About an hour into driving north to Flagstaff, I realized I had left my cell phone at home. This made things a little difficult because I wanted to call Evan to alert him as I neared his house, and also I had the directions to said house on my phone. Luckily, he lives on a small avenue with a delightful name, and the helpful and friendly guy at the gas station sold me a map that showed that avenue. I arrived safely at Evan's domicile. We had Homer-made pumpkin/squash pie for dessert.

On Saturday we spent the morning backroading and looking at very interesting archaeological sites. I know very little about Flagstaff-area archaeology, other than the fact that a volcano erupted sometime around A.D. 1080, and that there was a transition from pit houses to above ground structures. Evan took me to a huge rock that stuck up in a sort of plain-like area, and there were numerous rooms built on the rock.

Room.

Perhaps they built them on top for defensive reasons- you could certainly see people approaching from a distance, especially if all of the trees had been chopped down close by for firewood and building materials.

Evan and lichen.

We then drove over to another site, where I sat down on the ground in one spot and picked up a handful of sherds for a photograph. Afterward, I replaced them in the same spot. This is important so future archaeologists can study the site, and it is also against the law to steal artifacts from sites (and besides, who wants the stuff cluttering up your house, a photograph certainly takes up a lot less space and you don't have to dust it off).

Sherds.

We then went to the San Francisco Wash, where water over a bazillion years has eroded a deep channel through the limestone.

San Francisco Wash.

In some spots along the walls of the wash, prehistoric peoples built homes underneath overhanging ledges. These are often very well preserved. It is rare to see a wall that could be 800-1000 years old, still standing.

Rock walls.

We went into Flagstaff and had a really nice lunch, went to see an art gallery where Evan has a glass fountain he made for sale, and then went back to his place and he played music for me. It was an awesome day.

This morning we went into town and had pancakes and hash browns for breakfast.

Hash browns!

I certainly fit in with my very bushy beard- there were a lot of country folks there. Evan sat across from me and I admired the view.

He put blackberry or blueberry syrup on his pancakes.

We spent the morning visiting other archaeological sites near his home. He is lucky to live so close to many interesting places.

And then it was time for me to come back to Tucson. The next two weeks are going to be crazy. I have to buy a car this week. The house has to get rearranged- the dining room converted into a bedroom, since Mummy flies into Phoenix on Saturday around noon. I bring her to Tucson and get her settled, then back to Phoenix to pick up Forrest that evening. I am so excited to see him, it has been 10 months since he moved away. Evan is coming down on Wednesday for Thanksgiving. I get to make Thanksgiving supper- I am thinking stuffed pumpkin, cranberry-orange-walnut side dish, spicy dill string beans, mashed taters, and a rage-inducing lemon meringue pie. And to top everything off, I have a project starting the following Monday.

You know, life is really awesome right now.