Sunday & Monday - December 18th & 19th - Phoenix Mystery Castle & Traveling

Sunday we toured Phoenix's Mystery Castle. It was very interesting. Below are about half of the photos I took. Read about it at:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_Castle 

The road into the parking lot is on the right. We didn't inquire about the mule wagon rides but others who did said that they were offering short rides or an hour long tour of the area.

Boyce Luther Gulley moved here, from Seattle, and built this place. He came to die in seclusion after being diagnosed with TB in the 30's. He was given 6 months to live. He died in 1945. 

Modern facilities available for tourers.  Mr. Gulley's daughter, and her mother, moved here after Mr. Gulley's death. She had indoor plumbing installed in the Castle in 1992. The castle contained 13 fireplaces. I saw no evidence of any central heating.

The bed in the photo below is

 the guest quarters, it is on rollers. It rolls out using the tracks embedded in the floor.

From the parking lot.

After a stop at for gas and groceries we headed home for the rest of the day.

Today we traveled from Phoenix to Cathedral City, CA, 265 miles. Traffic wasn't bad and pavement surface was mostly good. When we left Phoenix we were at elevation 1,100. After a series of ups and downs we hit a high elevation of 4,750'  (east of Tucson we had been up to 5,000'). Than, after more downs and up, we reached a low point of 30' below sea level. Cathedral City is about 330' above sea level.

We topped off with fuel in Quartzsite, AZ, about 20 miles from California. We paid $4.17/gal. We have seen fuel prices in CA from $5.39 to $6.19. 

Something quite foreign to us Midwesterners is the "inspection stations" at state lines, one between TX & NM and this one between AZ & CA. 

The dust was interesting. It looked clear as we were driving along but the dust clouds dimmed the "mountains" in a distance. Our noses detected dust infiltrating the coach, even with the heater set to recycle, but it was not terrible. There actually are two distant "mountain ranges" partially obscured by the dust.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours.