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- Jun 8, 2019, 11:41pm
- 🌙 24 °C
- Altitude: 791 m
United StatesArizonaPima CountyCammie's Foothills Vista Mobile Home Park32°17’14” N 110°52’57” W
Day 48 - Indian & Airbnb Reservations!
June 8, 2019 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 24 °C
By 10.30am we were out & on the road again. Literally next door to us was the Mesa Arizona Temple, which apparently was set in stunning gardens, but not today. It was a building site.
We headed east to Apache Junction, then headed northeast on Route 88 (N Apache Trail). Our 1st stop was Superstition Mountain Museum, which had an indoor Museum requiring payment, but a free 15 acre outdoor area with a large collection of Cowboy & Indian exhibits. We chose just the outdoor option & strolled around the collection of buildings & machinery. This included our 3rd ‘Boot Hill’ Cemetery. A sign warned of the wildlife to beware of - Rattlesnakes, Scorpions & Tarantulas, which focused the mind on where you stepped!
As with all these types of places, it had been used as a film set for numerous (29) Westerns, then known as Apacheland Movie Ranch. Pride of place was the Elvis Memorial Chapel which figured prominently in the Elvis Presley movie “Charro!” Superstition Mountain Museum was a very enjoyable stop & it was free.
A mile up the road we stopped again, this time at Goldfield Ghost Town. It was big & brash & felt like you were at an Old Western Theme Park. There were numerous old buildings, but the inside were designed to part you from your money, whether it was gifts, food & drink, shooting galleries, horse rides, dressing up photos or train rides. Jackie, last of the big spenders, bought a bag of Guatemalan Worry Dolls for $2.
We continued up the road, which was another scenic byway. The road was mountainous (possibly something to do with the Superstition Mountains) surrounded by the cartoon looking Saguaro Cacti🌵. The road took us past another little western town, Tortilla Flat, through Tonto National Forest & beside Canyon Lake. It was all vivid yellow, green & Blues & may have been my most favourite of our scenic drives!
I intended to next visit Geronimo Surrender Monument, but when we got to the turning the road was a dirt track, which we had made a decision to avoid so we didn’t damage the car. So on we continued for just a short distance until the tarmac on our road stopped. This became the scene of a disagreement, because the sign said that the road was a dirt track for the next 22 miles.
After I had agreed to drive VERY carefully, we continued. What the sign didn’t say was that the dirt track would take us up & down mountains, the track would be extremely narrow in places & more often than not a sheer drop on one side without any barriers. It took about an hour of total concentration, but we came out the other end unscathed. Just a brilliant driver, I guess!
Having past Apache Lake & Salt River, we arrived at Theodore Roosevelt Dam, which was completed in 1911 with the loss of 41 lives. At the time it was the largest masonry dam in the world, measuring 280ft high & 723ft long. It created Roosevelt Lake, which for a short while was the largest artificial reservoir in the world.
Now back on tarmac & time ticking on, we raced south down Highway 188, then west on Highway 60 until we arrived at the grandly named town, Superior. I’m surprised it hasn’t been taken to court under the Trade Descriptions Act, because it appeared to be nothing more that a scruffy little Highway town. The only thing of note was it had ‘The World’s Smallest Museum’ or so they say. We took a photo of the outside & moved on swiftly.
Next was the town of Florence which is in the middle of nowhere & full of Prison Complexes. Florence Prison was built to replace Yuma Prison, we visited the day before. Florence Prison had a gallows, but now been replaced by a gas chamber. It has housed lots of terrorists & gangsters from Al-Qaeda, Japanese Red Army, the Mafia, White Supremacists & most notably for me, Oklahoma City Bomber, Timothy McVeigh.
Just down the road on Highway 79 was a rest area at Tom Mix’s Death Site. He lost control of his speeding Cord Phaeton convertible and rolled it into a dry wash (now called the Tom Mix Wash) in 1940. He was actually killed by his luggage in the back of his car, dubbed “Suitcase of Death”. There were newspapers cuttings & a Memorial to Tom Mix, who made 370 full length Westerns & Jackie signed the guest book.
From here, we rushed on to our home for the next 7 nights, it is an Airbnb house in north Tucson & our host is Charlie. After getting in some supplies from the local Safeway, we sat & drank (too much & played darts) into the early hours. Hence the late Blog & no details yet about Charlie & his house & wonderful garden.
Song of the Day - Apache by The Shadows.
Bonus Songs of the Day :-
Superstition Mountain by Yuma
Geronimo by The Stereophonics
Charlie Don’t Surf by The ClashRead more
