Kastle's Journey: November 2015, Petrified Forest, Globe, Roosevelt Lake, Tonto National Monument, Queen Valley. Lost Dutchman, etc

November 1-2st Petrified Forest

We left Canyon De Chelly after making the drive first thing in the morning of the North Rim. (Pictures on the previous post October 31st). The Hwy 191 remained fairly bumpy until we were out of Navajo land where it settled down and we increased the speed to 62 miles per hour which the coach prefers. We made fairly good time and arrived at the Root 66 RV Park just outside of Holbrook by 1pm. (This place is suggested by Wheelin’ It as it is a Passport America Park.) After minimal set up we drove into Holbrook and had a bite at Rotten Ronnie’s, as we thought we would go see some of the Petrified Forest. After eating we realized we were just too tired, so after filling up with gas we drove back to the campsite as it was already 3pm This way I can get more laundry done and be ready to go first thing tomorrow morning.

Monday morning we were up early in hopes of getting some sunrise shots at the Blue Mesa trail. Unfortunately the park did not open until 8am and sunrise was at 7:30! Oh well we got some wonderful pictures anyways. It was like walking on a different world with all of the colourful hills and petrified wood. The trail is an easy paved one mile loop and Freya got to run as well. Bonus!

The next overlook is at the Jasper Forest. It seemed pretty bland after we saw the Crystal Forest which is next.

The Crystal Forest is a lovely 3/4 mile paved walkway showing great examples of petrified wood/logs. Again, Freya got to accompany us. It's starting to get warm though by the time we finished. The logs look like they've just been cut into pieces. 275 million years ago they died and were buried. The wood combined with quartz and other minerals. Slowly through the last few hundred years they became exposed from water and wind erosion. They are heavy like rocks now, even though it looks like the bark is still on it.

One of the viewpoints is the Agate Bridge, a ancient petrified log tover a wash. People used to stand on it to get their picture taken, but no more to preserve the log.

On the way out of the park we stopped at the Visitor Center and Museum and Ray took the short walk behind the Museum to see the Giant Log. It is over 8 feet at the butt.

November 3rd and 4th - Apache Gold Casino Globe AZ

We moved further down in elevation as the weather was supposed to get colder for a couple of days. The drive down Highway 77 through the Salt River Canyon is spectacular although steep grades. We took the car off and I drove ahead stopping occasionally to snap a picture.

We noticed this 1929 Model A parked in the Casino parking lot.

While in Globe. we visited Besh-Ba-Gowah Ruins. They're the biggest ruins we've seen to date, and very easily accessible to walk around. This site includes three different ruins one on top of each other as one group of people left and the next ones just built on top of the previous village. It was quite large and housed several hundred families. Unfortunately, the pioneers took many of the stones to build their houses in the 1800's.

Peek A Boo! Boy were they small to climb into these small entrances.

View inside one of the rooms that has authentic artifacts.

Ceremonial Room

Examples of beautiful desert gardens.

Trying to grind corn the way the ancient people did. Hard work but the rock method does work pretty good.

Ray’s back is really sore so I found a hot tub which happened to be at the casino. Parking lot camping for $23/night with Good Sam. Finished up the rest of the laundry and Ray managed to get into the tub 4 times. The weather turned a little ugly and provided a rainbow.

November 5-9th, Bachelor Cove Roosevelt Lake

After 2 days of parking lot camping we're more than ready to get to somewhere “out in the woods” to just chill for 5 days. After fueling up, shopping at Walmart and Frys, it's off to Roosevelt Lake. We took a drive out there the day before to check out campsites and see where we wanted to spend some time. We decided to boondock on the lake rather than taking a conventional campsite, of which there are several hundred, all not on the water. Fortunately, the spot picked out remained vacant. This cove is quite small and only 3 other groups of campers we couldn't even see from our spot. Saturday and Sunday brought out a bunch of day people but as soon as 5pm hit every-one left and we had lots of quiet evenings. Freya is having a blast on the soft sand/gravel and going in and out of the lake when she feels like it. We're sure in need of some downtime as we've been on the move for the past month not staying any longer than 3 days and touring while there. Managed to get some baking done for Ray and some bread made as well.

The weather is fantastic between 68 and 70 degrees. We even had a lovely campfire.

Sunset views from the campsite above and below

Tonto National Monument

Nearby is the Tonto National Monument contains two Salado cliff dwellings. Ray took some pictures but it is quite a hike to get up there to actually walk in them so he declined.

View of Roosevelt Lake from Tonto National Monument

The hillsides near us have the most saguaro cacti in one area we've ever seen.

The Theodore Roosevelt Dam is very close to our campsite.

November 9th - Apache Trail

Waking up to another beautiful clear morning we decided that on our last day here at Bachelor’s Cove we would take the 26 mile drive between Roosevelt Lake and Tortilla Flats which is an old stagecoach route. Wow! We thought the 3 mile Moki Dugway was a steep windy road. This gravel road is 22 miles long and at least 15 miles of it is up and down and windy, often 1 lane only traversing through 3 mountain passes. Needless to say we took it quite slow and stopped often for pictures. Ray is now quite adept at jumping out and taking a quick picture as I stop in the middle of the road making sure there is no traffic.

