As we planned our recent trip to Arizona we told our friends Bill and Deanne we’d like to see cactus, rocks, and canyons. Did we ever see all of these—and more!

I’ve been reliving our Arizona trip as I’ve chosen photos for this blog post. Come along as we see the sites and meet a friend we were very glad to see. (See Part 1 here.)

First stop, the south rim of Grand Canyon.

It is a glorious place any time of the year, though I hear it can be terribly crowded. But on a Sunday afternoon when snow lay on the ground, not so many folks were there.

Ancient Cliff Dwellings

Indian ruins can be found in many places in Arizona.We visited three sites where native Americans made their homes in the massive rocks. The people were sheltered during storms or high heat, and they were protected from enemies in these dwellings.

We went to the Montezuma Well, a blue pool in what looks like a bowl surrounded by a ring of stone. The well provided continual water for the tribe that lived within the cliffs above it.

A few miles away was Montezuma Castle, which is neither a castle nor was it built or inhabited by Montezuma. It was given the name in error but, since no tribe has contested the name it has stuck. Here it is from two different perspectives.

Built into a sheer cliff wall, Montezuma Castle is ninety feet above the ground.

There are several cliff dwellings in Arizona, but the only other one we visited was at Tonto Monument State Park. In my blog post, Contemplating Cactus,  I told the story of my climb to the dwelling. This was the reward of finishing the difficult trek—being able to go inside some of the rooms!

Tonto Natural Bridge

Another strenuous hike was into a canyon to view the Tonto Natural Bridge. Tom took the first photo and I got the second one of him down on the rocks near the bridge.

 

I love trees.

The Arizona Sycamore grabbed my attention. Sturdy trees with thick trunks and limbs, they are strong. But what drew me was their beautiful white bark. Here’s an Arizona Sycamore alone, and another one behind us.

Many of the trees I saw were gnarly, created for the desert.

This one was on Mt Lemmon and, though damaged, I thought it was beautiful.

We spent the day with our friend, Lorie.

A Canadian friend that I had met at camp as a young adult, Lorie came to Japan during my second year to teach English and Bible, as I was doing. We shared a small Japanese apartment that year, and a church was planted in our home. To my knowledge that church is still meeting (in a different location) after 40 years!

She was visiting family in Mesa so we arranged a dinner date with her and a picnic the next day. Lorie brought a delicious picnic lunch that we shared at Hole in the Rock Park. If you know Phoenix, it is very close to theZoo and the Desert Botanical Garden.

Several people were hanging out in the rock’s holes, but we opted out of the fun. We enjoyed the sun, the palm trees, quite a lot of birdlife on our little lake, and a chance to catch up over a delicious meal.

And a few random pictures you might enjoy.

When we were in Green Valley with Bill and Deanne, the guys went out one day in search of Grandpa Cactus! Doesn’t the old guy look like he piled all his grandkids onto his lap!

Even in a desert you are going to need a good roof over your head.

The Door to Wherever-You-Want-to-Go

Two more tree pictures.

It’s not just tress I like. Specifically I like bark! So this tree interested me.

I often take photos out of the passenger window as Tom drives. Here is one of my drive-by photos as I tried to capture the birch trees along Oak Creek. If I had edited out the visor and the door frame there wouldn’t have been much left of this photo, so you got the uncut version!

Three weeks later and we probably would have seen plenty of trees in full blossom! Oh, well, another year.

We were on the go most of our trip, but once in a while we rested!

And then we were home!Puget Sound with the Olympics in the background.

Ginger