November 10 - 13 Enjoying Apache Junction AZ

Driving Day! Not for long though. We were up and packed up and on the road at 9:30. Bill called Bryan to let him know we were leaving and he and Janet were waiting for us to take photos and say good-bye until Thanksgiving. Of course there was no traffic til we got there so we didn’t linger too long. The drive on I-17 was not bad. Some 6% grades and curvy roads but no real problems.

We didn’t hit any real traffic until we approached Phoenix. We took 2 loop roads to Apache Junction and exited just a couple of miles from our RV park, Carefree Rv Park. This town is nothing but RV park after RV park. Bill wondered if anyone lives in real houses. We don’t know of any places in Florida like this. Lots are park models, but many spaces are like a regular campground. We are in space 1, right beside the pool. When Bill came out after checking in and pointed to our space, I wondered how we were going to get into the space. It was wide but had a palm tree in the middle, dividing the half that the RV would be on and one for parking. Then on the other side is a permanent model with an awning. So I knew how to pull along side and turn to the right to position to back in but geez, this was a space about 12 feet wide and the RV is 8. A guy came up and Bill asked him to help so he directed me and I got right in. I only had to pull forward once to straighten up the truck and it was done. It’s not a bad space at all. We have a concrete pad for a patio, a fire ring and place to grill and a nice parking space. The RV park is very nice. There are only about 140 spaces and all are very well manicured. The bathhouse, office, laundry and rec room are right in the center. It’s easy to get back to the main road for shopping and touristing.

Once we settled in we took Xena for a walk to scope out the park. Then we tried to set up the dish again and it still won’t work so we’re pretty sure it’s damaged. We needed a few things at the grocery and to fill up the truck so we ventured out to get our bearings. We had chicken in marinara sauce over pasta for dinner. Later I made a batch of scotch treats but with cappuccino chips instead of butterscotch. Yummy. We watched TV and read.

November 11 – We did some sightseeing today and had a really good time. First we drove to the old mining town of Superior to see the World’s Smallest Museum. It’s actually only about 8 feet long and 6 feet wide. You walk right through the middle and there are glassed in displays on each side. There’s information and memorabilia about mining in the area, info on western stars, Presidential memorabilia and old household products. The roof of the little building was made of Michelob beer cans. There was yard art made from wheelbarrows and old tires outside. The town itself was rather depressing. There’s a copper mine still operating but the town looks close to dead.

Charro Chapel

From there we drove back to the Apache Junction area where we took the old Apache Trail. The road runs along an Indian trading route. We went to the Superstition Mountain Museum. They had a lot about mining and a lot about the legends of the Dutchman’s Gold Mine. It was a small but nice exhibit. Out back they have some of the original buildings from the Apacheland Movie Ranch that was in the area. There’s the chapel from the movie “Charro” with Elvis and the original barn used in many movies. We really enjoyed the place.

Restaurant at Tortilla Flats

Then we headed up Apache Trail to Tortilla Flats. The road is quite curvy and up and down in grade. We could see Canyon Lake that was formed when Roosevelt Dam was built. There were some houseboats still on it and some kayakers and other boats. There are several campgrounds along the way but only 2 that we could get into. However, Bill said there was no way he’d ride in the truck with me pulling the RV on that road. The road was actually built to haul materials to the dam site. We drove up to Tortilla Flats which was a stage stop 100 years ago. It grew to about 125 people and currently there are only 6 full time residents. The town is actually owned by 4 people. The town consists of a restaurant, mercantile, post office, ice cream shop and old school museum. The view is awesome and there’s a campground there that is part of the forestry service. We had a wait of about 20 minutes for lunch so we visited the mercantile. Lunch was good. The novelty of the place is the walls are covered with dollar bills and numerous foreign currencies. The place burned in 1987 and at the time literally thousands of dollars were lost. So when it reopened in 1988 the tradition started again and the walls in every room are covered and some are covered 3 times. We stopped in the ice cream shop and shared a cup of prickly pear ice cream and it was really good. Kinda combination of strawberry and raspberry in flavor. We stopping the little museum and then took some photos and were on our way again.

