We have been relaxing a lot lately and doing the last couple of things that we wanted to get done before leaving Cottonwood this coming Monday. Yesterday we left Abby in the trailer and visited Montezuma Castle National Monument which is about a 30 minute drive from our RV park.

The monument is pet friendly and last year we took Abby with us. But there were so many other people and dogs keeping Abby overly excited that we didn't have much time to soak in the grandeur of the place. So this time without Abby we strolled through the exhibits and ruins at a very leisurely pace and learned a lot about the local vegetation (ethnobotany),

banana yucca used for food and fiber 

and we learned a lot about the archaeology.

the five story cliff dwelling

and a five story building along the cliff base 

One exhibit states that the "official" estimate of the human population in the Verde Valley at the height of all these large sites (i.e., ~ A.D. 1300) was 6000 people. After looking at many of these sites we would have guessed more but we are observing collapsed structures that span several hundred years and were not all occupied at the same time. There was also a map of the Verde Valley in the exhibit showing all the known sites. It shows the site here on the RV park as one of the three or four largest in the entire region.

On our way back from Montezuma Castle we visited the Alcantara Winery which we have not visited before.

Like Caduceus, it is only about eight years old producing their first vintages in 2008. Most of the grapes they use are grown adjacent to the winery on the sandy and rocky slopes along the Verde River.

Very nice wines and a very fun tasting room and patio overlooking one of the vineyards. While we were there a van labeled Verde Valley Wine Tours (from Sadona) pulled up full of people. The wine industry here seems to be flourishing - when we first arrived we signed up for the Verde Valley Wine Trail monthly newsletter (linked here so check it out). After sampling ten Alcantara wines (the Nebbiolo and the Grande Rouge were our favorites) we returned to our trailer to rescue Abby who was sound asleep on our bed - apparently never caring that we were gone for 3.5 hours.

Over the last few days Sharon has her oil paints out and has been painting on our little patio.

One painting just completed is of the Verde River right below our RV spot.

A couple of days ago we returned to the mountain-side copper mining town of Jerome to visit the Jerome State Historical Park.

It is in the mansion built in 1916 by the owner of the Little Daisy Mine and is one of the largest adobe brick buildings ever constructed (and all out of local materials).

We learned a lot about the mining history of the region - Rick remembers well visiting here with Ralph (who was in the copper industry) and Carolyn when he was young. One very interesting bit of trivia that we learned is that the town is named for a wealthy New York investor who, with his cronies, created the first mining company in the Verde Valley back in the mid to late 1800s. His cousin, Jenny Jerome, back in their home country of England was the mother of Sir Winston Churchill.

We leave for Flagstaff this coming Monday. It is a short drive but we have to gain 4000' in elevation so it will take a couple of hours. Since we have been here in Cottonwood for a month and a half all of our stuff is out so it will probably take us most of the day Sunday just stowing everything (plus doing another few loads of laundry). But we are looking forward to getting back on the road - especially now that it is getting hot here in the valley (most days are about 80 or more degrees), and the cotton from the cottonwood trees is starting to blow around. But the desert is blooming right now so it is beautiful.