Exploring Native Lands in Arizona

There are a lot of locations in the NW and the SW of the US to draw greater appreciation for native peoples and their lifestyles. As my partner in travel and I drove from the Olympic Peninsula south, we passed through Oregon and then Nevada and now we are in Arizona.

Northwestern states are where many of the Ratcliff clan can
be discovered; a tour guide is helpful however.

The native folks we observed in the other states were mostly of the Ratcliff clan. They can be found near water or up in the mountains where they fish and hunt quite successfully. We were really fortunate to be invited to a clan feast where Candy Ratcliff served up some delicious venison and vegetables all from their own backyard - literally. The deer was taken down in a field very near the homestead.

Then as we were leaving, another member of the clan, Willis Ratcliff, handed over some frozen trout for us to enjoy along our journey. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful connections!!

Montezuma Castle, a National Monument site protecting an
example of cliff dwellers lifestyle 700 years ago in Arizona.

Here in Arizona, the Southern Singua, an indigenous tribe that lived in the Verde Valley thousands of years ago, were farmers and peace-loving hunters and gatherers. They grew and processed corn, mined for salt, created tools and crafts, including making things from cotton.

A closer look at the home in the stone...

My telephoto lens does not give a sense of size in this view,
but the opening is easily 5 feet in height.

The use of mud and other materials created a warm and safe
abode. Thick walls hold in the heat, repel the wind and cold.

Although the limestone that supports housing of these early dwellers is soft and unstable, when they left the area, they left behind a wonderful example of their cliff dwelling lifestyle at Montezuma Castle. We toured the National Monument to get these pictures and this information.

Wise folks in archaeology realized how tenuous the site was and have protected it for decades so that others may come and enjoy it as well.

It is still considered a heritage site for the several known tribes who have, in their oral history, references to the location and periodically celebrations are held here to honor their ancestors.

Diorama of the site shows how families would have likely
lived, done their crafts, cooked, and stored their harvests.

High ledge above the Beaver River.

The Beaver River offered up fish as well as drinking water.

Another view of the cliff dwelling from the river area.

Looking closely you can see holes that were partlywalled up
in various parts of the lower end of the structure.

I used my telephoto lens to get closeups of the windows and doorways which are quite large. Ladders were once used to access the 'hotel of the tribe' and a carefully created diorama shows how the site might have looked hundreds of years ago.

No one knows why the indigenous Southern Sinaguans left the area about the 1400s, but my guess is that exploring Spaniards may have brought disease and disturbance to the enclave. It was interesting, nevertheless, to be drawn into conversation with a family visiting the area from Spain; their two daughters were quite fascinated with the tour and signed up to be Junior Rangers afterwards, promising to care for and protect such sites in the future.

Sycamore trees reach up toward the tops of the cliffs.

There are sycamore trees which Wayne thinks have several hundreds of years of growth. So some of them might have been little saplings when native folks were walking around; at any rate the seeds from those venerable trees have undoubtably helped to create the soothing trees that stand here now.

A view through the trees looks toward the Verde Valley and
the mountain range that has to be crossed to get into Phoenix.

The colors were lovely and the wind moving the leaves was incredibly mesmerizing.

I wish I could have found a spot that was away from the touring folks to do a short video of the river quietly passing by with the trees murmuring above. So glad I had a chance to experience this place of enchantment for me! Hopefully it will remain available for a long time for others to come and visit and have their own experiences.

Fall colors in the Verde Valley in Arizona.

SnowBirding 101

A beautiful maple tree in Solmar, near
Wayne's home in Sequim, WA.

The first thing about being a SnowBird (my choice of caps) is that you have to have a very sensitive ear, eye and nose for the weather.

At the first hint of frost, or the real thing, you must be ready to hoist your pack, or pump up the bicycle tires, or fill up the fuel tank for your transport (small van, large RV or boat of any size) and begin deciding what will go with you and what will stay.

Of course the size of the transporting device will determine a lot of the choices... and yet, even with a 40-ft. RV, weight is a constant concern. My Christmas tree is small, white and very light. Wayne's Christmas things are heavier, but it's his RV so he can have more latitude about what he wants to sacrifice.

There could be a reality TV show (there are so many already) about the Freezer Wars. I don't want to give up all the raspberries I harvested from my bushes this year. He doesn't want to sacrifice the cold space to fruit. I think there is merit to having plenty of butter (KerryGold) as he prefers something else to put on his toast. I was harsh about cleaning out the house food storage, noting that anything dating back to '01 really could not be put on board. He was resistant to giving up packages of things he could recall buying on sale back then. But then he was more than ready to give up a couple of pork roasts so I could have a couple of packages of bison meat. It was an interesting process. Finally the inventories complete, the freezer stuffed and assorted materials required for my cooking loaded, we can close out that exercise.