You can see the windy dirt road curl it’s way up the mountain in the distance.

Here is the picture of the Salt River as it flows out of Apache Lake.

Three Mile Wash, a beautiful camping spot for small trailers or tents.

There are signs posted that units over 40 feet could go for 15 miles only. This statement is very true as the road became much more windy and the one lane bridges have corners so tight, there is no way a larger unit could make the turn.

You can see the windy dirt road curl it’s way up the mountain in the distance.

Upper Burnt Corral Campsite. You travel in about 1 mile on a very bumpy wash road but at the end is a spectacular truck, van or tent campsite. 2 people were set up there.

A little further down the road there is a more formal campsite, Burnt Corral, with paved roads, washrooms, picnic tables etc. We didn't take any pictures here. This is the end of the road for larger units to access from Roosevelt. You could not get there from the Tortilla Flat direction.

Getting to the top of the last pass, this picture shows the road looking back. We made it!

This next picture is my favorite of Apache Lake. Absolutely Gorgeous!

One more of Apache Lake

6 miles later we arrived at Tortilla Flats. We had been told that the Saloon/Restaurant served up some good food. The whole place is covered in $1 bills. Ray and I shared a burger which was okay but we also shared their wing shanks, which was barbequed pork country ribs in Pear Cactus BBQ sauce. Yummmm! A few pictures:

And a few last pictures of Apache Pass

November 10th - Queen Valley

We left Roosevelt Lake by 9:30 am, stopped to do some shopping at the Walmart in Globe to wait out the Highway 60 closure until after 10:30, and arrived in Queen Valley shortly after 12 noon. It's great seeing Malc and Kathy again, as we didn't get a chance to see them over the spring/summer in Victoria this year. Kathy made lunch and dinner for us and I reciprocated with breakfast before we left in the morning. I went in for a hot tub with Ray and Kathy in the evening but Ray managed to get in the tub twice today and once in the morning before we left. Malc sure spoiled Frey, as he took her on a couple of 1/ 2 hour walks.

November 11th & 12th Phoenix

After breakfast and the goodbyes were said Ray drove us for a little over an hour into Phoenix to the Cummins Service Yard where we had an appointment scheduled for 8am on the 12th. They have a wonderful facility here with electrical 50 amp plugins and a lovely visitor’s lounge to wait for repairs. The coach did not come back to us until 4pm so we just set up again in their parking lot. Although it's rush hour traffic we went to pick up Dianne and Steve Colibaba for dinner as they are staying at the La Quinta Hotel in preparation for their flight home to Victoria tomorrow for Steve’s Dad’s funeral. Steve found a brew pub, The Four Peaks Brewery for us to try out about 10 minutes away from their hotel. Great Choice!

The beer and the fish and chips are excellent as is the company. It's great to catch up, as we'd not seen them since Fort Langley.

After dinner we drove them back to their hotel and we were back home by 8pm. Ray was kinda wrecked after such a long day but it was worth it to visit with Steve and Dianne.

November 13 Lost Dutchman State Park

Friday morning we're on the road shortly after 9am after fueling up. We left late to miss the morning traffic and it worked out beautifully. Our destination was the Phon D Sutton Rec area. Unfortunately after arriving there, we found they've changed the rules and it is day use only. What now? I noticed another spot called Bulldog Canyon, but you would require backtracking into Mesa … see the Ranger Office to get a key code to get in. It was now 12:30, hot has Hades at 77 degrees, so we decided to just go to the Lost Dutchman and pay the money for 2 days so we can see Mesa Market. Even though it's Friday the 13th, we lucked out as we got the last electric and water site available for the weekend and a lovely site it is.

One of our most favourite campsite pictures!

Apache Junction Square

November 14

Mesa Market Day … did not disappoint. Tomorrow we head to Tucson. The weather was hot at 80 degrees at the campsite but fortunately we had some shade and there was a breeze.

Some great sunset pictures of the Superstition Mountains:

November 15 – Happy Birthday Ray

We were on the road by 9:30 after dumping and filling at Lost Dutchman for Snyder Hill BLM in Tucson. I was able to do 2 loads of laundry so we are all caught up again. Ham dinner with scalloped potatoes for Ray’s BD Dinner.

November 16-18th - San Xavier Mission

Did a little shopping but pretty much stuck around home. Very blustery and cold. Ray’s back is pretty bad so he is grounded. We still need to make the appointment to get the stuff done at La Mesa with the coach. Also the tire repair needs to happen.

Left Ray at home with Freya and got my hair cut finally. Feels a whole lot better. Ray’s back seems to have eased a bit today, so we went for the short drive over to the San Xavier Mission. This is a working church and is always having some restoration work done. The painted pictures inside are beautiful. One of the two towers is refurbished and the other one is a work in progress and missing it’s dome.

“A National Historic Landmark, San Xavier Mission was founded as a Catholic mission by Father Eusebio Kino in 1692. Construction of the current church began in 1783 and was completed in 1797.”

