Detours and Spontaneity

  Casa Grande, Montezuma Castle, Grand Canyon, Arizona, United States
Friday, June 15, 2007

Well, I was a little more than a day ahead of schedule so rather than continue my journey west toward California, I took a detour north to see what I could find.

I started the day by driving 24 miles to Casa Grande Ruins National Monument.  This was (and still is) a four-story building built 650 years ago by the Hohokam people.

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument 1

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument 2

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument 3

Next I drove 160 miles north (and completely out of my way) to Montezuma Castle National Monument.  This was a five-story, 20 room dwelling built into a cliff wall by Singua farmers in the 12th century.  It reminded me a lot of Mesa Verde only much smaller.

Montezuma Castle National Monument2

Montezuma Castle National Monument1

Montezuma Castle National Monument3

From Montezuma I continued north 23 miles to Tuzigoot National Monument in Arizona.  These were thr ruins of a village built by the Singua between 1125 and 1400.  These people had a spectacular view of a valley of a field of golden wheat grass and towering mountains.

Tuzigoot National Monument 1

Tuzigoot National Monument 3

Tuzigoot National Monument 4

SURPRISE!  I was ready to head south again (and more importantly west) when I realized that the map showed the Grand Canyon mere inches away.  I had no intention of visiting the Grand Canyon again on this trip, but it had to be done!  So I continued even further north and out of my way and drove 180 miles to the park.  I couldn't believe the people and I never remembed it being this difficult to reach the rim.  I parked my car at Market Plaza and took a blue route bus to the Bright Angel Lodge to enjoy the canyon.  I sat out by the rim and soaked in the beauty for a little more than an hour.  It is always so comical to watch people reach the rim of the canyon and then turn their back to it for a picture and then walk away.  Well, at least I know I enjoyed it.  After a long day of driving and the unknown of what I was doing and where I would be, I had huge goose bumps form as I walked out toward the rim and saw the beauty with my own eyes once again.

Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon 1

Grand Canyon 2

Grand Canyon 3

Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

Grand Canyon National Park, AZ 1

Grand Canyon National Park, AZ 2

Grand Canyon National Park, AZ 3

After exiting south of the park for almost an hour I had a problem with my car and had my GPS take me to a mechanic.  Keeping with the theme of the day, I unexpectantly stumbled along to famous Route 66 and spent the night in a hotel right on the side of the road.