Hello again readers, welcome back. Our last episode ended on Thursday, May 17th when we crossed the Colorado River out of California and into Arizona. This transition marked the official beginning of our summer travels. We had left Silent Valley Club, our private RV resort in the mountains south of Banning, and traveled to Ehrenberg, Arizona, just across the river from Blythe, California. We pulled into the Western Horizons park in Ehrenberg, where we have stayed many times in the past, for an overnight stay before continuing on east. We didn’t even unhook the car.Friday, May 18th, we left Ehrenberg about 9:00 a.m. and started east on I-10, headed for Apache Junction, Arizona, on the far east end of the Phoenix metro area. We are headed for the Canyon Vistas RV Resort, a new park for us in an area that we had not visited together before. After we got settled into our spot we just relaxed for the rest of the day.
Although this area will be new to Jackie, it is not to me. Having grown up in the Phoenix area, and lived most of my life there, I have been to Apache Junction many times. My step-grandfather had moved there from Wisconsin in 1959, a year before my mother and step-dad left Milwaukee and moved to Arizona as well. Grandpa built a very nice house on five acres of land at the foot of the Superstition Mountains, which rise above Apache Junction. At that time there were very few houses in the area, which had been homestead land originally. The house had the most beautiful stone fireplace that was built with stones that my grandparents gathered from the desert around Apache Junction. Grandpa also had a barn and corral
Of course, the Superstition Mountains also hide the mystery of the Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine. The Lost Dutchman Gold Mine is a legend of a very rich gold mine hidden in the Superstition Mountains. There are also thoughts that the mine is beyond the Superstition Mountains into Mexico. No one truly knows where the mine is, because the Dutchman kept it a complete secret. There are several legends on how to find it though and each year people search for it. Some have even died on their search for the Mine.
The mine was named after German immigrant Jacob Waltz ("Dutchman" was a common, though inaccurate, American slang term for "German"). It is perhaps the most famous lost mine in American history. Historians think that people have been seeking the Lost Dutchman mine since at least 1892, and according to one estimate, 8,000 people annually made some effort to locate the Lost Dutchman's mine. Others have argued the mine has little or no basis in fact and is a legend. Some historians argue, however, that all the main components of the story have at least some basis in fact. According to many versions of the tale, the mine is either cursed, or protected by enigmatic guardians who wish to keep the mine's location a secret. All of us who grew up in Arizona heard many versions of the legend.
One of the tasks I have set for us while we are here in Apache Junction is to see if I can find where my grandparent’s house was. There are hundreds of homes in the area now and as best I can tell from looking at Google Earth satellite images, the original house is no longer there. I am fairly certain I have located the correct intersection and think I can see the faint outlines of the old horse corrals. We shall see.
Saturday, May 19th, we left the coach after lunch to go out and do some caching in the Apache Junction area. Lots of caches around here and we have never cached here before, so great pickings. We managed to get a dozen new finds with only one DNF in the course of a couple of hours. After caching we visited the Apache Junction Elks Lodge. They have a nice new lodge north of town and the place was quite crowded. We realized right after we got there that part of it might have been that the Preakness horse race was on. We had a cocktail and watched the race on the big screen. Everyone was quite excited when I’ll Have Another, the horse that won the Kentucky Derby, pulled out in the last quarter and won the race by a nose. Perhaps a new triple crown winner? We had one drink, picked up a lodge pin for our banner, and then headed home. We stopped on the way to pick up a pizza for dinner.
Sunday, May 20th, we needed to get some chores done so after lunch we loaded our laundry into the car and drove into Apache Junction to a laundromat. After our clothes were done we drove into Mesa to the Costco to stock up on some stuff and then stopped at Walmart in Apache Junction on the way back to the coach. Once we were done with our chores and got home we just stayed around the coach for the rest of the night.
Monday, May 21st, we decided to spend the day doing some sightseeing in the central Arizona mountains. I put together a day long drive that would take us northeast out of Apache Junction on the Apache Trail to Roosevelt Lake, then southeast to Globe, Arizona, and then back west to Apache Junction. The entire circle route is about 120 miles. I also did some caches along the route so we could gather a few new caches along with the touring. Since it was forecast to be over a hundred today through most of central Arizona, we packed some water in a cooler bag and left the coach about 9:30.
