Arizona: Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Catalina State Park, Lost Dutchman State Park
1670 Miles Total
Monday, Feb. 6 - Casino Royale
Got a later start than expected -- a good snow had Bill plowing everything before departure. Finally on the road around 10 am with a stop first to meet with Pam for the Tucson Gem and Mineral show guides. Amazing how we drove out of the snow after about 20 miles south. And of course we’re hungry now so needed to get a delicious Sonic breakfast burrito. Took the Gallup Route 491 (666) thru Shiprock. Stopping at the Post Office I fed a very hungry dog 3 bags of Ol’ Roy (it’s what I do). So on we went, me knitting kitty blankets the whole way (would rack up 5 this trip for the Humane Society). Rolled down non-stop to Phoenix to the storage place which we now see, in the dark bright of the full moon and street lights, a rock-crushing/dust-making plant and a continuous cloud of dust. Oh great, that’s thick. So with the vehicle washing booth we washed first the truck and then the trailer, so thick was the dust layer. Now shiny yet dripping, we’re on the road again the quarter-mile to Wild Horse Pass Casino where we would spend the night. In the parking lot. Among the semi-trucks. And as it turned out, numerous other campers. Went inside for dinner at the 24/7 Cafe, very good, but the smoke of the casino was just too much for me to be tempted to roll the dice in the High Roller section at 3 am; so alas we went back to the trailer about 10 pm satiated on burgers and alcohol. Lights out by 10:30 but really? It was so bright there I couldn’t tell.
Tuesday, Feb. 7 - Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument celebrates the life and landscape of the Sonoran Desert. In this desert wilderness, you may drive a scenic road, hike a trail, camp beneath a clear desert sky, marvel at magnificent cactus, or soak in the warmth and beauty of the Southwest.
And that’s what we did.
We woke early (still bright, is it 4 am or 7 am?) and took off quickly to the west, thru the desert on Maricopa Road. First a stop at what else, Walmart, and all I could smell in the parking lot was cow manure. Naturally Bill said I'm nuts, but a mile down the road there were all cows and their respectable piles. I'm not nuts, I’m Super Nose. Can smell them miles away. Case closed. Manure Wal-Mart. So ok, off we go west, then south, past military post Barry Goldwater bombing range. Feeling safer as we near the Mexican border -- there was a border patrol checkpoint just before Pipe Organ Cactus National Monument where we planned to spend the next two nights. Twenty more miles south we reached the monument, and it was there I learned we were just 5 miles from Mexico. Thoughts of border patrol reality shows flashed thru my mind... and yet, we were in the middle of nowhere. The volunteer ranger said, “well, they will probably steer clear of park trails, but if you see one, they’ll probably want water, and make a note of where they were so you can report them.” Said she’s never had an incident, but she’s only been there since December. (Though she had seen signs of them.) All the while, this is the visitor center named after one young man ranger who was killed there in the line of duty in 2002. Alrighty then. As it turned out, we never had a clash with the other side. Just a bunch of old people in their big white boxes. With the loudest generators this side of the border. There were no reservations taken at this place so we got in line and got to pick a spot looking at a chart -- we chose an end, spot 95 (of 200) and had a good view of, well, of the desert between us and Mexico. #95 for $6 a night thanks to my senior escort. Once we set up we took a bike ride down the hill to the visitor center (riding back up was another story) where we learned all the particulars previously mentioned. Then we attempted some of the Puerco road trail but wasn’t long before Bill got his bungee cord tangled in his tire and he pooped out. I was flying by at a blazing 2 mph, uphill, when he said he’s turning around, and I said can’t stop now, gotta get to the top! and so I did and when I saw it tuned back to gravel and still went uphill -- OK I turned around and flew back down. Heart tickin’ like a rabbit. Dinner in tonight -- not much around except Ajo 20 miles to the north and Lukeville on the border so dining at the Armored Hot Dog is the place to see. nice night. I think we hit the slabs by 8:30 and slept 11 hours. Life is good.
