We love taking trips and pushing our limits. For our anniversary we hit the road and biked 36 miles from Arcosanti to a little bar in Cleator, Arizona.
The Cleator Bar and Yacht Club is a place like no other. Arcosanti is an experimental town like no other. Two places that one might not know about unless they are Arizonans and have lived here for many years, or passed the signs on the I-17 wondering "What is Arcosanti?"
ARCOSANTI
In order to celebrate our second anniversary, Aaron and I packed our bags and drove to Arcosanti, a town in Central Arizona that was established in 1970 by Italian-American architect Paolo Soleri. The town is nowhere near completion as the sprawl of uninhibited land goes on and on. If you are a Star Wars fan, Arcosanti may look familiar to you as it was said to be the inspiration for Planet Tatooine. Now, architecture, design, and art students as well as volunteers from around the world visit Arcosanti and contribute to the construction through ongoing volunteer programs.
Arcosanti has sat on my bucket list for over a decade. I'm not sure why I didn't make it out there sooner and not really sure what sparked my interest in the first place.
CLEATOR
Sixteen miles from Arcosanti you will find Cleator, a town with a population of maybe 10 dating back to the 1860s. Once a mining town, now is a known Ghost Town and a tourist stop for curious explorers. I have been stopping at Cleator for many years. It sits on a dirt-covered mountain between Bumble Bee and Crown King. There isn't much to see or do there but for some reason, I always have to stop there.
Last May Aaron and I biked up to Crown King and enjoyed a drink at the Yacht Club. But this trip was different. We knew that we did not want to bike all the way up to Crown King from Arcosanti, but we wanted to enjoy a scenic ride and stop at the quirky little bar to have an anniversary beer.
The road both ways was a little challenging. With 3,235 miles up in elevation and Aaron recovering from Pneumonia, we stopped several times to enjoy the vast openness of the desert and catch our breath. As we reached Cleator we were greeted by a group of people from various places, like us, just there to have a beer on the sand-filled patio.
We hung out for about an hour and jumped back on our bikes as ready as we could be for the ride back. This way wasn't any easier as we had to climb a massive hill but it felt good knowing that we are capable of the journey back to Arcosanti.
Our final stop was at the 76 station off of Route 69 in Spring Valley. We enjoyed a conversation with some locals and had an amazing Fresca popsicle that was a perfect treat for anyone who puts the effort to ride to Cleator and back! If you are ever visiting Arizona or live here and have yet to make it to Cleator or Arcosanti, we recommend you check it out, even for a day-trip. With less than two hours away from Phoenix, it's a fun place to explore and check off a bucket list.