After Dead Horse we drove a mile or so up the road to Tuzigoot National Monument and walked around the ancient pueblo ruins.
We visited the site last winter but this time we noticed it has direct line of sight with the ruins on our RV park property (and they were occupied at the same time during the 11th through 14th centuries A.D. according to our analysis of the pottery on the RV site).
Line-of-sight allowed for communication among villages and was a common element for all villages in the region. The interpretation of this aspect (plus the fact that all villages are located on top of steep bluffs) involves the need for defense against raiding outside cultures.
As we drive around we see several housing developments - some designated as 55+ - and some are gated. So yesterday we drove through a few that are located in hillside areas with nice views of the red cliffs to the north. There are many places for sale in the greater Cottonwood area and many are foreclosures, although in one large development that we really like - Cottonwood Ranch - there were only a few but prices are quite reasonable. We aren't making any plans to purchase a place here but it's been informative to get some sense of the real estate market here.
The days have been warm (70+ degrees) and the nights cool (30 - 40) until today. Rainy weather moved in last night and it has been raining all morning. We knew this was predicted so we planned inside stuff for today (especially laundry) - but it is supposed to clear again tomorrow afternoon and be back into the 70s by next week. Late in the week it is supposed to approach 80 so we will probably head for the nearby mountains for some hikes. In our tour around during the last few days we encountered a road accessing the trail heads for the Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Area just a few miles up river from our RV location. That is on our list of things to do - maybe next week-maybe later.
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