Casa Grande

Casa Grande

If you take Lindsay road and drive South, through Mesa and Gilbert and through dust and dirt and past civilization, it will come to a dead end. And you will have to turn. If you turn one way, it will lead to more dust and dirt and perhaps unforeseen adventures, but if you turn the other way, you will eventually find yourself weaving to the other side of the San Tan mountains and through Indian Reservation to a rare histroic monument which acts as a portal to another time. 

Another view of Casa Grande

Native American music carries you back to the time when the tall building would have been flourishing as you walk through the visitor's center; passing exhibits of archeological findings of pottery and jewelry and replications of what everyday life would have been like in the 1300s.

These mounds hint and ancient walls

My party rushes to catch up to the last tour group which started 20 minutes previous to our arrival. The long winded and clearly speculative tour guide mingles facts from artifacts with her personal interpretations. These things are very informative and even entertaining, but our small children threaten to out-voice the gray- haired lady and we wander past her and around small mounds of dirt which indicate the existence of ancient foundations, to view the reverent structure which is still standing.

Inside the ruins

Casa Grande National Monument is an adobe building built in the 1300s located a few miles outside its namesake town in Coolidge AZ. According to the informational plaques placed around the Monument, the main structure was once part of a flourishing compound. In 1694 Padre Eusebio Francisco Kino visited the site and in his description used "Casa Grade" to describe these ruins and that is how it got its name.

Looking up from inside.

The Sonoran Desert People who lived within or around the structure did not leave behind a written record. They seemed to have abandoned the structure around 1450 AD, as far as we can tell, and the actual purpose of the structure can only be guessed at by the inaudible whispers their artifacts leave behind. Some speculate that it was an ancient observatory and others speculate it was a religious center. Nevertheless, this structure stands silent, protected from the beating desert sun by a roof constructed in 1932.

It was popular, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, to inscribe your name and even take a piece of the wall for a souvenir.

Music plays softly as visitors circle the monument and strive to catch a glimpse of the past within the barred walls of the modest structure. A ceremonial drum is being played somewhere near us, seemingly close enough to see, which reminds us that the ghosts of this monument left us a legacy more than clay and wood, but that their progenetors still inhabit the Sonoran Desert today.

For some really informative links and more information on the park:

http://www.nps.gov/cagr/index.htm

http://www.nps.gov/cagr/historyculture/the-ancient-sonoran-desert-people.htm

http://www.nps.gov/cagr/parkmgmt/uploa/CAGR%20-%20Centennial%20History%20-%20MAR%2092.pdf

Disneyland Christmas 2011

An excitement chases away any hope of sleep I might get as I stare at the dark ceiling of the hotel room. I turn and look at the clock for the fourth time in five minutes. Only 3 hours and 12 minutes until the magical gates open and I am admitted to the Happiest Place on Earth. Even after 15 years and over a dozen times of going, the magic is still as strong as it was the first time I entered Disneyland at 8 years old.

Over the next two days of our vacation, my childlike anticipation is perfectly satisfied through the thematic consistency of Disneyland. Mouthwatering smells, cheerful music, and smiling faces melt years away and I feel as giddy to see Mickey as my toddler is-- and she is almost as excited as my parents are. Our party has ten people with an age span of 9 months to 46 years, each of us with our individual hopes for our vacation.

The park was so full, they stopped admitting guests. Despite the crowds, we were able to use some Disneyland ride software, fastpasses, and various smartphone applications, to get to each desired attraction and even more; our longest line was 45 minutes for Pirates of the Carribbean, and even then we didn't mind the wait. I like waits in Disneyland queues because we have an arsenal of games to play together to combat boredom, but also because Disney does its best to keep its waiting guests moving and entertained.

Examples of Disneyland's solutions to hideous lines are: the fastpass and switchpass. There are many rides you can go to that allow for you to get fastpasses. These fastpasses allow you to return at a determined time and stand in a significantly shorter line. A switchpass functions to allow those who tend small children to still enjoy the ride. Each ride has its unique protocol for the switchpass, so its best to ask about the policy before you stand in line. Usually, the party leaves one or two people out to tend the kids while the rest wait in line for the ride. At the end of the line, they are given a pass and can use it for up to two people to get in the fastpass line for the ride.

The lines are also designed to keep you from thinking of the wait. My favorite line to wait in is for the Adventures of Indiana Jones ride. The line is typically very long, but also very true to the theme of the ride. From bamboo railings, to stone blocks and booby traps—our favorite one being the wilting bamboo that, when pushed in, causes crashes that sound like the cave is falling in, to a TV you watch in queue, the details never cease to amaze me.

This thematic consistency holds true from ride to ride and land to land. Each "cast member"-employee- has a costume that corresponds with the location of their work. The architecture is unique from land to land, with foods and stores adding to the theme. The Disney characters have their homes in appropriate areas that only make sense as well as the rides. The integrity of the magic is even found in the very words that the cast members use. I would argue that this thematic consistency is one of the integral aspects of the magic of Disneyland, that and the business of wish fulfillment.

We came to Disneyland with individual wishes and left with shared memories of the fulfillment of those wishes.

-Note: Pictures to be posted at a future date.