The first leg of our tour was along the Apache Trail. The Apache Trail runs about 45 miles from Apache Junction to Roosevelt Dam on the Salt River. Although portions of the route are thought to have been used by the Apache Indians to roam through the Superstition Mountains hundreds of years ago, the current route was a dirt wagon road built starting in 1904 as a way of getting supplies and equipment from the Phoenix area up to the site Roosevelt Dam was being constructed. The road is narrow, winding and, in some areas, treacherous, but most of it is now paved. Only the last 22 miles, from just south of Apache Lake to Roosevelt lake is still dirt.
As you leave the City of Apache Junction you have the beautiful face of the Superstition Mountains on your right and the first attraction of note is the Goldfield Ghost Town, about 4.5 from Apache Junction. Built after a gold strike in 1892, Goldfield thrived for five years and was populated with about 400 inhabitants. The town boasted 3 saloons, a boarding house, general store, blacksmith shop, brewery, meat market and a schoolhouse. When the gold ran out the town died. Today, Goldfield is a tourist attraction. Among other things you can shop, visit the Lost Dutchman Museum, tour the gold mine, and take a narrow gauge train ride. We didn’t bother to stop since those kinds of tourist traps don’t hold much interest for us.
Other than the great scenery of the peaks and canyons of the Superstitions, the next point of interest comes about 22 miles north of Apache Junction at Canyon Lake. Canyon Lake is one of the reservoirs created by the Salt River Valley Water User’s Association, which, along with the Salt River Power Authority make up the Salt River Project, or SRP as it is known to most Arizonans. The SRP came about because early settlers in Phoenix and nearby areas were forced to depend upon the flow of the Salt River to sustain agricultural activities. However, the Salt was prone to both floods and droughts and proved to be a less than reliable resource for the settlers. Failed plans to build a dam on the river in 1897, combined with a series of droughts, heightened the need for controlling the river. With the passage of the National Reclamation Act of 1902, funding for reclamation projects with low-interest government loans paved the way for the creation of the Salt River Valley Water Users' Association the following year. Over 200,000 acres of private land belonging to the ranchers and farmers in the association were pledged for collateral and the association was officially incorporated February 7, 1903, becoming the first multipurpose project under the reclamation act. Construction on the Roosevelt Dam would commence the following year.
SRP owns and operates four reservoirs along the Salt River, which are Roosevelt, Apache, Canyon and Sahuaro lakes. They also have three on the Verde River further west, Horseshoe, Bartlett and Blue Ridge. While the main function of these reservoirs is to serve as water storage for the Salt River Valley metro area, they also serve as recreational centers. The lakes are regularly stocked with fish, and are supplied with boat ramps for water sports.
At the confluence of the Verde and Salt Rivers, just northeast of Mesa, Arizona, SRP has built the Granite Reef diversion dam which funnels the water from the rivers into the vast series of irrigation canals which crisscross the valley. When we first moved to the Phoenix area in 1960 we lived right on the banks of one of these canals and it served as the family swimming hole. Swimming in the canals is now illegal and highly frowned upon, but, that was then. My brother Dennis learned to swim in the Tempe Canal.
All of these lakes, with the exception of Roosevelt, are within Maricopa County and law enforcement services are provided by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, my old agency, which has a very large Lake Patrol Unit. They provide patrol services both on and around the lakes and rivers in the county. They have several dozen boats and in their “navy” as well as aid stations at each of the lakes. For a time I was Commander of the Tactical Support Division which had as one of it’s commands the Lake Patrol.We stopped at the scenic overlook for Canyon Lake, took some pictures and found our first geocache for the day. Mormon Flat dam that created Canyon Lake was completed in 1925 and was the second SRP dam constructed, Roosevelt being the first. The lake is just under 1,000 acres in size and can hold nearly 58,000 acre feet of water. The dam, like all the SRP dams, also has hydroelectric generators which provide SRP power for its electrical customers.
