I realize we have been out of touch for a while, but we have been busy! How did we ever have time to work! We found a great RV Resort in Gold Canyon AZ called Canyon Vistas. It is about 30 miles east of Phoenix and is situated near the base of the Superstition Mountains. We have a beautiful view of the mountains right out of our front windshield.
When we arrived at this place, we only signed up to stay for one week as we had never been to this area before and we were not sure if we would like it. After just a few days, however, we liked it so much that we decided to stay for 2 months! The thing we like the most is that everyone was so friendly. Canyon Vistas was also offering a special rate of $795.00 for October through January 2nd and they even included free tickets for their Thanksgiving Day dinner, Christmas Eve dinner and New Year’s Eve Party.(Over $100.00 if we had to purchase!) It was such a great deal that we could not pass it up! We have never stayed this long in one place before but we decided we would still have January, February and March to explore southern California before the weather got warmer and we could begin our journey up the West coast. The facilities here are great (swimming pool, hot tub, fitness center, tennis and pickleball courts), they offer lots of activities and as I mentioned, the people here are very friendly. I have been going to an exercise class every morning and have tried line dancing and Zumba! Tom joined the local model airplane club and got in some good flying time! He had many successful flights and one minor crash but he had his plane repaired and back in the air the next day! We have both joined their golf leagues and are playing 2-3 times a week.
They have a great bike riding area and Abbey & Jameson even have a nice dog park with real grass! (Not much grass in Arizona!) I even got Tom to try “couples country dance” lessons. We are not ready for Dancing with the Stars but we are getting better with the beginner dances! Tom would have enjoyed it more if the lessons had not been on Sunday afternoons right in the middle of football games!
When we are not involved in the club activities we have taken in some of the local sights. One of our first trips was up into the mountains to a small town named Tortilla Flats. Over 100 years ago Tortilla Flats was a thriving stage coach stop on the Apache Trail. It was almost destroyed by a flood in 1943 and then a fire in 1987. The town survived and today it is a quaint little “Old West” town with real wooden sidewalks, a great little restaurant, a post office, an old schoolhouse museum and an old fashioned ice cream parlor! In the restaurant the walls are covered with dollar bills and the bar seats are saddles! The custom of putting dollars on the walls started years ago when the local ranchers and prospectors would pin their tab and a dollar bill behind the bar. The tradition continues and the walls now contain currency from over 67 countries! It is mostly a tourist attarction but today the official year round population of Tortilla Flats is 6.
We celebrated our first Thanksgiving and Christmas on the road. Canyon Vistas provided a big turkey dinner for all the residents with all the “fixins” on the day before Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving Day, Tom and I headed for the local Golden Coral restaurant for an “All You Can Eat Turkey Buffet” for only $9.96 each! (senior citizen discount!) Good food and lots of it! On Christmas Eve they again provided a great roast beef and stuffed pork chop dinner in the afternoon. Later in the evening we attended a candlelight Christmas Carol Service with around 150 other residents. On Christmas Day Tom & I packed the dogs in the car and headed out for a day trip to Roosevelt Lake and Apache Lake. It was a beautiful drive through the mountains traveling through several old mining towns. We packed a picnic lunch and had a great day!
Before we arrived, we thought Arizona was going to be mostly a desert area with nothing but cactus. This drive along the Apache Trail twists through wild desert areas and then winds its way up and through the mountains hugging the shores of several beautiful lakes. It is a really beautiful area!
There is a local legend about a hidden gold mine somewhere in the Superstition Mountains named the Lost Dutchman Mine. When the Lost Dutchman died, he refused to tell anyone how to find the mine. For years, many have tried to discover its location but no one has found it yet. Last summer three men from Virginia when up into the mountain to look for it and they have not yet been found!
Tomorrow night is New Year’s Eve. We are going to the big party at the Clubhouse and then after a day to rest (and pack) on Saturday we will be on the road again Sunday morning. We have made some great new friends and will definitely be back here again!
Our first stop will be Tucson to visit some friends and see Saguaro National Park and then it will be “California Here We Come” (not right back where we started from!) and year two of our full-time adventure will begin!
A few Arizona Facts..........
Arizona has the largest percentage of land designated as Native American Tribal land in the United States.
Arizona has more golf courses per capita than any state west of the Mississippi River.
On February 14, 1912, Arizona became the last of the contiguous states (that is, not including Hawaii and Alaska) to join the Union.
Arizona has more parks and national monuments than any other state, more mountains than Switzerland, and more golf courses than Scotland.
The world's largest telescope is at the Kitt Peak National Observatory, Arizona.
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