Rosy Cliff Dwellings

Rosy is Roosevelt Lake's nickname; the cliff dwellings themselves aren't rosy at all.  They're (relatively) easy to access via a steep, half-mile, paved trail that starts at the Tonto National Monument visitor's center.  A fee is charged for trail usage: $7 per person.  However, if you're a senior citizen with an OFP (Old Fart Pass), it's free.  Eat your heart out, you young whippersnappers!

Below, Trish pauses on the trail to the cliff dwellings to do her classic Lewis and Clark pose, pointing out the route ahead.  Actually, she's pointing at a saguaro cactus with several, downward-pointing arms, fairly low to the ground.  She dubbed it the Hula Skirt Saguaro.

Up close and personal, the dwellings aren't that impressive but do have one hell of a view.  That's Lisa in the picture below.

Below, David, wannabe building inspector, critically examines the structural integrity.

The shot below was taken from the parking lot of the visitor's center at 10X zoom.

The Salado Indians built and occupied the dwellings around 1250.  200 years later, they abandoned the site.  Why?  Nobody knows.  The reason may have been climate change, rendering them unable to continue growing their crops.  Or, it could have been encroachment from more aggressive Indian tribes.  Where did they go?  Nobody knows.  If you happen to be a long-lost member of the Salado Tribe, perhaps you could enlighten us?

Roosevelt Lake, AZ

Roosevelt Lake is a 22-mile long reservoir on the Salt River, 40 miles northeast of Phoenix.  Trish and I, along with friends David & Elaine, Terry & Lisa, set up camp there for 3 days last week.  Tom, a fraternity brother who lives in Casa Grande, joined us for one night.  We were near the marina, good privacy, quiet, with a lovely view of the Lake and surrounding mountains.  Our rigs are pictured below.

At one time, Roosevelt Dam was the highest masonry dam in the world, and Roosevelt Lake was the largest man-made lake in the world.  That time is long gone.  The dam was built in 1906-11, cost $1 million, was dedicated by Teddy himself in 1911.  It was renovated and expanded 77' upward in 1989-1996 at a cost of $430 million.  Inflation, you know.

Concurrently with the dam renovation, a new bridge was built just above the dam.  At 1080' in length, it's the longest single-span, steel-arch, two-lane bridge in North America.  Before the bridge was built, the road went across the top of the dam.

Dateline Egypt, Part 5

There's no lack of attractive women in Egypt.  And there's no lack of women who want to escape the sexist, super-restrictive life style they're forced to endure in that Muslim-dominated country.

I was one of five long-term, single guys working on the wastewater project in Alexandria in the early 80s.  I'm the only one of the five guys that returned to the States without a native wife in tow.

Were I of the female persuasion, I too, would be desperately seeking a way out.  Here's how it was for women:
1.  Any single woman not living with her parents was considered a whore.

2.  No single woman could be seen in public with a single man unless there was a chaperone along.

3.  On the day after a wedding, blood stained sheets had to be displayed outside as evidence the bride was a virgin.  Got ketchup?

Boys will be boys.  Girls will be girls.  Hormones will be hormones.  Imaginative ways around the restrictions were widely known and widely practiced.  It was, presumably still is, nothing but a sham, keeping up appearances.

Muslims don't drink?  Bullshit.  Muslims don't mess around before marriage.  More bullshit.  Anything goes as long as it's not done in public.  I have a dim view of religion in general.  Although some followers toe the line, hypocrisy seems to run rampant.  In countries like Egypt where there's no separation of church and state, hypocrisy reigns supreme.

Yes, I dated an Egyptian woman.  A Coptic, not a Muslim.  Sharp as a tack.  Educated in England, had a masters degree, spoke 4 languages, ran a travel agency.  She was an excellent tennis player, often beat me in singles.  Coptic or not, she had to adhere to the ridiculous moral code described above, and understandably, wanted to get the hell out of Dodge.

She suggested a marriage of convenience but I wasn't up for it.  I was recently divorced, had no desire to remarry - even if it was supposed to be temporary.  I advised her to reconnect with another expat she had dated before me.  I knew the man, an agriculture specialist/advisor.  Good guy.  He had returned to the States a few months before she and I hooked up.  She took my advice, ended up marrying the guy and made good her escape.  Last I heard, they had two kids and were living in South America, where he had another agricultural gig.