February 23, Boulder Canyon Hike

Up at 6:00 in the dark, 8.6C, 45F but it is forcast to be ANOTHER beautiful day! How boring.

At 8:15, 7 of us set out on the 7 mile (one way) trail - we were not planning on doing the whole trail, just as far as we want to go.

It is an invigorating 2 hour jaunt to the first vista, steep on the way up and very scenic - the scenery is different around every corner!
Below us is Canyon Lake and a large Marina, which is where we started
. There are boat tours on the Dolly Steamship that go out of the Marina.

Diane seems to be asking "Where are we" as she looks at the trail map!







By 11:15 we were back at the trailhead, ready to continue east on Hwy 88 to Tortilla Flat - a famous place to eat out in the middle of nowhere - and it was packed!

There are saddles to sit on at the bar and dollar bills all over the walls. Prior to 1906, this location was a welcome stop for travellers on the Yavapi Trail which connected the Tonto basin with the Salt River Valley. In 1906, the trail, now known as the Apache Trail, was completed as a freight road for the construction of the Roosevelt dam. Tortilla Flat became an important water & supply stop on this road. The Apache Trail is now Arizona State Route 88, but Tortilla Flat remains a welcome stop.


The other hikers returned home, but Marcel, Diane & I continued east on Hwy 88 to the dam. It was about 30 miles on a dirt, washboard road, but by 3:00 we reached the dam and pavement!  Completed in 1911, at a cost of $10 million, it was the largest masonry dam in the world for its time with a height of 280 feet (84 m) and a length of 723 feet (216 m).



From there, it was highway all the way back to Mike & Diane's.

February 22, Mining Camp Restaurant

We had reservations for the luncheon at the Mining Camp Restaurant, which is a neat place! http://www.miningcamprestaurant.com/ 

It is a great venue, great food & very well organized. Mike & Diane enjoying BBQ ribs, roast chicken, ham, baked beans, coleslaw & roasted potatoes!

Entertainment was provided by the "Amazing McNasty Brothers", who were hilarious.

The Mining Camp is in the shadow of the Superstition Mountains - beautiful setting!







From there, we went to Bashas' Gallery of Western American and Native American Art. It was quite the amazing place with a HUGE collection of oil paintings, watercolours, charcoal drawings and bronze sculptures.
Next, we stopped off at the Chinese market - there is a large Chinese population in Phoenix. It is amazing what people will eat!
Last stop was at the Mexican market, which was fascinating also.

February 20 - Moving Day

Today is President's Day in the US and Family Day in some provinces. It is also moving day for us, leaving Val Vista Village and moving 2km down the road to Palm Gardens. We walked there this morning to check out our site, then packed up.

After getting settled in, we went for a walk around the park, which is lovely, except we can't get Wi-Fi at our site, even with the antenna! Will have to go to the Clubhouse.





Some people are very imaginative & talented!

The pool is gorgeous, and warm! The weather has been chilly in the mornings, bur warms up nicely by the afternoon, 75F

February 16 Superstition Mountain Wilderness Hike

Up at 6:00 with the alarm, then off to Leisure World to meet up with the hiking group.


Approaching Superstition Mountain in Apache Junction.

At 8:25, we started out on First Water Trailhead, then went left onto Second Water Trail. The trail crosses a rocky creekbed, then weaves through the hills.






Some of our group had stopped and returned to the trailhead, but we continued up to Garden Valley (we think!) The scenery is amazing as we made our way back to the trailhead. We estimated this hike was about 5 miles!




There are so many trails through the area!

After lunch, we went to Scottsdale for the Arabian Horse Show. Saw many beautiful horses practicing, being shown and getting washed down.

All in all, another wonderful, busy day!

February 15 Usery Mountain Hike

Marcel, Diane & I went to Usery Mountain Regional Park to hike.

We started out to do the Cat's Peak Trail, somehow ended up on the Spillway Trail, which we took to the Levee trail, to Amigos Wash, over to the Noso Trail and back to the trailhead. It is amazing how many intersecting trails there are! It was more of a nature trail than a hike, but most enjoyable, just the same.

On the way out of the park, we saw 3 hawks perched at the top of a saguaro cactus.









Went back to pick up Mike, then went to Queen Creek Olive Mill, which is a working Olive orchard. http://www.queencreekolivemill.com/  They produce all kinds of products made from olives then the by-product (skins & pits) are apparently spread on the roads to keep the dust down.

February 14 Valentine's Day

Weather has turned cold! Walked around the resort wearing lined pants & a sweatshirt! At least the clouds blew away & the sun came out.

Didn't warm up much throughout the day, then in the evening it rained! Just enough to wet the ground and cause a rainbow to appear briefly.