When we got out of the car at the Canyon Lake overlook we found something on our car that I have never seen before. There was a dead quail hanging from the hood of the car, over the front fender! Somehow the bird got it's leg caught in the narrow gap between the hood and the fender and was apparently beat to death against the fender as we drove. It was down in the blind spot caused by the A-pillar on the car, so I never saw it until we stopped. It's leg was so wedged in I had to open the hood to release the body. Oopsie! Sorry quail family. The next stop, just a couple of miles north of Canyon Lake, was the community of Tortilla Flat. Tortilla Flat is an unincorporated community and is presumed to be Arizona's smallest official "community" having both a U.S. Post Office and a voter precinct. The town has a population of 6. It is the last surviving stagecoach stop along the Apache Trail and in addition to a couple of stores, a restaurant and bar, there is a small museum in the old stage stop building.
Although the general area was a camping site for prospectors exploring the Superstitions back in the mid to late 1800's, the actual town of Tortilla Flat got its start because of the road construction to Roosevelt Dam in 1904. Because of the distances there was a need for a rest stop for freight haulers on their way to the construction site at Roosevelt Dam and Tortilla Flat served that purpose, being about halfway. Shortly following the construction of the road, Roosevelt Dam became a big tourist attraction. At that point Tortilla Flat was a stage stop for tourists and mail carriers through the 1930s. The name "Tortilla Flat" is alleged to have originated from some cowboys who used to drive cattle from Globe to Phoenix. During one cattle drive to the Phoenix markets, the cowboys celebrated their sale, and, having a little too much to drink, forgot to get supplies while they were in town. They ended up with only flour to make tortillas when they camped at the flat and were stranded by rising water. Today there is a bar and restaurant, a couple of shops and a small museum in the old stage stop building. I have seen bumper stickers on cars back east that say “Where the Hell is Tortilla Flat?” We picked up our second geocache of the day here at Tortilla Flat. We also spent a little time checking out the stores.A few miles north of Tortilla Flat the pavement stops and the road becomes the original dirt and rock carved out of the canyon sides. Here is where the ride can get a little hairy, although if you take the route northbound, as we did, and don’t double back, you at least have the mountain on your right rather than the drop off into the canyon for most of the trip. The road is rough, washboard in most spots, and much more narrow than it was on the paved portion. This part of the road has been regularly graded, but is otherwise unimproved from the original 1904 road. You cross a number of the original one lane bridges, both steel and concrete, and the grades are steep with many hairpin turns. It is not a difficult drive so long as you don’t get in a hurry and keep your eyes on the road.
About ten miles after the end of the pavement you come to Apache Lake. This lake was formed by the construction of Horse Mesa dam in 1927 and was the third of the Salt River reservoirs built. The lake has a surface area of about 2,600 acres and can store nearly a quarter million acre feet of water when full. The lake is narrow and long, reaching nearly the entire ten miles north to Roosevelt dam. We drove around the area a little, but being a weekday in the summer, there wasn’t much activity.
Once leaving the entrance to Apache Lake you continue on the Apache Trail another twelve miles to where the road ends at the site of Roosevelt Dam. Just a half mile or so south of the dam there is a sign that marks the county line between Maricopa County to the south and Gila County to the north. The last mile of the Apache Trail climbs the side of the canyon from close to river level below the dam to a point several hundred feet above the dam, providing some pretty spectacular views of Roosevelt dam.
As I stated earlier, Theodore Roosevelt Dam was started by the fledgling SRP in 1904 and was completed in 1911. When it was completed it was the tallest masonry dam in the world at 280 feet. The dam was dedicated by President Theodore Roosevelt, for whom the dam and the reservoir are named. In 1996, a massive expansion project aimed at increasing the capacity of the lake was finished. The dam was resurfaced with concrete and raised an additional 77 feet, which increased the lake’s capacity by over 20%, and provided badly needed flood control space on the Salt River. I have mentioned in other episodes of this blog the massive floods in the Salt River Valley in the 1980's and I vividly remember the news stories about the possibility of flooding topping Roosevelt dam and creating a domino effect of failing dams which would have flooded half of the Phoenix metro area. This was the first time I have seen the new look of the dam. My memories are from the earlier days when the dam was basically a curved block wall. Now it looks like any other concrete dam. They have also built a huge new highway bridge across the Salt River canyon in front of the dam. In the old days Highway 188, which runs from Globe to Payson, went across the top of Roosevelt dam on a narrow, but still two lane, road. With the new bridge the road was rerouted and the public can no longer get down on top of the dam. It is a very pretty bridge though. Roosevelt Lake has a surface area of nearly 21,500 acres and is the largest lake that is wholly inside the state of Arizona. There are lakes along the Colorado River that are much larger, but they are all partially within adjoining states. With it’s increased capacity Roosevelt can now store almost 3 million acre feet of water.