Wednesday Feb 8 - Organ Pipe & Happy 1st Anniversary Armored Foot Long
Activity day. After fiddling with the Nikon and the instruction book for a few minutes (found a fish-eye and star filter for in-camera editing, way cool), we headed out on a hike thru the desert to the Victoria Mine. A mine from the late 1800s and by the looks of it someone is trying to find more there now. Beautiful 5 mile hike through the desert.
Of the five main paths, easiest reached is the 2.2 mile route across a cactus-covered plain to the foothills of the Sonoyta Mountains and the site of Victoria Mine, a center for sporadic gold and silver excavations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Ruined stone buildings, rusting pieces of iron equipment and sealed-off mine shafts can be seen, but perhaps the main attractions of the hike are the abundant Sonoran Desert plants en route, and the expansive views across Sonoyta Valley into Mexico. Lesser used paths continue further up the mountains to two other mines (Martinez and Lost Cabin) - locations that used to be more easily accessed via the road to nearby Senita Basin, though this has been closed for several years because of problems with illegal immigration, the international border being just 4 miles south. Victoria Mine is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, as one of the oldest prospecting sites in southwest Arizona.
The desert is really quite interesting when you’re walking in it. Saguaros all around, organ pipes, ocotillo, and poppies and lupine blooming all around. Even some green grass so they must have had some moisture this winter. Walked around the miner’s store house ruins and around the area. Perfect day, cool temps, light breeze… Next on the activity list was the Ajo Mountain 20-mile drive across the street. Sounded boring, but dang, it was a pretty drive. At the base of the mountains it was very green, studded thickly with saguaro and organ pipe. It was a one-way loop, and as we approached the base of the mountain we would be driving, we see a Border Patrol car coming down the lane with his blueberries and cherries flashing. WTF? We made way for it to pass and Bill said he saw a captive in the cage!!! whoah! illegal red alert! (Note: After returning home we DID see a reality border patrol show which showed smuggler scouts using Ajo Mountain to survey the whole area... with AK47s.) Really enjoyed the drive, after that. It was a full moon this night and Billy was feeling it. “Let’s take a walk” [at night] he said, “WHAT?!” said I. So we walked the campground loop when next he said, “Let’s walk in the desert.” WTF? said I. NO WAY -- have at it! vermin and bandidos are out there, no thanks! He went on a little ways and I went back to the silver fort. There is something to that full moon thing. I just lived it. (But I wonder if he’d do that again now?)
Thursday, Feb. 9 - head to Tucson BEADS, Catalina State Park
Got an early start to head east back to Tucson for three nights at Catalina State Park, and driving up and down Oracle Highway in traffic. Bill is ready to sell the truck if he has to drive it one more time. We hit the show in south Tucson at Kino Sports Park after taking Highway 86 east to Tucson, the Ajo Highway, with more beautiful desert. Talked him into going there before heading north to the campground. That was a lot, tent after tent, rocks and beads and, well, cowhides from Wisconsin and I got one. I know, weird, but I liked it. After a few hours there I’d had enough so we then went to find Stone Cactus which had a fountain we liked (saw it on our last trip to Arizona at the Boice Thompson Arboretum). Liked one enough to buy, but we’ll have to come back Saturday to pick it up. Finally we headed up to the state park. This is a really nice park, and fortunately we had reservations, because the place was full. We were in spot B-9 near where we were last time. This campground has electricity so no loud generators like Organ Pipe. Went out to dinner at El Charro Cafe on Oracle. I liked it, Bill not so much. Yes the margs were a bit weak but I thought the food was very good. And super garlicky salsa -- excellent.
