Paul and Marilyn's travels: Camp Verde AZ

At the corner of Meadow Lane and Kachina Trail. This was the spot where we camped while in Camp Verde. Oddly enough, the campground was called Camp Verde RV Resort.It was located just west of the city proper and was a well maintained and clean place. Unlike Venture Out, it's an RV Park designed for short term stays although we did meet some folks who spend months at a time here. Camp Verde is much higher in elevation than Mesa and the difference in temperature was readily apparent. When we left Mesa the temperature was near 85 and here in Camp Verde when we arrived it was in the mid 70's.
We took our time getting ready to leave Venture Out and finally got underway around 1pm. But as we were hooking up the car to the truck, I discovered that the small screw which fastens the connecter to the shell of the car plug had fallen out. So we had to make a quick stop at Lowe's in Mesa to get an appropriate screw to keep the plug assembly together until I can get it properly fixed later.
On our first full day here in Camp Verde we wanted to see two popular historic sites. We went to Montezuma Castle and Montezuma Well.

The cliff dwellings these people built were amazing. In those days (1000AD-1450AD) there were no large beasts of burden. They weren't introduced into the Americas in this region until the Spaniards arrived in the 1500's. So all the rock used in their dwellings had to be packed in by foot from miles away.

Ranger Mike was very informative

Although you can't see them, the rocks had to be packed up to the "castle" to form the three levels. They then used mud as mortar between the rocks and over the face of the rocks.

This is an artist's cutaway view of what the original might have looked like

After the castle we moved on to the well which is 11 miles northeast of

the castle.

This is an ancient but active pool of water which is fed by underground springs deep in the earth. Since the water has traveled several thousands of years from miles and miles away through limestone, it is highly carbonated an no fish can live in it. The native peoples used the runoff to irrigate their fields of corn, beans and other crops.

There are several cliff dwellings on the inside rim of the well.

You can see the cliff dwellings just left of center

The next day we traveled into Cottonwood east of Camp Verde to visit Tuzigoot National Monument. This is an excellent example of the Sinagua people's architecture. It was built on a hill overlooking the Verde Valley and is quite extensive. Much work has gone into preserving it as it was discovered. The Sinagua people believed that their buildings should return to the earth. The NPS has taken great pains to ensure that no further restoration is done but for the benefit of future generations, it keeps the repairs it makes using the same materials that were originally used to build it.

A view from the top of the hill overlooking the visitor center

Looking in the opposite direction

Standing on the top of the monument was exhilarating.. The view is a 360 degree unobstructed panorama of the Verde Valley. No picture can capture the unbelievable beauty of this area. I was awestruck.

The remains of the pueblo dwellings invoked a sense of wonder when you see the outlines of the houses. The amount of care displayed in these dwellings is a reminder that this was all done by muscle and time. The museum does an excellent job of describing how they lived and the kind of life they might have lived. Why they left in the 12th century is somewhat of a mystery. But like the people of Montezuma Castle, the archeologists can only conjecture

After our time at Tuzigoot we had a picnic lunch at Riverfront Park and enjoyed the gentle breezes and warm sunshine.

Since we were so close to Jerome, we drove up the mountain road to visit this iconic and artistic community. It hasn't changed much from the last time we were here.