Alrighty then, let’s get caught up with the travel adventures, shall we?
The Chronicle last left off while still in Quartzsite, and the last day trip while there was to trek to the Desert Bar ~ official name is Nellie E Saloon ~ about an hour away outside of Parker It requires a 5 mile drive through the desert on yet another dirt, bumpy, rocky, narrow road up to an old mining camp. If you are in a Tesla sedan, just forget it. Most humans arrive via ATV, jeep, dirt-bike or side-by-side. The saloon is only open on the weekends, during the winter months and it runs on solar. Looking it up ahead of time, F&O knew it had basic booze and very basic burgers – just bun and patty – to sell. Flynn had an impression of a 3-sided desert lean-to with solar wires strung all over, solo cups, rustic benches to sit on, and of course a porta-potty. He figured not a lot of customers would make the journey, ‘cept a few desert recs who needed a cold one before heading back out.
Well, Flynn was most certainly wrong. The place was huge and it was packed. Hundreds of humans, and almost as many dogs, made the trek. There were actual indoor buildings joined by high-end decking on multiple levels (it is built on the side of a hill). There was a great band, two bars, and even a second food vendor selling higher-end meals. It was fully furnished, had bitchin’ t-shirts, and clean restrooms. Parking was plentiful, but the lots were still full so people were hiking up ½ a mile to get there. This place is run like a well-oiled machine ~ clean, plenty of seating, and lots of roofing to keep the hot sun off the paying customers. Pretty amazing for a 30 minute drive up a back-killing road, and not on the power grid. F&O would go there again in a heartbeat. Did we mention the excellent band?
The following day, F&O packed up Bebop and headed to Lake Pleasant, NW of Phoenix. Again, they were dry-camping, only this time in a Maricopa Municipal campground “Desert Tortoise”. The site and gated grounds were immaculate, and while there were no hook ups, there was water available via spigot if needed, nice looking restrooms, and a dump station. There are several hiking trails in the proximity, so F&O hit one directly from the campground ~ the Wild Burro Trail. Not a lot of pix were taken, but the trail lived up to it’s name. The intention that day was to do a mile out and a mile back, but both F&O were feeling so good they did the entire trail, about 5.5 miles. Ollie was tired and tried to call an Uburro for the last 3/4 mile but the asses turned down the fare. A second short hike along the lakefront was also completed one evening of their stay, which was a breeze in comparison.
After 7 days of boondocking, it was time to hit a full-hookup campground. After all, the freshwater tank was almost dry, and due to cold nights the propane expense was adding up. F&O had gotten the inside scoop from a Boomer acquaintance about the Mammoth Mine campground, which was still under construction but open for business, and which had reasonable rates. Let the editor tell you, finding reasonable rates in AZ is tough! Reservations were made, and the owner was flexible enough to accommodate a last minute change to allow F&O to stay until the warranty appointment for Bebop and after if needed. This campground is perfect for the critters: it has horses next door, there are only 20 sites, each site has plenty of room, and it is easy to navigate. If there is one snivel, it would be about the unreliable Verizon service. This is a small inconvenience compared to how much Flynn loves this campground. F&O even hosted a well-attended happy hour their 3rd night in. So fun, so chill. The editor would love to give the story behind the campground, the owner, his family, etc, but he will leave that up to Ollie. We don’t want to take away his fun! Needless to say, we will be returning here in the future.
To this point, F&O have only taken one hike while in Apache Junction ~ the infamous Hieroglyphic trail. This hike is 1.5 miles up to the top (no breaks), then knee-killing down for a total of 3 miles – moderate. It was hard for F&O, but the young fit studs and stud-ettes seemed to have no problem. F&O cheered on the dude with the knee brace who was running the trail with a 30 lb pack. WTF?? How?? Again, a typical desert trail with lots of large loose rock to break your ankles on, and stunningly beautiful. The reward for making it to the top is a spring and water tanks below a wall of hieroglyphics. Seems the natives were writing a novel, there are so many. There are plenty of big boulders to sit on and enjoy a PB&J, and the sound of the trinkling water was quite relaxing.
Without hiking, F&O also managed to get a few thousand steps in at the cowboy themed Scottsdale street festival. It has a real name, but frankly the editor has no idea what the name of it was. This was a hoot, and frankly the best street festival F&O have ever encountered. There were food vendors, art vendors, entertainment spread out on several stages, and tons of free things for families and kids, like face painting, street Jenga, photo booths, balloon animals, and so forth. The country band was good, the 80’s rock band gave it their best effort. ESPN was there with a block dedicated to the upcoming SB, and even one of the therapy ponies got into the spirit. For the horse folk, there were about 8 Shetlands w/the therapy program there, all dressed in different costumes. A) So cute B) Whodathunk Shetlands would make good therapy animals? (Usually cranky little s&^ts).
Last, but not least, Flynn and Ollie bring you some photos from another point of interest: the Casa Grande National Monument. They were headed elsewhere, when the sign for this just sorta popped up in front of them, so naturally they had to stop. There shall be no NP, NM, or NF they will not stop to investigate (your tax dollars at work). This monument is free, the docents were kind, and the story was worth reading. So fun!
We bring this catch-up article to you a day or two early since Sunday (the usual publish day) Flynn will be watching the Kansas City Chiefs and his bestie Patrick win the Super Bowl from a seat in a local poker room.
It’s windy here, but the bird and otter are still going to try to hike. Don’t need to get any chubbier!
Fin
Flynn