The Wheels on the Bus go round and round, round and round, round and round. : March 2024

Monday, March 18, 2024

Florence, Arizona

Florence was founded in 1866, long before Arizona became a state. It is considered the sixth oldest non-native town in the state.

Opening night with Trail sign ups

Walking Tacos dinner

The Gate Keeper on Woodpecker and Ajax Trails

She decided she needed to get a drink of water out of a small puddle in between Jim and us

Getting our track bar welded. Tom is a pretty handy guy to have with us.

Elvis and Jack Handle Trails

Lunch time

Setting out to explore some new trails today

Looks like we are not crossing the river today. Next plan?

A little further down the trail we find a Y in the road. To the right is the Arizona Trail which is for hiking only. Looks like we are not going right.

To the left the Arizona Peace Trail. That will work.

What beautiful country. It was a long day but well worth it.

The national monument consists of the ruins of multiple structures surrounded by a compound wall constructed by the ancient people of the Hohokam period, who farmed the Gila Valley in the early 13th century. "Archeologists have discovered evidence that the ancient Sonoran Desert people who built the Casa Grande also developed wide-scale irrigation farming and extensive trade connections which lasted over a thousand years until about 1450.

"Casa Grande" is Spanish for "big house" the name refer to the largest structure on the site, which is what remains of a four-story structure that may have been abandoned by 1450. The structure is made of caliche, and has managed to survive the extreme weather conditions for about seven centuries. The large house consists of outer rooms surrounding an inner structure. The outer rooms are all three stories high, while the inner structure is four stories high. The structures were constructed using traditional adobe processes.