There's a tiny visitor waiting for me on the deck when I wake up
We have a quick breakfast with homegrown fruit, then head out towards Tortilla Flat. Our first stop is an unplanned one that we happened to see at the side of the road. Apache Land is an old, western movie set that once hosted famous actors like (ex-President) Ronald Reagan, John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and Elvis Presley. Here is the actual Apache Land barn
The Elvis Presley Memorial Chapel.
Those are the only two authentic buildings left. The others were destroyed in a fire, but they have very nice replicas
Hey! Don't leave me here!
Now a picture for my dad: an old fashioned washer
The whole place was filled with cute signs like this one
Our next stop is another ghost town. Goldfield is the complete opposite of Rhyolite - the ghost town we visited on our first day here. Where in Rhyolite all the buildings are authentic and in state of decay, in Goldfield the buildings are well-preserved, but not originally built there, or even fake.
Overview of the town
There is a lot to see and do in Goldfield and you can easily spend hours wandering around. They offer mine tours, horseback rides, a restaurant, photo sessions, and even a couple of small museums. We decided to check out the reptile exhibit. Neither of us is really into reptiles, but the one room museum is well worth the $3 admission fee. My favorite snake was the Sonoran sidewinder rattlesnake.
It played hide-and-seek with me from behind his glass window. He wouldn't sit still for his picture so his head is a bit blurry.
My second favorite was the brown vine snake. His little body is only as thick as a pinky finger! He sat perfectly still for his picture, or maybe he was asleep ... we learned that snake eyes are nothing like our own. They have a clear skin cover that protects their eyes and they cannot close them. Snakes sleep with their eyes open.
After picking up some goodies in the village gift store we continue on our way to Tortilla Flat. The road is starting to vaguely resemble historic 66 once again, but luckily there aren't as many cliffs, or 180 degree turns this time. We pass by tranquil Canyon Lake.
Like Lake Mead, Canyon Lake developed after the completion of a dam.
We also pass Lost Dutchman State Park, but decide to save it for the way back. To our surprise we see a sign welcoming us to Tonto National Forest shortly thereafter. We had no idea we were so close to the park! We stop for a short hike into the desert by the Weaver’s Needle outlook.
It is unbelievably crowded when we reach the small village of Tortilla Flat. It is home to only 6 permanent residents, but there are easily 200-300 tourists crowding the small strip that houses the restaurant, the ice cream parlor, the gift shop, and the museum.
We park on the hill and get another glimpse of the flooding caused by all the rain that’s fallen in the last few days. A large section of the road actually got washed away. There is a sign warning people not to drive through the water, but of course nobody pays any attention to it.
Tortilla Flat is probably one of the quirkiest towns you will ever see. This is me at the bar of the infamous Superstition Saloon.
Check out the funky bar stools! Also, note how everything is covered with dollar bills. It is custom for visitors to leave a dollar bill with their name on it to place on the wall. It’s estimated the walls are now covered with more than $100,000. Of course we left one too!
The bathrooms are quite an experience also.
Lunch was excellent and we followed it up with a stop to the ice cream parlor where I tried their famous prickly pear ice cream. Very tasty!
Even the mailbox is a little unusual
Just a random scenery picture I took while we were there.
Another view of Canyon Lake on our way back.
Time to go see Lost Dutchman! As a Dutchie, visiting anything with Dutch in the name is a must, although of course the lost Dutchman was really a German.
Background information: There are several stories circulating about the legend of the lost Dutchman mine. One speculates that the mine was initially found by the suitor of a young woman, after her father sent him scrambling up the hills when he found the two of them together. When he learned of the hidden gold mine his anger turned to joy. They made several trips bringing back large amounts of gold with them, but the journey was perilous and not many who left for the mine lived to tell the tale. Sometime later a German pioneer came upon three naive Mexican who showed him the mine. He repaid them for their generosity by killing them all and keeping the location of the mine a secret. Many people have since tried to find the location of the mine ... without any luck of course!
The trails are marked with small rocks on each side
We spent a long time watching the birds at their feeding station. We saw desert quail, Gila woodpeckers, and many other birds. We also saw this adorable ground squirrel.
I thought it would be fun for you all to see the inside structure of one of the Saguaros. I’m not sure what happened to it.
Even a cactus needs a little lovin’!
Initially we’d planned to pay a visit to the Arizona state capitol building and St Mary’s basilica, but we spent so much time at all our stops that it would be dark by the time we got back to the city and so we decided to spend some more time at the park. The saguaros against the setting sun are really cool.
Superstition Mountain basking in the evening light
We had planned to do a short hike in Lost Dutchman, but we chanced upon a gate that led to Tonto instead. The parks are really very similar so we decided to just follow that trail.
A view of the another mountain range in the distance
Lost Dutchman is sadly one of 13(?) Arizona state parks set to close within the next couple of years due to budget constraints. There is some talk of annexing it with nearby Apache Junction, but the ranger was unable to tell us if they’d be able to realize this in time. :-(
On the way back to the city we stop by the airport to trade JC for another rental car. It was cheaper to rent two different cars than to keep the same car, but in hindsight it was probably not worth the hassle. In the end we put 983 miles on the car in 6 days. Not bad!
Bye JC!
Back at the bed & breakfast there is one thing left for me to do; try the saline pool. Supposedly it does not burn your eyes and you’re slightly more buoyant than in a chlorine pool. I say supposedly, because it was so incredibly cold that I immediately bolted out of the water ... all I remember is how cold it was. Brrr!
Mileage for today: 124 miles
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1 comments:
Wish we where there with you.
It's snowing again in Holland and very cold.
Have you ever been on a trip with such a variety of landscape? I would like to see it myself once.
But through the pictures we feel as if we are a bit part of it.
Kisses,
Joeve
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