Phoenix, Arizona – Big Trip 2019

Wednesday 17 July – Sunny and 42 Celsius. We left about 8:15 in the morning for Phoenix, Arizona. We stayed at Apache Palms RV Park at site 47 in Tempe Arizona. It was $50 a night and a pretty nice park. It was right in the middle of Tempe, Arizona. I have an Uncle and two cousins in Phoenix so we are going to get together with them.  I haven’t seen my two cousins for about 25 years.  I did see my Uncle a few years ago when he came to Canada for a visit.

After we set up, we left and stopped at Goldwater brewery in Scottsdale. The ambience was so-so and the beer was so-so. Clint wanted to try beer they had stored downstairs and only brought out on Fridays.  Well, now that’s odd.  A Fridays only kinda beer.

We met up with my cousin and his wife and daughter.  We met at Streets of New York Pizza place, nice dinner and nice visit.  Clint and Steve (my cousin)  talked about guns and gun ranges and Steve said if we wanted he would take us to the range tomorrow.  This should be interesting.

Thursday 18 July –  Sunny and 42 Celsius. We got up early so that we could drive the Apache Trail through the mountains.   The Apache Trail used to be a stagecoach trail that ran through the Superstition Mountains.

It was a really nice drive, lots of mountains and narrow, winding roads, lots of gravel rock and brush. We stopped at Canyon Lake to have a look and we stopped at a lot of little pull offs.

We also stopped at Tortilla Flats!   This place was pretty neat.   They have several old  buildings, all in a row which includes  a store, saloon, ice cream shop, small school, museum and other buildings.  We walked up and down the street, didn’t take long! and then went into the Superstition Restaurant and Saloon.  It was a very cool saloon and we sat on a horse saddles, which were the bar stools. We had a glass of beer, soup of the day as well as some deep-fried mac & cheese bites…….which were not very good.

All the walls and ceilings were plastered with dollar bills and some other denominations. The guy told us there’s approximately $350,000 plastered on the walls and ceilings.  After he told us that I only had one question…………Why?

The washrooms are super cute with little designs painted on the doors and walls. They have a jukebox and lots of photos on the walls. It’s a very cool place and it was quite something to see so I’m glad we stopped.  Also good thing no one else was around as we were back and forth into the Women’s and Men’s washrooms taking photos!

When we finished looking through all the buildings, we left.  We couldn’t go any further than Tortilla Flats because the road was shut down due to fire so we turned back. We had wanted to do a loop but it wasn’t possible.  I found out later that this was the fifth largest wildfire in the State’s history.

Some photos of our drive on the Apache Trail.

On the way back, we stopped at the Superstition Mountain Museum, located on Hwy 88 just east of the Apache Junction.   This is a about 15 acres and has several buildings, including an exhibit hall, gift shop, barn, working gold mill, model railroad, Western storefronts and a chapel.  The museum gallery has so many historical artifacts and displays to view.

When we got back, we drove to Scottsdale to see the golf course but it was closed. We called Steve, my cousin, to set up a time for the gun range.  He brought two pistols, an AK-47 and an AR 15. I shot a pistol once and was done. Clint tried them all. I did not enjoy the gun range. The young guy working there told me “you’re Canadian, you have a different culture, that’s why you don’t like it”  I think he is correct!

Friday 19 July – Sunny and 42 Celsius. Went to my Uncle’s house for a visit and we spent most of the day with them.  We ended up driving to the Horny Toad restaurant for lunch. It was a cute spot and the food was good;  we had a nice day with them.

We drove back to the golf course so Clint could see it.

We looked around there for a bit and then we went to a pizza place called, well I can’t remember what it was called.  Stopped at San Tan Brewery for a quick stop and then headed home.

Tomorrow we leave Phoenix and we are off to Palm Springs, California!