Sunday 11 February 2018

Cruising Canyon Lake

We have reservations on the Dolly Paddle wheel cruise on Canyon Lake today so morning happy hour was a planning session for when and where and how.  About 12:30 we all loaded up and headed to Canyon Lake.  It is about a 14 mile drive on the mountain road which leads to Tortilla Flats so we didn't mind leaving a little early so we could take our time going there.  The mountains up that way are really pretty to look at.  Not long after we got there "our ship came in" from the previous cruise.

 


They were not long loading us on board and setting sail for our hour and a half cruise.


They said the boat was full and someone said that it holds 150 people on the two decks.  We were on the upper deck right at the front.  It was a great spot.


We saw some Big horn sheep running along the side of a mountain up near the top.  I couldn't get a picture of it because it was too far away.  We also saw a bald eagle nest waaaaaay up on a mountain peak.  You could barely see the eagles head sitting up there.  The captain (not pictured here) was very good in giving us lots of information on what to look for and what we were seeing.


We saw some petrified wood deep in the mountain which was covered by volcanic activity.  Very neat to see it embedded in the mountain.


Way up the lake we saw some nice boats moored and I'm sure they are camping on board for a few days.  What a great place to spend some time.  There was some discussion on how we could float the motor homes up here for a few days.


Because they served popcorn on the cruise, when we were finished the tour, everyone threw the left over popcorn to the ducks which were gathered around waiting for some treats.


Chuck and Angie were riding with us and they had never been to Tortilla Flats before, so we decided to take them the 5 miles up the road to see it.  At least then they can say they have been there.  We showed them the hanging man..


The restaurant/saloon with all the dollar bills...


and the horse butt stools at the bar..


and finally took them for a $3.50 ice cream cone.


I'm sure if we charged that amount for our small cones at CJ's back home, there would for sure be a hangin!!!

After we got back to the Ponderosa we got ready and headed into Mesa to join Aunt Brenda and Don for supper at The Black Angus Steakhouse.  I think the world is making way too big a deal out of Black Angus meat as none of us were super impressed with the meal.  It was not bad, just not great.  We get spoiled with the good old Canadian beef which for the most part is not Black Angus.  The company was what we were there for and we enjoyed a good conversation over supper.  We will likely not see them again until next year at this time.


The view out our window tonight is the palo verde tree out our bedroom window.


Our Location tonight:  BLM near Superstition Mountain, Apache Jnct. AZ  33.4602 - 111.5085  Boondocking.


4 comments:

  1. Wow, some amazing sights for certain. The boat ride looked to be very enjoyable and very full. Glad you had a good time. Pretty tiny ice cream cone.

    Company is always more important than food. Glad you enjoyed time spent with your aunt and uncle.

    Safe journeys.

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  2. We have been to tortilla Flats many times. That is quite the road isn't it. $3.50 for an Ice-cream cone sounds reasonable to me. How much do you charge. You would die if you went to Mackay's Ice Cream in a town not far from us in Alberta. I think they share $5.50 now and there are line ups down the sidewalk all summer. It is home made but very expensive.

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    Replies
    1. Brenda, we charge 3.50 as well but give you 2 and a half scoops of ice cream. I guess you can charge what the market will bear.

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