Montezuma's Castle

We aren't having great luck with airlines! Today, our flight to Phoenix on Northwest Airlines was delayed more than 2 hours. I think I heard them saying something about having to fix broken seats.

But at least we finally made it, rented a car and headed north towards Flagstaff. Our first stop was at a rest area, where we discovered this can be a dangerous place!


Warning Sign at the Rest Area

We stopped along the way to visit Montezuma's Castle. The castle, which stands in a cliff recess 100 ft. above the valley, is a five-story, 20 room dwelling. It is not related to the Aztec leader whose name it was given, but to the Sinagua and Hohokam peoples, who built it and lived there from 1100-1400 AD. Just west of it is a larger, but less preserved 45-room structure that was 6 stories tall. It was abandoned by the time the Spanish arrived, but the descendants of the people who lived there continue to live in the area.



Montezuma's Castle