So once more into the DANGER ZONE I go. For I am here and that is where I have been, but now it is time to go find me again. By the time you read this you will not know where I am and I will have no idea where I am. But the next time you hear from me I will be where I was and that is where this whole thing started some months back. But that will be a story for another time since I am not there yet I can only write about the present since I have no idea when I will be there, but I know where I have been and that is what this is all about is telling where I have been.
I have been busy trying to find a bottle with a message in it. I found plenty of bottle and even a few cans, but no messages and I am not sure about the PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE, but I may have an idea about that by the time I get to where I am going. I am not sure how long it will take to get to where I am going since I have a few stops along the way. But I am sure that some where along the way I will find me.
So it was off to Tortilla Flats for a day of picture taking, doing touristy stuff and just generally relaxing. Every time I am out this way I always go to Tortilla Flats. It is about 25 miles from where I stay and it is a fun drive through the mountains and on the way you go by Canyon Lake.
The restaurant has great food and the bar has saddles for bar stools and unfortunately no stirrups so it is not wise to consume COPIOUS, {now that is a word!!!!!} amounts of alcoholic beverages for a couple of reasons. First, no stirrups means no way to hang on and second there are a whole lot of curves and two single lane bridges on the way home!!!!!!!!!!!! Therefore unless you come equipped with parachutes, it is recommended that alcohol be consumed in small amounts so that you do not attempt to straighten the road out!!!!!!!
This next little tidbit comes under the heading of INTERESTING, BUT USELESS INFORMATION. If you have to go to the men's room, which some of you won't for obvious reasons, just go see John Wayne!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have taken the liberty or literary license or drivers license or fishing license or whatever license to include some information about Tortilla Flats.
Tortilla Flat is a small unincorporated community in far eastern Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. It is located in the central part of the state, northeast of Apache Junction. It is the last surviving stagecoach stop along the Apache Trail. According to the Gross Management Department of Arizona's main U.S. Post Office in Phoenix, Tortilla Flat is presumed to be Arizona's smallest official "community" having a U.S. Post Office and voter's precinct. The town has a population of 6. Tortilla Flat can be reached by vehicles on State Route 88, via Apache Junction.
Originally a camping ground for the prospectors who searched for gold in the Superstition Mountains in the mid to late 1800s, Tortilla Flat was later a freight camp for the construction of Theodore Roosevelt Dam. From this time (1904) on, Tortilla Flat has had a small (100 people) but continuous population. A flood in 1942 badly damaged the town, resulting in many residents moving away. Today Tortilla Flat is made up primarily of a small store and restaurant, which were constructed in the late 1980s after a fire consumed the existing store and restaurant on the same site. Several hiking trails into the Superstition Mountains begin near Tortilla Flat.
Based on available records Tortilla Flat got its start because of the road construction to Roosevelt Dam in 1904. There was a need for a stagecoach stop for freight haulers on their way to the construction site at Roosevelt Dam and Tortilla Flat served that purpose. Shortly following the construction of the road, Roosevelt Dam became a big tourist attraction. At that point Tortilla Flat was a stage stop for tourists and mail carriers through the 1930s.
The name "Tortilla Flat" originated from the cowboys who used to drive cattle from Globe to Phoenix. While in Phoenix, rancher Mr. Cline and his fellow cowboys celebrated their sale, and, having a little too much to drink, forgot to get supplies while they were in town. They ended up with only flour to make tortillas when they camped at the flat and were stranded.
Forest Service records show Tonto National Forest being established in 1905 as kind of a "package deal" with the Salt River Reclamation Project. The Forest Service was needed to manage the land and protect watershed for the dams because cattle grazing had denuded the land. The freight camp at Tortilla Flat, as well as the other camps along the road to the dam, were, therefore, on U.S. Forest Service land. Folks who decided to make Tortilla Flat their permanent residence kept up the lease on the land in later years whenever it came due.
Well, now it is on to the HEART ATTACK GRILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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