Yes Virginia, there is a Christmas Arizona.

I had commented that I would like to ride over to Christmas, AZ during our visit with our neighbors, Steve & Glenda.
We had heard of a road closing in the area and weren't sure if it was even possible to do this.
Steve found out from his brother that we should be able to get there, so a plan is born!

Upon further googling we read that there is no longer a town since the mine closed many years ago.
It is still someplace to ride so why not check it out!
If you want to read about it, check this link out: Christmas, AZ
We will only have two bikes today since Bev and Ken are on their way to Mexico.

Steve has it mapped out so we are ready to ride about 10 am.
The sun is shining and it is a beautiful day to be on a bike.
We fill the bikes up with gas and we are off to find Christmas.








We make our way to Superior and Steve turns off at the visitors center.
Our first executive decision of the day was made at that time.
We are heading back to grab some food at The Buckboard City Cafe.
Not only was it a place to eat but the location of the Worlds Smallest Museum.
You just never know what you will find on these bike trips.

What a great place to eat.
They serve breakfast and lunch and we all chose breakfast.
The food was very tasty.
A place I wouldn't mind coming back to for sure!





Of course we had to check out the museum before we pulled out.
Since it was the smallest museum it didn't take too long to see everything.






One thing I found interesting was the pieces of old barb wire that they had on display.
It was from World War 2  and came from Chandler, Az.
Apparently they had an internment camp for the Japanese that they held during the war.




I found some information on it here: Arizona Internment Camp

















Back on the bikes we head towards Christmas.
The road was absolutely flawless.
The saguaro are everywhere.
We hit a few areas with 10% grade.
















The area was and still is active with copper mines
I for one hate the way the mines destroy the beautiful mountains and the area around them, but I understand.













Steve pulls over at the little town of Winkelman, AZ, and I go inside to get something to drink.
I asked the clerk which way to Christmas.






She didn't blink an eye and pointed to the Highway Patrol car that was across the street, and to go that direction.

The clerk also told me to tell the patrolman that we wanted to go to Christmas, and they would let us go.
You see the detour of the road was in that direction.
Of course when I walked out I had to announce to our group that Christmas was already over!!!
Couldn't resist it.

Back on the bikes, we make our way across the road.
The highway patrol lady gets out of her car to see what the heck we are up to.
Steve talks to her and she had no idea where Christmas was even at...LOL

She says the road is closed for blasting, but since we only wanted to go about 8 miles up, there was no problem with that.
What a wonderful stretch of road.....All brand new, and no traffic.
We felt like we owned it.

All of a sudden we see Steve's brake lights.
I look to the right, there was the sign we had been looking for.....not on the highway, but on a turnout....with a nice toilet facility.  CHRISTMAS

Not what I thought we would see, but hey we are here, so it was a photo op for sure.
Have to prove to everyone we were here.
Notice we didn't take a pic of the toilet..LOL

Pictures taken and we are on our way back to Winkelman.
Steve stops and tells the police officer that our mission was accomplished.

As we set sails towards Florence, we see a lot of small little towns along the way.
We pass the sign for the Biosphere 2. 
So many places to check out....but that will happen another day!

The whole ride was great. 
The scenery is awesome.
I don't think you could ask for a better ride to Christmas!!!
Thanks to our new friends Steve and Glenda for leading the way.
Our little trip logged about 170 miles today and so many memories.