Day 67 - Literally, the "Big House"

Destination Phoenix.  Travel day was a Saturday, and I wanted to pick up that throttle cable before Monday.  Of course, the Honda dealer is closed Sundays.  Planned my departure time to allow for at least two hours of flex time.  That meant leaving before 9:00am.  Not a big deal, since I loaded up the truck the night before, and everything that could be ready the night before was ready.

If you're looking at a map, you might say "hey, Phoenix is only 90 minutes away, what's the rush?"  Well, I wanted to check-in to the new campsite and set everything up before going to the downtown Honda shop.  Not much room there for a travel trailer.  Plus, I had a stop to make.

About half-way between Picacho and Phoenix is a small town called Casa Grande, and within it, the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument.  When in Rome right?  The entrance fee is only $5, and there is ample parking for RVs.  There would be more RV parking if it wasn't for the SUV driving knobs that parked RV spots.

I've added pictures of some of the interpretive signs to give you a better understanding of the site.  Hope you enjoy them.

The Casa Grande (Spanish for "Big House") is the main adobe structure on site that bears it's name.  It was constructed around the 13th century of caliche by the Hohokam people (you may recall them from a previous blog entry), and originally consisted of four floors.  Two adjoining wings were each three stories high.  In 1903 a shelter was built for the Big House to protect it from the elements.  This shelter was replaced in 1932 and remains to this day.

The Casa Grande

 The remains of smaller houses fill-in the bulk of the main site

  A note on vandalism

 Picture taken from near the same location as above

 Close-up

 Rear of the Casa Grande

Like all ancient relics,

we assume there is a connection with the stars

 Just inside the rear (West) door

 The North side

 From the South

Some details on it's construction

 

More remains of the smaller houses

South of the Casa Grande

 Map of the greater area.

All pictures were taken within the Casa Grande compound.

 The ball court (common structure in Arizona)

lies just outside the Casa Grande compound.

 Not as grand as it once was

Off to Phoenix.  The drive went smoothly, not very much traffic.  Checked into the campsite, and unloaded the trailer.  I kept the moto on the truck to make sure the new throttle cable matched.  It did.  Got to the Honda shop in plenty of time.  Took the opportunity to enquire about two other parts.  Price was good, so I ordered them to be shipped to my next destination (stay tuned).

Throttle cable was installed in under 10 minutes.  Fit perfectly.  I had my motorcycle back again :))