A Day in the Superstition Mountains

Apache Junction, Arizona is situated at the base of the Superstition Mountains.

Sun setting on the Superstition Mountains

These mountains have long been a place of unexplained paranormal stories and thus the name. We set out to explore them as soon as I returned from Montreal. First stop was a museum that explained the history of the area. While there we met a couple who told us the best way to see the mountains was to take a 100 mile circular drive through the mountains with a side trip to see the world's largest copper mine. (We've learned that everything is the "worlds largest or best" here in the US).

 So off we went into the mountains:

First stop. The copper mine. The mining company was kind enough to provide a viewing area where we could get a good look into the mine and some information panels telling us about the mine.

Below is a panorama of the mine 

It was impossible to get a picture of of the complete mine with my camera. Below is a photo showing very large trucks working down in the mine. They are like the huge trucks used in the oil sands.

And this is a fly over photo of the mine from one of the panels:

It is large indeed!

We left the mine, and headed further into the mountains and the Tonto National Forest. There were a lot of mining operations along our drive:

And then we came to the Tonto National Monument. An area preserved by the Federal Government because it contains cliff dwellings occupied in the 13th, 14th and early 15th centuries. 

It looked like a long way up but worth the climb:

Cliff dwellings are at the red X in the upper left corner

So after reading these rules we were off:

Add caption

The saguaro cactus in this area are huge:

As we were at a pretty high altitude stopping for a lot of breaks was a must:

About half way up

Finally close to the top. The people on the trail in the lower right will give you some idea of the size of the cliffs.

You can see the rooms inside the cave

It was very impressive to see what the Salado did with so little.
Then we headed back down to the car:

And on to Roosevelt Lake. You can see the lake in the distance above. When we were driving across the Arizona desert towards Phoenix a truck pulling a fairly large boat passed us:

We couldn't help but wonder what they were going to do with a boat in the middle of the desert. Now we know:

Roosevelt Lake is located in the Tonto Basin and was created by the Roosevelt Dam:

A beautiful bridge spanned the entrance to the dam area. Its story is very interesting:

I hope you can read the information. Left click to enlarge. Or read more about it's construction here.

 My photo of the bridge:

We then crossed the bridge and headed back to Apache Junction - a beautiful drive through the mountains.

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Driving to Phoenix

It took us three days to drive from San Antonio to Phoenix - about 1000 miles across the desert, with a few mountains thrown in. Very much against our 4-4-2 driving rule (quit after 4 hours, 4 pm or 200 miles - whichever comes first) but I was anxious to get settled there and head for Montreal, so we did it.

As we left San Antonio we quickly got a feel for how big Texas really is:

Rolling hills and expansive views

The mountains you see in the distance are the Davis Mountains, which are north of Big Bend National Park.

As we entered the mountains there was a scenic look-off. We stopped to check out the scenery. The view point was actually at the top of a pretty high climb but I decided to hike up quickly and take a look. Did not realize we were at an elevation of about 4000 ft. and the air was getting thin - thought I was having a heart attack half way up - then it registered that we were at a higher elevation than we are accustomed to. So I slowed down and made it to the top. The view was worth it:

That is the Adventure Bus down in the pull off

On the other side of the Davis Mountains we entered the desert:

And eventually passed by El Paso:

Downtown El Paso

The only city or town of any size between San Antonio and Phoenix.

El Paso subdivision

And crossed into New Mexico:

We originally planned to spend two weeks in New Mexico but that was not to be. And that is probably a good thing - the elevation in New Mexico is high and it is cold there.  But beautiful. This is the  view from the RV park where we stopped on night 2:

 The next day we drove past many pecan farms:

Through a lot of desert landscape until we entered Arizona and more desert:

When we arrived in the Phoenix area Arch's nephew, Fraser, who spent several winters there, met us and showed us several RV parks. He had already put our names in to hold a site in La Hacienda RV Resort in Apache Junction.. Which turned out to be the best of the bunch - he has excellent taste - and we checked in there for the rest of January.

Another great RV resort - very nice people manage it and the people in the resort were great. Arch connected with fellow golfers and played a lot of golf while I was away. Note all the trees - very unusual in RV parks in this area.

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Visiting San Antonio

I am sorry to be so slow updating you on our travels. As many of you know my sister, who lives in Montreal, is very ill. As a result we decided to rearrange our travel plans, skip over some of the places we were planning to visit - Big Bend National Park in Texas, Roswell, NM,  and Silver Sands National Park in NM - and head to Phoenix where we parked while I flew to Montreal for a short visit. Thus the tardiness. I am now back in Phoenix and as we plan to move on westward I will publish several blogs telling you about January's travel adventures. 

