By the Time We Got to Phoenix...

By the Time We Got to Phoenix …

February 13 – 27, 2022

The drive from Las Vegas, NV to Mesa, AZ was 320 miles, which is slightly on the long side of what we typically do.  I promised Dick a tall, cool one when we arrive, so he kept his foot on the pedal!  Leaving Las Vegas, our route took us over the Mike O’Callagan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, which was pretty cool!  Surprisingly, you would never know from the view (or maybe I should say lack of view) Hoover Dam is right beside you.  It didn’t matter to us, we had all of the views in our minds from the visit we had just a few days prior!

Despite the long drive, we still managed to arrive at Mesa Spirit RV Resort and get all settled just in time for the Super Bowl (I mean The Big Game) to begin!  Our friends, Brad and Kathy, are also visiting Phoenix during our stay here, so we started our time together with an informal Super Bowl Party.  Good friends, beautiful weather and a close football game all combined to make for a wonderful evening!  Thank you Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp for giving us an exciting game to watch!

Mesa Spirit RV Resort has to be the largest RV park we’ve ever seen!  It has 1,667 sites!  The amenities are equally plentiful.  Most intriguing was the quilting room.  Although I didn’t have an opportunity to spend any time there, I did pop in for a couple of short visits.  The room was filled with large tables, cutting mats, irons and ironing tables, and the nicest group of women you would ever want to meet!

We were able to take advantage of the hot tub, shuffle board, pickleball courts and putt-putt course which is only the tip of the iceberg of activities available! 

On Tuesdays, the resort offers “Happy Hour” at the swimming pool from 3:30-5:30.  We loved the live music by Brothers Elderly one week and Keith Byers the next week.  

Lost Dutchman State Park is 18 miles east of our campground, so we took part of a day to hike Treasure Loop, Prospector’s View and Jacob’s Crosscut trails.  The three trails combined to make a very scenic 3.2 mile loop.  It was fun spotting desert vegetation beginning to bloom!

We kept wondering who the “Lost Dutchman” was and how he got lost.  Personally, we use the All Trails app to keep from getting lost!  Maybe he was a victim of lack of technology?   I was imagining all kinds of scenarios on how this Dutchman got lost, all of which were incorrect.  It turns out it wasn’t actually the Dutchman who got lost, it was his gold mine!  Jakob Waltz (1810-1891) purportedly discovered a gold mine and kept it a secret.  When Jakob died, so did the location of his mine.  And, by the way, Jakob was German, not Dutch!  Apparently, there is a rich gold mine located somewhere in the Superstition Mountains.  Many tales place it somewhere in the vicinity of the Weaver’s Needle which is a prominent landmark in the area.  Each year people search for the mine, some of which have died while searching.  It sounds a bit like a challenge; however, I’m taking a firm pass on this particular adventure!

Apparently, the Lost Dutchman story is an example of why these mountains are named the Superstition Mountains.  On average, four or five hikers die annually while hiking in these mountains.  Cliffs, drop offs, extreme temperature changes and dangerous wildlife all contribute to the challenges this rugged mountain range provides hikers.  

Along the trail, we met a couple who were on the trail with their horses.  They told us that a few miles from the park is Canyon Lake.  This is one of four reservoirs formed when the Morman Flat Dam was built in 1925.  Before we knew it, we were enjoying a picnic lunch along the shore of Canyon Lake, taking in the beautiful views!

On the way back to our campsite, we couldn’t resist stopping at Goldfield Ghost town!  This was a booming town in the late 1800s, but soon ran into hard times and the town and its mines were abandoned.  Although it currently has the appearance of an old west town, all that is original to the town is one wall in the apothecary shop.  They have done a nice job of rebuilding the town to look much like it would have looked during its heyday and bringing the town back to life.  The saloon was filled with folks enjoying good food and live music!  In addition, an ice-cream shop, coffee shop, old fashioned photography shop, and several other businesses offer their services to make your time at the ghost town enjoyable!

Dick and I started on this grand adventure with full intentions of incorporating community service projects from time to time along our journey.  While we have done a bit of it, we really have not followed through to the extend we want with this promise we made to ourselves.  It’s time to remedy that!  Here in Tempe and Phoenix, we found Habitat for Humanity was more than happy to put us to work!  Brad and Kathy joined us in helping this wonderful organization.  We spent four days helping with construction of four houses at the Tempe location.  Most of our time there was spent prepping for and being introduced to masonry work, doing light grading of the dirt, breaking up concrete fencepost footings, helping remove a broken section of driveway, and jackhammering a concrete pilaster that was damaged by a reckless, drive-by car.  