On the way back we stopped for buns and thought Carole and Herb would be waiting for us at the RV. They weren’t there yet but pulled in just minutes after us. They got unloaded and we visited a while and Bill grilled venison burgers, hot links and some salmon for dinner. We had a nice evening just chatting and watching TV. Carole and Herb were to be the first guests to sleep on the inflatable bed stuck inside the couch. We didn’t know much about setting it up but Kurt had set it up once and said it was easy. And it was. The only thing we didn’t think about was to put the support legs down, but once we did that all went well.

November 12 – What a great day with Carole and Herb! After breakfast we went to Mesa Marketplace. We were to be there at 10 to meet up with a friend of Carole and Herb’s from Wisconsin who is in town visiting his daughter. Once we met up, they all went their way and we went ours. The set up reminds me of the flea market in Sanford. Bill and I walked every aisle and made a few purchases. We got a 2 pound bag of pepperoni sticks and some other edibles. Nothing big, as there isn’t enough room left in the RV to put anything big in. We spent 3 hours walking and looking. After a while you keep seeing the same things over and over. We decided to go home for lunch since we had grilled leftovers.

After lunch we kinda lazed around and walked Xena. Then late in the afternoon Carole and I went down to Wal-mart. The guys wondered what took so long but we took our time going up and down just about every aisle. Just picked up a few things we’d run out of. For dinner I made chorizo quesadillas, salad and refried beans. Everyone was filled up for sure. Then we watched TV and I worked on the computer til a show came on that we all wanted to see. I was relegated to the bedroom since I watched different shows.

At bedtime the fun began! We set the bed up like pros this time. Then Bill and I headed to our room and read for a bit. Then we heard the pump on the mattress turn on. Then a little later we heard the pump again. We asked what was wrong and they said the mattress was going flat. So Bill and I got up and went out and we stripped the bed and shortly found a tiny slit. We folded the bed up to get the repair kit out of the drawer underneath and then the glue tube to put the patch on was empty and dried out. So I got out some superglue and used it and then put duct tape on it and we pumped it back up and we headed to bed. Well, the story does not end there. When we got up this morning the mattress was totally flat and they were sleeping on the rails. Carole said she had to pump it up twice during the night so we knew it was a slow leak someplace. We stripped it again, turned it all around and upside down and could not find anything. I went back to where I had done the patch and put my ear to it and could hear a slight hissing so we figure it was still the same spot. We decided we would get some kind of glue today when we were out.

The RV park was having a breakfast in the hall from 8 to 9:30 for $3 each so we went and had eggs, pancakes, sausage or bacon and coffee if you wanted. We all enjoyed the breakfast and the great price. Then everyone got showered and dressed and we drove into the edge of Mesa/Phoenix to the Arizona Mills Mall. Some of the stores are outlets and some are regular ones. I mainly wanted to go to the JC Penneys and Reeboks. I got some really good deals at Penneys. They even let me use my 15% off coupons so that was another $8 off my already great prices. Bill and I both got sneakers at Reeboks and I got some good deals and used my coupon at Bath and Body Works. We had lunch at the food court and then sat and talked before doing the rest of the mall. We stopped in some places and looked, as it never costs anything to look.

On the way back we stopped at an Outdoor World to get a patch kit or glue to mend the mattress. After picking up that stuff we stopped to check out the waterproof jackets and I left with a new black one by Columbia that is really nice. Now to just get a trip planned to Europe so I can use it. We were going to stop at Big Lots but decided to go home and fix the mattress first and make that stop when we went out for dinner. I did my best to make do with what we got to patch the bed, so will see what happens.

We went to dinner at Chili’s and Carole and Herb so graciously treated us to dinner. We had planned to stop at Big Lots but Carole miscalculated where it was along the road so we missed it, but no big deal. Once we got home and everyone got ready for bed we blew up the mattress. It seemed to be holding so we all headed to bed with wonders in our head of how the mattress would do tonight!