“Ain’t never been nothing quite like this” – The Traveling Wilburys
Out of habit more than anything we were all up before seven this morning. Zoe and Molly seemed almost eager to get out of bed to head downstairs and pick up our first cup of Kimpton coffee of the trip. We had a leisurely morning getting ready and enjoying a couple more cups of coffee. Eventually we were ready to head out to the NPS site of the day Casa Grande Ruins National Monument.
Casa Grande is one of the most unique sites we have ever visited. We’ve seen many pueblos, pit houses, and cliff dwellings, but Casa Grande is a structure that is unlike any of those though. The four story building stands in what would have been the middle of the Sonoran Desert. There was a community of other structures around it. However, no one is exactly sure what the “great house” was built for or what activities may have been conducted there. It seems that researchers have been able to uncover much of the history and purpose of many of the sites we’ve visited and this one was completely different.
We spent some time there browsing the extensive collection of artifacts that had been collected in the area, watching the movie, and strolling around the grounds. The girls collected a junior ranger badge and we decided it was time to carry on down the road. We found a local brewery for lunch and I had some hatch chili poutine. I never would have guessed that Candadian-Mexican fusion food was a thing that exists, but it worked pretty well.
We spent the afternoon lounging by and in the rooftop pool at the Kimpton Palomar Phoenix. Of course we also made it to our second wine hour of the trip. We were all feeling most in need of a night lounging in the room so I picked up some carryout from the Blue Hound, the same Kimpton restaurant we ate at last night. Tomorrow looks like a busy day, we’re heading to two more NPS sites and Kimpton stop #2 of #RTXVIII!