Once we got off the Apache Trail and started southeast on Highway 188 we were on pavement and were able to make good time. For the first half of the 30 mile run from Roosevelt Dam to the Town of Globe the road runs along the south shore of Roosevelt Lake. Back when I lived in Phoenix, and during the various times I owned boats, we used to come up to Roosevelt for long weekends of boating and fishing. Except to get another geocache we didn’t make any stops between Roosevelt dam and the Town of Globe.
The history of Globe is centered around mining. In 1875, prospectors found silver on the nearby San Carlos Apache Reservation, including an unusual globe-shaped silver nugget. This gave rise to the name of the town. The plans for an incorporated Globe were established in July 1876 with retail stores, banks, and Globe's first newspaper printing its first issue on May 2, 1878. By February 1881, Globe was the Gila County seat. The silver started to give out in just four years, but by then copper deposits were discovered. By the early 1900s, the Old Dominion Copper Company in Globe ranked as one of the world's richest. The Old Dominion closed in 1931 and mining operations moved to the nearby town of Miami. Globe's economy remain's heavily dependent on the mining industry, and even today city is home to one of the few operating copper smelters in the United States. Globes current population is just under 8,000.
We got into Globe about 1:00 p.m. and were pretty hungry. We found a Mexican restaurant near the center of town called Irene’s Real Mexican Food. The internet reviews we read gave it four stars, so we gave it a try. The food was OK, pretty bland and not especially memorable. I guess it was “Real” Mexican food, but only in the sense that it was not imaginary food. At least the portions were fairly large, so we didn’t leave hungry.
After lunch we did a couple of geocaches in the historic district of Globe. Both of the caches were what are called Virtual geocaches. Virtual caches have no physical container or log to sign. To get credit for the cache you have to answer questions about what is at the cache site. One was an old church which had the first church bell installed in the town of Globe. There was a plaque on the wall of the church with a story about the bell and the answers to the questions were on the plaque. By the way, this cache was our 3,900 find, so we took a picture to commemorate the milestone. Yea! The second cache in Globe was only a few blocks from the church and was an old steam locomotive that had been preserved and put on display in a town park. This was also a virtual and we had to answer questions related to information on another plaque that told where the six other surviving engines of this same model are located.
After leaving Globe we started on the return leg of the circle tour, west on U.S. 60 back to Apache Junction. This route took us through the mining towns of Miami and Superior. Miami, Arizona is another copper mining town with an interesting story behind it’s name. A Polish immigrant and prospector, Black Jack Newman, is recognized for being the one to help create the town of Miami. He named his copper mine Mima, after his fiance Mima Tune. However, trouble started when another group, from Miami, Ohio, staked their claim nearby. They named their mine Inspiration and when it came time to name the tiny community, there was an argument. Finally, a compromise was struck. They agreed to spell it “Miami,” yet say the name “Mima.” Eventually Newman’s mine was sold and became part of the Miami Copper Company.
The town of Miami was founded in 1907 with both the Inspiration Mine and the Miami Copper Company in operation. Both the Inspiration and the Miami Copper Company began the construction of huge reduction plants in the early 1900's and the large copper-ore reduction plants earned the town the nickname “Concentrator City.” Although during it’s heyday Miami actually had a larger population than it’s nearby rival Globe, the mining activity has all but stopped and the current population is less than 2,000.
We stopped at one geocache in Miami, but we ended up not finding it, scoring us a new DNF. The cache was hidden in a small park where there was a bunch of old mining equipment on display. We think the cache was a magnetic type hidden up under one of the equipment items, but it was just too hot to do a proper search.
