Phoenix

Spent last weekend in Phoenix. The state park was full at noon so went to a very noisy K.O.A. campground . It was clean and people were friendly. Sat. I toured Taliesin West , in Scottsdale . The winter campus of the late architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Was an interesting 2 hour tour. Beautiful site , but I forgot to take my camera, so no pictures.

The next day I was up bright and early to try and get a campsite at the Lost Dutchman State Park. My site under the superstition Mountains in the Sonoran Desert. Those jumping Cholla cactus seem to follow me everywhere... Was a much nicer campsite . Met the same young couple here that where at the K.O. A. asked me to there site for a drink. Hey, I had to be friendly didn't I? nice wine. Supposed to be a fabled lost gold mine somewhere in this park , hence the name , "lost dutchman". Lots of hiking trails, and the wild flowers were everywhere. Was very hot , so I got out my lawn chair and read a book in the shade of the cactuses , a hummingbird kept buzzing around me. Thought my colourful hat was a flower, I guess.Monday, I stopped at Biosphere 2 which is north of Tucson and had a tour of the large sealed glass building that was the home for two years ,of 10 people who took part in a self sustanabilty experiment. Again it was very hot outside and really hot and humid under all the glass . It wasn't a real success. I sure wouldn't want to live in those units. I won't be signing up for the moon habitat living.

Drove the 30 miles of dirt road to Jacquie's , as came in the back way from Tucson. The donkeys met me in the laneway.

Hiking in the high desert.

Last Saturday, my daughter led a teaching tour to an archeology site near Pomerene, on the San Pedro River. We drove part way through a ranchers' fields, over a few dry washes,until we came to a large wash that we couldn't navigate the truck over. We left the truck there but the others were travelling in this:::: So they could cross the boulder strewn wash and the next mile to the site. The person in the back is sitting on a lawn chair ,that she assured me was bungycorded to the floor. Still didn't look too safe to me but guess it beats walking through the prickly cactus fields. We walked a mile from there to the site and two miles back as we got a little lost . It was in the 80's.

Sunday ,it was again in the 80's and Jacquie led a group of 8 to another site . This time we could drive all the way again through rancher's fields. ( a lot of gates to open and close) Over the San Pedro dry river bed to the base of a high cliff. Imagine, carrying water and food up this steep cliff. Life must of been very hard then.

I am standing on the top of the cliff looking down and across to another cliff. It is a long way down to the river valley . Here we are measuring distances between the stone house walls on the site. Part of the "site stewart " program. I just wandered around looking for pottery sherds, that I had to replace in the same spot. It's very strange touching something that another person made and used, possibly a thousand years ago.

Today, Sat. we went to another site with another group of interested locals. Seen some agriculture fields made up of piles of stones. Supposedely the stone piles protected the agave cactus roots from wild animals rooting them up and collected the dew and rain water. Then we walked to the 2 villages on this site. The walk was treacherous because we had to walk through a "Cholla forest" to get there. The Cholla cactus are know as the "jumping cholla" for a very good reason. Come within two feet of them and somehow they manage to stab you., We all picked big spines out of our shoes, jeans and shirts during and after the hike.

Crossing the wild poppie covered desert to the Cholla 's

A close up of the mean cactus.

After all this strenuous hiking and cactus spine removal, we had a wonderful potluck lunch at the home of one of the hikers. Great day... except for those darn chollas.

California Trip

Marissa , part of the reason for my trip to California. She looks like a sweet little 10 year old. Don't let the smile fool you.. She is a card shark and a no holds barred Monopoly player.
Back to the trip. Left Cascabel around 9 am. Friday 27th. We headed north, 30 bumpy miles on the dirt road to San Manuel. Thank goodness for a paved road the rest of the way to Oracle, passed the Biosphere, joining the I 10 north of Tucson. Thought we would bypass all the construction and detours in and around Tucson. Not sure if we saved any time but we sure took the more scenic route. We changed onto I 8 at Casa Grande and followed that Highway

to Yuma. Desert all the way and temp in the high 70's. Transfered camping equipment into Paul's car and went off to a well deserved lunch at the Olive Garden around 2.

I left Jacquie shopping until Paul got off work and I headed north. Lots of R.V. sites in Yuma but lots of campers scattered around everywhere in the desert. Looked pretty hot out there to me, but the price is right... I. 8 highway runs parellel to the Mexican border, so of course the border patrol has a checkpoint. Traffic stopped back a couple of miles. On each side where large sand dunes. Gave me something to look at as I inched along.