The better part of one morning was spent prepping for the pad the air conditioners will sit on for each of the four houses we are working on.  The first part of this project involved digging a level 48” square next to the foundation.  This sounds easy enough, but the Arizona muck is VERY different from any soil this Iowa girl has ever experienced.  It’s called caliche and shovels are practically worthless against the density of this stuff (I refuse to call is soil!).  A picture is worth a thousand words.  

Who has ever heard of jackhammering dirt??!  Yep, and that just loosened it up a bit.  It was still a pistol to dig out even after taking a jackhammer to it!  After getting the square dug out, wheel barrows of concrete filled the area.  Finally, we set block on the concrete.  My paternal grandfather, Carl Green, did masonry work.  I kept thinking about Grandpa as we were setting those blocks.  I’m sure Grandpa would have been much speedier, but it was fun imagining working beside him on this project!

The most intriguing aspect to this project was working on one of the houses in particular -- the 3D-printed house.  It’s one of a very few 3D-printed houses in the world.  A company from Germany brought the printer and oversaw the enormous project.  All of the exterior and interior walls were created from a printhead extruding a specialized concrete in layers.  Habitat for Humanity is committed to being a part of finding creative ways to provide affordable, durable, energy efficient, and short construction time homes with less waste.  Pretty cool!  

A week after we helped, H4H had a dedication ceremony for the 3D-printed house where Shawn and Marcus were presented with their new home!  Shawn and Marcus were completely overwhelmed with emotions.  It was so rewarding to be able to be there for this event!  We contributed such a small part to this project; however, it was fun knowing we had helped them cross the finish line on making a dream come true for this delightful couple!  Shawn and Marcus have been on the job site almost every day of what turned out to be a two-year project.  There are a few finishing details yet to be completed before Shawn and Marcus move in, but it won’t be long now!

Our final day of helping H4H was at their Phoenix area.  There, we worked with a team of 20-25 volunteers doing finishing work on a house.  Doors were hung, trim pieces were cut, nailed, caulked and spackled.  We worked beside the single mom who will be the homeowner of the property.  It was nice to be able to help her achieve her dream of owning a home.  It’s quite the process for a person to qualify for a H4H home.  Even after qualifying, the home owner continues to have requirements to meet.  Homeowners need to put in 400 hours of “sweat equity”.  After the home is finished and she moves in, she will have a mortgage to pay.  The really sweet deal is it’s a zero percent mortgage. Owners are required to live in the home for a minimum of five years.  The average H4H home owner lives in their home for 20 years.

Our supervisor in Tempe, John, mentioned Gilbert is a “happening place” on weekends so we had to check this place out.  The original downtown area has all been maintained and is mostly restaurants, all of which were busy!  We enjoyed a beverage at Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row and then had dinner at OHSO (Outrageous Homebrewer’s Social Outpost) Brewery.  Yummy food and great ambience!  Their beer certainly was outrageous!  They were all named after various donuts.  On Saturday mornings, they offer a beer and donut pairing event!

We went on an afternoon hike at the largest city park in the world, South Mountain Park!  We hiked the Javelina Canyon and Ridgeline Loop Trail, which was just short of four miles long.  We had beautiful views of the Phoenix area valley.

Another day, we hiked the Bulldog Saddle and Pass Mountain Trails, located near Usery Park.  It was just short of five miles, offering stunning views of the valley and surrounding mountains.  Each hike we go on seems to have new spring flowers to greet us.  We’ve seen many yellow, pink, and purple flowers!  It’s surprising to see the flowers in the desert.  The Sonoran Desert definitely has more vegetation than what we saw in California.  The large variety of cacti is amazing!

North of Phoenix is the small town of Carefree.  To get there, you slip away on Carefree Highway.  Hey, wait!  That sounds like a song!  At least that’s what Gordon Lightfoot thought in 1974 when he took the Carefree Highway on his way to perform a concert in Phoenix.  He jotted down some lyrics, tucked them in his suitcase, and there they sat for eight months before he added music to what became the big hit song.  Of course, we had to play the song as we cruised down Carefree Highway on our way to the nearby small town of Cave Creek.  

