nomads on the road

Let me start real quick by reminding you all that I ended my last blog with the word Snowflake. I was bragging how we always skip town just before Old Man Winter falls down. After I finished my blog we drove up to a campsite near Granite Peak in Prescott, Arizona. As we were eating dinner the dog was whining outside. She was persistent about being let in. I finally caved in only to open the door too.....SNOW! Yep, the joke was on me. We cranked up the heater, slept well and drove out of town further south the next morning.
We are now in Bisbee, Arizona. Just 6 miles from the Mexico border. Bisbee is an old, old, old mining town. It is wonderful!!!! Old houses lie on stacked up the hill. Old stairways are everywhere leading down to town. The history is great, the energy is great and the people couldn't be more welcoming. We've been here 3 days and have already been offered a driveway to live in, been invited to a birthday party, played open mics, laughed with numerous families in the park and i think tomorrow i'll go see if i can find myself a little part-time temporary job. I have a feeling we may be calling this home for awhile. At least through the holiday.

Those who know us well know how fascinated we are by the Native Americans. Those who are just meeting us, they will figure this out soon. We've spent countless hours roaming the ancient dried up lake beds of Oregon. We found proof on the ground that they were there. We felt the energy in the woods or desert. We thought we had it good. And we did.....but nothing like what we're finding here in Arizona.

Ever since we crossed the state line we've been exploring cliff dwellings and pueblos. Yes, we would be the ones drooling as we walk the trails. The ones shaking as we walk across pottery shards.


We've been learning a lot about the Sinagua. The Sinagua were a pre-Columbian cultural group occupying an area in central Arizona between approximately 500 AD and 1425 AD. Sinagua is derived from the Spanish words sin meaning "without" and agua meaning "water".
Early Sinagua sites consisted of pit-houses. At our latest outing at the Casa Grande Ruines a little south of Phoenix, Kaleb was busy completing his Junior Ranger assignments. One of the questions asked him to compare the Sinagua pit house living and the lifestyle to his own.
Well, pit houses were one room. He smirked as he realized his "current house" is in fact, ONE ROOM! Sinagua's were nomads, a community of people who move from one place to another. Now, we may not be following a herd of buffalo, but we do roam. The Sinagua's vanished. To this day we are not sure what exactly made them leave. Over the last month we have gained a habit of meeting new people and then telling them we'll see themagain in a few days and then, POOF...we're gone,vanished, on the road again. Not intentional, we're just NOMADS.