Cactus Burgers

Another weekend come and gone. We spent time in the pool everyday this week. The temperatures reached as high as 105 one day. It's not as bad as it may sound. Friday night J and I went to San Tan Flat. This would be our 3rd time there, but our first time going at night. In which case, I've explained this place several times. We arrived there approximately at 8:00 and it was packed! It's a great place for families to go, because the adults can be around other adults and drink while the kids run wild, roast marshmallows or mess around on the dance floor. It was like a giant wedding reception or country-cornfield party out in the middle of nowhere. We found an empty picnic table near the dance floor. J placed our order at the inside window and brought back some drinks. The band, Nick Nicholson, was doing their system check. J ordered the Flat Iron steak dinner and I went with the chicken strips. Afterwards, a couple of guys asked if they could sit with us. All the tables were pretty much occupied. So we met Tim and Garrett and chatted with them for the remainder of our time there. The band covered good country songs and added in their own written songs. It was a perfect night under the stars with good music and people.

Saturday was a busy day. J and I went for a walk in the heat of the day. I took a few items back to Target then Bed Bath & Beyond and replaced them with more items ;) Got in the pool for a while, then headed in to get ready to go out for the night. We went up to Tempe Marketplace to check out Cadillac Ranch. We sat outside, had a few drinks and shared an appetizer. We left before the night club action started, but we'll be going back for that soon.

Sunday we took a drive down to Maricopa. From there we drove down past the Estrella Mountains and I think there were 4 or more other mountains we went through. We stopped in Gila Bend to check out a southwestern souvenir shop called CactusNStuff-Home of the World Famous Cactus Burgers. We were greeted by a shirtless man in his fifties holding an iced tea. He asked if we would like an iced tea and before we could answer, he yelled back to Shirley to make up two iced teas. Out they came in colorful, made in Mexico ceramic glasses. The tea sure hit the spot! We moised around for a while, I picked up a few souvenirs. I asked the old man what a cactus burger was. He told me to follow him and took me back in their little kitchen to show me the burgers with chopped up cactus in it. With my purchase I was given a free gift; a pin-cushion cactus. It was a nice experience! Onward we went, the back way through Casa Grande. You may remember I've written about the Casa Grande Ruins, however, we never actually went to the town. Casa Grande isn't that far from our house. Our Sunday drive turned out to be great. It was pure desert. We passed through the entrance of the Sonora National Park.

We ended our Sunday night with a splash in the pool, pizza, chicken wings and a great movie: "We Are Marshall".