Wednesday, November 6
88 Shades RV Park
After we packed up, we decided to not leave right away in the morning and join the full-timers at their coffee and donut social. The sexes had segregated, so Lisa sat with the ladies and I went over to the men’s table. Everyone was really friendly and we had a good time chatting. We stayed for about 45 minutes before leaving.
Leisure Valley RV Resort
Our next stop was the Leisure Valley RV Resort between Phoenix and Tucson. When we arrived around noon, we were directed to our site. As soon as we were set up, we headed over to Casa Grande Ruins National Monument.
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument
The national monument consists of the ruins of multiple structures surrounded by a compound wall that was constructed by the ancient people of the Hohokam period. In 1694, a Spanish priest name the largest structure “Casa Grande” which was Spanish for “big house.” It is a four-story structure made of caliche that has managed to survive the extreme weather conditions for about seven centuries. Graffiti from 19th-century passers-by is scratched into its walls; though this is now illegal. Since 1932, Casa Grande has had a modern roof covering over it to help protect it from the elements. The Casa Grande Ruins became the first prehistoric and cultural reserve in the US in 1892 and re-designated a national monument in 1918.
Information kiosks around the structures describe how the ancient Sonoran Desert people who built the Casa Grande developed wide-scale irrigation farming and extensive trade connections which lasted over a thousand years until about 1450 C.E. Though the Sonoran canals are no longer visible, there was a lot of modern canals in the area.
Chandler, AZ
We then went up to Chandler, a suburb of Phoenix to the HELLUVA Brewery for dinner. There were a lot of breweries in Phoenix and we picked this place mostly because of its name. It was in a strip mall and mostly empty when we arrived so the waitress was able to chat with us a little. We were not that hungry, so we just had some appetizers. The General Manager came over and talked with us and gave us some complimentary nuts.
Evening
On our way home, we stopped at Frys for Groceries.
Thursday, November 7
Saguraro National Park
Today we went south to Tucson and the Saguaro National Park which is just outside its city limits.
There were not a lot of Saguaro cacti prior to National Park but once we entered the park, there were thousands. We went straight to the visitor center where were visited their displays and watched their movie. The movie theater was pretty interesting because when the movie ended, the screens rolled up to reveal large windows overlooking a large field of Saguaros which was very dramatic.
We drove a nature loop that took us into the park where we saw a bunch of different Saguaro and other types of cacti which were really interesting. We enjoyed lunch at a picnic shelter located on a high hill overlooking all the cactus. We also walked on several trails including one that took us to a small rock hill full of petroglyphs.
Mission of San Xavier
We then drove south of Tucson to the Mission of San Xavier. This restored mission was beautiful. We enjoyed seeing all the iconography in the church. They showed a 30-minute video that told us about the place, so we ended up going back through the mission to see some of the things it pointed out. There was also a small hill grotto next to the mission that we climbed, but there was not much to it. We had hoped to buy some Saguaro jelly or syrup in the gift shop which we were told only the local Indians could harvest, but we settled on some Prickly Pear candy instead.
Barrio Brewing Company
We decided to go to a local brewery, Barrio Brewing Company for dinner. It was a large brewery that was very popular. We tried to order the usual flight of beer and since it was half-price happy hour, we enjoyed appetizers for dinner.