Drove alongside a lake named Salton Sea. Lots of agriculter in this area. Almost got sprayed by a crop duster plane that was flying back and forth over the highway, at one point it flew so low over the highway that it went under the power lines . Passed Palm Springs and a few Malls and Casino's. I didn't stop, honest. It was starting to get dark so stopped for the night in Beaument.

Left early the next morning as was a little worried about the drive through San Bernardino. A really busy highway that winds up through a mountain pass. A pretty drive but unfortunately had to keep my eyes on the road. Boy , drivers are nuts in Cal. Had arranged to meet Paula and Jim at a mall in Lancaster. I was 2 hours early, and that was a good thing as it took me almost that long to find the mall. Turns out it really is in Palmdale. I know that area very well now... Spent the rest of the day following them around while they got there grocerys , etc.

Sunday was hot, had a lovely day with the family and of course played Skip Boo with Marissa and lost. Thought I would be sneaky and give her a new game she wouldn't know (but I would) I won the first game of Rummy Cube but that was all.... Then it was on to Monopoly . I was bankrupt in no time.

Left for Yuma Monday morning . This time came home a little different way from Cal City. Passed Edwards Air Base , through another desert area with lots of cactus and no passing areas. The drive down to San Bernardino was a bit scary, Seems like mileswinding down hill at 45 mph but only me and a few trucks were doing that. I stayed in the truck lane all the way down. Car drivers are nuts... Had planned on shopping in Palm Springs but after that drive just wanted to get back to some small highways with saner drivers.

Joined up with Paul and Jacquie later that day, (they never did camp )and we had an early supper in Yuma and Jacquie and I headed towards Phoenix. Arrived at Pauls sister's place about 9 that night.

Next day ,Tues, we drove the hour to a Phoenix hotel that Jacquie had a few meetings to attend.

I went to one session and decided it was boring , so sat out by the pool and read. We left there in time to hit the rush hour traffic. Stopped for food half way to Tucson and walked out of the restaurant after waiting for a waiter for a long time. ( (((D0 we sound grumpy and tired ))) got a sub instead and hit the road again. Decided to drive through Tucson, detours and all and head for Benson. That way we would only have 10 miles of dirt road to deal with on the way home.

Well , in the few days we were away,the road went from bad to downright undrivable. Top speed was 5 m.p.h. Everything shook. We were glad to get home...

Spring Flowers

ok , so there are only a few flowers, but if you click on the picture and enlarge it you can see them. Cam, the dog, is sniffing around them. Everytime I tried to get a close up, my shadow was in the frame. Also I was trying to stand on a steep slope. After a few cool nights seems we are back to sun and warm weather. Rah...

Friday, we am driving to California City Cal. by way of Yuma. Will leave Jacquie there , and get her on the way back on Monday. Going to see one of my favorite grandaughters. She always beats me at games , Kids as just too smart these days.

Valentine's day

Happy Valentine's Day to all. It is cold today. sunny and windy. Frost last night. Supposed to warm up again next week. I hope so. I am looking out for the animals today and tonight. Jacquie has gone to Tucson to meet Paul and stay over night at his brothers. So far the dogs have escaped and run off for a couple of hours. Not good to do on the weekends as the hunters are out on State land shooting at anything that moves. They came back looking tired but happy. Than the U.P.S. delivery truck came up the laneway and left the gate open. I hope the donkeys didn't take the opportunity to make a fast escape out to the road. They hopefully where in the back 40 when that happened. Will know at feeding time as they don't like to miss a meal. Then a chicken managed to get out of its run into the dog run and couldn't figure out how to get back . So chased it around for awhile before I caught it and carried it back to its own area. Have to lock them up at night as the coyotes are out and about every night . Guess they have young to feed as well.
So much for lounging around doing nothing.!!!!

Snow

Woke up to this white stuff this morning. What is going on ? It is not supposed to snow here.

The mules don't seem to mind the cold or snow. The natives and visitors aren't too keen on it.

heat and rainbow

Have had a couple of weeks of heat. Not complaining, been to Tucson as well. Seems to take a whole day to leave here, navigate the bumpy road. Make stops in Benson , at the dump,and the feed store., Then on to Tucson with a stop at the recycle bins. Then the grocery stores, lunch, and this week Jacquie had a meeting at her work office. I did a little wandering around while waiting for her, Then a stop at the pet store for dog food . Headed back to Benson for a few extra things at the grocery store and the hardware and by the time we got back home it was starting to get dark. Time to put the hens in for the night.

Rained last night. Still cloudy today, but the sun does peak out. supposed to get much colder this week. I am getting used to the heat so hate to hear about a cold front moving in. Am becoming a real wimp about cold weather.

This roadrunner visits everyday. He runs so fast and looks so funny. Just like in the old roadrunner cartoons at the movies.