We left Mesa, AZ on Saturday, January 15th and headed south towards Casa Grande. On the way, as is semi usual for us, we took a detour along some smaller roads to try and stay off the freeways. As usual, when we do that we see wonderful places that a slower pace and less traffic offers. The desert is beginning to grow on us as to finding the beauty there. No, it's not green like Oregon, but it has a beauty of its own. Wayne is loving the sun and Ann longs for winter.
On the way into Casa Grande, we found the church where we wanted to attend on Sunday and pulled off to spend the night there. Heather Rogers had told us she really wanted us to meet her parents and this was the building they meet in. Unfortunately we got the schedules mixed up and did not see them at church, but they found us in our rig afterwards and we had a nice visit. Then Wayne wanted to attend their Stake Priesthood Meeting later in the evening so we drove to the Stake Center where he did that and then we spent the night there. Finally on Monday, we pulled into our scheduled RV Park in Casa Grande, where we stayed Monday-Thursday. Below is our plot of turf. It was really nice there and we got to know our neighbors from BC on one side of us. Nice full timers. Been out since 1998.
One day we drove out to and toured the Casa Grande Ruins. This National Historical Monument Park protects a very small section of ruins and remains from a large civilization of Hohokum Peoples that lived, farmed and thrived in this harsh desert climate from about 200 BC to about 1450 AD. Ann and I have, over the last couple years, become fascinated by this group of people. They and the many other groups of Arizona were here from about an average of 600 BC to the mid 1400's. They traded with Central American and Mississipian cousins, had roads and were quite civilized.
We had a really nice picnic lunch before we started our tour.
This is the "BIG HOUSE", or what is left of a 4 story adobe that was part of a cluster of dwellings in this area. The structure was amazing!
After a few hours of walking around and reading everything they had, we left. But first a documentation of the giant Cactus in this area!
The rest of the time in Casa Grande, we just relaxed, socialized, read, went for walks and explored the town and surrounding area. We also looked at houses here that were for sale between $40,000 and $60,000. Nice homes too! Would be a nice place to settle if it weren't so far away from our family! Maybe you can all move here!!!
Another evening we met Heather Roger's parents for dinner at a Mexican Restaurant. Nice folks. We had a nice time together.
We left Casa Grande on Thursday, 1/20.
Wait till it's 120 deg in the summer and you will see why houses are so cheap :)
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