Continued from last post, and concludes this week! The story of my road to Arizona hasn’t simple, or easy, that’s why it’s “sweeter after difficulty” … Dulcius Ex Asperis.

I could quote, “There’s no testimony, without test”, and “Keep digging” but this is my newest Latin phrase I’ve learned.

The Road To Arizona – continued

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Rally Point #5 – Love’s Travel Stop, Las Vegas, NV [January 10, 2023, 10:02]

The advertising billboards were “The World’s Biggest Gas Station”, and “We really are that big”.

I felt rejuvenated after napping in the car, surprisingly. My guess was a hard reset / slept hard with snoring etc. There was more hours behind me than in front of me, so I kept digging.

Rally Point #6 – Dazzo’s Chicago Style Eatery, Wikieup, AZ [January 10, 2023 12:47]

I continued to text message Scott, Sidney, and Charrina on my exodus progress.

I rolled into the town of Wikieup, AZ in time for lunch. I was in better spirits than hours before. I stopped punishing myself for my foolishness at Spanish Fork. It was a sleepy Tuesday afternoon, but I suspect EVERY DAY is a sleepy one.

Dazzo’s Chicago Style Eatery seem to promise excellent deli sandwiches. More importantly, a view of the Sleeping Maiden.

Have you seen the Sleeping Maiden of Wikieup? I have. There are many rock formations that have been given names because they looked like something to someone and it caught on. “Pareidolia is the tendency for perception to impose a meaningful interpretation on a nebulous stimuli, usually visual, so that one sees an object, pattern or meaning where there is none.” Of course, there really isn’t a maiden sleeping in the mountains near Wikieup but if your imagination is vivid, you can see her.

~ The Miner , Kingman, AZ – April 2, 2022

Rally Point #7 – The Sterling Apartments, Gilbert, AZ [January 10, 2023 15:47]

I easily found The Sterling Apartments in Gilbert. I let out a breath of relief. I smiled as I whispered to myself, “Mission complete.”

My soul felt relief.

I’m truly on vacation until my flight back to Seattle on Sunday.

Tourist Time

I started Geocaching with Ron at the first opportunity we had – the next day. He had to work so I continued to kick it up Scott, and Sidney in Scottsdale. It was fun to have no agenda, no itinerary, no time sensitive objective!

January 12, 2023 – Ron, Sidney, Scott, and I met up at Papago Park. One of the many stops is Hole-In-The-Rock.

In 1892, Charles Poston named and claimed “Hole-in-the-Rock”.^[1]

Hole-in-the-Rock is a series of openings (tafoni) eroded in a small hill composed of bare red arkosic conglomeritic sandstone. The sandstone was first formed some 6–15 million years ago from the accumulation of materials eroding from a Precambrian granite, long since eroded away. The tafoni are thought to have been eroded by water. An open, shelter-like chamber in the face of the formation communicates with the rear of the formation via a hole eroded completely through the rock. Another substantial opening exists in the “ceiling” of the chamber.

There is evidence that the Hohokam, early inhabitants of the region,^[2] used and recorded the position of sunlight shining through the latter opening to mark the seasons—notably the equinoxes and the solstices, which were marked by carving a slick area (metate) in the rock. Other positions were marked with boulders.

The formation is a popular attraction in the park. The openings and main chamber near the summit are easily accessible via a smoothly ascending path that passes behind the hill. It is also possible to climb the face of the hill to reach the chamber. While popular, the trail can be dangerous.^[3] The chamber provides a good view of the city of Phoenix west of the park.^[4] A nearly constant wind blows through the openings in the rock.

~ Wikipedia

Ron and I noticed that there were several dozen geocaches in Papago Park, with a handful near Hole-In-The-Rock. So we broke from Scott and Sidney to geocache. Lo and behold, we encountered the wife of a local Geocaching celebrity, cschooner. I’ve met geocachers in the wild, but NEVER a Cache Owner! I was geeking out so badly.