Friday, Feb. 10 - Catalina, Tucson
This was my big day at the bead show, hoping to miss weekend crowds. Decided to start at the convention center -- big mistake. Not only were there barely any beads (mostly jewelry) but it was freakin’ kid field trip day and crawling with rug rats! I didn’t last there long and walked a few blocks there downtown to the Days Inn where there was another show. More beads here, but nothing outstanding. Room after room converted to rock showrooms. Kinda the same thing at every booth. But I did get some beads. And no one tells you what they are, nothing is labeled. Oh well, buy by color and shape. While I did this, Bill went to the Pima Air Museum and saw all the old cool airplanes. I missed it! Darn! Next time. I called him back early (actually I didn’t realize he was going there) but he drove me back to Kino for a more thorough combing of the tents. This time he went to the Depot and got a new faucet for the trailer. Back on the busy highways and a stop at Trader Joe’s (more old people standing in the middle of aisles) so we got out of there as fast as we could. I don't think I'll ever see Bill making an extended stay in this place again. He is DONE with traffic. Beautiful day today, not too warm, but warm enough, maybe mid to high 70s. Feasted this night on our Trader Joe’s provisions.
Saturday, Feb. 11 - Catalina, Tucson
Now being done with the shows, we took a morning bike ride on the trail along the Oro Valley. Very nice, wide, paved trail off the highway and behind businesses and homes, along a wash. We did a 12-mile ride and the day couldn’t be more perfect. Came back and got cleaned up then back out into the big busy city again (yay!). I got to Kohls and then back downtown to pick up the cactus. By now the car said it was 83 degrees and I was frying in the truck waiting for the Stone Cactus guy to pack up our 5-arm Fence Post fountain, which even the hummingbirds might enjoy. Can’t wait for spring to see that. Back home to Catalina again, Bill again sick of driving, I went to Ross (surrounded by these chains, gotta go go go). For dinner we went to The Keg, a nice steakhouse near the park. And it was on the way there that I got the iPhone message that Whitney Houston had passed away today. RIP Whitney.
Sunday, Feb. 12 - Lost Dutchman, Apache Junction
Time to move on again. We left our quiet, beautiful Catalina and headed north to Apache Junction and the Lost Dutchman for two nights. We took the Pinal Pioneer Parkway, a nice drive through the desert, saguaros all around.
From Oracle Junction north of Tucson to Florence, this 42-mile section of historic US 89 (now AZ 79) is known as the Pinal Pioneer Parkway. Crossing the high Sonoran desert, the road is lined with ancient many-armed saguaro cactus and forests of chain fruit cholla. Black Mountain dominates the view to the east and in the distance are the the Tortilla Mountains. To the south, the peaks of the Santa Catalina Mountains rise to over 9000 feet. At the mid-point of the drive is a memorial to the cowboy actor, Tom Mix, who died in a car crash nearby in 1940. Historically, the Pinal Pioneer Parkway was part of the main road linking Phoenix and Tucson, so driving the road today gives the motorist a small taste of what that journey was like before the era of Interstate highways.
The closer we got to Florence, the more sheriff and highway patrol cars we saw. And then we started to see the bikers. Apparently today was the annual Florence Prison Run. How do we ever time these odd things so well??
For the last 25 years, the Florence Prison Run has been a show of support by the Brothers still on the outside for all of the Brothers who are unfortunately under the care of the state on the inside. The run was started in 1983. Running the prison was a way for the locked up Brother to feel and hear the presence outside and know, without a doubt, that he was remembered. Now hosted by the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club of Arizona, the event starts at several different meeting points around the state where packs of riders meet up and ride down with the different Hells Angels charters.
Well, it was early in the day so not much wild action as we blew by and on to Apache Junction. Set up at spot #32 at the Lost Dutchman and had a perfect view of the Superstitions. And another picture-perfect 60s blue sky day, a little breezy. When at the Lost Dutchman, why not cook in the Dutch Oven? And it's chilly out, so it's chilli night! We made a huge pot of it, not bad, considering we are very new to this cooking method. Bill did most of it; I just handed over ingredients. Good project, need to do this more, tho he whined a lot that he would prefer we made dessert. Gimme a break, we are fat pigs. No can do. And since we had full hookup with electricity and water, it was Grammy Night! Party on. PS: Saw a roadrunner today.
