Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Dig this!

We put on our archaeology pants and went to see an Anasazi site.  Barbara tantalized us with pictures of this hidden wonder,  and Charlene found us some directions.

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You don't need a 4-wheel drive, but high-clearance would be good so your bottom doesn't drag on the ground.  I got out at the rough parts and dragged my own bottom across to let the Prius rise a little higher.

CAVE!

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Maybe a cistern?


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Annie and Charlene got ahead of me while I chatted.

The following are holes:


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Stick and grind hole.

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Annie stands on one foot to display holes.

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Different hole.

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Holes and cliff.

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Four holes.




Use your good driving sense here and watch the sand. It was a pretty accessible place on foot, although I was glad to have my stick.



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Another cave?

We bade Charlene TTFN, since we'll all be leaving within a day or two.  Quartzsite has been a lot more than I expected it to be, and we've stayed a lot longer than I expected us to.




26 comments:

Rubye Jack said...

What a cool place eh? It looks like you all had a great time.
We're expecting cold air funnels here tomorrow - weak tornadoes. Should be fun.

The Good Luck Duck said...

Yecch. I fear tornadoes more than any other natural phenomenon.

Anonymous said...

I did notice the petroglyph of Abraham Lincoln...hmmm, not sure the time periods match however :) -Nellie

Karen Snyder said...

Just. Too. Cool! I think that petroglyph looks more like this century (and this neighborhood, to be honest...Amish country here)! :)

Andra Watkins said...

Where are you off to next?

Remind me to tell you how MTM almost died exploring a cave once...........I'm sure these were fine..............

I love the holes.

Carolyn said...

Nice holes! Well... you would have loved it around here for the last few days! tornado warnings and high winds not quite a tornado but did tons of damage.

I tried to view your blog form my iPhone --- you have it set up for mobile viewing? It's not working very well, if you have.

I checked my other blogs I have bookmarked to read on my iPhone and they were okay.

The Good Luck Duck said...

Nellie and Karen, I believe an Amish rock artist made this likeness of Abraham Lincoln in prehistoric times.

Andra, tell me how MTM almost died exploring a cave! I was pretty sure once I got to the part where I had to crawl I would be encountering die Fledermäuse. So, I saved myself some trouble and panicked outside the cave.

I believe south, or east. Someplace that's still warm (not Flagstaff yet).

The Good Luck Duck said...

Thank you! I like them, too.

Yeah, it's supposed to be set up for mobile. I'll check again. If all is well there, I don't know what else to do. Make it small?

Donna K said...

I haven't had high-clearance for quite a few years now.

Have you ever seen the movie "Holes"? No really, it is an actual movie and it is surprisingly good.

Gaelyn said...

A grand adventure Indiana Jones.

Snow melted here, but still on the mountains. Roads clear to Prescott.

Bob said...

I've seen a few Fledermäuse here in Wien. Apparently we have in excess of 200,000 of the little guys. The Wieners put out little houses for them. I guess that would be a Fledermaushaus?
You can try saying that while pretending to be Ahrnald. OK, hard to spell that phonetically, but I mean that ex-governor/philanderer/body builder Dude. You know the one.
We did go and see the one and only "Die Fledermaus". You know, the one with the singing lady?
Wouldn't want to see either kind in a cave though.
Your trepidation is perfectly understandable.
And yes, the upstairs space (from which one might see a Fledermaus) is for our exclusive use. And the only solar panel up there is in one tiny little garden light.

The Odd Essay said...

Loved the petroglyphs... I think they call it graffiti now and these days we'd get arrested for that.. Wonder what other sins of today will be respectable tomorrow?

Al Bossence said...

Always find old caves, Indian Village sites, Mortero holes, Petrogypyhs, etc interesting. Sets one's imagination to wondering about what things were like for people oh those many years ago. Can you imagine the conversations that took place around those grinding holes in the rocks as Indian women spent endless hours sitting there day after day grinding corn, etc. Aw yes, the good old days eh:))

Unknown said...

