The Great Adventure: Montezuma's Castle and Tuzigoot National Monument

Montezuma Castle was built by the Sinagua people about 800 years ago.

It is one of the best preserved "prehistoric" cliff dwellings in North America.

The people farmed and hunted along the creek nearby.

Jadan noticed these stones in several of the "rooms" of another dwelling. Do you see it?

A very kind man who lived in the area explained that these are "metate," or grinding stones.

The kind gentleman and his darling mother also told us about all the food that can be

found in the desert and had Tim and me munching on mesquite seeds.

(We found bore holes in the pod that we kept a few days later, but no worries, right?) :P

They climbed up in a sycamore tree... ;)

Tuzigoot National Monument is an ancient pueblo hilltop village nearby,

also built by the Sinagua people.

Above, a photo of Tim and the kids by Jen.

Below, a photo of Jen by Tim. (Can you see me?) ;)

The ruins here were reconstructed during the Great Depression,

providing work for several families.

Some insect is quite the artist! Any idea what made these designs?

It was another super hot day in Arizona, and these peeps were feeling quite "sin agua."**

But they were troopers yet again... We're going to acclimate to this hot weather sooner or later, right?

**Do you see the connection? :) Use your knowledge of Spanish...

That's really how the Sinaguan people got their name.

Lots of "do you see's" on this post. Makin' ya be participatory on this one!

The Great Adventure