I got the directions off their website, but was open to suggestions, so when my dad showed me his atlas and said, "Hey, this road is a shortcut," I responded, "Let's do it."
And thus began our adventure.
We were traveling on the Apache Trail going east from Mesa past three lakes: Canyon, Apache, and Roosevelt. As we drove along the very windy road, my parents kept saying things like, "I remember going on this road with my parents. It scared me to death." Why, you ask? Well, because for over 22 miles it is an almost one-lane
dirt road through mountainous switchbacks. Not for the faint of heart (SEE 1st PICTURE).My sister-in-law, Marne, who was following us in her minivan was scared out of her wits. We were up high on the rocks with sheer drops and blind turns. Apparently, she kept saying, "We're going to die!" Alissa, bless her faithful heart, answered repeatedly, "No, we're not." You always need someone to believe in you.
At one point, I thanked my dad for the great adventure. I told him I had looked online for a Jeep tour that would take us into the back country, but it was expensive ($45/person), so I'd ruled it out. Imagine my delight when we actually passed one of the Jeeps from the tour company parked at a scenic view area along the route. My dad saved me $225!
We went through washes and bumped along the road and saw beautiful scenery and finally made it to the Roosevelt Dam which is a piece of nostalgia for me (SEE 2nd PICTURE). My dad drove along the dam for many years as part of his mail route and my brothers and I would frequently accompany him. I'm telling you, that road to the dam and over it is downright scary and I have had many childhood nightmares about the dam breaking. The old dam is actually under water now because they built a new, higher one near it and let the water build up and cover the old one, but we could still see part of the road he used to drive on (SEE 3rd PICTURE).
Finally, we got to Tonto National Monument (an hour later than it took us to return home along the route I'd originally chosen) and after soothing our nerves with much repeated berating of Dad and laughter at our fear, we enjoyed the hike up to the cliff dwellings and the food we'd packed (especially the graham crackers covered in frosting). A great day!
2 comments:
Wow, that is quite the adventure. When I talked to mom all she said was that Marne was really freaked out by the road. Sounds like a fun one though.
ok, to be fair, i have never driven even to flagstaff on my own. i have never experienced this kind of driving, and had no idea what i was in for!! i kept telling your dad i did not sign up for this!! it wasn't the dirt road that freaked me out so much as not having any control over what was off the side of the cliffs!! i feel much more confident in my driving ablilities after today, though i'll tell you!! it was fun, looking back, very far back!!
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