Monday, Feb. 13 - Last night at Lost Dutchman, Apache Junction
The weather people keep saying that we are going to get rain soon. But today is another beauty day. A day for a hike and we’re headed 10 miles around to the other side of the Superstitions for the Peralta Trail. 2.5 miles up a 'moderate' (elevation gain of 1,350) but rocky trail to a great overlook of Weavers Needle (elevation 3,766'). Lots of elderly on the trail -- looks like we’ll be doing this for years to come if we don’t make dessert in the Dutch Oven too often. Even some hearty dogs were plugging along (cruel if you ask me, but no one did). Beautiful views up there as the clouds rolled in at the top. It started to get cool so we headed down quickly. We came back and Bill started packing for the trip home, and later attempted to install the new faucet -- but of course he got the wrong part from the hardware store and had to run out yet again for another. So much for planning ahead. However, while waiting for him at the first hardware store I noticed the big sign for BEADS on a run-down building and walked over and sure enough, looks like a great place! And… it’s closed on Monday. Story of my life. Not open until 10am Tuesday; tomorrow when we’ll be gone. Oh well, next time. After all this activity, the faucet was finally done by 8pm, I’d made the guacamole, and then it was dinner time. Tomorrow we will head for home.
Tuesday, Feb. 14 - Happy Valentine’s Day
Woke to gray skies in Arizona. What is that? I’ve only seen blue. And what’s this? A few rain drops? Yes, the weather had arrived and we were packed to leave by 8:30 am. Had to drop off the trailer back in storage in Chandler and hit the road. Might be snowing half the way home, but ya never know; either way, we’re going. In our usual fashion, we were not on the road until 11:30. Enjoying Sirrius Radio’s comedy channels. Started seeing snow just south of Flagstaff, and took the interstate east toward Gallup -- home of Thunderbird Beads! Talked him into a (very) quick stop about 4:30 when the snow was blowing sideways. After that we turned north on 491 and the skies cleared and it was a fine, but dark, drive home. Long day.
RIP Whitney Houston, Feb. 11
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| Driving out of the snow. |
Got a later start than expected -- a good snow had Bill plowing everything before departure. Finally on the road around 10 am with a stop first to meet with Pam for the Tucson Gem and Mineral show guides. Amazing how we drove out of the snow after about 20 miles south. And of course we’re hungry now so needed to get a delicious Sonic breakfast burrito. Took the Gallup Route 491 (666) thru Shiprock. Stopping at the Post Office I fed a very hungry dog 3 bags of Ol’ Roy (it’s what I do). So on we went, me knitting kitty blankets the whole way (would rack up 5 this trip for the Humane Society). Rolled down non-stop to Phoenix to the storage place which we now see, in the dark bright of the full moon and street lights, a rock-crushing/dust-making plant and a continuous cloud of dust. Oh great, that’s thick. So with the vehicle washing booth we washed first the truck and then the trailer, so thick was the dust layer. Now shiny yet dripping, we’re on the road again the quarter-mile to Wild Horse Pass Casino where we would spend the night. In the parking lot. Among the semi-trucks. And as it turned out, numerous other campers. Went inside for dinner at the 24/7 Cafe, very good, but the smoke of the casino was just too much for me to be tempted to roll the dice in the High Roller section at 3 am; so alas we went back to the trailer about 10 pm satiated on burgers and alcohol. Lights out by 10:30 but really? It was so bright there I couldn’t tell.
Tuesday, Feb. 7 - Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument celebrates the life and landscape of the Sonoran Desert. In this desert wilderness, you may drive a scenic road, hike a trail, camp beneath a clear desert sky, marvel at magnificent cactus, or soak in the warmth and beauty of the Southwest.
And that’s what we did.