On our way to Phoenix we did stop for a quick visit to San Antonio - The Alamo was on Arch's bucket list and I wanted to check out The Riverwalk.

One fact that became quickly obvious to us when we arrived in Texas is that Texans are different than other Americans. In many ways Texas is to the United States as Quebec is to Canada. The first state park we stopped at we asked if the America the Beautiful pass would qualify us for a discount (we understand it does in some states).  "Not a chance" said the woman checking us it "as a matter of fact we shouldn't even be a part of the United States". Oh, OK!

No where is this sense of independence more obvious than at The Alamo, a "Shrine to Texas Liberty". It would take a very long blog to explain the historic value of The Alamo to Texans. Sufficient to say that the battle for the Alamo (in which its defenders all died) was the start of a long battle for Texas' freedom from Mexican rule. You can read a detail description of the Alamo's history here.

Today the relationship between Texas and Mexico seems to be much improved. As you approach The Alamo you cannot miss this red sculpture:

The Torch of Friendship

The "Torch of Friendship" was given to San Antonio by the Mexican Consulate as a sign of friendship and to represent the roots many Texans share with Mexico.
The contemporary steel sculpture was made in Mexico and shipped to San Antonio in six pieces. It stands 65 feet tall and weighs 50 tons.
It was commissioned to commemorate the relationship between the United States and Mexico and the two countries' increasing commercial ties.

As we were there on Jan 2nd and 3rd the Christmas decorations were still in place. I loved this Christmas tree at the entrance to Alamo Plaza:

The Alamo site itself sits in a city square surrounded be the usual schlocky tourist attractions. It reminded us of Niagara Falls.

This building is actually the church from the mission:

It serves as the entrance to The Alamo grounds. Once inside there are several displays and a museum telling you about the history of The Alamo from it's early days as a Spanish Mission to today. And the story of the Battle of the Alamo is told in 3 ways - in a short movie, by a storyteller and by re-enactors

The soldier above was explaining how the guns used in the battle worked.

As we wanted to see the Riverwalk wearing it Christmas lights we visited there in the late afternoon. It is a very beautiful and well done attraction that draws millions to downtown San Antonio each year. Hopefully the following pictures will give you a feel for its beauty.

First, in the late afternoon:

At dusk:

And after dark:

We walked the entire area but noticed that there were two other ways to take in the Riverwalk

By water taxi:

And by tour boat:

So we decided to have a bite to eat in this restaurant:

And take in the Christmas lights from the tour boat:

All in all it was a very pleasant visit.

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Meeting up With Fellow RV Bloggers

When Arch and I started this RV adventure one of our main goals was (and is) to learn as much as we can about the USA and Canada and, more importantly, to get to know interesting people along the way.

We are not loners and enjoy everyone we meet. From people living in poverty, trying to recouperate from the devestation of hurricane Katrina, to people suffering dehibiliting diseases but enjoying life on the road anyway, to folks just like us who are travelling and enjoying the scenery, people, etc to the folks who have more money than we can imagine driving the biggest motorhome or pulling the largest 5th wheel with the most fancy truck (some even have semi truck cabs) possible.

But our favoutite experience is to meet up with fellow bloggers and facebook friends whom we know only through an internet connection.

Last year Elaine MacAskill Cochrane and I connected on Facebook and when I shared a photo that she had shared on Facebook I won a 6 month stay at The Glades RV Resort in Florida. We met in person, Arch and Elaine's husband Rick hit it of and this year we spent two days two in their yard in Moncton NB before heading out together for our winter destinations. We parted in PA when Elaine and Rich headed south and we headed west.

It was a chilly and bright morning the day we left Elaine and Rick's

As we headed down the Natchez Trace Parkway last fall I noticed that a blogger I follow and am a facebook friend with, Daryl Cheney White (Dee) and her husband, Michael, were close behind us. Then I lost track of them for a while and then, while we were at Bentsen Palms Village RV Resort Dee contacted me to say they were just down the road and lets get together for a visit. She also mentioned that another blogger, Ruth Garside was staying at Bentsen Palms as well. So one afternoon between Christmas and New Years the 6 of us got together at our RV site for coffee and conversation. 

From left: Me, Ruth Michael (with timbit) Arch and Ken (with Jackson)

Thanks Dee for the great photo.

