We crossed the border into the state of Arizona on October 30th for an overnight stay at the Butterfield RV Resort & Observatory in Benson. We liked this small RV park for the concrete pads and the beautiful pool and jacuzzi. A unique amenity of the park is the small observatory that is located on the grounds. They offer nightly star shows hosted by the resident astronomy enthusiasts. It was fun taking turns viewing planets and nebulas through the lens of the telescope.
The next morning we had some time to explore the Benson area before heading to the our next destination.
The murals in Benson
We spent the next night, on Halloween, in Sun City (near Phoenix) at Paradise RV Resort. We spent the afternoon relaxing by one of the nice pools at the resort.
After 5 days in a row of driving to a new destination, we finally made it to our home for the next 10 days at Verde Valley RV & Camping Resort in Cottonwood. We were assigned a great site at the top of the hill with an awesome view of the valley and the mountains in the distance.
Our daughter, Alyssa, flew to Phoenix on November 3rd to visit with us for 10 days. It had been almost a year since she and Pat had seen each other, first time seeing the RV, and her first time visiting Arizona. Myah and Simba were also excited to see her!
The next day we visited nearby Montezuma Castle National Monument and Montezuma Well. Montezuma castle is not actually a castle. It is a prehistoric Indian structure carved into the side of a hill. Ladders once provided access into some of the rooms of this mountain village. There were a total of 19 rooms which could have housed 35-50 people. It is hard to believe that people who lived there, called the "Sinagua", were able to build and live in such an elaborate dwelling. We really enjoyed exploring the grounds and learning about the people who once lived there.
Montezuma Castle
Montezuma Well was in close proximity to the Castle. The natural, limestone sink hole was created about 11,000 years ago when the roof of a large cavern gradually crumbled forming the Well. We walked around this area and the desert park that wrapped around it.
Montezuma Well
We ended our day with a visit to the town of Jerome, a former copper mining town nestled near the top of Cleopatra Hill. We wandered around the quaint, little town dotted with shops and art galleries. We had lunch at a place called the Asylum located in the famously haunted Jerome Grand Hotel. Situated at 5240 feet, we had an awesome view of the Verde Valley below from the patio of the restaurant. Unfortunately, we weren't visited by any ghosts during our meal!
Visit to Jerome