Our last day

Well, we've come to our last day. We've seen a lot, driven a lot and enjoyed a lot. Not much else to do so we decided to visit an rebuilt gold mine town. In the hey day the town was a thriving community with 3 saloons, a meat market, general store, blacksmith shop and school house.

The original town burned down except for 2 buildings. It has been rebuilt very close to the original.
It was very well done ghost town.

We took a tour of the gold mine. Miners had a very tough life. Working under ground with only a few candles to light the tunnel. And most of them died either from an accident in the mine or a slow agonizing death from lung disease because of the dust.

Maryann even got a couple of ideas for some income during retirement.

















We dropped into the saloon for a beer and snack then back to the pool to relax for our final day in Arizona and enjoy a beautiful southern sunset.

Back home to start planning out next vacation to Newfoundland to visit my son and daughter-in-law this summer.
TTFN

Life on a dude ranch

We went to the saloon in the morning looking for breakfast. But the nice young lady that met us, informed us that breakfast would be served down the hill by the chuck wagon. Another pleasant surprise. 

So we wandered down the hill and were met by Arizona Bill, a trail worn old cowboy, but cordial as the day is long. 

He poured us a coffee from the pot on the fire. We heard him tell everyone the same thing "If you find anything at the bottom of your cup it's probbly coffee grounds cause the ants ain't too active this time of the morning" I'll bet he's said that a thousand times. LOL

Bill and his assistant served up a delicious hot breakfast of beans, bacon, link sausage, scrambled eggs and chorizo eggs and hash browns. As Bill reminded everyone "If you go away hungry it's your own fault". Little Red Dog was quite satisfied with his breakfast.

They had some real nice stock here. If we had planned better we would have stayed longer and participated in some of the activities. 

But we had a reservation at the Kartchner Caverns, so we had to pack up and mossy on down the trail.

Inside the Kartchner Caverns are 3.8 km of passages. Much work has been done to make the caverns accessible to all. There is a cement pathway throughout the caverns. Our tour guide pointed out many fascinating features of the caves. They are very sensitive about introducing foreign substance into the cave, so visitors are not allowed to bring anything into the cave. No backpacks, purses, cell phone, cameras etc. Even a small amount of lint can cause problems in the caves. Guests are gently misted with water as they enter to try and reduce dust and lint. So unfortunately, I do not have any pictures to share.

Maryann was bitten by a radioactive bat. Fortunately, they had an antidote at the reception desk so everything is back to normal.

The two guys that discovered the caves in 1974 had to crawl through a tunnel about 2' x 18" and over 200 ft long to reach what they call "The Big Room" There is a short movie about the discovery. 

Check out the caves here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISewwO38xs0 

The formations were truly amazing.

I'm ready if they need me to help build more ramps

OK. It's screaming hot here today. Time to head back to the resort for some pool time.

Shoot out at OK Corral

Well, we are off to Tombstone.
On the way we drove through Saguaro National Park, 92,000 acres that preserve the fauna and flora, including the giant saguaro cactus, of the Sonoran desert. The winding paved 8 miles had lots to see.
There are many trails, but Maryann's knee is still quite sore so we only did a  couple of very short hikes.

 Little Red Dog was enthralled with the size of these giant saguaro cactus.

Next stop, Tombstone. Everyone has heard of the shootout at OK Corral. It happened in Tombstone. Tombstone is a total tourist town full of pretend cowboys.

Ed Shieffelin was a scout with the U.S. Army who liked to search the wilderness for valuable ore samples. When a friend learned what he was up to he said "The only stone you'll find out there is your tombstone" When he discovered a silver vein, he staked a claim and named it "Tombstone". The town grew around his claim. Tombstone was a rough tough own frequented by outlaws looking ot make a quick buck. Probably most famous for the shootout in which lawmen Virgil, Mogan & Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday killed Tom McLaury, Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton.

The main street is closed to traffic. The only vehicles allowed are the stagecoaches that are used for historical tours of the town. We did not take the stagecoach tour although Little Red Dog really wanted to.

There are at least 4 shoot out shows with different slants. One is a comedy one but Little Red Dog preferred the one in the theatre that was 4 vignettes of 4 different shoot outs that supposedly happened in Tombstome. I think the actors took a certain amount of artistic licence.

We preferred the outdoor show in the "OK Corral". Little Red Dog was less impressed.

Maryann got to go for a gallop around the OK Corral.









We thought that Tombstone was just a tourist trap. I think that we would have enjoyed it more in high season when more people would be there and a little more action. Both shows that we saw only had a few people in the audience. And the streets were almost empty. Main street is lined with souvenir shops and restaurants. There are a couple of saloons that have been in operation since the boom times.

We scored a real find for the a place to stay. Just outside of town is a dude ranch. The accommodations are in buildings that look like old Tombstone.

