Yesterday afternoon we enjoyed a warm (70 degrees) but cloudy day around the trailer. We BBQd chicken thighs on our Cuisenart (thanks Schowengerdt clan for the retirement gift) as the sun was setting.

This morning we drove 20 minutes to Camp Verde to visit the Verde Valley Archaeology Center. We introduced ourselves to a board-of-directors member and the educational coordinator and they were very interested in our expertise. We made no commitments, but they could really benefit from Sharon's experience as the Curator of Collections at the Idaho Museum of Natural History and Rick's experience in field and research archaeology. We'll see if we want to pursue any relationship.

After we left the archaeology center we drove a few blocks to Fort Verde State Park.  It's an "Indian War" fort to protect immigrants stealing Native American land (Rick's editorial comment). One of the volunteers at the park mentioned that she lived a few miles out of town under a large cliff-top prehistoric pueblo so we drove up the road and decided to check it our. We were not prepared for a hike (no water, no proper footwear, etc) but we headed up an unmarked trail (no one would know about it unless a local person told them about it).

Ancient pot sherds everywhere.

As we gained altitude the density of potsherds increased as did their size - and Sharon dubbed the walk the "Pottery Trail."

We could see some small niches in the cliff above that had adobe bricks closing them in - and for some unknown reason we kept going..

This unplanned hike was a "baby step" toward us getting back into shape. We climbed far longer than we thought we would but we stopped short of the mesa top (where, apparently, there are many ancient pueblos). Next time - when we are in a little better shape - maybe next week.

After returning to our "suite" we enjoyed the warm and sunny afternoon (70 degrees). We BBQd some lamb and some vegies - another great dinner!

What a wonderful life!