Traveling the Apache Trail

The hubby said he was told we had to do the Apache Trail when we were in Arizona. I googled "Apache Trail" and sent the info to the hubby. He was like we totally have to do this. To be completely honest, I looked at bits and pieces of the Apache Trail to do last year but I figured the hubby wasn't all about dirt roads. Guess I was wrong.

The Apache Trail is a 50 mile stretch of Arizona Route 88 with the last 22 miles of it being unpaved. It is a short drive from Phoenix and there are plenty of stops along the trail if you want to stop. Once you hit the end of the Apache Trail, there are several options to get back to Phoenix including the way you came.

Our first stop along the Apache Trail was the Goldfield Ghost Town. The hubby wanted to see a Ghost Town last year but he wanted to see a real ghost town and not a tourist trap. Goldfield was a hip happening back in the late 1800s when it was a booming mine town. Once the mining dried up so did the town. It is your stereotypical Ghost Town with a saloon or two, a general store, a gunfight in the middle of town every weekend. You can take a mine tour, pan for gold, take a train ride, and hit up a museum. Since the hubby isn't into the whole touristy thing (most days) we did none of that. I would suggest actually taking at least the train ride or mine tour (my picks if we played tourist)
We did stop in the general store for some postcards and a sheriff's badge. Someone has to tame the West.

After stopping briefly at the ghost town, we continued our journey to Tortilla Flat. En route we traveled through the Tonto National Forest. This is a very scenic drive and entirely paved. As you travel through this section of the Apache Trail, you have views of Canyon Lake. There are several spots for hiking and boating as well. We stopped for some photos of Canyon Lake at one of the overlooks.

Shortly after Canyon Lake, we came into Tortilla Flat. A town of six residents and about as many buildings. There is a general store and restaurant. We had lunch at the restaurant and saloon. They are known for their burgers and chili. The hubby had a burger and I opted for a brisket sandwich. Both were very good. The entire place is plastered with dollar bills of people who ate there. The women's restaurant was worth a visit too. I was disappointed we didn't get a chance to have prickly pear gelato at the general store but we were too full.

A couple miles out of Tortilla Flat the pavement ends and you have 22 miles of dirt road through the Superstition Mountains. 22 miles doesn't seem like all that long...except when you are going 10-15 miles an hour around hair pin turns and switchbacks next to steep canyon. The ride is not for the faint of heart. There are a few spots with large pot holes but for the most part the dirt road is well maintained. If that's not bad enough, you also have one lane bridges over ravines and washes.

I understand why the hubby was told we had to take this drive. The views are amazing. However you are literally in the middle of nowhere. Cell service is pretty much non-existent. There were plenty of other people on the trail even on a Monday just case we ran in to trouble.

At the end of the Apache Trail is the Roosevelt Dam. There is a parking lot and a walkway describing the history of the dam. It is not as big of the Hoover Dam but it's still impressive.

Then we drove 70 some miles back to Phoenix through the Tonto Forest on regular paved roads. It wasn't all that exciting of a drive once you get off the Apache Trail.

Would I do it again? Sure if I had a dune buggy. The hubby says no way and not because it was nerve wracking. He didn't like the bridge we had to go over to head back to Phoenix. The Apache Trail itself was fine. Getting home was the problem.

I suggest if you are ever in Phoenix and don't get motion sick, take a drive on the Apache Trial. It's worth seeing.

1173. Visit the McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park in Scottsdale

We had time to kill before meeting some friends for dinner. I told the hubby we might as well check out the McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park as we will going right by it. I grabbed the address 7301 E Indian School Road which we were on. After driving past where the park should be, I look it up in Googlemaps and turns out it was on Indian Bend Road and we were only a short distance away.

McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park is a huge public park that as the name suggests has trains. Besides trains, there is a carousel, several play grounds, and plenty of green space in the middle of the desert. There is a nominal fee for the carousel, some of the trains, and buildings. However, what we wanted we wanted to see was the Model Railroads which was free.

We headed over the Model Railroad building which was a short walk from the visitor center. There are signs pointing you to the different areas of the park which was nice. Inside this large exhibit hall are three giant model railroad displays. Each display is ran by volunteers from different area model railroad clubs.

Each exhibit is a different gauge of model railroad -- N scale, HO scale, and O scale. Unlike the Paper Valley Model Railroad Open Houses, you can actually walk completely around each display. Each display is over 1000 square feet of model railroad designs.... and boy are the set ups intricate and different.