Fun site to check out. Glad you enjoyed Quartzite so much, you've really embraced the boondocking thing. That is something i really want to try but we aren't boondock worthy yet. Hubby want solar but may be a long time before we can afford it. :(

swankiewheels said...

Nice photos Roxi, even those with me (Charlene) in them. And, trust me, I wasn't going into that hole very far. That hill had lots of holes in it... some had nests in them... another had a lot of bees at the entrance.. that's the point that I headed away from the caves/holes. At one point I thought it was a mine, but reflecting now... I believe it was a cave or maybe a cistrin? It was a very fun outting. The man at the Museum on Main Street gave me the directions which include road names and numbers but there were NO signs on the roads. Really enjoyed my time with Annie and Roxi. See you down the road. Have fun in Mexico or wherever!

swankiewheels said...

Oh, BTW, it wasn't considered graffiti back then, it was the Rock Internet.

Sherry said...

Boy I had a tough time loading this post with my whiney connection here in the hinterlands. Those are some BIG pictures.

I think poor Ruby can't make this. Her bottom is too close to the ground. DANG it!

Love those petroglyphs but I'm a little suspicious of that one with beard.

Nice variety of holes. Well done!
Say, what's the name of this place??? Just in case I want to walk all the way there without Ruby?

Contessa said...

Good for you for checking out the area.....I'm sure many have RVer's have no idea that is there.

Isherwood Wildwalker said...

Love this part of the country, and it's rich history.

Carolyn said...

You stay everywhere a lot longer than you expect to. Alter your expectations :)

Paul and Marti Dahl said...

Mercy! Now you're spelunking. You certainly are living life on the edge! :c)

The Good Luck Duck said...

Donna K, that made me laugh. My clearance isn't what it used to be, either. I didn't see the movie, but I read the book. Supposed to be a "children's" book, but I liked it just fine; thought it was well-written.

Gaelyn, I'm pretty skittish about snow, so I think we'll stay south until things are "safe" further north. Indiana Jones is no fool.

Bob, I think I'll be saying Fledermausehaus for a while now. And, I thought Viennese were "Sausages."

Sharon, I'm a little afraid to imagine. Although it would do a lot of people a lot of good to unclench about "sins" already.

BB, you just can't put a lot of miles on if you've got to grind corn all day. I couldn't think of that much to talk about. I guess some "charming" practices are better left in the past.

Janie, it is a little pricey. We've been buying our components for about three years now! I don't recommend that; we would have bought some different things, probably, but it's working well. Still, boondocking is fun and very doable with a generator.

Swankie, we noticed there were no road numbers where there should be road numbers. Glad you studied the map!

Sherry, sorry about the pictures. I probably have more in this post than I usually do. Carolyn didn't care for my use of technology here, either! I'm not sure what it's called officially - maybe Charlene can say? It's supposed to also be the site of Old Quartzsite, although we didn't find any trace of that. The guy at the museum must be the repository of all knowledge about the place.

Contessa, I wouldn't have either if another boondocker hadn't blogged about it.

Ish, it's a very cool place.

Carolyn, if I alter my expectations I will stop being surprised.

Paul and Marti, you see I was living life on the edge ... of the cave. I guess I was only -lunking.

TexCyn said...

Ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssnakes!!!! Tttttttttttttttttttttrantulas!!!!
Lizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzards!
Ok, so the last one isn't really scary. Oh I know. Sssssssssssssssscorpoins!!
OK, I'm done now.
Have a nice day. :-)))

Cheryl (Desert Diva) said...

I want some archaeology pants - are they expensive? I guess for now I'll have to settle for my "big girl panties!" ;-)

Seriously, love the desert exploring that you two are doing...

The Good Luck Duck said...

Cheryl, they're the exact opposite of Big Girl Panties, being extra-absorbent because there are no toilets in the desert.

The Good Luck Duck said...

Cyn, I wasn't scared at all - you need to get ssssserious.