We took off back to Flagstaff to catch up with the interstate south to Phoenix. The plan was to see Montezuma’s Castle, a cliff dwelling, and stay the night in Phoenix. We drove directly into a thunderstorm, and were thankful for our new windshield wipers and RAIN X treatment. A short drive later and several thousand feet lower, we arrived at Apache Nation casino, and turned off into the National Monument.
It started to pour and lightning abounded, so we hid out in the car for a bit until the weather cleared. Montezuma’s Castle is a cliff dwelling, but differs from Mesa Verde in Colorado in the fact that these were peaceful people who simply realized that building two walls is easier than four. The homes were cool in summer and warm in winter, and a watering hole nearby was used extensively for irrigation. These natives were relatives of the Hopi, who still come here for religious observances. Unfortunately the weather forced us to leave without truly exploring, and we headed south to the hot, dry, desert monstrosity that is Phoenix. After battling bands of rain, we soon found ourselves in tree-less hills and the first tall cacti came into view. Soon, there were Saguaros everywhere, as well as dust.
As soon as we came down from the mountains, the dust arose and whipped around us violently. We were lucky we were not in a real dust storm, as this was bad. We then entered the suburban wonderland of Phoenix. The temperature of 110 and was baking everything. There is little grass here, just rocks and cacti, but the place is booming. New developments were everywhere, modern shopping centers. Exhausted, we heard fireworks in the distance while eating Olive Garden to go.
We took off back to Flagstaff to catch up with the interstate south to Phoenix. The plan was to see Montezuma’s Castle, a cliff dwelling, and stay the night in Phoenix. We drove directly into a thunderstorm, and were thankful for our new windshield wipers and RAIN X treatment. A short drive later and several thousand feet lower, we arrived at Apache Nation casino, and turned off into the National Monument.
It started to pour and lightning abounded, so we hid out in the car for a bit until the weather cleared. Montezuma’s Castle is a cliff dwelling, but differs from Mesa Verde in Colorado in the fact that these were peaceful people who simply realized that building two walls is easier than four. The homes were cool in summer and warm in winter, and a watering hole nearby was used extensively for irrigation. These natives were relatives of the Hopi, who still come here for religious observances. Unfortunately the weather forced us to leave without truly exploring, and we headed south to the hot, dry, desert monstrosity that is Phoenix. After battling bands of rain, we soon found ourselves in tree-less hills and the first tall cacti came into view. Soon, there were Saguaros everywhere, as well as dust.
As soon as we came down from the mountains, the dust arose and whipped around us violently. We were lucky we were not in a real dust storm, as this was bad. We then entered the suburban wonderland of Phoenix. The temperature of 110 and was baking everything. There is little grass here, just rocks and cacti, but the place is booming. New developments were everywhere, modern shopping centers. Exhausted, we heard fireworks in the distance while eating Olive Garden to go.
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