Rocky Road to Globe

With the missus and chillins out of the house, it was time to get out and explore Arizona. Except… there was no where to go and no one to see. So when in doubt, choose somewhere you’ve never been. So I got in the car and started driving east… right through God’s own Lego pile.

When you live in the Valley of the Sun, you tend to forget the most important thing… you’re in a valley. So to get out of it, you have to cross a mountain at some point. In this case, the Superstition Mountains bar the way east to Globe, Arizona, which is the mining capital of Eastern Arizona.

To those of you not from the great southwest, in Arizona History, they teach the Five C’s: Copper, Cattle, Cotton, Citrus and Climate. Guess what, this is where they strip mine copper, out in the middle of the mountains. In exchange, I got to drive through some of the most beautiful valleys I’ve seen in this desert!

So it takes an hour and a half, I managed to follow Route 60 all the way to Globe, which is part of the “Tri-Cities…” which is really just one big mining town after another. The strip mining I saw was one of five different mines I saw there. A lot of driving up and down along the way. The place I was hoping to visit was closed (no real surprise), but I was hungry, and I kept looking for a restaurant.

Now before I go on, let me explain. In Arizona, we’re still allowed to eat inside the restaurant, allowing for 50% capacity. However, each municipality gets to set its own restrictions. Apparently, Globe being a mining town is very… (ahem) union-majority. So no dining-in was available. Therefore I ate a very disappointing Taco Bell (is there any other kind?) meal followed by lots of peanuts.

However, there turned out to be hidden gems in Globe. For example, there was a city park which had an ancient village with a museum (both closed) called Besh Ba Gowah. From what I could see of it, it looked pretty sweet. Probably dates back five to seven hundred years, but I didn’t look it up.

Also, the city park (empty – because it was 113 degrees outside!) was really beautiful. You could see all the mountains I passed through to get there. Anyway, I had to make a choice at that point. Either go back the way I came, or take the road east of the Superstitions to Payson, where I knew I would find my goal. So I decided to go to Payson… but that will wait for another post.

Where have you gone on a whim? Tell me about it in the comments below!