Today we drove about 40 miles south to Agua Fria National Monument (an environmental and archaeological preserve). Normally we wouldn't go to a destination like this on a weekend because of the crowds but we traveled there today because they hosted the Archaeology Expo for Arizona Archaeology Month (which is composed of over 100 events and this is the biggest). We arrived there late morning and there were hundreds of cars in the parking lot. We walked to the entrance to the Expo and there was a 30+ person waiting line to walk over a one-foot wide mesh suspension bridge over the Agua Fria River. Abby would have freaked out on the suspension bridge so we decided to avoid all the people (after all, that's why we like the Verde Valley over so many other places) so we drove up on top of the mesa where all the archaeology is and visited Pueblo La Plata (needless to say the image below is downloaded from the web).

We spent at least an hour walking around and through the pueblo and there were artifacts carpeting the ground surface everywhere.There were no restrictions on where we could walk - very unusual for a "national monument" (plus absolutely no restrictions of pets!).

We walked around and through the ruins - wherever we wanted - and pot sherds covered the ground for hundreds of feet around and through the ruins.

Previous visitors even laid them out (plus a bunch of obsidian flakes - the residue of making stone tools) for us to see.

This site is described by a local archaeologist as the "sacrificial site" because there are directions provided for the general public to access it. There are six other unmarked major sites on the mesa top and it is difficult to find them for reasons of preservation (as we discovered later in the day). But the Pueblo La Plata site is a great example of the mesa top pueblos built and inhabited during the 13th and 14th centuries A.D. A description and interpretation of the pueblos is accessible at http://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/pdf/perry_mesa_overview_scott_wood.pdf. It's a fascinating read for us archaeologists (but probably not for many other folks).

The roads we traveled were probably the roughest that our new Yukon has ever traveled - good thing we have 4-wheel drive and a lot of clearance. We plan to return to the mesa top for a day of hiking and exploration someday soon. All of us were tuckered out by our day, and as soon as we returned to our trailer Abby crashed.

We are all enjoying the exercise and the wonderful weather. What fun! (and we all will sleep well tonight).