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| A glorious morning...in the casino parking lot. |
We woke early (still bright, is it 4 am or 7 am?) and took off quickly to the west, thru the desert on Maricopa Road. First a stop at what else, Walmart, and all I could smell in the parking lot was cow manure. Naturally Bill said I'm nuts, but a mile down the road there were all cows and their respectable piles. I'm not nuts, I’m Super Nose. Can smell them miles away. Case closed. Manure Wal-Mart. So ok, off we go west, then south, past military post Barry Goldwater bombing range. Feeling safer as we near the Mexican border -- there was a border patrol checkpoint just before Pipe Organ Cactus National Monument where we planned to spend the next two nights. Twenty more miles south we reached the monument, and it was there I learned we were just 5 miles from Mexico. Thoughts of border patrol reality shows flashed thru my mind... and yet, we were in the middle of nowhere. The volunteer ranger said, “well, they will probably steer clear of park trails, but if you see one, they’ll probably want water, and make a note of where they were so you can report them.” Said she’s never had an incident, but she’s only been there since December. (Though she had seen signs of them.) All the while, this is the visitor center named after one young man ranger who was killed there in the line of duty in 2002. Alrighty then. As it turned out, we never had a clash with the other side. Just a bunch of old people in their big white boxes. With the loudest generators this side of the border. There were no reservations taken at this place so we got in line and got to pick a spot looking at a chart -- we chose an end, spot 95 (of 200) and had a good view of, well, of the desert between us and Mexico. #95 for $6 a night thanks to my senior escort. Once we set up we took a bike ride down the hill to the visitor center (riding back up was another story) where we learned all the particulars previously mentioned. Then we attempted some of the Puerco road trail but wasn’t long before Bill got his bungee cord tangled in his tire and he pooped out. I was flying by at a blazing 2 mph, uphill, when he said he’s turning around, and I said can’t stop now, gotta get to the top! and so I did and when I saw it tuned back to gravel and still went uphill -- OK I turned around and flew back down. Heart tickin’ like a rabbit. Dinner in tonight -- not much around except Ajo 20 miles to the north and Lukeville on the border so dining at the Armored Hot Dog is the place to see. nice night. I think we hit the slabs by 8:30 and slept 11 hours. Life is good. |
| A church in Ajo. |
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| The Border Patrol checkpoint before Organ Pipe. Feeling a little better... |
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| Been dragging you for one year as of this date, Feb. 8 |
Wednesday Feb 8 - Organ Pipe & Happy 1st Anniversary Armored Foot LongActivity day. After fiddling with the Nikon and the instruction book for a few minutes (found a fish-eye and star filter for in-camera editing, way cool), we headed out on a hike thru the desert to the Victoria Mine. A mine from the late 1800s and by the looks of it someone is trying to find more there now. Beautiful 5 mile hike through the desert.
Of the five main paths, easiest reached is the 2.2 mile route across a cactus-covered plain to the foothills of the Sonoyta Mountains and the site of Victoria Mine, a center for sporadic gold and silver excavations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Ruined stone buildings, rusting pieces of iron equipment and sealed-off mine shafts can be seen, but perhaps the main attractions of the hike are the abundant Sonoran Desert plants en route, and the expansive views across Sonoyta Valley into Mexico. Lesser used paths continue further up the mountains to two other mines (Martinez and Lost Cabin) - locations that used to be more easily accessed via the road to nearby Senita Basin, though this has been closed for several years because of problems with illegal immigration, the international border being just 4 miles south. Victoria Mine is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, as one of the oldest prospecting sites in southwest Arizona.
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| The Organ Pipe Cactus |
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| Ruins at the Victoria Mine, with Mexico in the distance. Just four miles away from this spot. |
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| Walking around the mine area. |
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| The border fence as seen from the hike. There really is one. |
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| Our mascot waves hi to his friends as we begin the Ajo Mountain Drive. |
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| Organ pipes and saguaros all over, very beautiful. |
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| The jumping cholla. |
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| Poppies! |
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| This is the monument's special organ pipe cactus: it has a "crest." According to the drive guide, the cells in the crest grow in a straight line instead of a circle, as it usually does to form the normal columnar shape. |
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| Close up of the crest. |
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| Nikon fun - selective color. |
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| The tallest saguaro in the land! wow, it thinks it's a telephone pole! |
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| All this and no rain. |
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| Our guys are checking all over, good! |
Got an early start to head east back to Tucson for three nights at Catalina State Park, and driving up and down Oracle Highway in traffic. Bill is ready to sell the truck if he has to drive it one more time. We hit the show in south Tucson at Kino Sports Park after taking Highway 86 east to Tucson, the Ajo Highway, with more beautiful desert. Talked him into going there before heading north to the campground. That was a lot, tent after tent, rocks and beads and, well, cowhides from Wisconsin and I got one. I know, weird, but I liked it. After a few hours there I’d had enough so we then went to find Stone Cactus which had a fountain we liked (saw it on our last trip to Arizona at the Boice Thompson Arboretum). Liked one enough to buy, but we’ll have to come back Saturday to pick it up. Finally we headed up to the state park. This is a really nice park, and fortunately we had reservations, because the place was full. We were in spot B-9 near where we were last time. This campground has electricity so no loud generators like Organ Pipe. Went out to dinner at El Charro Cafe on Oracle. I liked it, Bill not so much. Yes the margs were a bit weak but I thought the food was very good. And super garlicky salsa -- excellent.