And I picture I took so you know what Dee looks like:

Dee, Michael, Arch, Ken and Ruth

What a great afternoon getting to know fellow bloggers. I just love Facebook and the internet.

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Bentsen Palms Village RV Resort

We loved Bentsen Palms Village RV Resort in Mission, Texas. When we left after a 1 month stay Arch said it felt a lot like we were leaving home. We met so many nice people there and had a great time despite some abnormal cold and wet weather.

To start at the beginning:

By the time we arrived at South Padre Island on Dec 1st we were exhausted and tired of traveling and so decided to park it for 1 month. We spent two days looking for a suitable RV park. What is suitable you ask? Well let me tell you

The first thing we look for is a park with more Motorhomes and 5th Wheels in it than permanent “park models”. As we learned last year in Florida, permanent residents tend to view us transients as interlopers who use their facilities and interfere with their life. Despite the fact that we pay the lion's share of the bills. In one park we were handed 8 pages of rules. Bentsen Palms Village had a sister resort with separate facilities next door for their permanent residents and site owners:

Then we check out the neighbourhood – no nearby train tracks, nightclubs, busy highways, etc. Our neighbours at Bentsen Palms were The National Butterfly Center, Bentsen - Rio Grande Valley State Park and the US/Mexico Border – which added a little excitement.

Then we check in at the office, a friendly greeting is always encouraging. And a price that fits our budget is a must - $600/month + electric or less is what we prefer. Any higher cuts into our play money.

Then a drive through the park. Do people wave? Are there lots of dogs? (Our Tara is no longer with us but dog lovers are usually good people). Are the sites spacious, clean? level? landscaped but not shaded. Are the laundry facilities adequate and well cared for, is there a community centre, etc., etc

Bentsen Palms Village RV Resort looked perfect so we chose a spot and moved in the next day.

What a great decision.

It was a very friendly park - the perfect spot to spend the Christmas period. On Christmas eve our neighbours Vick and Sue dropped in with these little treats, which they made and were sharing with their neighbours:

On Christmas morning these little guys got dressed up and came to visit:

Monkey

Wolfie

Bonus #1 – Workcampers – Bentsen Palms had a lot of them. In the office, helping us check in and get set up, in the woodworking shop, in the crafts shop and most importantly – the activities committee:

From left: Jeff, Gene, Randy, Holly, Santa, Darla and Bret 

What a great job they did organizing golf outings, margarita nights, card bingo, Christmas events including a Christmas Eve gathering, Christmas Dinner and a New Year's Eve party (which we missed because Arch was sick). Plus many more. These are just the ones we participated in. Every resort should have workcampers, Randy and Holly are thinking about coming to the Glades RV Resort in Florida (where we are planning to stay next year) next winter, They would make great workcampers for the resort.

Bonus #2 - The woodshop – Arch took advantage of this wonderful facility to remove our old microwave (which had in interesting habit of starting in the middle of the night) and build a new shelf to house a smaller more efficient one. With extra room for the coffee perk.

Out with the old

In with the new

Bonus #3 – youthful Rvers – I do not mean in age necessarily but in attitude. I've never seen so many healthy retirees in one spot before. Everyone seemed to walk, bike, swim etc. A lot of them were younger in age as well. We were likely among the older folks there. But it was good for us. It kept us moving.

Bonus #4 – golfers - lots of them. Some for me to play with and some for Arch. And, much to Arch's horror, they walked all 18 holes. But he caught up fast and likely gained a few walking muscles in the process.

Bonus #5 - park wildlife – The first day Arch played golf his partners told him that behind one of the RV sites was a Black Widow spider living on a drain pipe. Arch was anxious to see it so they said they would find out where it was. And guess what? It was behind the Adventure Bus. We only got to see one of its legs though. It lives back in the hole and only comes out to enjoy the sun on nice days. And we forgot to check on the days when the sun came out.

And then one night Becky and Lonny, who were in a site just up the way from us,were returning to their motorhome after dark. Becky opened the door and as she stepped back she heard a rattle and saw this guy at her feet.

Needless to say she screamed and jumped into the motorhome. The rattlesnake just missed her as it struck the step where she was standing. Everyone came to look. The park office was called and someone came with a cooler. The rattlesnake was placed in a cooler (after this picture was taken) and the next morning they released it about a mile from the park.

I could go on and on. We loved this park. If you are looking for a spot in Texas for the winter you won't do better than Bentsen Palms Village RV Resort.

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