The final major point of interest on the trip was the town of Superior, Arizona, about 20 miles west of Miami. Superior is another turn of the century copper mining town. In 1900 the name of this location, as it appeared on a map of the Pioneer Mining District, was Hastings. However, the name was later changed to Superior because the town depended upon the operations of the Arizona and Lake Superior Mining Company. By 1904 Superior was a real frontier mining town with many tents, several primitive board homes, a store, boarding house, blacksmith shop, and a post office. With the construction of a huge smelter in 1914 by the Magma Copper Company, the future of Superior was secure as long as copper ores continued to be fed into the smelter. In 1981, the smelter closed down. The current population of Superior is about 3,000.
I remember in the 1960's and 70's driving along U.S. 60 between Superior and Globe the entire valley would be covered in thick, ugly smog, the result of all the mining and smelting activity in the three towns. Miami was probably the worst, being stuck in the middle. Smelting of copper requires a lot of acid and the smog had a very rank, acrid smell, almost a taste. It was a pretty bad thirty mile drive through the ick before you climbed out of the canyon outside Globe into fresh air again.
We picked up a couple more caches along the side of the road after Superior and we ended up with nine new finds for the day, along with the one DNF. We finally got back to the coach right at 4:30, so the circle trip took us seven hours. We got a lot of pictures, saw some great scenery, did some caching and just generally had a great day. Once we got home we just chilled the rest of the night.
Tuesday, May 22nd, the weather forecasts predicted today to be the hottest day of the week, close to 110 degrees in some areas of the Salt River Valley. Since we had no need to do anything today we decided to just stay in the coach for the day and avoid the heat. We kept both A/Cs running, closed all the shades to keep the sun out, and just hunkered in for a hot day. Early in the afternoon I did venture out for a brief, 20 minute, splash in the nearby pool and spa, but after that I stayed under cover. We were able to keep the coach reasonably cool by keeping the light out, both airs on and not opening the door. As it turns out, it only got up to 109 in Apache Junction. Piece of cake!
Wednesday, May 23rd, I wanted to experience a bit of nostalgia today so I suggested to Jackie that we drive into Mesa for lunch at one of the Big Apple restaurants. We also had to do some geocaching today to get a find for our days of the year grid, so I plotted some caches in Mesa, not too far from the restaurant. The restaurant is meaningful to me because back in the mid 70's I was a Sheriff’s Deputy with Maricopa County, working as a detective in the Warrants and Fugitives detail. It was a plain clothes assignment and our job was to locate and arrest people wanted on warrants. It was one of the more interesting and fun times in my career. My partner and I used to eat at Bill Johnson’s Big Apple at least three times a week, sometimes more. At that time they only had one location, the original, on East Van Buren Street in Phoenix. They had great hamburgers, as well as other stuff, were not expensive, and the staff was very friendly. Because we were in there so often we became well known to all the waitresses and even the managers and owners.
Since those days the company has built four other locations around the metro area, including the one in Mesa. For the most part they used the same design for all the stores, so when we walked into the one in Mesa I was immediately taken back to all the time I spent in the one in Phoenix. The menu has changed, more options, higher prices, but the food was still very good. I had the BBQ beef brisket and it was wonderful. They still give a big meal for the price and I was very happy with lunch. After we had lunch we went out to do a few caches, but after only four finds and one DNF we decided it was just too hot to be out caching. It was 106 according to the car and the sun was blazing hot.
Since we were already quite a ways west, we decided to go by the Chandler Elks Lodge for a visit. We have never been to that lodge and, according to the book, they were open every afternoon. Chandler is a fairly large suburb of Phoenix, located southeast of Phoenix proper, near Mesa and Tempe. We drove to the lodge and found a very nice, large building right near the center of town. There were a half dozen or so people in the bar and the bartender was fairly friendly. We had one cocktail, got a lodge pin for our banner, and then started back towards Apache Junction and home. We did have one more stop to make along the way.
Previously in this chapter I talked about my grandparents and the home they built on the slope of the Superstition Mountains back in 1960. I have searched the area on Google Earth and their house is no longer there. I was fairly certain I had located the correct spot where the house had been and I noted the coordinates, so I wanted to drive out there just to see if anything looked familiar. We drove to the location and there is a relatively new looking house there. Unfortunately, although I am pretty sure it’s the right spot, there was just nothing there that would allow me to confirm absolutely that it was the right place. I guess that’s just another thing that will have to be just a memory. After our little tour of the area we went back to the coach for the rest of the night.