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| At last, the fun begins... |
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| Got a lucky shot of this guy, but forget what it is... |
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| Camp Catalina |
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| Bill toured the Pima Air Museum. B-25 Mitchell here. |
This was my big day at the bead show, hoping to miss weekend crowds. Decided to start at the convention center -- big mistake. Not only were there barely any beads (mostly jewelry) but it was freakin’ kid field trip day and crawling with rug rats! I didn’t last there long and walked a few blocks there downtown to the Days Inn where there was another show. More beads here, but nothing outstanding. Room after room converted to rock showrooms. Kinda the same thing at every booth. But I did get some beads. And no one tells you what they are, nothing is labeled. Oh well, buy by color and shape. While I did this, Bill went to the Pima Air Museum and saw all the old cool airplanes. I missed it! Darn! Next time. I called him back early (actually I didn’t realize he was going there) but he drove me back to Kino for a more thorough combing of the tents. This time he went to the Depot and got a new faucet for the trailer. Back on the busy highways and a stop at Trader Joe’s (more old people standing in the middle of aisles) so we got out of there as fast as we could. I don't think I'll ever see Bill making an extended stay in this place again. He is DONE with traffic. Beautiful day today, not too warm, but warm enough, maybe mid to high 70s. Feasted this night on our Trader Joe’s provisions.
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| Lockheed Constellation |
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| Some towns have painted pumas, some have sheep, some have ponies, I guess AZ has planes. |
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| B-377-SG Super Guppy (It looks like a beluga whale.) |
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| B-29 Superfortress, Hangar #4 |
Now being done with the shows, we took a morning bike ride on the trail along the Oro Valley. Very nice, wide, paved trail off the highway and behind businesses and homes, along a wash. We did a 12-mile ride and the day couldn’t be more perfect. Came back and got cleaned up then back out into the big busy city again (yay!). I got to Kohls and then back downtown to pick up the cactus. By now the car said it was 83 degrees and I was frying in the truck waiting for the Stone Cactus guy to pack up our 5-arm Fence Post fountain, which even the hummingbirds might enjoy. Can’t wait for spring to see that. Back home to Catalina again, Bill again sick of driving, I went to Ross (surrounded by these chains, gotta go go go). For dinner we went to The Keg, a nice steakhouse near the park. And it was on the way there that I got the iPhone message that Whitney Houston had passed away today. RIP Whitney.
Sunday, Feb. 12 - Lost Dutchman, Apache Junction
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| Camp Lost Dutchman |
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| Not a bad view out the door. |
Time to move on again. We left our quiet, beautiful Catalina and headed north to Apache Junction and the Lost Dutchman for two nights. We took the Pinal Pioneer Parkway, a nice drive through the desert, saguaros all around.
From Oracle Junction north of Tucson to Florence, this 42-mile section of historic US 89 (now AZ 79) is known as the Pinal Pioneer Parkway. Crossing the high Sonoran desert, the road is lined with ancient many-armed saguaro cactus and forests of chain fruit cholla. Black Mountain dominates the view to the east and in the distance are the the Tortilla Mountains. To the south, the peaks of the Santa Catalina Mountains rise to over 9000 feet. At the mid-point of the drive is a memorial to the cowboy actor, Tom Mix, who died in a car crash nearby in 1940. Historically, the Pinal Pioneer Parkway was part of the main road linking Phoenix and Tucson, so driving the road today gives the motorist a small taste of what that journey was like before the era of Interstate highways.
