Christmas Eve Eve Adventures, Dec 23, 2008

Today started out with a follow up appointment with Zounds. Bob is so pleased with these hearing aids, and all checked out OK.
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Our plan for the rest of the day was to drive up to Roosevelt Dam on the Apache Trail. Well, I had programmed our GPS for Roosevelt Dam, but did not change the option of what we were driving. We use the "Truck" option when driving the coach, so instead of taking the shorter road we took the long cut. Also the weather was iffy as you can see, so we were a little concerned about snow.

We did finally make it to the Roosevelt Dam area, but before visiting the dam we went on to the Tonto National Monument. I sure was surprised when the sign said that this park had cliff dwellings--one of my favorite places to explore. We watched the park film, visited the displays. The people living here were the Salado's. They were known for their polychrome pottery-see the beautiful pot below.

This is the first time ever I have seen on display the agave sharp needle point with the stem fibers attached. This provided them needle and thread--all in one.

We started up the trail to the ruins, here is a view of the valley the Salado culture could see.

We finally arrived at the ruins. As we walked from room to room Bob read me the description from a phamplet the Ranger had given us.

The walls were covered with hundreds of finger prints made by the Saladas. You could see where they patted and smoothed a mud mixture on the walls.
Next we went back to the Apache Trail cut off where we could see the Roosevelt Dam. We sat on a park bench with this view and ate our picnic lunch.
It was now time to head to Apache Junction on the Apache Trail. It wasn't too long until this is what we saw-dirt road. So for the next 20 miles this was our path. I see now why our GPS with the truck setting did not take us this way. Basically the coach or a large truck could have navigated the curves--slowly, but it was the 10 ton limit on the bridges that would have been the kicker, since we are over 17 tons. Glad we were in the Explorer.

We came through this same place, and as you can see it is the entertainment of the visitors of Tortilla Flats to come and watch the cars come through the 4-5" of water.