Thursday, May 24th, we decided to just stay in for the day and avoid the heat. Did a few chores but mostly just relaxed for the day. Friday, May 25th is another travel day. Time to leave Apache Junction and head southeast to Tucson, Arizona. We left Canyon Vistas Resort about 9:30 and drove south through Florence and Coolidge, small central Arizona farming towns, heading for Interstate 10. We stopped at the Flying J on I-10 in Eloy, just outside Casa Grande, to get fuel. Once we had a full tank of full we continued east on I-10 to Tucson. The wind was blowing very, very hard, making it almost difficult to keep in one lane. I kept the speed down and just trundled along at 57mph, staying out of the way of those who wanted to go faster.
We got to the Adventure Bound RV Resort, which is actually on the southeast side of Tucson, about noon. We got settled in and just relaxed the rest of the day watching the wind blow. We will be here in Tucson for five days, through the Memorial Day weekend. We like to be off the road on major holidays.
Saturday, May 26th, we awoke after a windy night, but at least to cooler temperatures. It is only supposed to be in the 80's for the next couple days. Today we decided to do some shopping so we left the coach about 11:30. Our first stop was My Big Fat Greek Restaurant, one of our favorite places to eat. Anytime we are in Tucson we always find time to eat here at least once. I don’t care for lamb, but they have plenty of stuff with cow too, so I am happy. I had a steak and cheese pita, which was basically a Philly cheese on a pita rather than a hoagie roll. Jackie had a regular Greek pita, which is a mixture of lamb and beef. The food was excellent and the service was good. The only thing that wasn’t up to the same standard as in previous visits was the calamari. Today’s was thick and tough, although it was very tasty it was a little too chewy. I think they must have changed brands.
After lunch we headed to the local Costco to stock up on vodka. And by stock up I mean two six packs of 1.75 liter bottles. Our thinking is that once we leave Tucson, and Arizona, we are getting into states that have much less liberal liquor laws than California and Arizona. The stricter the laws, the more expensive the booze. We decided to stock up and try to get through as much of our summer travels as possible on Arizona liquor. After Costco we made a stop at a SuperCuts and both got haircuts. We then headed back to the coach and relaxed the rest of the afternoon and evening.
Sunday, May 27th, Race Day! I asked Jackie if she wouldn’t mind if we stayed home today so I could watch the two big races of the summer, the Indy 500 open wheel race and the Coca Cola 600 NASCAR race from Charlotte. She had no problems with the plan and had lots of stuff on the DVR to watch for the afternoon. Fortunately, we are in a big city, so we have good TV reception as well as cable at the RV park. This means that I can watch what I want back in the “man cave” while Jackie has control of the satellite and DVR in the front. I spent the morning watching Indy and then the late afternoon watching NASCAR. I like auto racing, but don’t often take the time to watch the races because we are doing other things, like caching. Both races were good and I enjoyed the day. Jackie got in a lot of Lifetime Movies and other shows that she likes. We never left the coach the entire day.
Monday, May 28th, Memorial Day. Memorial Day was originally called “Decoration Day” and had it’s beginnings shortly after the Civil War. It was to be a day of remembrance for those who perished in the way and was celebrated by decorating the graves of the fallen with flowers and flags. By the 20th century it was an official holiday and was traditionally celebrated on May 30th. In 1967 Congress passed the law which moved four holidays, including Decoration Day, to Mondays, thus allowing for three day weekends. The same law officially changed the name of the May holiday to Memorial Day.
My primary point in discussing the history of Memorial Day is to emphasize that the day is intended to honor those who lost their lives defending this country. While I appreciate the thought and the support, most everything I saw on television today gave the impression that it was a holiday for all service members. We already have a day for remembering those who served, Veterans Day. Let’s try to remember what Memorial Day really means, that Freedom isn’t Free, it has been purchased with the most precious currency there is, the lives of the men and women who have died defending it.
