

to behold.  Fortunately, security measures were taken prior to today's "spray-paint" graffitiests.  Can you just imagine the horrible damage that could have been done?  

This is incredible!

We are so fortunate that "the powers that be" had the forethought to build this protective structure (about 1932) over the ruins to prevent further erosion & damage.

Using very crude implements, the Hohokam people were able to create an elaborate canal system running hundreds of miles from the Gila, Salk & Santa Cruz Rivers.

So maybe they knew how to have some fun recreation, too!

The desert environment is so terribly harsh.

If you live in Phoenix, or the next time you visit, you really should put this historical site on your

"must see" agenda.  The Park Service maintains a very nice museum of artifacts and provides a

most informative film.  Well worth seeing at almost any age!

Next on our site-seeing tour was the lovely Heard Museum in downtown Phoenix.

In 1929 Dwight and Maie Heard established this location in what is now central Phoenix to house their personal art and artifacts collection.  The focus of the Heard Museum today, is both traditional and contemporary Native American art. There are more than 35,000 artifacts in its permanent collection at the Heard Museum, displayed in 10 exhibit galleries.  There are some guided tours or you can simply roam around and get lost in all the wonderful history.  The building and grounds are beautiful, and there are some places to grab a nibble & something to drink.

Our last major stop of the day, was here at our favorite restaurant (wink-wink), True Food in The Scottsdale Quarter for dinner.

Just behind that short wall is where True Food grows their own fresh herbs.

This is looking toward the front of the restaurant.  There is a wide, wrap-around dining patio on 3 sides of the restaurant with misters & heaters (whichever is needed at the time).  Our evenings have been cooling off, so we were able to sit outside and enjoy the view out at this beautiful fountain area.

We had a beautiful day and evening with wonderful friends.  It cannot get any better than that!

Thanks so much for stopping by and please come again soon.

~CAS~