Casa Malpais

Yesterday we visited another archaeological site, Casa Malpais; this one near Springerville, AZ. It is completely different in construction and location from any I have ever seen. It's built with lava rock on terraces created by a shield volcano's lava field. Even the grinding stones were lava rocks. It dates from the mid 13th to mid 14th centuries - there were earlier pit houses (700AD) near the lowest terrace. The site is about 1/2 mile from the Little Colorado River.







Our guide (only guided visits are permitted) thought this was a kiva although there had been no evidence of a roof when the site was researched in the 1990's - maybe just an open plaza area. Anyway, pretty cool.

Here is their seasonal calendar circle. It has openings that align with summer and winter soltice sunrise and sunsets. The alignment goes to petroglyphs on the lava cliffs behind where I'm standing. If you're interested in ancient celestial stuff, check out this link.

Meant to link Fort Apache too! Still figuring out how to do this.

Fort Apache

We've been staying at a Worldmark resort in Pinetop, AZ. This was our timeshare trade from the Calgary trip that was supposed to have happened in early August. Not the greatest area, but we've hiked a little and found some interesting places to visit. Fort Apache was one.

The fort is on the White Mountain Apache Reservation. The fort, former Indian school (now a junior high school), and museum are all run by the White Mountain Apaches. There were several gowas (wickiups) near the museum. Here's one.

The visit also gave us permission to visit Kinishba, a pueblo-type complex of over 600 rooms. Although not ancestral to the Apache; they are protecting the ruins for the Zuni and Hopi people. My photo is one dimensional and doesn't convey the scope of the complex at all.

Catching Up - Next Post from the White Mountains

I went to Santa Barbara two weeks ago to help Leslie at a horse show. Look who got a chance to ride! It's Lucy riding Owen. She rode 2 different days - the last one for a half hour.

I was able to go to school one morning with Henry, Mae and Lucy. And I got a chance to see Wendy's garden. It's pretty impressive -even though it's fall.

When I got home there was more fabric to wash. This one's for the window seats in the living room. What do you think? There's actually some lime green in there too - it doesn't show.

One Sofa is Finished

One sofa is back and we think it looks really great! We have fabric for the window seats (cushiony) and we're doing some painting - all to add color. Looks as if we started in the right direction.

Do you remember Jerry and Mary Sawyer from Sunriver? I had brunch with Jerry last weekend when I was in Bend for my friend Emmy's wedding.

And today we were walking the tram raod in Sabino Canyon and we saw one deer, one coati and Pam Shriver. We were not paying much attention when we heard someone say, "Bart and Cindy McGuire!" Pretty shocking to see her here. She and two of her cousins were spending a couple of "girl days" at Canyon Ranch.