THE BIG HOUSE AND THE GREAT HOUSE

 

FLORENCE, AZ - March 9 - 15
We started making our way north with a one week stop in the middle of the desert, 5 miles south of Florence, AZ.  Desert Gardens RV Park is about 8 years old with a very nice pool, club house, craft rooms, game room, and walking paths through the cactus filled desert.

Sunset at Desert Gardens

THE BIG HOUSE
The town of Florence is located between Tucson and Phoenix on Hwy. 79.  The town doesn't have a very welcoming feel as there are miles and miles of chain-linked fencing topped with razor wire surrounding a collection of federal, state, and private for-profit prisons housing inmates ranging from juvenile detention to maximum security death row.  If you are naughty in Arizona you will probably get 3 hots and a cot in Florence. We checked out the Prison Outlet Store where arts and crafts made by the inmates are sold to the public.  We didn't see anything we wanted to buy.

Many travelers along Hwy. 79 only see the prisons, missing historic Main Street.  Main Street is a few blocks off the highway and is designated a Historic District with some buildings having been restored, some in the process of being restored, and others falling down.

THE GREAT HOUSE

Coolidge, AZ is home to the Casa Grande Ruins.  This National Landmark contains the remains of a large village of the Ancestral People of the Sonoran Desert.  The Hohokam Indians built a canal system to divert water from the Salt and Gila rivers to irrigate their crops, making it possible to have permanent thriving settlements in the desert.  In the late 1800's the area became our Country's first archaeological reserve, protecting the ruins from souvenir-hunters and vandalism.

Casa Grande in the background; remains of other buildings in the front.

Within this large village is "The Great House" named Casa Grande by Spanish explorers who discovered the ruins in the 1600's.  The structure is 4 stories high and 60 feet long. It's believed the Great House was constructed in the 1300's. The roof over Casa Grande was constructed in the 1930's to protect the ruins from further deterioration from the elements.

West side of Casa Grande

A circular hole in the upper west wall aligns with the setting sun and the summer solstice.  Other openings align with the sun and moon at specific times, probably relating to times for planting, harvesting, and celebration

GOING POSTAL
For those of you from New Richmond who complain about the N.R. post office, we found one worse.  Since we won't be home for the April 1st elections, we called our Town Clerk and asked that our absentee ballots be sent to General Delivery, Florence, AZ.  Jim's ballot was there on Friday, mine wasn't.  Saturday morning we went back to the PO to get my ballot.  While waiting in line at the counter, a couple in front of us told the clerk they needed to buy some stamps.  The clerk said "We don't sell stamps here.  You will have to go to the Circle K (a gas station/convenience store) to get them."  WHAT DA!?  You can't buy stamps at a post office???  Jim was next and said he was picking up General Delivery mail for Connie Counter.  The clerk yelled to someone in the back "Is there any mail for Connie Counter?"  The immediate reply was "Nope."  They didn't even look.  Before driving back to Florence on Monday, I called the Post Office and asked if my mail was there; it was.  And guess what?  When I picked up my mail, a lady in front of me bought some stamps!  Go figure.

IT'S ALL GREEK TO ME
Established in 1995, St. Anthony's Greek Orthodox Monastery is a beautiful oasis in the desert just south of Florence.  Visitors, dressed modestly, may quietly stroll through the beautiful lush gardens and take a self-guided tour of the 9 churches and chapels.  In addition to the monks living and working at the monastery, over-night guest may stay at this spiritual retreat.

"Ya, I ust got off da boat."
I wasn't "modestly attired" so before touring the monastery I had to stop at the
 gift shop/book store to borrow a skirt to wear over my jeans and a scarf to cover my head.
 Men must wear long pants, long sleeved shirts. No bare feet in sandals either - socks are a must!

Inside one of the churches.  The huge bronze chandelier is lit with candles on special occasions.

Gazebo along the walking path.

The artistic stonework of the buildings and walkways are beautiful.

The Narthex in one of the chapels.

Intricate wood carving is stunning as well as the designs in the marble floors.

Another architectural design of a chapel.  

The patterned wood ceiling in this chapel was amazing.

Nope, we aren't in Greece, we are in the middle of the Arizona desert.

MORE FUN WITH SNOWBIRD FRIENDS - Skoglund's and Yach's

We had lunch and a great visit with Vern and Donna Skoglund in Scottsdale.

Cathy and Bob Yach came over from Tucson for the day.
While Bob and Jim played a round of golf, Cathy and I shopped at the Mesa Swap Meet.