23 May 2024 – Trip day 53
by Alan
Updated 1/6/2025 with additional images from the trip!
Today we drove up to see the Casa Grande Ruins. It was about an hour and a half drive from Tucson. Traffic wasn’t too bad. We had a bit of a later start than we would have liked, so we changed the plan from Organ Pipe Cactus to Casa Grande. Our plan is to hit Organ Pipe tomorrow.
Below: A view of the Casa Grande structure from the parking lot.
The site is fairly simple overall, a small visitor center with a little museum and complex A of the site, which contains the Big House.
Below: An information placard describing the finding of the site.
The kids worked on their Junior Ranger books for a bit then we watched the park movie, which had some good information. At this park, they gave us the badges up front with the books, so Alan held onto them until the kids were done with their books.
The next couple of images will give some scale of the site. It was interesting to see that there were astronomical functions built into the structure.
Below is the model of the various compounds. Apologies for the glare – I was unable to find a shot without it. The model does show the scale of the community, which at one point had ~2,000 people living there.
Site plan of the ruins in the Casa Grande site and surrounding area.
Various artifacts found at the site.
Mock up of a pit dwelling of the time period.
A view of the structure, showing some of the interior walls and spaces, as well as the thickness of the walls.
Infographic display regarding the engineering of the site.
Infographic on the modern history of site.
While the kids worked on their Junior Ranger books, Randal and I played key chain toss. He thought it was very funny. I would toss my keys into the wagon, and he would fetch them and drop them off the side, then I would toss them back in again as he giggled.
Randal has been saying a lot more words now, and has actively communicated via sign language, e.g. ‘more’ (usually food). His walking has improved significantly and he is also a climber.
This site was very accessible, which worked out well as he could chill out in the wagon while we explored the Museum and the grounds.
A little perspective on how large this structure is!
A happy Randal!
I hope you enjoyed today’s update! I’ve got a few more in the backlog to catch up on – Carlsbad Caverns from April; Fort Bowie and Colossal Cave from the last few days and a Fix It update with all the other shenanigans that have been going on.
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