Ft Verde, Montezuma's Castle, and Montezuma's Well

Saturday we headed north to the Fort Verde area, south of Flagstaff. I was pretty excited to get out of our house for a day. The drive took about an hour and 45 minutes, not too far away! We stopped at the Fort first since it was closer to food for lunch. The docent at the fort passed out Jr Ranger papers for the kids to work on. This was our first attempt at the badges without the Lance cousins. Ft Verde was the base of operations for General Crook from 1870-1880, it stayed operational until 1891. The army's task was to place and keep Indians on the reservations. As the reservations were moved farther away the fort became obsolete. We toured the main museum first. The kids loved trying on period style costumes for fun. The fort was decorated up for Christmas so that was a fun plus. The other three remaining homes showed what family life was like for the general, what the bachelor quarters looked like, and the hospital area. We grabbed lunch then drove to see Montezuma's Castle.

The park containing the castle is well-paved and beautifully situated in a Riparian oasis. The coolest trees, Arizona Sycamore, has the most amazing skin of camouflaged bark. The trees were often used to support the cliff dwelling ceilings. The Sinagua Indians built and inhabited the castle nearly 600 years ago, using the dwellings for 400 years. I wondered how closely the cliff dwellings are to the Anasazi dwellings. I had to smile over Amelia and her tablet, taking dozens of photos searching for the perfect "sick" capture. Lots of peace signs were involved. Justin amused us all with his powerful binoculars. Phillip found a sycamore tree with a hollow depression, he immediately sat in it!

Josie fell asleep while we drove to the next spot, Montezuma's well, a few miles away from the castle. Justin stayed with her in the van while the rest of us explored the well. The well reminded me of the cenotes that dot Mexico. A constant current of fresh water leaks into the well and drains out of one side. Half of the well is covered with paths and vegetation folks can explore. Along the walls are burrowed Sinauga dwellings. Everyone had a great time running up and down the stairs. The boys had some game with exploding bombs going on. Once back on the well's rim we headed down the hill to climb more steps down to where the well emptied into Beaver creek. I bent over to check the water temp, my camera hood decided to also take a dip. Thankfully, the water current was not swift and the creek not to deep. I buried my arm to the shoulder to get the errant lens hood. Evelyn decided to rub dirt in her "hort" (aka wart on her hand) just so she could wash her hands in the water. The water felt lovely. Back at the van Josie woke up so Justin took the older 3 kids to explore the area. The girls and I stayed back, Evelyn's legs were not working by this point. The park was near to closing time we did not make it to Tuzigoot, an Indian pueblo not too far away.

What a fun day out hiking and getting to know our new area. I can check that destination off my bucket list now.

Sunday's music time was quite fun. The kids "popped" balloons with a Nerf gun to find songs they sung last year for their program. It was a fun review of the year's songs. New Years Eve was quite boring. We let the kids stay up until almost 10 pm playing games and watching a documentary on baby animals. New Years Day was just as boring. Justin was not feeling well so he parked himself on the couch for 6 hours napping and watching TV at intervals. I had an engagement photo session at Riparian Preserve. I convinced Justin and the kids to go hang out and play outside for a while. We had Jacob Godard with us as an extra diversion. During the session we figured out that Eve knew the parents of Sister Jarreau in Baton Rouge. They were in the same ward! Never imagined I'd meet friends of someone from Baton Rouge whose daughter I know from Sidney, NE...in Gilbert, AZ. Small world sometimes. We celebrated the New Year with dinner at Cafe Rio. Justin goes back to work tomorrow. He enjoyed quite a long vacation for only taking 4 work days off!

**a common annoyance we all share lately: Evelyn screaming and crying each time I park the van "Mom! Don't leave me! Don't leave me in the car!" You might think this is a common occurrence. It is not. I am unsure when and how she developed this fear. It grates on us all when she starts whining about being left in the van. Every. Single. Time.