Mystery Castle, Phoenix, AZ

We kept the fun train rolling with a visit to an Atlas Obscura suggestion: Mystery Castle.

MYSTERY CASTLE WAS BUILT BY Boyce Luther Gulley over a 15 year period. The mystery in Mystery Castle, is what compelled Gulley to abandon his job, wife, and his one year old daughter and set off to build the castle.

Gully disappeared altogether for three years before turning up in Phoenix and beginning work on the castle. The Castle is said to be held together by a combination of mortar, cement and goats milk, and built from a wide range of materials including stone, adobe, automobile parts, salvaged rail tracks and telephone poles. Despite having 18 rooms, 13 fireplaces and numerous parapets, until recently, the castle had no running water or electricity.

In 1945, Gulley’s abandoned wife and daughter received a call from a lawyer. They learned of Gulley’s recent death, the first they had heard of Gulley since his disappearance, and of the castle he had built, which was now rightfully theirs.

Gulley’s daughter, who died in 2010, lived in the castle and gave tours with her granddaughter for many years.

~ Atlas Obscura

Scott and I rocked this while Sidney waited in the car. The $2 tour was informational and fun. (At the time of this writing the place is closed due to vandalism and summer storms. They probably won’t reopen)

Arizona’s Oldest Geocache – GC57

I managed to coax Scott to drive me out, and hike with me in the Bulldog Canyon ORV [Off Road Vehicle] Area in search of Arizona’s oldest, active, and most Favorite Points geocache: GC57. It’s been in play since September 9, 2000! In the early days of Geocaching, clever names and titles were not invented yet.

Since it was off-road, we parked his Charger outside the permit area, and walked.

I “got my weight up” on the various creatures and plants that could harm us, or kill us. The Top 10 starts with:

• Rattlesnakes – Arizona is home to 13 of the 36 known species of rattlesnakes!
• Arizona Coral Snake – Indiana Jones, “Why does it always haveta be snakes!”
• Arizona Bark Scorpion – While venomous, the sting of a scorpion might not kill but you’ll wish you were dead.
• Gila Monster – I’m thankful I have a stuffed animal, plush children’s toy version of this creature. DO NOT PET IT.
• Africanized Bees – Again, one stinger, not bad. An entire colony attacking you, it might be deadly.
• Brown Recluse Spider – Even in Washington State, we had a fair share of these 8-legged monsters
• Black Widow Spider – The tell-tale red hourglass emblem is the only item you need to identify. I’ve found them under rocks, etc. Be careful, not Charlotte’s Web!
• Tarantula – These are gentle giants of the spider world. Unless you provoke this arachnid, you’ll be fine.
• Tarantula Hawk – Spider wasp, it’s sting is rated at the top of the Schmidt Pain Index Scale (4.0) Schmidt called it “Blinding, fierce, shockingly electric. A running hair dryer has been dropped into your bubble bath. A bolt out of the heavens. Lie down and scream.”
• Blister Beetle – Again, not deadly, but hellish type of bite.

Scott and I learned what “jumping cholla”, (cylindropuntia fulgida) One piece jumped onto his bare leg from wearing shorts en route to the oldest active Arizona cache, GC57. We managed to remove it from Scott, but it did do it’s damage. At least we found the geocache!

To celebrate the find, we zoomed off to O.H.S.O. Brewery in Gilbert [Outrageous Homebrewers Social Outpost] Attached the brewery is a park for live music, which was playing at the time we posted up.

Seattle Seahawks Saturday x San Francisco 49ers

Scott advised me to pack my Seattle Seahawks jersey as he was taking me to Wicked Rain – A Pacific NW Craft Beer Bar for the game. My goodness! The place was as advertised. Seahawks lost to the 49ers, so we won’t dwell on it.

Thinking Out Loud

While Sidney, Scott, and yours truly was chillaxing the night before my departure, Sidney jokingly asked, “So when are you moving down to Arizona?”

I impishly replied, “Sooner than later.”

To be continued …