We stayed in the Wells Fargo suite. They even had live music in the saloon across the street. After a beer and some music we bedded down for the night.

Apache Trail

Today we headed off to the Apache Trail. This was one the primary stagecoach route through the Superstition Mountains. It is a very windy scenic route today.
First stop was Superstition Mountain Museum, a kind of cheesy frontier town amusement park. It was part of Apacheland, an 1,800 acre movie set that opened in 1960.

This set was used for many western movie which were popular in the 60's & 70's. Have Gun Will Travel, Death Valley Days and the Elvis Presley movie Charro were filmed here. The church used in Charro is still on the site.

Very low key but interesting.

Further along the Apache Trail we entered the mountains. Winding roads and magnificent views. I did not realize that Arizona had so many mountains. We took lots of pictures but how many pictures of mountains do you need. Every turn in the road has another wonderful view.

We soon arrived in Tortilla Flats, a stagecoach stop along the Apache Trail. It is considered the smallest community in Arizona with a population of 6. There is a restaurant/saloon, general store post office and voters precinct. 

Not much else to report about this drive except the cool winding roads. You can see the road doubling back in the center of the picture. Little Red Dog was a brave little dog and thoroughly enjoyed the twists and turns of the road.

We found a nice lake for our picnic lunch. Then continued on and back home. The weather is holding out for us. Very nice and sunny.

Back at the condo for swim, hot tub and bed. Tomorrow we head for Tombstone.

Up, up in the air

Monday Apr 23
Up at 4:00 am for a 45 minutes drive to the airport to meet our hot air balloon crew. Yes, we're going for a balloon ride.
Weird thing happened. When we pulled into the parking lot there was 1 other car there. We pulled up beside them and asked if they were going ballooning. They said "Yes". They said that this was their 3rd attempt. The other 2 times they were cancelled because of high winds. A few minutes later I heard the lady talking on the phone. Then suddenly they took off at top speed. Left the airport. We never saw them again. All the other people arrived but the couple didn't come back. Very strange.
Anyway, we loaded into a van with 10 other people and headed to the launch site. Little Red Dog was quite intrigued

by the inflation process.

And we have lift off. A beautiful feeling.











We floated over houses and desert. We even saw a jackrabbit running through the desert. It was so quiet and peaceful up there. We move with the wind so there is no wind sound. The only noise is the people in the basket talking and the sound of the burner heating up the air in the balloon. Little Red Dog really enjoyed the view, but got a little antsy when he saw the rabbit.

Pilot Craig was a great host.

We had a safe but bumpy landing. We bounce about 4 times before finally landing. On the first bounce Maryann wrenched her knee. Just when her right ankle was recovering from the stumble earlier this week, she hurt her left knee.
The crew was excellent! First thing we did was grab a champagne flute and toast the successful flight. The crew had breakfast of quiche, English muffins & fruit set up in record time.
At breakfast we met a young couple from Toronto who just got engaged. They came to Arizona to celebrate.

We were shuttled back to the airport then headed to Taliesin - Frank Lloyd Wrights architect school. We had made reservations so were guaranteed a tour this time. Taliesin means bright brow. FLW believed that you should not build on top of a hill, but in the brow of the hill so you blend in with nature.

It was quite an interesting tour. Frank Lloyd had some very interesting ideas about architecture. He used a lot of triangles and natural materials like rocks.
Not to stand still we next went to Desert Botanical Garden. Some types of cactus are an endangered species so they promote conservation. The botanical gardens have all kinds of weird and wonderful desert plants.

That saguaro cactus can grow to 60 feet tall and weight up to 4000 lbs.
Life span can be up to 200 years.
There is also a cool butterfly house here.
It was very hot. Mid 90's again. There are signs all over the place warning you to stay hydrated.







It's been a long day. Time to head back to the condo and cool off in the pool.

Relaxing around the pool

Sunday Apr 22/18
This is our first full day at the timeshare. After a week of driving, hiking and sightseeing we decided to have a relaxing day around the pool. It's in the mid 90's (34 Celsius) so we slapped on the sunscreen and kicked back.

We did go for a short drive to the plaza for ice cream, but otherwise just relaxed and enjoyed the nice weather.

Hiking and a ballgame

Phoenix - April 21/18
We arrived in Phoenix last night. Maryann's ankle is feeling much better today so we decided to go for a hike on the Lost Dog trail at the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy. We finally have HOT weather. Shorts & t-shirts all day today. The main loop is about 4 miles, but there are a few side loops if you wish to hike further. It was about 30 degrees so we only did the main 4 mile loop.

