We drove over to the Superstition Mountains today. We stopped at the museum there and there was a cowboy dude there who had these kick ass boots on display.
Life on the road
Project 365 Day 43
Locked Out! Closed for the season! Dang it.
Montezuma’s Castle
On Sunday we drove the 75 miles up to Montezuma’s Castle. It was named after Montezuma, but he never lived there. It was not even the Aztec’s who built it. The Sinagua Indians were the ones who built this primitive condo back in the early 1400’s. They built on rooms and floors for nearly 300 years, to accomodate their growing tribe. It is an amazing thing to see, knowing that they had to climb ladders up the cliffs, hauling water, stone, and dirt to build their house.
The ladders to reach the house, and the support beams for the ceilings and floors, were made from the branches and trunks of these beautiful Arizona Sycamore trees. The trees get huge, and have the most amazing bark I have ever seen.
After living in the area for more than 300 years, the Sinagua’s abruptly disappeared from the area. They left no trace of where they went, or why they went. But from looking around at the area, we knew why they chose this area. The alcove in the cliff offered protection from the weather and attack from other tribes. The Beaver Creek offered a water source, and the flat level land at the bottom of the cliffs was excellent for agriculture, where there is evidence that the Sinaguans grew corn, beans, squash, and cotton.
There was more than one pueblo. This one was actually larger than the first one pictured, but it was closer to the bottom of the cliff. It is also not as well preserved as the other one, but you can clearly see the outlines of different rooms here.
yeah, I am in love with the Arizona Sycamore trees. They are just too cool. Did I already say that?
This clump of trees are some of the smaller ones. You can tell how large they are here. FabGrandpa is almost six feet tall. So yeah, they are pretty big trees. 
About 6 miles away is Montezuma’s Well. Montezuma’s Well is a sinkhole, a collapsed underground limestone cavern filled with water. More than a million gallons of water a day flow continuously, providing a lush, verdant oasis in the midst of surrounding desert grassland. Montezuma’s Well is 368 feet across and 55 feet deep; it sits at an elevation of 3,618 feet.
Lots of ducks were down there on the lake. It also has leeches in it. Ick. But it is a beautiful oasis in the middle of arid desert land.
This is the creek formed by water that flows out of the sinkhole. It was lush, beautiful, and very cool . We had to hike down a rock walkway to get down there.
This is maidenhair ferns growing out of the rock by the edge of the water.
Another view of the stream, showing the huge rocks, the trees, and the ferns. We heard lots of crickets and other insects chirping here. 
I have no pictures from dinner, but we stopped at a place called “The Gathering” in Camp Verde. We all ordered the flank steak on the “elders” menu. We didn’t have to be any particular age to qualify for the elders menu. It is just smaller portions and therefore a smaller price. The steak was good. I had a baked potato and grilled southwestern veggies with mine. FabGrandpa had “cactus rice” with his. It was rice with napalitos in it, which is chopped cactus. He enyoyed his but I just couldn’t go there.
It was a very fun day, sightseeing with our friends. Next, we’ll probably to to Saguaro National Monument. I can hardly wait!
Project 365 Day 42
Good times, fun, and friends–isn’t that what it’s all about?
Budget Report, Week 2 Cash Monday
I am really embarrassed to have to say that we went over budget this week. You would think that $300 would be plenty for two people, but it just didn’t work out that way this week. It was the purchase of those hair products that put us over the top, but we needed them and they will last us for a couple of months, so there, I have justified my indiscretion on the money front.
We went out to breakfast three times, all at Cracker Barrel; out to lunch once at that Mexican grill place; and out to dinner once, last night on our way home from Montezuma Castle. (more about that trip coming soon)
So, the bottom line for this week: in the hole by $39.37. Since we were under budget last week by $36.80, that means for the two week period, we’re in the hole by $2.57. I’ll work harder at it this week. Sigh.
Project 365 Day 40 Out And About Town
We finally did feel better today, so we drove up to visit our friends Lynda and Charlie but they were not at home. And since I got that letter from the passport agency telling me that my birth certificate and passport photo was not to their liking, I decided to look for a place to get my passport photo take again. Well, for the first time, since I took the first one. And yeah, they accepted the one I took of FabGrandpa and printed myself, because they sent him his passport card, so I guess they just decided that no one could look as good as the person in my photo and rejected it as too good to be true, hahahah!
Did you know that the portrait studio at Wal-Mart does passport photos? I should have known, you can get everything else you need there. So, for $10.82, here it is:
They even put it in a little card case. After I got the pictures, I thought, well, what a coincidence, I am wearing that same orange shirt that I wear everywhere I go, so when I cross the border, I will probably be wearing the same shirt. See here, and here.
We went to Circuit City to see what was on sale because they are going out of business. But, the TV’s were not marked down much, and were still higher on a so called clearance sale than they were at Best Buy. We have been looking at the flat screen HDTV’s for over a year, but have just not found one in the price range we wanted to pay that we could both agree on, until today. No, the money for it did not come out of our spending money budget, because we have budgeted money for a new TV. We got a Insignia HDTV 22″:
Got Herbs?
I know I have told you that we have both been sick since we got to Phoenix, but this is getting to be really ridiculous. We got here October 29th, so that it has been, what, more than two weeks that we have been grumpy, frumpy, whiney, snotty, and all the other seven dwarves combined. And quite frankly, I am sick to death of being sick. I want to go play, I want to have some fun, I want to be able to just sit down and read or play computer games without having to blow my dang nose every five minutes!!!
We have decided we must be allergic to Phoenix. We have lived in very rural areas for about two years now, first in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, then in north Georgia, and then at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Because it is so rural in those places, there is not much traffic, therefore, not much pollution. We have had no nasal/sinus/breathing problems, except when we were in Atlanta and now in Phoenix.
So, when we went out to breakfast at Cracker Barrel, we borrowed their yellow pages book, and called about a dozen health food stores and herb stores, looking for one that sells our favorite brand of herbs. No luck. No one here sells them, except for one store way down in Tempe about a hundred (or 35) miles away. Through a lot of traffic.
Then, we decided to go to Target, which is just a couple blocks down the road from Cracker Barrel, because FabGrandpa needed some new pajamas. Well, he wears those long flannel pants that tie at the waist, but he calls them his pajamas. After we found him some of those, we paid and started to leave, but then I saw a Salon Supply place. We needed some of that way expensive shampoo and conditioner that is the only one he will use, so I went in to see if they had some. Of course, they did, and whoo hooo! It was buy two get one free. So, for ONLY $49 I got one bottle of shampoo and two bottles of conditioner, which is good because I use the conditioner, too.
In the same shopping center, there was an herb shop called Hi-Health. We decided to go in to see if they had our brand of herbs. They did not. But they did have another brand that had the same combination we were looking for—Fenugreek and Thyme. The combination of Fenugreek and Thyme will dry up clogged nasal passages and get rid of sinus problems for us in just a few minutes. We got those and a bottle of Echinacea and Goldenseal. We have never used that particular combo, but it is supposed to clear up chest congestion.
We both took some in the truck before we left the parking lot. And, let me tell you, I feel better already. Maybe tomorrow we can go outside and play.
Project 365 Day 38 Sunset Time
I stepped outside for some fresh air, and was surprised by this beautiful end to the day. This picture does not begin to show how big the sky is, and how beautiful it was:
This was looking the other way, to the east. The sky was a vivid pink giving way to purple at the edges of the sky:
I am such a lucky girl.
