I guess I'm just not that big of a fan of cactus.
That was among the things I learned during my recent spring break trip.
I'd love to be able to regale you all with exciting tales of my travels, just as my friend and co-worker Shannon Spears Harris did after her recent trip to Europe, where she and her husband visited something like 47 countries in four days. I'd love to wow you with tales of French museums, German coffee shops, ancient Greek ruins and historic cobblestone walkways.
But alas, my travels only took me to the Greater Phoenix Metropolitan Area. My only stories are of mining towns and cactus and flea markets and desert wildlife. And Canadians. Lots and lots of Canadians.
The purpose of my trip was to visit my father, who spends his winters living in the Towerpoint Resort in Mesa, Ariz. My dad is what you call a "snowbird," a term given to retired Northerners who travel to warmer climates during the winter months.
Towerpoint features hundreds of mobile homes and RVs lined up, one after the other, along neatly lined streets. But don't call it a "trailer park" -- the residents rebuff the term, and the descriptor really doesn't fit, at least by the local understanding of the term. Many of the homes have so-called "Arizona rooms" attached to them -- permanent structures that increase living space. All are well-manicured with cute, but modest, landscaping and decorations in the small area in front of each unit. A central recreation facility features swimming pools, meeting rooms, shuffleboard and bocce ball courts and a ballroom, where dances are held regularly.
And the license plates on the cars throughout the resort tell the story of who lives there. You see plates for Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and Montana. I saw people from both Dakotas, as well as the Pacific Northwest. But the largest contingency was clearly from Canada -- the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and "Beautiful British Columbia" were all represented in abundance.
My dad told me Canadians actually make up a majority of the resort's population -- so much so that when he meets someone new in the park, he jokingly asks them, "So what part of Canada are you from?"
Our stay in Arizona was mostly about visiting my dad. But we did take in a few tourist sites. At the Phoenix zoo, we saw giraffes and lions and tigers and the usual zoo fare. We visited a re-created mining town called Goldfield, where we bought pottery pieces that were crafted on site. We drove into the desert along the Apache Trail, visiting the Roosevelt Dam and some Native American cliff dwellings at the Tonto National Monument. We spent several hours in the largest flea market I've ever seen.
And we saw a ton of cactus.
At first, the cactus was super neato. I remember the first couple of plants we saw soon after our arrival. "Hey look! Cactus! Cool!" we all said to one another.
But I soon learned that a little cactus goes a long way. Even though we visited a state park where we learned the different kinds of cactus, from the saguaro, to the teddybear, to the prickly pear, there's only so much cactus a guy can take. By the end of our trip, I concluded that I much prefer the lush landscape of the East, with our green grass, tall leafy trees and corn and soybean fields, to that of the rocky terrain, cactus plants and gravel-filled yards that prevail in Arizona.
The other thing I learned on spring break is that I really love to eat. I think my favorite part of our trip was the food. If anyone finds themselves in the Phoenix area, I highly recommend two eateries. One is Organ Stop Pizza, located in Mesa, where customers are entertained by a giant Wurlitzer organ while eating some excellent pizza. The other is San Tan Flat, a Western-themed restaurant located in Queen Creek, just southeast of the Phoenix/Mesa area. San Tan Flat offers "all the fun of camping, without having to sleep on the ground" -- truly a one-of-a-kind experience.
All in all, it was a good trip. I've never had a true "spring break trip," and it was nice to go someplace warm where we could swim, relax, see a few sites and visit family.
But it's also good to be home. I just hope it warms up soon. I don't expect Arizona weather, but this is ridiculous.
aweld@blythevillecourier.com