 As you can see the trail is not well groomed. It is quite rough in places so you had to step carefully. Don't want another turned ankle. From the summit we looked out over the Sonoran Valley. Spectacular view. It also looks over Frank Lloyd Wright's ranch and winter campus he called Taliesin, which means Shining brow in Welsh.
After our hike we went to try and get on a tour of Taliesin but they were booked until late in the day. We could not hang around so we decided to make reservations for later.
We drove into downtown Mesa for a look around. Not much happening, but we stumbled upon an artisans street market so popped in for a look. It was quite under whelming. Didn't take us long to walk though the whole thing.
We headed for the timeshare resort. We were quite early but asked if we could check in because we had tickets to the Arizona Diamonbacks game. They told us our unit wasn't ready but gave us the key for later.
I was going to drive downtown to the stadium but discovered that there is a light rail train that goes right near Chase Field. I found a park and ride lot beside one of the train stops for the princely sum of  FREE. How civilized is that. Free parking for commuters to encourage them to take public transit.
AND the train cost $4.00 for a ride all day pass. Amazing!! Better than driving through unfamiliar street to try and find parking that would cost probably $20.00.
We met a nice man on the train who chatted with us about Phoenix and things to do. Very friendly.

We arrived in time to get an Archie Bradley bobblehead. Apparently they are not as nutso down here about bobbleheads. To get one in Toronto you have to line up about 4 hours before game time. We were there an hour before and there was not line up at all to get into the stadium. And still lots of bobblehead to be had.

Little Red Dog quite enjoyed the game. However we were sitting the chubby bubby section. The lady beside Maryann, the guy beside me, 3 of the 4 people in front of us and two guys behind us were at least triple XL. We felt kind of closed in.
Diamondbacks beat the San Diego Padres 6-4 so a good night for the home crowd.




Back to the condo for a good night sleep.

Rocks and hairpin turns

April 20/18   (Happy 4-20 Day)
Still cold, about 8 degrees C, as we head out to explore Prescott.
Prescott was once a very rough town and original capital of the Arizona territory and it home to the World's Oldest Rodeo. A lot of outlaws hung around here. It is famous for Whiskey Row which houses saloons once patronized by legends like Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday (the gunfighter not the pitcher). There were several gunfights on Whiskey Row back in the day.

On the way out of town towards Jerome we discovered cool rocky hills. There are hiking paths all through them. The weather has warmed up considerably so we went for a walk. Can't you just see outlaws hanging around out here?

The road into into Jerome. Ya, I know. We were here a few days ago. But we did not know about this awesome road. Hills, trees, hairpins turns and lots to look at. Totally different from the drive out of Winslow. The proprietor of the Red Garter Inn told us that if we had time this is well worth the drive. We had the time and she was not wrong. Ten miles took us about half an hour because of the curves.

The road into Jerome

After a hearty lunch at the Mile High Saloon in Jerome we headed back towards Phoenix. The temperature is finally warm enough that we wore shorts and t-shirts to walk to dinner.

Standing on the Corner

After spending a pleasant night at The Red Garter, a former bordello ( no ladies of the evening in sight, thank goodness) we had a wonderful breakfast in the former saloon. We discovered that there was going to be a shoot out down by the train station, so decided to check it out.

Little Red Dog was a bit nervous with all the cowboys around. But it turns out that they were just looking for breakfast and Mama was in jail. And they had no money to buy breakfast, so they decided to rob the train. Fortunately, the sheriff arrived in time and all ended ok. Well, not for the outlaws. Sheriff shot them all. And Little Red Dog escaped unharmed.

Turns out they were pretty friendly after all.

Unscathed from the gun fight we headed over to Winslow to stand on the corner for a bit. For all the pomp and publicity, Winslow doesn't have much to offer except the "Standing on the Corner" park. Hardly anyone on the streets except tourist coming to "stand on the corner" Very few locals.

Oh, ya. Remember Mary Colter from the Grand Canyon? She designed a beautiful hotel in Winslow. It ran into disrepair but is now being restored. We popped in for a look.It was pretty amazing. Nothing else to see here so we hit the road again. The road out of Winslow towards Prescott has to be one of the most boring drives I've ever taken. Even worse than across the Canadian prairies. Straight road through desert with nothing but sand and cacti (cactuses??)  and the odd shrub. For many miles. Until we finally reached Verde Valley, where there were some curves, hills and trees. We stopped at a sketchy looking restaurant out in the middle of nowhere for lunch. Service was friendly and the food quite good.

On the way to Prescott we dropped in to see Montezuma Castle. It's a bit of a misnomer.  Montezuma had nothing to do with this site and it is not a castle. It's a dwelling built and used by Sinagua people between 1100 and 1425 AD. It is like a pre-historic high rise apartment complex.
Another old pile of rocks used by ancient people.




Off to Prescott, a renowned western town frequented by some really bad dudes.