Great House

Our friends had to head back home today for a family wedding, but we're staying in Arizona for a few days longer. Both the Cubs and the Angels were off today, so we weren't planning to watch another game. Even though the boys would have liked to try to get more autographs, there just wasn't another game or stadium that seemed very interesting to us grown-ups.

So the plan for today was to visit Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, which is about an hour away. There are a few other NPS sites surrounding Phoenix, but we just didn't have time to see them all, which just means my OCD will bring us back here for another trip!

Casa Grande Ruins NM preserves and interprets the "Great House" and the compound surrounding it, which is thought to have been building in the 1300s and abandoned in the mid-1400s by the ancient Sonoran Desert people (Hohokam). The National Park Service built the roof in 1932 to protect the structure from further deterioration. They also repaired the wall foundations and added beams to strengthen the walls.

Working on their Jr. Ranger booklets

Afterwards, we stopped at the Sonic Drive-in for lunch. (We always see the Sonic commercials on TV, but the closest location is more than 45 miles away... what's up with that?!) The boys were pretty amused at seeing the server on roller skates bringing our food.

Then it was back to the hotel, where M and J joined the other Cub faithful in the swimming pool. (I just have to insert a comment here about the total sunburned, lobster-redness of these folks. Is skin cancer really the souvenir of your spring training experience that you want to bring back to the Midwest?!)

We went over to have dinner and spend the evening with R's cousin and her husband at their home in Tempe. They ordered in pizza from Rosati's, Chicago-style cracker thin crust. Yum! We all enjoyed spending time with them, especially M who talked their ears off.  

Tomorrow is their last chance to get Starlin Castro's or Alfonso Soriano's autographs. Fingers crossed!