Just another day!

Not much going on today because it is once again raining. This rain is from a storm that just came in from the south west and is covering most of our state. We are under a severe winter storm warning which should end sometime Monday. There are flash flood warnings everywhere with the worst hitting more north of us. So far, the Cave Creek area (north of Scottsdale) is supposed to have had almost two inches of rain. Queen Valley hasn’t had that much rain, but the clouds are very dark and threatening.

Ken took this rainy day opportunity and is spending it in the rock shop getting some stuff done. I on the other hand am just enjoying the day by reading a good book and posting this news update. What else is there to do on a rainy day (LOL).

We have been busy the last couple of weeks, but really haven’t accomplished much. We did go out geocaching a couple times, but still haven’t done any back road stuff because we are still having problems with the power steering pump on the jeep. Ken finally took it to a Jeep service center in Superior and found out it will cost $800 to replace the whole unit along with belts, etc...(yikes). He said no thanks and has ordered just the pump from a national auto parts store and will put it in himself (much cheaper). Problem is, will it work or won’t it?? We will find out.

Several days ago, we activated another cache that we hid in the area. It is called Ruddy 3 after a military jet plane that crashed near here in 1960. The cache requires a very long hike to a hilltop that provides great views and is also a place where cachers can still find some very small pieces of the jet that crashed. Yes, the pilot got out safely! Ken took some pictures from the hilltop and I am posting a couple of them.

This first picture is east of the hill (and town). As you can see, there is a lot of mountainous area around here.


Here is our little town nestled among the hills. The closest area in the picture is our RV Park.






This last shot is of a small community on the west side of our hills. As you look higher in the picture, the next small town is Gold Canyon, and near the top of the picture at the base of the larger hills is Apache Junction (18 plus miles from us).


Friday night (the 25th) we attended a performance by The Dutton’s at the Apache Junction Performing Arts Center. The Dutton’s are a large family group who perform in their own theater in Branson during the summer months. They recently purchased property near Phoenix and plan on spending the winter months here performing and just enjoying the sun (when we have some that is). Some of you may recognize their name because they were one of the top ten finalists on the TV show called “America’s Got Talent.” Boy do they have talent! The family consists of the parents and 7 adult children (and spouses) all the way down to children as young as 5. The judges on America's Got Talent told them to lose 1/2 of their goup and they would go far... Well we saw the whole troup perform, and they are great just as they are!! We sat front row center and had a marvelous time.

In the next couple weeks, we will be doing more geocaching, attending more functions, and in general just having fun. We love Arizona even in the rain...