Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Cooling Off

After spending a couple of days in Tucson, where we met up with a good friend of Bear's and some amazingly hospitable friends of friends, we fled the heat of the desert and headed north to the cooler temps of the Flagstaff area.

Along the way we stopped at Montezuma Castle, a multistory dwelling built into a cliff that was inhabited by Sinagua farmers until about 600 years ago. It housed 35 or so people in its heyday. There's a neighboring dwelling, Castle A, that housed about 100 people. The Sinagua farmed the land below and, from their vantage point in the cliff, were able to defend themselves from enemies and potential attacks. 

Seeing trees full of autumn colors was quite welcome after the dry, dusty, predominantly cacti-populated landscape we had come from, and the air was sweet and welcoming. 

Here's Montezuma Castle:







It was nice to see that dogs were allowed in the park. With the heat, we have not been leaving Cliff in the car. In fact, we've been sneaking him in to restaurants and coffee shops with us. Bear said that Cliff's carrier looks very natural on my shoulder, like a tote bag, and most folks wouldn't guess that there was a dog in there. He's right. And Cliff is so quiet that the incognito act has been working. 

In terms of where we're staying, Bear got us some pretty sweet accommodations at an Air Force recreation area with his retired Navy credentials. We're staying in a yurt for a couple of nights, which is another new and fun experience for me. More on the yurt to come.

From what I see so far of Flagstaff, it has a funky, cool vibe. I don't know how much poking around we'll do while we're here, but I can see coming back here for a visit at some point in the future.

Over and out for now. Happy election day, y'all.

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