Casa Grande

It was laundry day and I also needed to get a couple things for maintenance on the camper so Linda and I grabbed old Stinky Jeep and headed into the nearby town of Coolidge.  As Linda loaded the clothes into the washer, I walked to a nearby Farm Tractor Store and found the two items that I needed.  Then I went to the nearby Walmart and exchanged my propane tank and filled up with gas.  All this took about an hour and a half and when I returned I helped Linda fold the clothes and we were off to explore.

On the north side of Coolidge, the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument is located at the corner of Hwy 87 and 287. This ancient building was built by the Hohokam people and was completed around 1350. In the 1800s scientists worked to get the structure protected but that took about 92 years for our government to make it happen. In 1992 Casa Grande became the nation's first archeological reserve. Information on this structure and its history can be found at www.nps.gov/cagr.

After we explored the monument site we had lunch in Florance at a small Mexican food eatery called Grace Place. We both had burritos and we took them to go and ate in a nearby park.

View of Queen Vally RV from a hill to the south.

Climb Every Mountain

If you look at a Google map of the Queen Valley area in Earth view, you will be able to spot the RV park and the surrounding geographical features of the Valley. To the west of the park is a ridge that runs north and south. On top of one of the peaks on that ridge is a tall rock outcropping. Some of the RV Park residents have placed an American flag and a light to illuminate it during the night. I hiked up to the top of the ridge and got a picture from that area of the east side of the ridge, the west side of the ridge, and a selfie at the top of the rocks.  It was a good hike and it took me about an hour and a half to climb there.