Also on display is an itty-bitty Z-Scale railroad set up. Z scale is the smallest of the model railroad scales. It reminds me of the micro-machines my brother had growing up. It was the first time I've seen Z scale.

The hubby was absolutely floored by the sheer size of the model railroad. He could have spent hours in that building. I'm surprised I got him out as easily as I did.

The McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park is definitely on our list to return to when we come back next year. I would like to explore a little more of the grounds and see some of the trains. If you are ever in the Scottsdale/Phoenix area check it out. It is definitely worth the stop even if you are not a train enthusiast. The carousel and green space is great for kids of all ages.

2019 Baseball Stadium Tour -- American Family Fields of Phoenix

The hubby and I headed back to spring training again this year. It is a break from the cold and snow of Wisconsin. We wanted to see the Brewers as well. We planned on seeing them a few times both home and on the road.. along with the Dodgers.

Our first day in Phoenix brought us to the newly renovated American Family Fields of Phoenix otherwise known as Maryvale Baseball Park. We got to the park relatively early and since the minor league players weren't in camp yet there wasn't much going on. All the practice fields were quiet. They didn't look much different than last year.

They did add giant statues of all the retired numbers plus Uecker and Selig on the walk up to the gate and a new sign welcoming you to the American Family Fields of Phoenix.

The press boxes are above the gates. While we were waiting we saw Uecker enter the press box as well as the Bill Schroeder, who waved to the crowd.

The Brewers may have done a multi-million dollar upgrade to their spring training complex but that was mainly for the players. The fan experience really wasn't upgraded. Yes, they took out the bleacher seats and gave us stadium seats but that's about it. There is still very limited shade in the stadium, which is not good if you're a pasty white Midwestern that has some issues with the heat. Luckily when the heat got to me, there was shade to stand in. However, there is no shade in the seating bowl. Maybe they will upgrade that next year.

Our friendly beer man

Food options really didn't seem to change. They wanted $9 for a scoop of mac and cheese. It was really worth of $5. The best part was the free samples of kettle corn. For some unknown reason the Brewers really love to unscrew the cap to my water and keep it... this does not bode well with a klutz. Luckily I didn't manage to spill or knock of my bottle of water.

Since we were at spring training a week earlier than last year, we didn't always get to see the "big names." However, Yelich played all the games and we saw Cain, Shaw, Moose, Thames, and Grandal at least once. Hader pitched two games. It was great seeing all the big names getting in the game for at least a bit.

Being close to the bullpens, we got to see Hader and company warm up. You know you've got a big time pitcher when you hear the "whomp" of the ball hitting the glove during warm-ups. Hader delivers a big whomp.

Hader warming up

Despite not having a lot of shade, it is still a nice park to watch a game especially if it's not too hot. We will be back next year and hoping it will be another winning season this year.

2393. Go the Union Pacific Museum in Council Bluffs

The hubby is a big train fan... freight trains, passenger trains, model trains. He likes them all. When planning our trip to Arizona, I knew we would be going right by the Union Pacific Museum in Council Bluffs, IA. Since we had some time to spare, we decided to stop.

The Union Pacific Museum is only open Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays 10-4 each day. It is free but donations are encouraged ($5/adult, $15/family). We tossed a few bucks in the donation box and grabbed a map.

The museum is in the old library which if for no other reason, you need to check out the building itself. You enter on the ground floor and the exhibits are on floors 1 and 2. It is not a big museum. It can easily be done in 30-60 minutes. It doesn't matter which way you go through the floors as they are a giant loop.

On the first floor which is the main exhibit hall, we learned how the transcontinental railroad was built, viewed some of the artifacts from Lincoln's rail car, and artifacts from the days of rail travel.

Lincoln's car and the china was neat to see. I liked being able to walk through the "mountain" and attempting to blow a hole in the mountain. Other than that it seemed like a lot of reading and not enough interactive exhibits for me.

The second floor consisted more of modern rail travel. The hubby got to "drive" a train... okay so he learned how to drive a train by a computer but didn't actual get to steer or brake. I thought the whole getting to drive the train was lame since you really never got to drive it even with the help of a computer. You could also attempt to pick up a piece of rail. Again not too interactive.

Overall, I wasn't overly impressed with the museum. The hubby, on the other hand, loved it. I don't know if I was just tired and not feeling a trip to a museum, even if I suggested it, or it was just that boring. However, if you have a train enthusiast, big or little, it was worth checking out.