South of us, a beautiful rainbow.

North of us, an apocalyptic sunset, or is it the mothership arriving?!?!

As the sun dips down, the colours of the sunset amazed everyone.

The photos don't do it justice, the site to see in person was jaw-dropping.

And then there was blue sky.

Today we decided to go to Tortilla Flats accessed via Tonto National Forest.

The landscape is amazing with rolling hills, green desert and cactus.

This has to be some of the nicest desert landscape I have seen in a long time.

Who knew there was such a large lake in the desert.

Many people are in kayaks and paddle boards enjoying the calm water.

From a distance, this looked like a nose sticking out of the desert.

Arrived at Tortilla Flats - ready for lunch.

Stopped into the only restaurant and got some takeout food. We decided to head back to the lake and eat in peace.

The Old Dutchman - "Arizona's most celebrated scoundrel".

The birds and a paddle boat passed by as we had lunch with Cody outside.

On our way back, we stopped to take more photos.

And more photos.

Weavers Needle in the distance.

Why do people have to vandalize things.

And more photos.

And more photos.

I am so glad we did a day trip out into the desert to see Tortilla Flats. The scenery is beautiful and virtually untouched for centuries. If you are in the area, add this to your bucket list. Tortilla Flats: https://www.azcentral.com/story/travel/arizona/road-trips/2021/03/11/tortilla-flat-az-things-to-do/6816111002/



Goldfield Ghost Town - just outside of Apache Junction and on the way back from Tortilla Flats.

You can tour the gold mine and enjoy the old ghost town.

Lots to see, a few things to do. Like a train ride, mine tour and ghost tour.

The layout is like Heritage Park in Calgary, but free to access and walk around.

As you walk the street around the mine, you get a sense of what it would have been like in its day.

Perfect ghost town with an amazing mountain view.

This is an actual lift used in the mine to transport people and goods.


It was free to walk around and dogs on leases are welcome. It's a great stop to hit on your way back to Apache Junction/ Mesa for ice cream and a bathroom break. I wanted to do the mine tour, but it was getting later in the day. We may come back sometime to do the tour and train ride (I am a sucker for train rides). Website: https://goldfieldghosttown.com

Hello Christa - so good to see you!

Stopped in to El Caro Villas - the place looks the same.

Still all the issues I logged are not taken care of.

Fence and gate are in, but not to the promised design.


I am so glad we sold our home and left before the new development around us was completed. I will say, the Board of Directors should have presented the legal documents governing the project, they would have had the right landscape, walking path and gate oh well, their loss, I'm glad to be gone.

I can't believe how green the desert is right now! We hare between Tucson and Mesa with green as fast as the eye can see.

Welcome and check in at the KOA office.

We have a large site with outdoor kitchen and patio. Great for the moderate Arizona climate this time of year.

Cody enjoying the shade and light breeze.

Sun setting wile Darrel enjoyed the Brier.

Small and not a lot of sites. Some of the campgrounds have 2200 sites in the area. Yuck!

Mesa/Apache Junction KOA:

https://koa.com/campgrounds/mesa/

• Campsite #71 - $81.40 per night (before the KOA discount and points redemption)
• Pool, Laundry and dog area (not great)
• Far from Mesa as you are literally on the far edge of Apache Junction

This KOA is on the east edge of Apache Junction and is about a 35 minute drive to PHX airport. There are restaurants, food stores and shopping within 1.5 miles of the campground. The campground has crushed granite for the parking pad and camp site and is dusty. We upgraded to a patio site as the weather was forecasted to be 26 deg C. We used some of our KOA points for $50 off our stay. I would stay here agin as it has great access to the rural areas and I can get to the airport in reasonable time. I think some people will find this to be too far outside of Scottsdale/Phoenix area.

Tags: AZ

Finally made it to the Pima Air & Space Museum.

Great exhibits inside and out, all dog friendly.

The museum is a must see if you are in the area.


Dick (Richard) Lerner was a great friend of mine who I met while serving our community as a Director on the Board. Dick was instrumental in bringing forward kindness, forgiveness and progress. Dick worked in the Aero Space industry and would share how his worked helped develop some of the technology still used by aircraft manufacturers today. I am sorry I was not able to tour the museum with Dick, but I am glad I got to finally visit, think of him, and see all the cool airplanes.

Visit the website for more information: https://pimaair.org