Blythe CA, 4-4-2019

We are saying goodbye to Thousand Trails Verde Valley RV Park AZ and headed to Montezuma’s Well. This is another National Monument and similar to Montezuma’s Castle but smaller and built around a natural spring that was the key to life around this very dry and hot desert. The first stop is to the pit house which is fascinating to see how they used mud and sand to build a foundation to support timbers and a roof. We drive a few blocks farther to Montezuma’s Well and check in with the ranger, the parking lot is full and we are glad we have a Mini Cooper as we found a small space just made for us. Its warm today and very comfortable, shorts and tee shirts are the garb of the day, my favorite. It looks like a meteor hit the ground and then filled up with water but it’s really sandstone that has melted away from the spring that created the crater with a large pool at the bottom. The sides of this geological formation were perfect for natives to build their homes. There are Rangers taking people around explaining how the natives lived here and survived. The trails are well marked but, I learned the hard way that do not step off the trail even a few steps to get a better photo as the Ranger up on the rim yelled down to me, Get Back On The Trail, the other tourist were embarrassed for me as her voice echoed across the park. Having a home of stone is a benefit from rain, wind and keeping a cooler temperature. The natives made use of all the plants for food, fuel and medicine. As we walked down and around the perimeter the walls showed graffiti from the late 1800’s, they did not have spray paint back then but they did leave their mark. If you click on the link under the pictures it will take you to more information. We did hike around and down to where the spring comes out, it flows in to Wet Beaver Creek, approximately 1,500,000 gallons a day. We leave the park and head back to our favorite restaurant the 804 Colt Grill for one more brisket sandwich and a side of smokey Mack & Cheese, oh boy. Down the road we go on AZ HWY 10 which we have used before except to go east instead of west, we will stop in Blythe CA. for our next night stay. We see this huge smoke plume near the Hwy and know it’s got to be something big; it had started only a few minutes before. As we found out later it was Hickman’s egg farm, they are going to have roasted chicken tonight:). The sun is setting as we roll in to Hidden Beach RV Park next to the Colorado River. We find a nice level place on the grass and setup for the night. Angela gets a glass of wine and we walk to the river, make sure to bring bug spray it was happy hour for the bugs as well.