February 13 - Moving Day again!

We were sorry to pack up & leave Meridian RV Resort.

Our new site in Val Vista Village.

After getting settled, we were off to Mike & Diane's for dinner. Mike had arranged for a rep from the Canadian Snowbird Association to make a presentation - very interesting topics such as the rights of Canadians travelling abroad.

February 11

This morning we went to Leisure World (where Mike & Diane live) to attend a 'Senior Expo'. There were over 150 displays with lots of freebies! After visiting all the booths and having ice cream, we sat outside enjoying the sunshine.

Friends Margie & Jim invited us all for dinner & a game of Mexican Train. We had a great evening.

February 9, Pinnacle Peak Hike

Today we were up with the alarm at 6:00am, with the outside temperature 10C.
At 7:00, under clear skies and 12C, we were off to Mike & Diane's for a hike with her group.

We started out at 9:30 on a moderate hike with an elevation gain of 1300 ft. The trail has a smooth tread, being packed dirt, with a number of ups and downs over the course of the 1.75 mile (one way) trail. It is not a loop trail, therefore we have to return on the same trail that we went out on.  The high point of the trail is 2889ft, and the low point is 2366ft.




The views were wonderful, especially the golf course with its green grass! Stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the desert landscape.

We stopped at "Grandview" to take photos and zip off pantlegs in the 80F sunshine.

By 10:36, we reached the highest point, which, unfortunately was not even half way.

The winding trail ahead of us......

At this point, I wouldn't mind a dip in their pool!

At 10:45 we reached the end of the 1.75 mile trail, now to head back







Got back to the trailhead at 11:51, ready to head off to Greasewood Flat for lunch http://www.greasewoodflat.net/ It was certainly a 'different' restaurant, very rustic!

Yes, those are dollar bills pinned to the walls & ceiling! We ordered inside and ate outside on picnic tables.

February 8, Telegraph Pass Trail

Up at 7:00 & off to the rec building at 8:45 to meet the hiking group going to Telegraph Pass Trail.

10:00 we started at the trailhead in South Mountain Park with 19 hikers.







We went up a rocky trail.....

And made it to the top

What goes up must come down, and we went down the switchbacks. Along the way, there were some petroglyphs. The valley surrounding the South Mountains were home to the Hohokam, an ancient people who successfully farmed the Sonoran Desert for more than a thousand years. Scattered throughout the South Mountains are animal & geometric images that were pecked into stone outcrops & boulders at least 600 years ago.

At 12:08, we returned to the trailhead, then it was off to the Elephant Bar in Chandler for lunch. Great service & great food!

Back at Meridian, we had tickets for Lou's Rib Dinner ($5.00 per person) at 5:00.

Following supper was a wedding reception to which all resort residents were invited. Just our luck! The groom was the son of long term residents from Washington State & they were footing the bill!  Busy day!

February 6, Moving to Meridian RV Resort, Apache Junction

Spent the morning doing laundry and packing up to move on
.

At 11:40 we were heading east. 20km later, we arrived at Meridian RV resort, which is a much smaller (250 sites) resort with only RVs, no park models. http://www.meridianrvresort.com/  

 

Once we checked in, we were informed that the ice cream social takes place at 1:00 and don't miss it! You get 2 big scoops and various toppings for only $1.00. Can't beat that for an introduction to the place!

It has a beautiful free-form pool, complete with a waterfall & hot tub.

Now to find our way around yet another park........

February 5, Superbowl Sunday

We were invited to Mike & Diane's for dinner, along with some of their friends.
Of course, the guys watched the game, & we watched the half-time show while enjoying pizza & Mike's extra-garlic caesar salad! Delicious.
Great company.

February 4, Great Canadian Picnic

Since we were leaving tomorrow, I went picking grapefruit. Managed to collect 9 nice looking specimens!

At 10:00, Mike & Diane picked us up to go to the 60th Annual Great Canadian Picnic, which sounded like fun. It was advertised as "try your skills at hockey, curling, snow-boot relay, bean-bag toss and calf roping". Overall, it was OK, just not as extensive as we had expected, especially for the 60th !

 Diane tried her hand at calf roping.




From there we went to the Musical Instrument Museum, where I thought we would spend an hour.

 http://www.themim.org/  Boy, was I wrong! There were displays of instruments from every country in the world. We were there for 3 hours, and still hadn't covered it all, but we were looking for food as we had missed lunch. It was an amazing place! Everyone has headphones & experiences state-of-the-art audio & video that brings to life the sounds & sights of these instruments. There was a room of instruments that one could play.

Some were more interesting than others!

Then, it was off to "Big Earl's BBQ" in Scottsdale for some supper, which was delicious!.