Lovely drive, mining towns and horses

Today started as a type of day that you just wanted to jump in the car and go exploring so that is what we did. Fifteen miles out of Florence to highway 60 and a turn right toward Globe and off we went. The area turned from desert to beautiful valleys between the Apache and Pinal mountains. This entire area was big in cooper and gold mining and the open pit Pinto Valley copper mine is still operating. We passed through small mining towns like Superior that is struggling to reconstruct their historic part of town to try and attract tourism.  Further down the road we passed through another mining town of Miami. A little further and we were in the town of Claypool and finally Globe where we had lunch and turned around to head back to Florence.

Back in Florence we had to make a stop at the post office to pick up any mail we may have as well as to change our address as we will be leaving here on Saturday and moving into Mesa. After the post office stop and before heading back to the campground we stopped at The Arizona Wild Horse and Burro Adoption holding area. The animals are trained by inmates from the local prison and are available for adoption in March.   

 Downtown Superior Arizona

 A Lot of closed store fronts

Nice Palm trees in town

 Pretty bushes as well

 The once famous Magma Hotel is getting a makeover

Total makeover to try and bring tourism to the otherwise dying town 

The building as seen below needs SOME work

 She is looking at a nice patio area at the La Mina Bar and Cantina

 Auctions every week

                                                                         Beautiful bloom

                                                                   Bob Jones Museum

Further on down the road we found this pretty church in Miami Arizona

                      Back to Florence and a look at the Wild Horse and Burro Adoption yard

Another awesome sunset

The view of the desert from our RV includes the RV across the street.  Our neighbors, across the street, however have an unobstructed view of the open desert. So tonight we joined them behind their RV and enjoyed this beautiful display.

Hiking in Gold Canyon Az

Today's hike was a bit tougher then we figured because it was over a lot of rocks and twisting an ankle was a real possibility. The hike was 4 1/2 to 5 miles round trip but entirely uphill the first half. The reward was the hieroglyphs on the rocks at the end.

A view of what was ahead of us when we set out, up the entire way. 

 The view to our right

 More of the trail as we continue up

Almost there

 View from the top looking back down the trail

 Again looking back

 End of the trail

Some of the hieroglyphs we came to see

Where can we find some snow

We ventured out today to locate some snow, where do you find snow in southern Arizona after the last four days have been record setting days with temperatures in the high eighties. The answer of course is Mt Lemmon. Located on the east side of Tucson the mountain rises to 9100 feet and is home to the small town of Summerhaven as well as Ski Valley and the Iron Door Restaurant. Mount Lemmon is the highest point of the Santa Catalina Mountains and the ascent to the top is along the Sky Island Parkway which is part of the national scenic byways system. Our trip included the 55 mile drive to Tucson and then the 28 mile trip up the mountain, it was a beautiful drive. 

The disappointment came when we arrived at the summit and discovered that everything was closed. We had hoped that perhaps the ski lifts were operating, as they do in some ski areas during the off season, and we were looking forward to the Iron Door Restaurant. Still it was a great day and it beat going to work.

Overlooking Tucson to the southwest

A rare overcast day 

Continuing our upward climb

Can you spot the climber?

How about now?

Now

Plenty of Color

We thought we needed some color in our lives today so off we went to visit ‘The Patio Store’ in Florence. There is so much color there that you need sun glasses. Outdoor living areas are really big down here and people spend a lot of time on their patio’s therefore stores like the patio store are so popular.

Another record setting weather day here, I think it is the third day in a row now where temperatures have set high records for this time of year. A cool down is on the way however, highs in the mid 70’s. Oh well it is what it is.