Last Week in Review

There wasn't much happening this last week because Ken was still in the rock shop on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday (will be for most of April too). But, we did attend a potluck with our neighbors late Monday afternoon. Bob, who lives behind us, hosted his yearly party and calls it his “Buzzard Soiree.” He supplies the Turkey (Buzzard) with all the fixings, and everyone else brings a salad, dessert, or snack. There was a huge turnout and lots of food to eat. Needless-to-say, it was a full lunch and dinner for us. The day was sunny and 87 degrees with a comfortable breeze and everyone had a great time eating and visiting. So many are leaving soon and this was probably the last time to visit before next season.

Then on Friday, another beautiful sunny day, we went on a long scenic drive. There were fourteen of us in four vehicles, and we drove to the small community of Pumpkin Center partly via a 27 mile back country road. To get there, we all left at 9 am and drove east 40 miles to the town of Globe. We then turned north on hwy 188 and drove almost to Roosevelt Lake, but turned off on the Globe/Young highway (S-288) just before the Lake. After several miles, we crossed the Salt River and stopped at a view point where we watched several rafts being taken out. These people put their rafts in the Salt River several miles east and take a couple days to float down to this site where they take them out. As you can see in the pictures below, there were several waiting to be taken out. It is especially popular right now because the Salt is running very full and fast.

After watching the rafting group for a while, we proceeded on to NF-60, a gravel/dirt road which goes north passing through many hills/mountains along the east side of Roosevelt Lake. Like I said earlier, this is only 27 miles, but it took a long time because it is gravel and rough in spots, plus there were so many things to stop and take pictures of along the way. The scenic views along the route were incredible. So many wild flowers were in bloom and the views from the summits were spectacular. The lead vehicle (Dave, Pat, Eldon, & Lavonne) even had a Badger running in front of them for a bit. We missed it because Ken forgot to put his CB in the Jeep, and they weren’t able to communicate with us until we stopped (he will hear about that for a while-LOL).

This is Salome Wash in Salome Canyon. That is the first two vehicles in our group going through before us.


The water really wasn't too deep. Here comes Denny driving through behind us.


This is Salome Canyon where we just come through. It sure is pretty!!


Of course, we had to stop and take pictures of flowers along the way. This is Pat taking a picture.

In this picture, you can see Four Peaks in the background, and it still has some snow in the shadows. The hill in the foreground is covered with Mica, which is shiny like glass, but it doesn't show up in the picture. We even picked up some.

The big hurdle on this whole drive was going through Tonto Creek. Normally it runs in two very narrow washes, which we usually cross, but today it was overflowing all together. It was still shallow enough to go through, but it seemed like we went forever.
Dave driving the first vehicle and Bob driving the second blazed the way through with us then Denny following behind. It was kinda fun, but nerve wracking too! We kept close watch on those first cars to make sure they didn't go deeper and get into trouble.


All went well and we got through the water and soon were out on the main highway (188) again. All we did was parallel 188 going north....just took us longer (fun).

Once we got to Pumpkin Center, everyone pulled in to the local restaurant for food……there is always food involved when we do anything here in AZ (grin). Eldon & Lavonne took a moment from eating to smile for the intrusive camera. I would post more of the group while eating, but not all was flattering. I thought this picture turned out nice!

After eating, it was time to head back to Queen Valley, but not before a few of us stopped in Superior at the local Dairy Queen for the “usual after drive treat.” (more food, but this was a MUST).

Here is Dave, Pat, Eldon, and Lavonne enjoying their ice cream.

We ended up getting back to the motorhome about 5:30 and noted we had traveled 177.5 miles. It really was a fun day with great friends.

On Saturday (yesterday) we spent the day at a geocaching event. The Apache Junction Area Caching Society (AJACS) does a yearly AJACS Campout Event and everyone for miles around attends. This was a three day camping and caching event, but we only went on Saturday because it was held within 20 miles of Queen Valley. The place where the event was held is along the Peralta Trail in Gold Canyon and is privately owned by the “Dons of Arizona.” The AJACS group was able to rent the site for the event with a “donation” from everyone who attended. It was not a charged fee for the attendees, but anyone could donate to help defray the cost. Of course, as usual, there was more food here too (lol).

This is the Don's Base Camp Sign. The site is behind locked gates and at the very base of the superstitions.

Once at the event, we are able to participate in many caching contests, and challenges. Plus the group hosting had hidden 17 new caches, not yet posted on-line that we were all able to go out and find. Ken & I opted not to participate in the challenges, but instead went in search of the new caches. These caches will be posted after the event is over for ALL geocachers to go out and enjoy. The caches were rated from 1 to 2.5 stars for difficulty and 1 to 3.5 stars for terrain, and several required high clearance or 4 wheel drive to reach (plus some steep up-hill climbs). We ended up finding 12 of the 17 before giving in to the heat of the day and just going back to the site and visit with other cachers that were there.

This is a couple shots of the grounds and camp sites.



This is the view from above the amphitheater.

Look at the sheer cliffs there.

The hamburgers, hot dogs, and chicken, plus an array of salads and desserts were served at 4 pm. I heard later there were about 155 people in line for dinner (wow).

Then at 5 there was a raffle for prizes. There were prizes for guessing how many tootsie rolls were in a jar and how many lifesavers there were in a jar. Then there were prizes for just the children in attendance. This is a huge family game and many kids have their own geocaching identity and totally are into finding these elusive treasures (keeps them out of trouble). Anyhow, after those prizes were awarded, it got to the good stuff and there were many.

The grand prize was a $100 gift certificate at Sportsman’s Warehouse (nice). No. we didn’t win that, but we did win a nice medicine kit for the Jeep and an AJACS sew on patch. I think everyone in attendance actually won something. There were a lot of prizes and it took a while for them to be handed out. It was 7:30 by the time we ended up leaving the event. We were tired and in need of a hot shower and some down time. Of course, my allergies were bothering me, so I had to pop some pills before typing this up and heading to bed.