The Wheels Found 80!

     I really do hate to do this, especially with numerous friends and family still battling old man winter, but the plan formulated a few weeks ago to head west for warmer weather is paying off.  We departed Las Cruces heading west without any camping reservations, but Debbie was able to work her magic and we found a 10 day stay in Mesa, Az at the Sun Life RV Resort.  Best of all, she was able to secure 7 days through Passport America at the amazing rate of $25/day! I'm saying this again...you have to sign up with Passport America if you are going to be traveling as we are.  It costs $40/ year and you can see that I got my money back in 2 nights here at Sun Life.

     As we crossed from New Mexico into Arizona on I-10 we came upon massive granite boulders which appear to have just been thrown down for no apparent reason. Retha and Randy had warned us of this place, so we pulled into the rest area for lunch and just a little investigation.  Cochise was said to have had his winter stronghold here, and it appears to be quite defensible.  The Butterfield Stage Route ran through Texas Canyon on its route between Benson after leaving Apache Springs up until the start of the Civil War.  When the army moved out to fight the war, protection from the Apache's also left, and the stage route was abandoned.
     Yesterday we ventured out to do a little moseying as Debbie like to call it.  We headed out of Mesa toward Superstition Mountain, the area known for the infamous Lost Dutchman Mine.  Our first stop on the "Apache Trail" was a stagecoach stop called Tortilla Flat, pop. 6!

     In its heyday, according to the Tortilla Flat Telegraph, the settlement had a school, church, small zoo, livery stable, general store, saloon, cafe, cabins/motel, and a U.S. Post Office.  We stopped for lunch and I enjoyed a "spicy" bowl of chili.  Thankfully, it included a soft tortilla and I was able to soak up much of the hot spices that attacked me!  Debbie just sat there smiling, as she worked on a nice looking salad.  The unique characteristic of the bar area, and surely a great tourist attraction, are the saddles used for seating at the bar.  They actually looked pretty comfortable, and I'm sure the "city-slickers" visiting for the day, feel like real buckaroos and buckarettes sitting there enjoying a cold beer or sarsaparilla.

 

The walls are covered with $ bills which makes it a little unique, although we've seen it down in Key West also.  I guess it beats painting!
     We continued out of Tortilla Flats on the Apache Trail, and soon found ourselves running out of paved road.  But the desert flora encouraged us to continue on, and we were amply rewarded with wonderful scenic vistas.  The Goldfield Mountains, Canyon Lake, Apache Lake, and the Four Peaks Wilderness Area, provided a magnificent backdrop as we ventured through.

 As Teddy Roosevelt described it:  " The Apache Trail combines the grandeur of the Alps, the glory of the Rockies, and the magnificence of the Grand Canyon, and then adds an undefinable something that none of the others have.  To me, it is the most awe inspiring and most sublimely beautiful nature has ever created."  
     We met very little traffic as we worked our way through.  This could have been a good thing, since much of the road was single lane, with multiple single lane bridges over the gulches.  The GoPro captured a lot of the roadway, but really didn't capture the scenery as we had hoped.
     It is 42 miles from Apache Junction to the Roosevelt Dam, which was built to help control flooding waters of the Salt River.

 Amazingly, the lake created by the dam was named Theodore Roosevelt Lake.    Below the dam, we could see massive carp in the river who seemed to be enjoying the warm sunshine.  They are probably just a nuisance fish, but we could see them from a long distance away.

     We have found with moseying, sometimes we stumble onto areas which time prevents us from properly visiting.  Down the road from the lake we came upon the Tonto National Monument.  There we found the cave dwellings of the Salado people that are nearly 700 years old.

They had remained isolated by rugged terrain, and were not well known until the 1870's.  Construction began on the dam in 1906 and vandals soon ravaged the dwellings.  The following year, Teddy Roosevelt set aside the area as a national monument.  It is only about a half mile up to the dwellings, and something that needs to be explored again.  
     So all of this was accomplished in 1 day of moseying.  No one said this was going to be easy.     I've included lots of pictures, because the area is truly amazing.  The temperature is very moderate in the winter, and we seem to enjoy the dry heat more than the humidity.  Today is a rest and clean up day....probably work our way to the pool and think of our friends up north.  Come on down....Arizona seems to be waiting for you!  Oh yea, temps are well into the 80's next week!