That’s Roosevelt, Arizona – not the former President.

During my vacation in Phoenix this year, we decided to pretty much look at a map and drive to some place out of the city that we knew nothing about. Roosevelt was that place. With zero expectations I knew this was going to be a fun adventure.

About 100 miles outside of the city, we learned that this is actually the place where all the water in Phoenix comes from. There are a series of dams which regulate water for the desert region. The dam itself is quite incredible to see and it’s paired beautifully with a steel bridge that crosses the lake just in front of it.

Upon arrival at the Visitor Information Centre we learned first that there really is no town. The population is something like 30 people! When they decided to build the dam here and create Roosevelt Lake, the old town was flooded. We made the assumption that the small trailer park across from the visitor centre is home to those who work at the dam but aside from that it’s a pretty lifeless place! We even tried to find lunch at “a restaurant” down a lonely dirt road but turned around and sped back promptly to the main highway the moment we started to feel like we were in that movie The Hills Have Eyes …

Suffice to say we skipped lunch that day and opted for an early dinner upon our return to Phoenix.

Plan for next time: pack a lunch.