So what’s a “tontorican”?

Perhaps the time has come to explain a little about the origin of TONTORICANS. We came up with the name to describe ourselves, half-time residents of TONTO Basin, Arizona, and half-time residents of Costa RICA. You probably wouldn’t guess that from reading this blog since I have only focused on life in Costa Rica. So, here is a little about life in Tonto Basin. Tonto Basin, Arizona, is in Gila County about 83 miles or 1-1/2 hours from downtown Scottsdale. Although it is still desert, the temperature remains a little below that of the Valley and drops a great deal more at night. We’re live about 5 miles from Roosevelt Lake, on the east side of Tonto Creek. Because it is located in the Tonto National Forest with close proximity to the lake, Tonto Basin has become a popular destination for outdoor loving people, especially fishermen, hunters and ATV enthusiasts. There seems to be an ever-increasing number of retirees and weekenders settling down here. So how do we spend our time? Well, we like to garden and I had great success growing tomatoes this year, as well as several types of peppers (see photo). Our peach tree was fruitful and made a lot of local birds very happy. I think they are currently finishing off the grapes. The 2 apple trees had a few small fruits on them when we left. Nothing yet on the plum and nectarine – perhaps next year. We play shuffleboard at the Butcher Hook Saloon a few times a week and started playing every once in awhile at Cactus Flats as well. It’s common for friends and neighbors to get together for BBQs (see photo). There are also miles of dirt roads and trails for ATV riding. And of course there is the lake. It’s close enough to the Valley for a day trip and there is a modern motel, the Tonto Basin Inn, if you decide to spend more time here. There is also a grocery store, a hardware, and 2 gas stations. Several bait shops and restaurants. The town is still small enough to be friendly but large enough to accommodate most needs.