We did head out the Apache Trail once again and visited Goldfield Ghost Town. It is a true ghost town that has been rebuilt. We went down into a deserted gold mine and took a train ride around town. It's always interesting to learn of the history of the area. The Lost Dutchman Mine which has never been found is supposedly located in the legendary Superstition Mountains. Just last summer with temps of 110-115, three young men set out to find the mine. They have never been found!
From the ghost town we headed north on the Apache Trail to Canyon Lake to take a ride on a paddle wheel boat. On that day, due to lack of folks, the boat didn't run, so we took some pictures, had lunch at the marina and decided that we would have to come back another day. The three lakes are Canyon, Apache and Roosevelt and they are truly beautiful nestled in the mountains. The only wildlife that we saw on that trip was a roadrunner.
This past Sunday we were supposed to watch our youngest grandson, Noah, play hockey. About the time we were supposed to leave, we decided to see where Abby was hiding. She was nowhere to be found!!! We have had this motor home for three years and know every one of her hiding spots. Well, for three hours, we triple checked all of those spots and just knew that she was outside somewhere. (Roy still thought she was in the motor home somewhere.) He rode his bike, drove and walked this entire park--no Abby. Yours truly was a blubbering idiot. Each night we hear the coyotes howling, so I just knew she was going to be in trouble. Well, I was outside and heard this "meow" from the back of the motor home. Abby had climbed through a very small opening (way too small for her big tummy) and was in a compartment under our bed which has the pump for the select comfort mattress. Roy had to take apart the bed to get her out! Needless to say, we are watching what drawers get left open!!!!
We attended a "newcomers" get together this past week which was followed by a steak dinner. It was very nice and we got to meet more folks that are in the park. Roy has gone to the woodcarving room and is taking some lessons. Those guys really do some beautiful, creative work!
We got our first taste of Phoenix traffic on the way to watch our oldest grandson, Carson, play in his hockey game. Wow, certainly wouldn't want to fight that every day! What a great game though. Carson's team won and they were playing a team that was a year or two older. Carson and Noah both wear number 10. Carson's team is a traveling hockey team and they do travel all over the country. This past Thursday Randy and Carson were off to Denver for a tournement. He is quite a good player and it is fun to watch him.
We headed out on Thursday in search of Tonto National Monument and Besh-Ba-Gowah archaeological park. This took us on Route 60 east to Globe and on to Route 188 into the mountains. It's difficult to describe the beauty that we saw. Pictures just can't capture it all. At Besh-Ba-Gowah we toured the museum and then the actual ruins. There is an actual two story pueblo built 700 years ago and there are still many artifacts that are still on display. We were still able to climb the ladder from the ground floor which was used mainly for storage into the upper story that was added for daily living. There are also unexcavated ruins to wander through.
We left Besh-Ba-Gowah headed north to Tonto National Monument. This is home to ancient cliff dwellings--a lower and upper. To get to the lower dwelling, we had to walk one half mile up the side of a mountain. Wow, it certainly let us know that we were definitely out of shape. But the trek was definitely worth it. What an awesome site to see the actual home of the Salado Indians that is over 700 years old. The roof of the cave is still black from the fires that had been built both for warmth and the preparation of food. We didn't attempt to go to the upper dwellings, as that takes a good half day and only with a ranger as a guide.
You must notice all the huge saguaro cactus in a lot of our snapshots. They are quite unique and we found out that they have to be somewhere between 70 and 80 years old before they develop the "arms" that you see. Some of these are 300+ years old!!!! They say the ones on the side of the mountains get taller because they get a bit more rain. Some of those had to be at least 12 feet tall! Then, there are several other varieties of the prickly plants, all of which are not people friendly.
Hopefully, you aren't too bored with all the pictures. We just can't stop taking snapshots of the surrounding beauty. There is so much "eye candy" and we just can't resist. And, we have so much more exploring to do here before moving on to Yuma.
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