Day 10: Sedona to Tucson, AZ

We got up early again and just made it to Bell Rock for the sunrise. It is not nearly as dramatic as the Grand Canyon, but it is so interesting to see how the light and shadows change as the sun comes up. We had breakfast, packed up, and headed down highway 179. This road is an absolute treasure trove of interesting points of interest. We just got a few miles down the road and there was another view point turn off. This happened to be the Red Rock Ranger station and Information center. In addition to the great territorial view, we got useful information on other places of interest that we probably would not have found on our own.

First stop was the V Bar V Heritage Site. This used to be a private ranch and the original fireplace was left in place (without the house). The rancher kept trespassers off the property with a shootgun and preserved the petroglyph cliffs on the property. The site is now run by the Forest Service and has the largest known petroglyph rock site in the Verde Valley, as well as one of the best preserved. When we got there we were greeted by a volunteer host couple (she ran the small information center and he gave informational talks at the petroglyph site.

As we left to go up the trail he said, "Don't step in the pies." They meant cow pies. Evidently 4 cows wandered onto the property somehow and were scaring the tourists and depositing pies on the path. The couple has been trying to shoo them off and clean up. They told us that yesterday they saw one of the cows literally jump over the fence - reminiscent of that cow that jumped over the moon. We didn't see the cows and avoided the pies.

The petroglyphs were fantastic. The rocks were covered with a naturally occurring substance called desert varnish that preserves the carvings. These petroglyphs were made by the Sinagua people who lived here between A.D. 900-1300. They were farmers and this was a sacred area for them. Archeologists have discovered that these rocks act as a calendar with the sun shining on various glyphs at certain times of the year indicating the planting cycle. Using a sundial-like technique to act as a calendar is reminded me of what we saw in Mayan ruins in Mexico.

Two exits down on I-17 we stopped at the Montezuma Castle National Monument. At one time this dwelling house about 45 persons. It was built into a cliff similar to the Pueblo dwellings in Colorado. My first question was, "how did they get up there?" Answer: They used a series of ladders, caves, and ledges. The Spaniard explorers who discovered the abandoned "castle", thought it was Aztec -- hence the name. But the inhabitants were none other than our friends from the V Bar V, the Sinagua. There was another larger structure that housed about 100 folks. Although it had burned and collapsed, you could still see the outlines of the square rooms. In about 1300 A.D. the Sinagua left and abandoned their homes. No one knows why. There are marked similarities between the Sinagua and the modern Hopi tribe.

Back on the freeway, we started to look for those distinctive cactai, the saguaro. I remembered seeing a number of them between Sedona and Phoenix from my last trip through here with Jim. At that time, I wanted to take pictures of them, but missed my chance. So we were on the lookout. None. Then when we got down to about 3,000 feet at a town called Bumble Bee, we saw them. Teresa pulled off the freeway at Black Canyon City to see if we could find some to photograph. We didn't have any luck until we were about ready to get back on the freeway an ran into a sign for a municipal park and cemetery. So we ended up walking through the cemetery taking photos of the saguaro. Later we discovered that there is a National Park just north of Tucson named Saguaro National Park! So I'm guessing we will have more chances for photos.

We made it through Phoenix. I hadn't noticed drivers very much in California, Nevada, Utah -- but in Phoenix they are crazy. Teresa asked me to look behind to see if anyone was coming when she was about to change lanes and I see this car coming up fast and zipping between lanes. Then there was another, and another. The Trip-Tik that we have has a stamp over all the Arizona pages which says "traffic rules strictly enforced." So we expected drivers to be well-behaved. Not so. Our host here confirmed our observation. He told us that "strictly enforced" meant you could drive 10 mph over the speed limit -- but if you drove 11 mph over, you would get ticketed. And the speed limit is 75 in most places on the freeway!

We made it to Tucson around 4:30 and found Teresa's friend's house. Unfortunately, her friend is not here right now, but her father is hosting us. He took us out to guide us to the Gem Show headquarters and we went to Fry's (like Fred Myers) for some provisions. Now we are doing laundry and relaxing for a while. Tomorrow we will check out the Gem Show. We'll be in Tucson for about a week alternating between points of interest and the Gem Show.