SouthWestern Trip Part 2

 On Saturday, the second day of our trip, we drove to a nearby, abandoned copper mine perched on the steep mountainside. At one point, nearly 15,000 people lived and worked there but now the population is just 500 and that is only due to tourism. The views were beautiful though with many houses having porches hanging out over the cliff. Talk about breathtaking!

We toured a museum of the copper mine with many old buildings and equipment/vehicles depicting the era of the mine. They even had goats, pigs and chickens to feed and pet! 

Our next stop was an Indian cliff dwelling called Montezuma Castle. We took a leisurely shaded walk (thankfully due to the high temps of 90+ each day we were there) along the base of these incredible structures. 

Somebody kindly offered to take our picture so we could all be in it! 

 

We also stumbled upon this beautiful swimming hole down among the red rocks, in a flowing river. We spent two afternoons of intense heat, down here cooling down! Even though it was October, the temperatures were still in the mid 90s and it was very sunny and dry! 

Sunday, we attended the service at a small Holiness church in the town. They asked us to provide some special music so we played+sang three songs in the morning and evening services. In between services and after the fellowship meal which the church provided, we drove about an hour to a certain valley where the exceedingly rare Saguaro cactus grows. They are an absolute fascination and incredible plant!

We tried a "selfie" of the whole family in front of this beauty of a cactus! 

Part 3 coming soon!