Tortilla Flat, AZ

Yesterday, hubby suggested we go to Tortilla Flat up in the Superstition Mountains. He was off and thought I could use a day out of the house. I jumped at the chance. It was a perfect day, sunny with temps in the low 70's. It had been a long time since we had been there, before the twins were born and I was eager to try out our new Dodge Caravan on one of the funnest roads to drive arguably in the whole country. Oh, I had great fun yesterday! Andy white-knuckled most of the drive, with him looking down the sheer drop on the side. The desert was beautiful, just starting to green up after the December rain we had. Canyon Lake was sapphire blue, but I bet it was cold! I can't wait for the kids to be old enough to take there swimming, and have a barbecue lakeside just like my mom used to take me when I was little. I loved the drive through the mountains, steep and twisty with hill crests that make you think that your about to drive right off the top of the mountain. We made it to Tortilla Flat just before the lunch rush, and we all had some great burgers and fries. Tortilla Flat has a tradition of hanging dollar bills that people have written a message on, and they cover every square inch of the walls and are now creeping across the wooden rafters on the ceiling. There is a lot of foreign bills also; a lot of tourists from Europe especially like to come to Tortilla Flat. We even saw a bill posted on the wall from Zimbabwe; it had a denomination of 250,000,000! There was no message written on it, but that sort of spoke for itself. Tabitha and Tommy had a good time and were very well-behaved, except when we parked them in their strollers too close to the wall and they were ripping the dollars off the wall. We tucked them back behind other dollars because we think it is bad luck to take them. After lunch, we took a stroll to Tortilla Creek, which was still flowing over the road from the rainfall a couple of weeks ago. It is fed from natural springs, and snowmelt from the north. By the time we went back to the car, I heard them calling parties at the restaurant so there must have been quite a wait to eat. We arrived at the perfect time; no waiting for a table, and the service was fast! After we did Tortilla Flat we decided to go on to Fish Creek Hill, some 7 miles further down the road. I found that since I had last driven there the road had been paved most of the way there now. Still, the last 2 miles were still dirt, and at some points so narrow only one car at a time can drive on those parts so that makes it extra exciting. You have to try to keep a lookout for traffic coming and plan accordingly to be able to pass on the wider parts, and some of those other drivers are noobs at windy mountainous dirt roads and they drive without planning about those things. I'd rather stop at a wide point when I see them coming and wait for them to go by, than have to back up on a narrow blind curve with a straight drop down on the side. That's a little too exciting even for me! The best part of going to Tortilla Flat is after the excellent drive there, is the equally excellent drive back. It was the best time I have had in a long time!