A Little Taste of Arizona (02-28-14)

When my brother Ray and sister-in-law Dawn arrived from Boston, they wasted no time shedding their heavy winter clothing and donning their summer attire.  And they were soon sipping on summer-time adult beverages.

Our week was pretty much divided into two themes- Fun in the RV Park, and Day Trips.

RV Park Fun

It would be hard to get bored at this place- there are so many activities, you could be busy all day, every day.

With great weather, we spent a fair amount of time outside enjoying the sunshine.  We tested out the bocce ball court and even played a game of Pickle Ball.  Ok, well, we didn't really play a game, we just tried to hit the ball back and forth to each other.  It was still a great work out!

When it was time for some relaxing, we played Rummikub or headed poolside for the live music every afternoon at Happy Hour.












There’s just something about the scooter that attracts guys.  Ray found many opportunities to go for a spin.

Day Trips

  Our first venture out was to hike the Blevins Trail. This is a 4 mile hike without too much elevation gain, so those in our group who have been housebound by sub freezing temperatures and constant snow storms weren't overwhelmed.  The trail was a great one for showing off the Sonoran Desert.

Although Sedona is 2 hours away, we decided it was worth the drive and hit the road early in the morning. On the way we stopped briefly at Montezuma’s Castle. There are actually numerous dwellings here that were occupied from about 1100 to 1400 A.D.

Although the structure itself is impressive, they don’t allow tours anymore so this is as close as we could get.  A little disappointing.

Sedona itself is beautiful, of course, and the weather was perfect for checking out all the rock formations. We checked out a few stores too, but sticker shock sent us out the door pretty quickly. After a great lunch and a few hours of looking at rocks with names like Coffeepot, Bell Rock, and Cathedral Rock, we started the trek home.

Having spent the previous day driving all day, the shorter trip down the Apache Trail was next on our agenda. Completely different, looks wise,from Sedona, the view from the Apache Trail is just as impressive in its own way.

   

Apache Trail is a mostly dirt road that meanders through the Tonto National Forest.  You can see the road in the picture above.  If it looks as though the road is cut into the side of a mountain, that would be an accurate assessment.

The trip all the way around is a very long one, and one that requires nerves of steel.  We elected to go only as far as Tortilla Flat, an old stagecoach stop that now houses a saloon, a small museum, and of course, a store. Soon thereafter we turned around and headed back to town.

Friday night, their last night here, was dance night at the RV Park.  Every Friday night they have a live band.  I like these dances because they start at 7 pm and end at 10- a reasonable time for us old folks. This particular week the music was mostly country, with some rock and roll. We all spent a lot of time on the dance floor.

Before we knew it, it was time for Ray and Dawn to head back to the cold.  Actually, they got out in the nick of time.



  The day they left we had torrential downpours all day long, causing such flooding that the water went up over the hoods of cars. The next day it was confirmed that a small tornado formed down the street from where we are staying.

Apache Junction, AZ (2-7-12)

  The last week has been busy. I got my cast off on Monday-and am now sporting a brace for the next month or so.  The wrist hasn’t fully healed yet, so I can’t use the hand for much for a while.  Paul and I also had our annual physicals Tuesday, so we got that out of the way.

   I said we were going to try and find Table Mesa trail again before leaving Lake Pleasant, and I am happy to say we were successful on our second attempt.  A lot of the trail was along an old road, but once we started gaining elevation, the views of Lake Pleasant were awesome.

 

At the top of this mesa were the ruins of some Indian dwellings. You can see what’s left of one of the walls in this picture.  Unfortunately for me, the last 10 feet were a killer, so this is as close as I got.  I’m not up for rock scrambling yet.  We didn’t see anyone else on the 6.5 mile trail- I don’t think many people hike this one. It was nice to have the solitude especially since our next hike was on one of the most crowded trails we’ve been on!

We hiked with Elaine and Robert (and about 200 other people) on the Wind Cave trail.  It was a 6 mile hike with a fair amount of elevation gain. Elaine had hurt her ankle, so we decided we would both have a good excuse if we didn’t make it all the way up, but we had no problems and enjoyed our lunch once we made it to the top.

I often debate with myself how much information to put in the blog about the trails we hike.  Sometimes I want to put information/data in so I will be reminded later how difficult or long a trail was and how much elevation gain it had.  I don’t track the information anywhere else, but the other day Paul was buying new hiking boots and we were saying that we had no idea how many miles I have hiked in my boots, so we’ve decided to keep a spreadsheet of our hikes with all the pertinent details.  Don’t worry, I won’t post the spreadsheet here!

Between Elaine and Robert and Paul and I, we have spent time in quite a few different Phoenix area RV parks in the last week or so.  The other day they finally caught up to us at Lost Dutchman State Park.  There are a lot of programs and activities here, and the other night we all attended the Moonlight and Music program.

Yesterday was adventure day- we set out early and followed the Apache Trail. The trail follows an ancient Indian migration route through the Superstition Mountains, and most of it is a twisty, windy, very narrow dirt road. It’s an all day adventure because there are so many things to stop and see along the way. 

Our first stop was at the bar in Tortilla Flats, (population: 6).  Since it was our first stop of the day, we opted for coffee instead of an “adult beverage”.  The seats at the bar are saddles, and the walls are papered with one dollar bills, most of which contain a message written by the donator.

 

There were numerous places to pull off the road to enjoy the views, and more campgrounds along the way than we expected to see.  There are also 3 lakes- this one is Apache Lake.

 

Roosevelt Lake is the largest lake along the trail, and the road we were on was originally built to bring in supplies to build the Roosevelt Dam.

After passing the dam, we soon came upon the Tonto National Monument, which consists of the remains of some ancient cliff dwellings.  They were inhabited by the Salado Indians from about 1050 to 1450 A.D.  It’s always amazing to me that these ruins still exist today, and even more surprising that we are allowed to walk through them.


Our final stop of the day was at a Mexican restaurant for dinner. None of us felt like going home to cook, so we enjoyed this particular stop a lot.  Plus the food and company were great!  Elaine and Robert have left today for their next stop, which is Picacho Peak, one of my favorite hikes.  We plan on meeting up with them again in a few weeks as we all make our way towards California.