Onward!!!!!!!!!!

We broke camp at North Ranch yesterday, Monday, and drove through Phoenix to get to Mesa and Valle del Oro. Actually, Terry came up with a pretty good route around the worst parts of Phoenix and we didn't hit a lot of traffic until we got on 60. That traffic was probably due to some lane closures, but we arrived easily enough. We have a nice site, not terribly large, but we are backed up against the outside 5' concrete wall, so it is quite private and great for the dogs.

We didn't do much yesterday after we set up except to enjoy the warm weather. It got up to about 83° which was just wonderful. We sat out and enjoyed the sunshine and made friends with the neighbor. This is an extremely large park with over 1700 sites, but as with a lot of parks out here, it is fast becoming a park model park. I wonder if eventually there will be no place to park our RV's. . .?

Today we went out east to the Apache Trail. We stopped at the Superstition Mountain Museum and then toured the few buildings that are left from "Apache Land." It was a movie set where a lot of westerns were shot and a few movies, including, "Charro" with Elvis. Years ago the movie set burned and the owners rebuilt it. Then in 2004 it burned again, restaurant to blame, and the owners said they were not going to rebuild it. Two buildings survived and were moved to the museum site. The two buildings were the barn from "The Rifleman" and the chapel from "Charro." The museum is quite interesting, telling the manner in which the mountains were formed and a bit about the history of gold mining in the area.

We left the museum and continued on the Apache Trail to Tortilla Flats. This is just a restaurant/shop and the last stop probably on the way to Roosevelt Lake. Shortly after you get to Tortilla Flats, the road turns to gravel and goes 30+ miles. We stopped at the restaurant and had supper. Nothing extraordinary. Was expecting really great food and it was just mediocre. Interesting atmosphere, however.

The drive there and back, however, is nothing short of spectacular. It is the typical mountain road, with dozens of switchbacks and cliffs and nail-biting turns--about 17 miles of this. We did come upon Canyon Lake, a lake up in the mountains. There are about 3 lakes on this particular stretch. The lake was just gorgeous and certainly not overused. There are 2 campgrounds up in the mountains, but Terry says Phaeton Place will not be making the journey up there. I don't believe it would be a difficult trip, but at 40', it would be a little challenging at times.

While we have been driving in desert and mountains, every area is completely different, with different rocks, strata, vegetation, etc. I never get tired of looking at beautiful scenery. I will be added pictures later. I have to charge the camera back up first.

Till next time. . .

Dale