Casa Grande Ruins

Yesterday was a free entrance day for our National Parks and National Monuments, so we took a ride out to Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, about a half hour away. And what a glorious day we had! The temperatures were in the mid to upper 70's with a blue sky. Gotta love it!

The Ruins were the site of an amazing structure built by the Ancestral People of the Sonoran Desert, completed about 1350 AD. No one knows the purpose of this building which stands four stories high and 60 feet long.

 You can see the roof that was built to help protect this building from the elements, almost a hundred years ago. The low mounds that delineate different outside areas were originally seven feet tall but have been worn down over the years.

I walked around outside the walled area and found quite a bit of broken pottery that probably is from that era. I left it there for the archeologists to find one day.

It was red on one side and black on the other side. Very cool!

Our guide showed us this sheet on how long local plants live, which I thought was interesting. The creosote bush can live for over 12,000 years.

And inside the visitors center was a display of spindle whorls of rock and ceramic pieces. Not so different from those used today.

After we got home I spent some time working on my shawl, staying up late to twist fringe. I got it washed this morning--I love the way it came out.

I'm sure I will get a lot of wear out of it.  And I've already re-warped my loom for another project--a blanket to donate to Linus's Blankets for hospitalized children. They will be collecting handmade blankets at the Rally next month.