The closer we got to Florence, the more sheriff and highway patrol cars we saw. And then we started to see the bikers. Apparently today was the annual Florence Prison Run. How do we ever time these odd things so well??
For the last 25 years, the Florence Prison Run has been a show of support by the Brothers still on the outside for all of the Brothers who are unfortunately under the care of the state on the inside. The run was started in 1983. Running the prison was a way for the locked up Brother to feel and hear the presence outside and know, without a doubt, that he was remembered. Now hosted by the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club of Arizona, the event starts at several different meeting points around the state where packs of riders meet up and ride down with the different Hells Angels charters.
Well, it was early in the day so not much wild action as we blew by and on to Apache Junction. Set up at spot #32 at the Lost Dutchman and had a perfect view of the Superstitions. And another picture-perfect 60s blue sky day, a little breezy. When at the Lost Dutchman, why not cook in the Dutch Oven? And it's chilly out, so it's chilli night! We made a huge pot of it, not bad, considering we are very new to this cooking method. Bill did most of it; I just handed over ingredients. Good project, need to do this more, tho he whined a lot that he would prefer we made dessert. Gimme a break, we are fat pigs. No can do. And since we had full hookup with electricity and water, it was Grammy Night! Party on. PS: Saw a roadrunner today.
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| I like this one-pot casserole type thing. And having Camp Cook Cookie. |
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| Chili for 20 tonight! |
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| Everyone stand... |
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| Risking our lives walking around the Lost Dutchman park; these people don't know from 25 mph. It should say watch for speeding tourists. |
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| Start of the popular Peralta Trail. |
The weather people keep saying that we are going to get rain soon. But today is another beauty day. A day for a hike and we’re headed 10 miles around to the other side of the Superstitions for the Peralta Trail. 2.5 miles up a 'moderate' (elevation gain of 1,350) but rocky trail to a great overlook of Weavers Needle (elevation 3,766'). Lots of elderly on the trail -- looks like we’ll be doing this for years to come if we don’t make dessert in the Dutch Oven too often. Even some hearty dogs were plugging along (cruel if you ask me, but no one did). Beautiful views up there as the clouds rolled in at the top. It started to get cool so we headed down quickly. We came back and Bill started packing for the trip home, and later attempted to install the new faucet -- but of course he got the wrong part from the hardware store and had to run out yet again for another. So much for planning ahead. However, while waiting for him at the first hardware store I noticed the big sign for BEADS on a run-down building and walked over and sure enough, looks like a great place! And… it’s closed on Monday. Story of my life. Not open until 10am Tuesday; tomorrow when we’ll be gone. Oh well, next time. After all this activity, the faucet was finally done by 8pm, I’d made the guacamole, and then it was dinner time. Tomorrow we will head for home.
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| The view of Weavers Needle from the top. And then those clouds and breezes blew in and it was time to go. |
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| A rainy Arizona morning. |
Woke to gray skies in Arizona. What is that? I’ve only seen blue. And what’s this? A few rain drops? Yes, the weather had arrived and we were packed to leave by 8:30 am. Had to drop off the trailer back in storage in Chandler and hit the road. Might be snowing half the way home, but ya never know; either way, we’re going. In our usual fashion, we were not on the road until 11:30. Enjoying Sirrius Radio’s comedy channels. Started seeing snow just south of Flagstaff, and took the interstate east toward Gallup -- home of Thunderbird Beads! Talked him into a (very) quick stop about 4:30 when the snow was blowing sideways. After that we turned north on 491 and the skies cleared and it was a fine, but dark, drive home. Long day.
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| The mascot had snow on his back from Gallup! |
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| Out of the mini-blizzard and into a beautiful sunset around Toadlena on 491. |
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| Toasting one year of the Toaster on Feb. 8 at Organ Pipe. |
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| And in honor of my most recent birthday, I captured this sign. There is actually a town called “Why”in Arizona. It's right after Ajo. |
RIP Whitney Houston, Feb. 11
