Visiting Montezuma

Well, maybe not Montezuma himself, but Montezuma Castle, a 20-room ancient dwelling built between 1100 and 1300. It's located near Camp Verde, AZ.

It's a beautiful ruin, but I am easily distracted. This young lady was busy building a nest.

And we walked among some unique Arizona Sycamore trees.

We then went over to visit Montezuma Well. The well is still fed by a flowing spring.

Along the shore of the well are several Southern Sinagua dwellings built around 1050.

We walked down to see some other old dwellings.

And once again, I'm distracted....

We then went over to nearby V Bar V Heritage Site. This is largest petroglyph site in the Verde Valley - 1032 petroglyphs in 13 panels.

We had a guide explain a couple of the panels to us. These birds are rather unusual in petroglyphs. They may be Great Blue Herons.

But this was the highlight - a crop planting guide.

The rock overhead casts a shadow later in the day on this petroglyph staircase, pointing to one of the three planting dates.