History

It is hot here in Mesa. Really hot. Like upper 90s every day for the past week. Not conducive to outdoor activities. So yesterday we decided to drive up the Apache Trail, Arizona Hwy 88, to check out Goldfield and Tortilla Flats.

Goldfield is a ghost town today. It was established in 1893 by miners exploring for gold in the nearby hills.



There are a number of neat old buildings still open to the public.











Worship services are still conducted in this church on Sundays.



I'm glad they don't have to depend on this water tank to supply the town.



I didn't know they had cell phones in the 1890s.



What kind of butts?



We liked this wrought iron sign



And this old wagon wheel.



We saw several rusty old vehicles.







Then we drove on northwest toward Tortilla Flats. That was an old rest stop on the old Apache Trail. We had read about the community and the restaurant there in several blogs, so we thought we would check it out.

The scenery along the way was great.



Canyon Lake was formed when its dam was completed in 1925. The lake provides water storage and hydro-electric power.



When we saw the months the Tortilla Campground was closed, it confirmed we were in Arizona, not Colorado.



The wallpaper in the Tortilla Flats restaurant is unique--money.









Outside, we found two wooden Indians. Do you suppose they are Apache?





Shortly after leaving Tortilla Flats, we came on this sign. We should have turned around. Tune in tomorrow to find out why.

Settling In

Thursday we left Gallup to drive to Mesa, where we will spend the last three months of 2010. The storms of earlier in the week were gone and it was a beautiful day. The scenery heading south from I-40 on the Beeline is beautiful--and not what I usually think of as Arizona.





But eventually the mountains and conifer forests gave way to the desert and saguaro cactus--and the promise of a moderately warm winter.



This is the third time we have stayed at Valle del Oro, a "+55 Active Adult Community." Right now it almost feels like we are living in a ghost town. If you look very carefully, you can see our Montana 5th wheel trailer on the right side of the road, past all the empty sites.



This gives you a little idea of how many empty RV sites there are right now.



Don't let all that open space fool you. We plan to spend nearly three months here because they have a fall special--3+ Months for 1 Price between Sept. 20 and Jan. 2. Last year we came in during the last week of October and were able to get in on the sale. Thursday, they only had four or five sites available. We were shocked, and really glad we hadn't waited any longer to drive down here. Next year we will make a reservation early.

It is pretty easy to tell when the people who own a park model haven't come in yet for the winter. The windows are covered with aluminum sun shields.



And the golf carts are still under cover.



The landscaping crew is beginning to prepare for winter by trimming the citrus trees. Don't they look good when the job is done?



There is both trash and recycle pickup in the city of Mesa and each empty site has the containers waiting for new occupants.



We do see some evidence of residents here. Fall decorations are out.







There will be more about our life in the Valley of the Sun in the weeks to come.