89 miles today from Phoenix to Camp Verde, AZ. Our first stop was Montazuma Castle, an ancient adobe cliff dwelling at its peak in population about 1300 AD and abandoned in the 1400s.  Near one fairly complete dwelling is a 5 story one that was looted and taken apart by people and the elements. Only the reconstructed foundations of the first floor and reminants of brickwork in the rock above are present now. We were surprised to see lots of naturally flowing water in the nearby stream. We were serinaded by  live Indian flute music that added to the magic of the place.
After lunch at Burger King, we visited Fort Verde. The Fort was active from 1865 to 1891 to deal with the Indians of the tegion. The place had a very nice museum with special displays on Indian scouts. Indians of today have mixed feeling about those scouts who helped the soldiers as long as the troops were chasing the Indian enemies of the scouts. But both Indians and soldiers knew that it took an Indian to find an Indian.
Tomorrow we are off to Flagstaff, AZ that is 4,000 ft higher in elevation than here.