Helen Comes: Superstition Mountain Museum, Apacheland, and Goldfield Ghost Town; Orienteering course Activity days

Our plans for our Thursday with Helen were to go to the Superstition Mountain Museum and see the Elvis Chapel and go to Goldfield Ghost Town. And we did just that.

When we traveled to the Superstition Mountain Museum (which is only like 10-15 minutes from our home in Apache Junction), we had no idea how big it was, nor that all of the things outside the museum is free to the public. If Sarah and I had known that, we would have gone there a long time ago.

The first thing that we did, was enter the Elvis Chapel. It's called that because the film El Charro, starring Elvis was filmed there. However, this place was actually located in Goldfield on a set called Apacheland. They filmed more than 15 Western movies in this location, as well as several Western TV shows. In 2004, Apacheland caught fire on a Valentine's Day, and they decided not to rebuild because Westerner's were not as popular anymore. Only a few things survived, including the Elvis chapel and a few other buildings. So over 3 years, 2 winters, they moved those buildings to where it is located now. And they built the museum and surrounding grounds. One of the other things they have on the grounds is a model train station that represent things in the valley and Tucson. Sarah and I want to go back on a date, because they have a scavenger hunt for this model train set. And we want to do the Scavenger Hunt. We had a lot of fun, plus this place is a lot bigger than we thought it was. So we didn't see it all.

We then took Helen to Goldfield Ghost Town, which is just down the highway.

At Goldfield we told Helen about the history of the man that was stuck in the mine and survived on animal fat candlesticks. I made some jokes about having a calm demeanor. We showed her the pictures of the man. Then we had time to go to the general store, as well as the cactus store and look at the wares that they sale. Helen bought us some Prickly Pear Cactus Syrup so that we could make the associated fudge. She also bought a little keychain purse for someone she ministers for.

We then took a funny picture of Helen in the cage, which is a staple at this ghost town. And then we took a selfie of ourselves in front of the Superstition Mountains, which is another staple of the ghost town.

Later that night, Sarah and I set up the orienteering course for the activity days. Everything almost went by without incident, which I count as a success. We found the gold plates at the end of course, and that was exciting