With a 23-year old here for two whole weeks, I was afraid she would be bored to death but she seemed to like sitting on the back deck watching the desert during some excellent, finally-cool fall days. We spent one day driving into the heart of Phoenix to see The Mystery Castle. It was definitely an unusual structure built in piecemeal fashion with whatever its builder could find over the years. It was my understanding during our rather rushed tour that the owner was actually an 
architect who when he thought he was dying, deserted his family in Seattle, WA, so they wouldn’t have to experience his death.
He settled in Arizona and regained his health but rather than re-uniting with his family, he started this stone castle built of native stone. He died in 1945 but his daughter did eventually come here to live in and maintain the castle. She gave tours and told his story throughout the years and died in November of 2010. Boyce Luther Gulley was referred to as “The King” of the castle and his daughter, Mary Lou Gulley, was during her years there, referred to as “The Princess.”
The castle consists of “18 rooms, 13 fireplaces, parapets and many more charming nooks and crannies, furnished with southwestern antiques.” Although it is referred to as a “fairy tale,” I always 
think of fairy tales being stories with happy endings and I feel this was a very sad one.
But on to a happier and longer visit at the MIM. I’ll tell you about that next week. God Bless until next week.
Minshall’s RVing Alaska and Canada (A “How to” and “Why not” book) is available thru Amazon.
At 45, Widow Minshall began 20 years of solo full-time RVing throughout Alaska, Mexico, and Canada. Sharlene canoed the Yukon, mushed sled dogs, worked a dude ranch, visited Hudson Bay polar bears, and lived six months on a Mexican beach. She lectured at Life on Wheels, published six RV-related books and wrote a novel, “Winter in the Wilderness.”
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