Just outside of Cave Creek is Cave Creek Regional Park, where we hiked the Go John Trail.  This was another beautiful trail, away from all of the traffic of Phoenix.  It was just under six miles, providing us with lots of saguaros, prickly pears, chollas, organ pipes and probably many other varieties of cacti I have yet to learn!  It had rained the day before, so we were hopeful there would be more wild flowers blooming.  Although we did see many flowers, the peak bloom still awaits us. 

We ended the day dining at El Encanto Mexican Restaurant in Cave Creek.  They had outdoor seating, located in the courtyard of the restaurant.  It included a pond with ducks and had propane outdoor heaters!  

In Papago Park, we found a highlight of our time in Phoenix.  The Botanical Gardens had tons of native plants as well as plants from around the world.  They were all beautiful; however, the display of Chihuly glass throughout the gardens put this visit over the top!  

The day after our visit to the Botanical Gardens, Putin invaded Ukraine.  It seemed a little serendipitous their national flower, the sunflower, was one of the flowers blooming the day we visited.  We are keeping these peaceful and resolute people in our prayers.

Also located in Papago Park are several trails.  Quite possibly the shortest and sweetest trail of our stay was the hike to the Hole in the Rock.  The Hokokam Tribe would know when it was time to plant their crops by using the sun’s alignment with the hole to identify summer and winter solstice!    

Another afternoon hike was to Chapparal Park.  They had a nice lake to stroll around as well as a xeriscape area.  I absolutely love xeriscaping!  It makes so much sense with the water shortages in this region.  In addition to the practicality of it, it is simply beautiful!  When you are living in the desert, why not take advantage of the beautiful cacti and other vegetation that thrives in this climate?  A green lawn actually looks a little silly here.

Tempe Town Lake is a long, narrow reservoir formed from damming the Salt River.  This reservoir is located right in downtown Tempe, providing urban recreational opportunities for everyone!  The trail along the banks of the lake includes the optional Leonard Monti Trail spur.  This spur is located right next to Sun Devil Stadium at Arizona State University!  This is a 0.9 mile hike up the “A” mountain (Hayden Butte) with an elevation gain of 232 feet!  Not being familiar with the area, hiking past the 60’ tall, yellow “A” was a surprise!  An even better surprise was the view from the top of Hayden Butte!  We watched planes land and take off from Sky Harbor Airport as well as amazing 360° views of the greater Phoenix area, including the surrounding mountain ranges.  

We read Mesa has a Market Swap Meet on weekends, so we thought we needed to experience this.  There are 1600 shops with any type of merchandise you can imagine.  The food court includes live music, making it a nice spot to hang out if you become overwhelmed with all of the shops!  I really didn’t find much to purchase, but it was interesting to see. 

We had to visit Scottsdale while we were in the area and check out their Old Town.  We found a self-guided walking tour that took us past their original “Little Red School House”, the location of the Cavalliere’s blacksmith shop, and several other historic areas.  The first and longest running saloon in Scottsdale is the Rusty Spur Saloon, which was originally a bank.  My favorite stop in Old Town was Our Lady of Perpetual Help, which was the Old Adobe Mission Church build in 1933.  It was built by hand by the Mexicans who settled in Scottsdale in the late 1910s.  The congregation long ago outgrew the small church; however, they continue to use the Old Adobe Mission Church for weddings and baptisms.  There was a wedding underway there when we first arrived in Old Town!

Our final full day in Phoenix took us on one last hike in South Mountain Preserve. This is the largest city park in the world after all!   This time we hiked the Pima Wash and Beverly Canyon Loop.  This was a shorter walk through the desert.  We were so hopeful to see cacti blooming, but it seems this is something we will have to add to our list on our next visit to Phoenix.  Following our final Phoenix hike, we headed to downtown Phoenix to take in the 7th annual Italian Festival!  Delicious basil pesto pasta, Italian sausage, and cannoli filled our bellies.  It was hard to choose from all of the yummy smelling options!  Live bands provided us entertainment, including an Italian Folk dance group.  This group even invited the crowd to join them on the dance floor to learn one of their dances!  We even saw a man making mozzarella cheese.  It was a fun way to end our time in the Phoenix area!

Next up:  Tucson!