“The oldest intact European structure in Arizona, the church's interior is filled with marvelous original statuary and mural paintings. It is a place where visitors can truly step back in time and enter an authentic 18th Century space.”

The church retains its original purpose of ministering to the religious needs of its parishioners."

Ray went back in the evening for some exterior shots of the Mission.

This is one of Ray's all time favourite shots from our travels

November 19-22th - Tubac and Tumacacori

We spent a couple of days at camp and did a daytrip to the small town of Tubac. What an interesting place. Lots of art galleries and native art pieces. The first place we stopped is the Tubac Presidio Historic State Park. Not much left of these ruins … mostly just the rocks showing where it used to be. The museum is much more interesting.

You took a bunch of stairs down in that building straight ahead where they have preserved the old foundations and you can see them behind glass. The museum had collections of the stuff found or made to reflect what the people used in the 1800’s.

Presidio Grounds way back when and now

Ocotillo Roof

Outdoor kitchen with tortilla press

The on site museum is wonderful, with many pieces from the Conquistador pieces. One historic incident is the indigenous peoples were treated like slaves by the Spanish. They finally got pissed, revolted and chased the Spaniards off there territory for decades. The museum contains many Spanish pieces as well.

Arizona’s first printing press.

One of the Tubac vendors showing all of the hand-painted pottery you can buy. Beautiful, but where would I put it!

We took a drive in the other direction to Tumacacori National Historic Park, free with our America The Beautiful Pass, and it's so much more impressive than the Tubac Presidio. Here are some pictures.

Beautiful carved door

Two story storage room above and below

Next, off to lunch. Ray googled the best Mexican restaurant in Tubac and we ended up in Elvira’s. Very posh decorations and the food is delicious. Their house margarita isn't too bad either!

All these glass bulbs are hanging from the ceiling and back lit … pretty cool.

In the past couple of days we took in Signal Hill, in the West Saguaro National Park, to check out the petroglyphs. They are nothing like the ones in Bluff.

November 23th - Old Town Tuscon

We left Snyder Hill BLM early Monday morning and took the coach into Purcell Tire. We have a rear inside tire lose a small amount of air for the past several months after it had been repaired in Merritt and a front tire starting to show some wear. We ended up having just a valve replacement and a front end wheel alignment for $200, so a heck of a lot cheaper than new tires! Purcell tires is wonderful, and even though we expected to have to replace a tire, they said no so they definitely have our business if we need tires when we are down here again. They also are on the Michelin Advantage Program through FMCA.

After we got ourselves situated in Mission View RV Park (on passport America) by noon, we left Freya in the airconditioned coach as it was 80 F. and headed downtown to one of the 15 Travel Best Bets places in Tucson, El Charro Restaurant which is still owned by the same family for 4 generations (this is reportedly the first Mexican restaurant in Tuscon). The food is wonderful … this might turn me on to Mexican food yet.

First Prickly Pear Margurita

After lunch we took a short walk to the old courthouse and even managed to see a cauliflower cactus!

Crested Saguaro

Pink Adobe State Capital Building

St Augustine Church above and below

Tuscon Presidio in downtown Tuscon, juxtaposition between old and new.

November 24-25th Repairs in Tuscon

Tuesday morning, we were up and on the road by 7:15, sorry neighbours! We were at La Mesa by 7:45 for our 8:30 appointment to get some annoying little fixes done inside the motorhome. A little expensive but we were back on the road by 2:30 and back to Mission View RV for tonight and tomorrow night. They have a hot tub for Ray and although the jets are not working at least the hot soak is good for his back especially for 7 hours sitting in other chairs besides his. La Mesa even offers BBQ’d hamburgers and chips for lunch for all of their customers waiting for service to be done on their units. Bonus lunch was free!

Unfortunately, the first time I put the foot rest up on my chair that night, it quit and would not come back down AGAIN! Ray phoned La Mesa first thing and they did not call him back for an hour so he called the Service Manager who hung up on him! We will never go back to Tucson La Mesa if we can help it. Anyways they finally replaced the switch in the chair at no charge … this is what we asked them to do in the first place as it had been shorting out for over a year after La Mesa in Phoenix had apparently fixed it last year. So another morning wasted. We arrived back at the Mission View at noon so again not much time for laundry.

November 26-28

Thursday we packed up again (4 days in a row!) and headed for Casa Grande for Thanksgiving with Wayne and Karen. We arrived by 11 am, so were all set up in time for turkey dinner at 1pm and what a delicious dinner. We contributed a pecan pie from Costco. The place is packed. It's nice to catch up with Wayne and Karen and their friends John and Sandy.

L to R Karen, Sandy (hidden by John's head), John and Wayne

Friday, Karen made dinner, turkey chili and I contributed homemade dinner rolls and freshly baked cookies. Freya enjoyed claiming Tux’s mat.

Saturday I returned the favour, and invited them over for stuffed chicken with prosciutto and swiss cheese and curried rice. Karen brought a wonderful dessert. An enjoyable time for all. Their new puppy Tux was invited too. He sure is a Mexican jumping bean but with Debbie’s quick training program was very well-behaved while we ate dinner and stayed on the couch.