It is supposed to be a grand road trip to visit lesser known national parks and historic sites. Unfortunately Congress cannot agree on a budget. The ensuing government shut down has caused more than a few headaches on this trip. Sites we intend to visit may be closed and today is no exception.

We arrive at the Casa Grande ruins to find a locked gate. I get a glimpse of the ruins from afar and have to look at photos of the rest of the park on my phone. It is supposed to be a national park day. Now what?

A quick google search tells us we are not for from McFarland State Historic Park in Florence, Arizona. With no idea what we will find, we head that way. The large saguaro cacti line the highway. We pass fields of cotton. It seems longer than a dozen miles, but …..Eventually we pull into Florence, a town that time forgot.

The state park is housed in what was one of the first courthouses to be built in Arizona in the late 1880’s. The building has also been used as a hospital, welfare center and social center. In the 1970’s Senator Ernest McFarland petitioned the state to preserve the building and promised to give them his private memorabilia. They agreed and McFarland State Park was born.

We know nothing about any of the claims to fame. I have never heard of McFarland. Turns out he was a lawyer, a governor, and a U.S. Senator. He authored a small piece of legislation called the G.I. Bill. (At least I am familiar with that piece of legislation.) After his departure from politics, he pioneered television, by opening an ABC affiliate in Arizona. See…..You can learn many things in the most remote places. We come away at least a little more informed.

As interesting as our visit to Florence turned out to be, we had a lot of daylight left. I intended to hike today, so we try a few local parks. They are small with no trails. We don’t have a fishing pole or soccer ball, so that line of diversions don’t quite work out.

Across town, we find the Neon Sign Park nestled behind a strip mall. Casa Grande preserves about a dozen neon signs salvaged from old local hotels and businesses. They are retro kitsch at its best. But the park nostalgia only takes a few minutes to visit and we find ourselves again looking for something to do.

We drive downtown streets, but businesses are mostly closed. The local Walmart provides Halloween candy, just in case we get any trick or treaters at the rv later. There are retirement communities and rolled up sidewalks.

Eventually, I ask the internet to pick a local restaurant. The fast food we pass is not appealing. Through the magic of the internet, we end up at BeDillons. It is a local restaurant inside a former residential home. They have an amazing back patio surrounded by cacti. The place is busy, yet surprisingly no one is taking advantage of the patio. We do and so we have the magical garden to ourselves.

We find ourselves dining under the stars. There is good music and a great waitress. What a find! We mention how much we are enjoying ourselves to the waitress who said, “I’ll tell Dad.” She apparently has an “in” with the owner. Within a few minutes, he appears to chat. After finding out that we were former educators, he opens a large out building full of artifacts he has collected across his lifetime He proudly invites us to inspect his private collection at our leisure and trusts us with the building. We are happy to take him up on his offer.

Casa Grande has not gone as planned. That is okay. We certainly have experienced things we otherwise would never have planned. And that is what makes travel experiences memorable. It is a good day.