5in29: Day 6

2024-12-16. Phoenix, AZ to Marana, AZ

[The previous posts are available at AABB’s website]

Van Life:

• The Desert’s Edge RV Park was huge. Many seemed to “live” here.

• All kinds of hookups are available at each site.

• Our familiarity with the van increased. This morning, I found a huge space behind the folded bed for storing large items such as bedding, sleeping bags, and bulking clothes. We stopped less frequently to fixture loose items. The number of head bumps in various places decreased from 20+ times a day to 6-7 times.

  

  At Desert’s Edge RV Park.

• For the evening, we planned to go to a free RV place 20+ miles off I-10 to take advantage of AZ’s Bureau of Land Management (i.e., anyone can use any part of the land). But we were concerned about cell signal, plus the next day, we’d have to continue driving and it would be better if we were not far from I-10.

• “What about we just park on this gas station’s parking lot for the night?” I suggested. Roman agreed.

• As it turned out, the paved areas are only for tired 18-wheeler drivers. But we could park in the unpaved area. We were told at night, many RVs or campers would park there.

• We bought dinner at the gas station, which was one of the few in this area, and provided long-distance truck drivers with freshly cooked meals.

  

Our home of the night.

Attraction: Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, AZ.

• We saw the sign while driving on I-10 toward Tucson. Though not planned, we followed the sign and came to this beautiful place.

• It has a rich history and means a lot to native people in this region and beyond.

• The national monument consists of the ruins of multiple structures surrounded by a compound wall constructed by the ancient people of the Hohokam period, who farmed the Gila Valley in the early 13th century.

• Archeologists have discovered evidence that the ancient Sonoran Desert people who built the Casa Grande also developed wide-scale irrigation farming and extensive trade connections which lasted over a thousand years until about 1450 CE.

  

  At the gate.

  

  To protect against further ruins, a roof was added in 1932.

  

  Other houses nearby, likely for the privileged.

  

  The surrounding area by the map.

  

  The first time I saw the skeleton of a dead cactus tree: look at the front/bottom of the photo.

  

  Just for the comparison!