Not likely that the Seahawks 'man cave' will
be discarded, unless they disappoint greatly.

He just came in and announced, "We are going to weigh that motor home on Monday." And I said, "And then bring it back here and empty things out?"

Square dance shirt
under construction

He has all his tools, I have my art supplies. He has all his books and research materials for his ancestry project, I have a sewing machine to make square dance outfits (and some fabric, but for me - very little).

He has a camera, so do I. He has a computer, so do I. And it all adds up... every single ounce. If we were loading a boat I could just look at the waterline. In fact, I remember doing just that several decades ago as I was preparing for the journey that would take us to the Bahamas.

Snowbirds, as a rule, tend to leave their northern abodes and go south, often for months at a time. But their lives, hobbies, interests continue. For some there are groups in each location to facilitate those objectives, other folks simply find the other locations allow more time to follow those projects. But often some things must be brought along to continue, like building a quilt or working on ancestry.

And all those guilty pleasures we are storing and taking along will have a cost in fuel. I know that. Wayne knows that. And in time we may decide to lighten up by leaving more things behind... but probably not this trip.

We laughed at each other last night as we sat and watched a movie, ate some popcorn, because it really is 'home' we are settling into, taking with us. And Snowbirds do have to make a nest, along the way and at the destination(s).

Becoming a SnowBirder

After three trips (shakedown cruises on the land yacht would be a better description) Wayne and I are ready to launch into the SnowBird migration.

Our home-away-from-home is an Itasca RV.

Our dating life really began with the first trip to the Cranberry Square Dance festival in Greyland, WA, and continued with a second trip to the north eastern part of the state and most recently we visited Chehalis/Centralia to go to the state's square dance officer's meeting and dance.

The Wild Horses monument on a mesa above the Columbia
River was a great place to hike together for the first time.

Each adventure has given us a chance to test our ability to get along, work together, plan together and laugh a lot. He's a born-again Seahawks fan and has a progressive outlook about life that agrees with my own. I like how we traverse life's path together and particularly that he always reaches to hold my hand, even when hiking. He's a solid, man-of-the-earth kind of guy... very special.

So, for those of you who are not yet (or may never be) travelers by season, (or at all) this blog will continue to be what I intended it to be from the beginning, a short travelogue of places seen, impressions gained, and experiences of life for a new perspective, if you want it. For family and friends, it may be a way to keep up with "The Traveling Grandpa" and "Granny A" /aka Sandy Banks.

Accidentally we all chose purple for the color that night...
Les Kilwein, me, Ann Eilwein and Wayne in Centralia.

Wikipedia defines Snowbirds as: "A snowbird is a North American term for a person who moves from the higher latitudes and colder climates of the northern United States and Canada and migrates southward in winter to warmer locales such as Florida, California, Arizona, Texas, or elsewhere along the Sun Belt of the southern United States, Mexico, and areas of the Caribbean." 

Snowbirds use a variety of travel devices and I did once live aboard a sailboat for 8 years, mostly in southern climates. So the transition to an RV (big one at 40 feet!) is easy. But the challenge of maintaining my home in Washington (he has one as well), arranging for mail delivery, and various other tasks associated with an extended trip has kept both of us really busy for the past couple of weeks and now it intensifies as we plan to leave about a week earlier than originally intended.

Wayne, Carol and Joe looking at my art show at the bank.
I have made arrangements for these pictures to be collected
while I am away.

But flexibility is the key to survival. And packing to be flexible is an element of that... clothes for cooler weather, clothes for dancing, clothes for warmer weather, hiking, etc. Plus having my camera equipment, my sewing machine (making dance clothes) and my art supplies has me a little stressed. Weight on the RV, just like the boat, affects performance. And while I'm not willing to saw my toothbrush in half like a racing competitor I once knew, I am a lot more conscientious about this issue than Wayne might realize. My nighttime dreams are filled with designing an RV that incorporates some of these devices so that I'm not adding weight by bringing them.

Trying to hide anything on an RV of any size can be challenging, and my sneakiness is only because I want to surprise Wayne down the road with some special snack since he is the driver of the RV. I have to leave off this blog report for now because he wants to inventory the food supply... kinda silly on one hand since we have lots of shopping opportunities along the way, but he likes being able to choose off-grid experiences and having supplies to meet that need. Stay tuned... this is going to be an interesting ride!!