After watching some of the Memorial Day tributes on TV, we left the coach about 10:30 to do some caching. Today was forecast to be in the low 90's, and we wanted to get an early start. Because there happened to be a series of caches set out along a dead end road not far from the RV park, we were able to capture fourteen new finds in about 90 minutes. We also met another geocaching couple on the same route just as we were finishing up. Although there are hundreds of thousands of cachers, it is still pretty rare to actually run into other cachers out in the field. Right next to one cache we found there was a Cholla cactus that was shaped just like a large cross. Very fitting for Memorial Day. After caching we grabbed some lunch at a little bar and grill called Montgomery’s, located in the community of Vail. Vail is about five miles southeast of the Tucson city limits and appears to be an small, unincorporated bedroom community. There was a fairly new strip mall on the main road and Montgomery’s was in it. We decided to stop there rather than drive all the way back into Tucson, and we were not disappointed. It was a very nicely appointed bar and restaurant with a very friendly staff. We were there late for lunch, close to 1:00, but there were still a dozen people in the place. I had one of the specials, which was a prime rib dip and I have to say it was one of the best beef dip sandwiches I have had. Jackie had a Reuben, and she said it was very good as well. The prices were reasonable, the service good and the food excellent. It’s a little off the beaten path for visitors to Tucson, about a mile north of I-10 on Vail road, so you would have to be going there on purpose to find it. Unless, of course, you are geocaching in the area as we were. We were very happy with the place. After lunch we drove to Walmart for some supplies and then went back to the coach for the rest of the day.
Tuesday, May 29th, we left the coach after lunch and drove about ten miles north of the RV park to Sahuaro National Park. The park is actually divided into two sections, called districts, one west of Tucson and the other, the one we went to, to the east of Tucson. The total area for both districts is just over 91 thousand acres. There are visitor centers in each of the two districts. The primary purpose of the Park is to conserve and protect a representative section of Sonoran Desert. Saguaro National Monument was created on March 1, 1933 and on October 14, 1994, Congress elevated it’s status to National Park.
Our first stop was the visitor’s center, which was undergoing remodeling. Just outside the building, in the shade at the rear, was a family of javelina. There were five adults, two juveniles, which the ranger said were a year old, and two piglets which were only a few weeks old. All sleeping right up under the big picture windows that look out the back of the building. I lived in Arizona most of my life and spent a lot of time in the desert and have only seen javelina once before out in the wild.
After checking out the visitor’s center, and getting our National Parks Passport stamped, we took the scenic loop road through part of the park. The loop road is about 8 miles long and you can cruise very slowly so as to get a good look at all the different types of cactus and plants along the route. It took us about an hour to do the entire road. We saw some very interesting looking cactus. No other wildlife though, probably because it was close to 100 degrees and full sun. Most everything was hunkered down in the shade for the afternoon.After our visit to the National Park we did a few geocaches, mostly because we had to have at least one on this date for our days of the year caching project. We actually ended up finding five new caches, including one virtual cache inside the Park. One of the other caches was a tribute to a Tucson police officer who was killed in the line of duty about eight years ago. After caching we drove back to the RV park and relaxed the rest of the afternoon and evening.
Wednesday, May 30, we packed up the coach, rolled in the walls and headed back out on the open road, this time going to Deming, New Mexico, about 200 miles east on I-10. We left early, about 9:00, because we wanted to get on the road before the heat of the afternoon hit. In addition, once we cross out of Arizona we go into Mountain Daylight Time and we lose an hour. Arizona doesn’t do daylight savings time, so in the summer it has the same time as California.
We had a fairly uneventful drive and got into Deming, New Mexico to the Low-Hi RV Ranch about 3:30 local time. It is in the mid 90's and very windy and we can see the smoke from one of the big wildfires in New Mexico blowing across the sky to the north of us. Hopefully, the wind won’t shift and bring the smoke to us. We got settled into the park for a three day stay and just stayed in the rest of the day.
Our departure from Arizona after nearly two weeks is a perfect point to close this chapter of the blog and get it published. We are only in New Mexico for these three nights and then we go into Texas for nearly a month at a couple different places. Until the next time, remember that you only get to go around once in this life, so enjoy the ride! See ya soon.
