We left for Arizona Thursday afternoon and arrived around 5:15 p.m. Just in time for dinner! My grandpa took us to a really cool place called Organ Pizza for dinner. Let’s just say it’s not what I expected at all. All over the ceilings and walls are instruments and there is a gigantic organ in the middle. The organ has so many keys and I really don’t know how the guy could play it so well. It’s hard to explain but it was super cool. By the time dinner was done and we watched the guy play for a while it was pretty late and time to get to the park where my grandpa lives.
Organ Pizza
The next morning we left at 8:30 for a 4-wheeling trip into the mountains. We went 66 miles, round trip and went up into the mountains about 5450 feet. I don’t think we got back until about 5:00 p.m. I was quite worried about this little 4-wheeling trip being pregnant and all. I have to pee all the stinkin time and we had to pop a squat in the middle of nowhere if we needed to go. I also need to snack often so I don’t get dizzy or get morning sickness and I get so tired over nothing. But I did really well! We made plenty of stops along the way to take pictures and just see the land. It was beautiful! Pictures could never describe the beauty of the mountains. I’m quite mad at myself because I didn’t take very many pictures. Oh well, it’s all in my head. The mountains are not how I pictured them. There is a ton of cactuses, huge rocks and green bushes (most everything is prickly) and the higher you go up the more normal trees and greenery you see. When we got to the top of the mountain there was no snow but the guy I was driving with (Charlie) said there usually is snow up there and sometimes they can’t even get up that high because there is too much snow. He said it all must have melted recently because on some of the trails and creeks there was a tiny little stream of water which is unusual since they had no rain lately. After getting to the top we made our way back down which was actually easier and we stopped at “the shack” for lunch. What’s crazy is that some people were driving most of the way up the mountain in their jeeps. You can barely fit a side-by-side 4-wheeler on those trails and most of them aren’t smooth riding! I would be scared shittless to take a jeep! I’m so glad I decided to go – something I’ll never forget.
Just a little hill by the big mountains
Up about 5450 feet in the mountains! Pictures will never be able to really show
how beautiful it was and how high up we really were.
"The shack" where we ate lunch.
Later that night we relaxed in the trailer and cooked up some steaks and baked potatoes for supper. Just my kind of supper! Then we learned how to play up the river. Or is it down the river? I’m not quite sure. Either way – it’s a card game and you go up and down the river. It was fun and we ended up playing a few rounds every night.
The next day, Saturday, we headed to an authentic remnant of an old west town. Everything was set back in time (except the food of course). It was pretty cool except I didn’t take any pictures. Oops! Not too much to say about this one. We just walked through the town, watched a “shoot out” and had a snack. After the old western town we headed to Tortilla Flats which is another authentic remnant of an old west town, nestled in the midst of the Tonto National Forest, Superstition Mountain Range. Tortilla Flats was only about 10 miles from the old west town but it took us like a half hour to get there because the drive there was through the mountains and we were driving on cliffs. It was scary!! Thankfully Justen drove instead of my grandpa. There were even bridges that were only one way. So if you saw a car driving through it you’d have to wait until they passed for you to go. The scenery was quite beautiful though!
Here are a few photos at a tourist spot along the way to Tortilla Flats.
Once we got to Tortilla Flats we had lunch at their only restaurant. The restaurant is a huge tourist spot. Anyone who’s been to Mesa/Tempe/Phoenix area has probably been there. The walls are covered floor to ceiling with dollar bills with people’s names written on them and at the bar you sit on saddles, not bar stools. The bar was packed the whole time we were there so I didn’t get a chance to sit on a saddle. Ashley snuck on one when a lady went to the bathroom though. Haha
After lunch my grandpa decided to show us another “hot spot” in AZ. The ground is rock and there are indentations from where the horse and buggies had their trail. It’s amazing how the buggies could make a path through the rocks like that!
Here's the trail the buggies made in the rocks.
After our adventurous day we hung out at the park. Had another yummy dinner and then decided to break into the old folk’s billiard room. Okay, we didn’t really break in – it was unlocked. But it was like 10:00 p.m. so all the lights were off and all the covers were on the pool tables. Old people don’t stay up very late I guess. So we played a few rounds of pool and Justen and Ashley kicked our butts both times. Phil wasn’t the most helpful team member. I got most of our balls in. I should have just played them by myself. Haha. (love you Phil!) After a few rounds of pool I was going to try to get one of them to jump in the hot tub but as we got to the hot tub they were pulling the cover over that as well. Poo… things shut down early in the old folk’s park!
By Sunday I think we tired my grandpa out a little so he let us take the truck and we went to play some mini golf (in Mesa I think). We played 18 holes. I haven’t played mini golf in years and it was so much fun! It also felt so good to be outside in the sun getting a tan at the same time. After some mini golf we headed to Phoenix and ate lunch at Hooters (Justen’s pick of course). That’s when the bar hopping started. Man, it’s not very often that I crave a beer but I sure craved one then. I made Justen get a blue moon so I could have one tiny little sip and pretend I could drink with them. After Hooters we went to the Hard Rock where they had a few more drinks and that’s where I found my Arizona t-shirt. We then decided to head closer to the park and stop and another bar that sounded cool – the “what the hell bar”. It wasn’t what I expected but I guess I should have expected that. It was just a rundown bar with a ton of bikers. But they had a covered patio outside so we, I mean they, grabbed some more beers and we sat on the patio and relaxed.
By Monday it was time to go home. We woke up at 4:00 a.m. and finally got to our house with the pups around 12:30ish. I was exhausted to say the least so I took a little 2 hour nap and then got going on laundry.
Our trip was short and sweet but it was perfect! I get homesick fast so by Sunday night I was ready to go home and see my pups. Winnie had a good time at his auntie’s house and the rest of them stayed at grandmas (thank you Jewells, Max and Rita for watching our babies!).
