Wandering to Special Places

During my wanderings I have been to some very special places. Almost everyone has heard of the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, etc., but some are not very well known and not too many people have visited them. Today I want to talk about a place I found by word of mouth. Maybe everyone else had heard of this place and one of its special desert dessert treats, but not me. What, do you think I live a protected life? (grin)

OK, guess you thought that I didn't know which way to spell the word I wanted, so I typed both desert and dessert above. No, it is correct. Although there is surely more places, this place is the only place I have heard of that sells a dessert from the desert. Yep, prickly pear ice cream, and is it GOOD!!!! We are going to go to Tortilla flats, Arizona this morning and have some of their goooooood BBQ and a prickly pear ice cream cone. Sounds good to me, let's go. . . .

This place is special, not just because of the ice cream, but because of the scenic views and twisting road that takes you there. I suppose that I am the only person in the world that hadn't heard of Tortilla Flats in Arizona'a Superstition Mountains. Have all of you heard of the place and have any of you been there?

We are starting the trip by heading north out of Apeche Junction on route 88, here we go:


One of the many curves, some of which have deep drop-offs without any guard rails:

Looking down on Canyon Lake from afar:

A closer look at the lake:

And looking across the lake at the water line:

Destination in sight. See the little yellow star? Right below it is Tortilla Flats. Look close, it is just a little village:

Look, we made it!! Now we stop and have that BBQ and go over to the General Store and get some of that Prickly Pear Ice Cream:

Another view of the place:

Heading back out the way we came in. This is a view of the lake from the other side:

Almost back to Apache Junction:

Now, wasn't that a nice trip with some good eats? Maybe some day I can meet you there and we can haave some of that prickly pear ice cream.

You can pick on the pictures to enlarge them.