15 - DEER VALLEY ROCK ART, PIONEER LIVING (huh?) HISTORY MUSEUM & PRESCOTT, AZ

The day before yesterday, we went back for another visit with my cousin, Orlin Oehler and wife Sandra. 

They live in a wonderful community not very far from our RV park called Sun City Grand in Surprise, Arizona. They took us on a tour of all the amenities of their community which was very extensive and amazingly beautiful! We were very impressed.


Yesterday was a trip to Deer Valley Rock Art Center that was also not far from our RV park, but in a different direction. 


This location is on the National Register of Historic Places and operated by Arizona State University School of Human Evolution & Social Change. 

(All signs here are on rust covered pieces of iron which fits in with the area much better than a shiny sign would.)


Deer Valley Rock Art Center is the location of the Hedgpeth Hills petroglyph site. There are more than 1,500 recorded petroglyphs on almost 600 boulders. Research is still being conducted on the 47 acre site.


I know I have told you a lot about petroglyphs, but the information at each location is a little bit different.

The rocks at Hedgpeth Hills were formed by volcanic activity millions of years ago. As lava cooled, it cracked into large boulders. This kind of volcanic rock is called andesitic basalt.


In arid regions, a thin dark film called desert varnish builds up slowly on rock surfaces. It consists of minerals such as manganese and iron, cemented on the surface by bacteria living on the rocks. Desert varnish typically forms about a micrometer-thick layer every 1,000 years.


Ancient people made the petroglyphs at Hedgpeth Hills using stone tools to peck the dark desert varnish off and expose the light-colored rock beneath.


After the desert varnish has been pecked away, a new layer slowly begins to accumulate. A petroglyph becomes darker as the varnish on top of it thickens. Eventually, over thousands of years, the desert varnish will completely cover the petroglyph.


The Center does not hinder this natural process, but protects the petroglyphs against unnatural deterioration, such as vandalism and graffiti.


As we walked down the path toward the petroglyphs, there was an area where the Arizona State University was doing experiments with Agave cactus plants. 

This one is about to bloom. At this point it is sometimes called a "Century Plant" because some thought it bloomed only once every hundred years. Not really true, but after it blooms, seeds from the spent bloom spawns new plants nearby while the original plant dies.


There was a nice smooth and flat path about a quarter mile long from the Visitor Center out towards where the petroglyphs were mostly located. I always appreciate flat smooth paths as we have found so many that are not like that at all.


Suddenly we see petroglyphs on the boulders near the trail.

There are glyphs on three or four of these rocks. Look closely as some are not easy to see.

Petroglyphs here are on two large rocks and are pretty easy to see. Most are high up on the side of the lava rock pile that makes up the hill.

This looks to me like an attack from a bunch of snakes...or maybe a lightening storm...but I'm suspicious of the snakes...

The path is right next to these lava rock hills. There are several signs saying to stay on the trail because this is "Rattlesnake Habitat." 


"Rattlesnake Habitat?"  That makes it sound like they actually want them there and are protecting them from people. I suspect it may be the other way around.

This rock shows several glyphs that are usually associated with the sun along with numerous others. 


Not surprisingly, we did not see all 1,500 petroglyphs. Probably because we didn't want to crawl through the "Rattlesnake Habitat" to see them.


That evening we went to dinner at a great steak house that had been recommended to us. As we walked across the parking lot there was a brilliant sunset that made the restaurant almost look like it was on fire.

I don't know when I have seen a sunset so vivid as this one.


Today we once again drove north of Phoenix first thing in the morning...

...and of course there were hot air balloons floating silently through the air.

Finally we arrived at the Pioneer Living History Museum.


I had looked this place up on the web and it sounded really fun. 


"Live demonstrations, battle reenactments, a comical melodrama, costumed interpreters, including cowboys, lawmen, and lovely Victorian ladies await you at Pioneer Living History Village, Arizona's most authentic Old West Town." It also said there was a saloon that serves food.


Now doesn't that sound like fun??? We thought so.


We arrived at 9:15, fifteen minutes after the stated opening time and the parking lot was completely empty. I wondered if I had mis-read the information and it was closed.


Apparently it was not closed as a young lady finally came to the window and took our eight dollars each and handed us a map of the park. She said, "You have ninety acres to explore!" Wow!

She didn't happen to mention this little matter...


I asked if we were the only ones there and she said, "So far, yes, but 25 kids are showing up at 10:00 for a field trip." Oh, great. We don't really enjoy sight seeing in the midst of a group of screaming 10-year-olds. 


So off we went looking for the costumed cowboys, lovely Victorian ladies and the melodrama before the kids arrive.


I photographed a lot of things...in the silence of the country. We only heard the wind blow and an occasional bird, (certainly no battle re-enactment sounds!)

Here is the dress shop...

...the blacksmith shop had really huge bellows...

...the church that is still occasionally in use for services and weddings...

We saw the school house...

...Don teased me because when I went to grade school, I sat in these kind of desks. He says he wants to see my birth certificate.

 There was a jail...

...which had two huge cells, along with office space for the sheriff.


There was a lot of other buildings, many recreated, a few that have been moved there.


However, none of the entertainment that was promised ever materialized. Neither was there a Saloon serving food...or anything else for that matter.  


We renamed the place the 'Pioneer Dead History Museum.' In other words, it was a total disappointment, a basic waste of the 45 minutes we spent walking around.


We suggest that if you are visiting Phoenix, there are lots of really great things here to see. Just pass on the Mystery Castle and Pioneer Living History Museum. Save your money on both of these.


Don commented that we are running out of things to see...that we are hitting the bottom of the barrel.


So now it is 10 am and the question is, "What to do next." Don suggested driving 20 miles further up the road where there is a cafe famous for their pie. 

The Rock Springs Cafe turned out to be far more interesting than the Pioneer Living History Museum.

This is only a very small number of the pies that were in several coolers that we saw as we entered the cafe. (Check out the meringue on the lemon pies on the lower shelf of the left cooler.) 

The dining rooms were old, authentic and quite rustic.  


They weren't serving lunch yet when we arrived so we split an order of biscuits and gravy with pie for desert. The "Breakfast of Champions," without a doubt. Nothing like breakfast and pie!


Oh, and the pie was really, really good! This stop was way more interesting than the Pioneer Living History Museum.


So after the pie and coffee we still had half the day left. Since we were already half way there, we decided to drive on up to Prescott, Arizona just to look around.

The weather was a bit strange, part of the sky was sunny, part was dark and preparing to rain. We did hit a few sprinkles along the way.

When we arrived in Prescott, we parked near an old Firehouse, now housing several shops. I enjoyed the eclectic display of fire hydrants.

We walked down the street of the Old Town area. It is a square built around the courthouse like they used to do years ago.

The sidewalk was lined with stores and galleries. We talked to one gallery owner, a photographer, who had pictures on the walls of petroglyphs. 


We shared locations where we had found glyphs and he told us where he had found some. It was a fun conversation.

Before we left the gallery area, I found someone who asked me to dance. A girl just can't turn down a good looking guy like this!


Next blog posting: Pueblo Grande Museum and Archaeological Park in downtown Phoenix.