*Birds we’ve seen on our 2010 trip so far: white-wing dove, Gamble’s quail, western tanager
*National Parks/Monuments visited on 2010 trip so far: 7
*State Parks visited on 2010 trip so far: 1
*National Parks/Monuments visited on 2010 trip so far: 7
*State Parks visited on 2010 trip so far: 1
[Click on any picture to enlarge…then arrow back to the blog]
Our journey continued on to Camp Verde, AZ, about 250 miles north of Benson. We arrived at Camp Verde RV Resort after the office had closed, but signs directed us to the night host’s campsite. Seated outside were Dave with his little dog, Tank, and brother-in-law, Bill, enjoying cocktail hour. Dave and his wife, Trish, were spending at least a month there as camp hosts, and
Bill was visiting for a few weeks. Tank is a small white dog, and Dave kept telling Tank that Mikey and Abby were “real dogs”…LOL! Originally we were to be parked in the back section in full sun, but Dave said “let’s see if we can do better”. He put us in the spot next to Bill and 2 down from him that had a great shade tree! Only down side was all the birds eating the berries in the trees and creatin
g quite a mess on the RV and car, but we had nice, cool, wonderful shade! What a great campground with a great staff including those we met in the office the next day! We chatted with Dave, Trish, and Bill quite a bit over the next several days, but I never did get a picture of them. However I did get pictures of one of the beautiful birds known as the western tanager that were “decorating” our rig and car. Dozens of them flew from tree to tree everyday, but this little fellow stayed on the ground long enough for a closer look.
Fri. we loaded the dogs in the car and headed for Montezuma Castle National Monument (www.nps.gov/moca) that is nestled into a limestone recess 100 feet above Beaver Creek in the Verde Valley. This is not an actual castle but rather a 5-story, 20-room cliff dwelling that was home to about 35-50 Sinagua Indians more than 600 years
ago, but nobody knows why they left the area by the early 1400s. Access to it was closed in the 1950s, but you can walk a short loop trail that will take you to its base. Beaver Creek is several hundred yards from the dwellings, and it really makes you stop to think how easy we have it today. Along the trail they have a small narrated diorama that gives you an idea of life for the Sinagua. These people not only hauled water, game, and grains across the plain but had to carry it all up ladders to their homes! As you can see, dogs are allowed on the trail, and in fact a doggie water bowl is provided at the visitor center directly below the human water fountain.
Our journey continued on to Camp Verde, AZ, about 250 miles north of Benson. We arrived at Camp Verde RV Resort after the office had closed, but signs directed us to the night host’s campsite. Seated outside were Dave with his little dog, Tank, and brother-in-law, Bill, enjoying cocktail hour. Dave and his wife, Trish, were spending at least a month there as camp hosts, and
Bill was visiting for a few weeks. Tank is a small white dog, and Dave kept telling Tank that Mikey and Abby were “real dogs”…LOL! Originally we were to be parked in the back section in full sun, but Dave said “let’s see if we can do better”. He put us in the spot next to Bill and 2 down from him that had a great shade tree! Only down side was all the birds eating the berries in the trees and creatin
g quite a mess on the RV and car, but we had nice, cool, wonderful shade! What a great campground with a great staff including those we met in the office the next day! We chatted with Dave, Trish, and Bill quite a bit over the next several days, but I never did get a picture of them. However I did get pictures of one of the beautiful birds known as the western tanager that were “decorating” our rig and car. Dozens of them flew from tree to tree everyday, but this little fellow stayed on the ground long enough for a closer look.
Fri. we loaded the dogs in the car and headed for Montezuma Castle National Monument (www.nps.gov/moca) that is nestled into a limestone recess 100 feet above Beaver Creek in the Verde Valley. This is not an actual castle but rather a 5-story, 20-room cliff dwelling that was home to about 35-50 Sinagua Indians more than 600 years
ago, but nobody knows why they left the area by the early 1400s. Access to it was closed in the 1950s, but you can walk a short loop trail that will take you to its base. Beaver Creek is several hundred yards from the dwellings, and it really makes you stop to think how easy we have it today. Along the trail they have a small narrated diorama that gives you an idea of life for the Sinagua. These people not only hauled water, game, and grains across the plain but had to carry it all up ladders to their homes! As you can see, dogs are allowed on the trail, and in fact a doggie water bowl is provided at the visitor center directly below the human water fountain.
Back in the car, we drove 11 miles northeast to the Montezuma Well National Monument (http://www.nps.gov/moca/montezuma-well.htm), a sinkhole that is filled with water and was formed by the collapse of a limestone cavern about 11,000 years ago. The 1/3 mile trail takes you up a short hill and down to the rim where 
over 1.5 million gallons of water flow into it everyday at a constant temperature of 74 degrees. Measuring 55 feet deep and 368 feet across with cliffs 70 feet above the water’s surface, the well is fed by 3 or 4 large underwater vents and exits through a side cave. Sinagua Indians also lived in dwellings located in the walls around the well that can be seen from the rim. It is still considered a sacred site by many local Indian tribes today.
From here we drove another 25 miles to Sedona, AZ, often referred to as Red Rock Country because of the magnificent red sandstone formations in and around the area. If you don’t like the color red, you don’t want to live here! There must be a city ordinance code because many of the buildings are of the same color. The red rocks
form an incredible backdrop to the entire town, and nearby Bell Rock is one of the area’s most photographed attractions. It was formed hundreds of millions of years ago, and the “youngest” rock at the top is around 272 million years old...meaning the rest is much older!
On our way home we drove through the historic town of Cottonwood, but the most interesting site was Ye Ole Hippie Emporium! Must be a hit as the parking area in front was full as we drove by. Mon. we ventured in the other direction towards
Tuzigoot National Monument and the historic copper mining town of Jerome. Tuzigoot National Monument (www.nps.gov/tuzi) is another fine example of where the Sinagua lived. Atop the hill are the remains of a well preserved 2 to 3-story pueblo for which entry to most rooms b
ack then was by way of ladders through rooftop hatches. At its busiest, the pueblo consisted of over 100 rooms that housed probably 250 people. Some of the adjacent rooms have only a few feet of wall remaining, but unlike the other ruins we visited, we could actually climb up to the roof of the pueblo for some spectacular views of the surrounding area. 
As we passed through the town of Clarkdale, we took a slight detour to see the train depot for the Verde Canyon Railway (http://www.verdecanyonrr.com/). This passenger train takes you on a 4-hour, 40-mile roundtrip tour along the Verde River through forests and a 680-foot-long tunnel. It has o
utdoor viewing platforms with shaded canopies, and it just happened to be stationed at the depot when we drove through. Dave and Bill had taken the trip a couple days earlier and said it was spectacular. Guess we’ll have to add it to our list for another time. 
The town of Jerome was founded in 1876 and is quite an interesting little place. Sometimes called “America’s Most Vertical City”, its elevation is 5,246 feet, and due to the 30-degree incline of the mountainside on which it’s built, gravity has pulled a number of the buildings down the slope. T
oday Jerome is a thriving tourist and artist community with many of the current businesses using those buildings built in the late 1800s and early 1900s. One of the most famous in town is the Connor Hotel, originally built in 1898, and today has 12 historic rooms for rent. Brass plaques are everywhere either describing the history of a building or just life in the area. We walked up and down one of the main streets, stopping in a few of the eclectic artsy shops, and then drove a little further up the mountain to an overlook with a great view of the valley below.
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