We’ve spent the past few days slowly making our way north. We spent some time in the Saguaro National Park, where the kids did some homework and picked up a couple of Junior Ranger badges. This was Lowe’s first, as he was always too young before. Ouest has even more fun with it now that she has someone to do it with.
We had lunch with some old friends who live right down the road. To get there we had to go over Gates Pass. Wow. If you’ve ever gone up that road you know what I’m talking about—that road was in no way built with a 50-year-old Travco in mind. But we made it. There doesn’t appear to be much that can stop this thing.
We spent a couple of nights at Catalina State Park. Ali and I have forgotten what it is like to try and visit the State and National Parks during high season. Everything is full right now, and every place says, “You know you can reserve online?” Yeah, reserving camping spots does not jive with our travel style one iota. At Catalina we had to move spots each day, while the Boomers—who love to plan ahead and sit still—just watched.
Then we were on to the Superstition Mountains. The park there was full, but would let us stay in a parking lot for $20. We drove across the street to the Goldfield “Ghost Town” and camped there instead.
Goldfield is a tourist trap, but done in a pretty tasteful way. The town has been rebuilt in the same style it was in the day, using as much reclaimed wood as they can. It’s actually kind of fun to walk around. We even took the train ride and the mine tour, which wasn’t a mine at all, but we got to hear a few stories of the town and how things would have been for the miners back in the day. It was good for a night.
And from there we were off to Lake Pleasant. This place is kind of weird. It’s jam packed with people, and you can camp literally anywhere you want. There doesn’t seem to be any sort of conservation program at all. Cars were actually parked in the lake—like all four wheels. And tents and cars were parked all over the slopes leading down to the water. Nothing like camping at a twenty degree angle.
Granted, it was a Saturday night, and it is Spring Break time, so maybe the lake is more pleasant other times of year—as the name suggests. Right now it’s sort of a garbage pit.
31 Comments on “Southern Arizona”
Bienvenidos de Tucson!
Is that a live sparrow sitting on the rusty old kerosene lantern, or is it just a prop also??
He’s alive and well and flying free around the cactus.
Sad to say, I wouldn’t let the kids play outside with toy guns in any state other than Az. The police might shoot them. They’re trained now to treat anything that looks like a gun like a real gun and shoot first. Az is a pro-gun state.
What I do like about Goldfield is that you don’t have to spend a dime there to enjoy the view and the buildings. You can just park (for free!) and wander to your heart’s content. The pottery shop is even usually just the “honor system”. If the artist isn’t there and you see something you like, just leave the money in the locker and go. Very unusual for the US.
And yes, Lake Pleasant is always a garbage pit. Just up the road from Goldfield, Canyon Lake would have been much nicer with a great paddleboat tour, but probably a challenge for the bus to get there on the steep, windy roads. Someone would have been puking.
True. Nice place to hang out. I can see riding up there on the Harleys for a few beers at the saloon. Not even overpriced either. Kudos to this tourist stop.
Eating off the taco truck today thinking of you all. http://www.irishtacos.com/
Meat and potato Irish tacos in Utah. hmmm. It’s not Mexico, but it sure beats a hamburger.
I’m so curious about the photo of the boots on the ceiling (nailed to the ceiling?). Would you share?
That’s at a saloon there in Goldfield. I didn’t ask, but I imagine it’s just customers who had a few beers and felt like donating their old dirty cowboy boots to the ceiling.
I think most are donated by families of “cowboys” who have gone on to the great pasture in the sky.
Hi Pat – I just shared 15 Wonders of the World from the Bright Side on Facebook with you. That has to be your picture leaning on the Tower of Pisa in Italy. Small world.
Yeah, that’s been going around under different names on Reddit and a few others. Pretty silly picture to use, considering you can see other people behind me. But whatever, maybe I’ll become a meme someday. 🙂
My mom’s side of the family hails from the Superstitions back in the teens and twenties. Boom and Bust mining engineers.
I bet those great-grandparents have some amazing tales to tell. What a life.
Hi Pat,
Please save your kids..and you and Ali. You guys may not realize how dangerous it is here for a kid to play with fake toy guns. The police will shoot all of you and then blame you for your own demise..or worse…what ever that is. if you don’t beleive me, go spend some time searching this issue out on the Internet.
I would suggest these fun toys just get lost… I wouldn’t have them visible in the camper either, because the next pull over, the police could see them and over react.
I’m not being anti gun here, because I shoot for fun…. Kid toy guns are Just not safe anymore…
Walt,
As sad as the news about people/kids being shot with toy guns in their hands, the odds of that happening remain somewhere well south of them getting eaten by a shark and struck by lightening at the same time. Don’t let fear rule you.
Or, defeat fear and bad things by spray painting the toy guns with orange paint. The whole thing, not just the tip.
Defeat your fear, not mine. I have zero fear of my kids being shot by the police for playing with a toy gun. Zero. It simply is not going to happen. So for me to go out and buy a can of orange spray paint and ruin their toy cowboy cap guns is ridiculous. It’s what the media would have you believe needs to be done, but it’s not reality. It’s certainly not statistically relevant. If I went around defeating every one-in-a-hundred-million scenarios out there I would spend so much time “protecting” my kids that I wouldn’t have any time to enjoy letting them simply be kids.
Beautiful pictures!. Love the pictures of your cowboy and cowgirl. They need boots! couldn’t take a few off the ceiling? You asked about ebay recently. My wife just bought some new like 100 cowboy boots for my son for 15 euros. His birthday is in 2 weeks, I wonder what he says about that. He has been in cowboy mode since Halloween.
We’ve been looking ever since we got here. Ouest finally got a pair—just need to get them broken in. Lowe, no luck yet, but soon.
100 $ boots
Love the new photos and adventures!
WOW you guys drive right by me…and didn’t even wave…:)! Barlett lake nicer than Pleasant still lots of people on weekends but no mountain roads..a little curvy but not too bad I can run it on my bike at 65 most of the way. There is even a BBQ place and a Tacos place up there.
Spray paint their guns orange..no problems
We travel in our camper all summer long and dread weekends and holidays because of the boomers who plan months ahead for their time at the campground. It makes it really hard for us to find a place to camp even a week ahead, more less on the day. This year we are just going to stay home until after the 4th of July as that is my most dreaded holiday while camping. And – we have been shuffled around at Catalina SP also! Happy Travels!
Yes we plan on being at family homes by Memorial Day and 4th of July – worst weekends for camping for the un-planners like us. Good luck this summer!
I may have missed you, already but if you are coming near Prescott area and thinking of checking out our cute little town, please let me know…would love to see you! It is colder and windy today but there is a fun zoo for kids and lots of great hiking and checking things out!
We stopped in on Sunday just for a couple of hours – and yes it is a very cute town. Sorry we missed you.
Pat and Ali….thank you so much for sharing these beautiful photos with us.
You’re not in New Mexico noew, are you? I saw a turquoise Travco or something very similar go by on a tow truck in ABQ earlier today…hope not.
No we are still in AZ. No tows needed.