FIRE

This is what can happen when greasy food is being cooked......  This WAS a McDonald's restaurant in Apache Junction.

 

 

 

                                                                       

 

 

Actually, the fire started in the back storage area and spread from there.  The McDonalds sign wasn't touched, but the rest of the building was pretty much destroyed.  The fire occurred a few weeks ago in the middle of the night, so thankfully, no one was hurt.

Thanksgiving

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU!

It was sad not spending the day with our family back in Salem, but we had a fun day with our "extended" Queen Valley family.  Since we spend so much time here, it feels more like home than our actual home does, and all the residents here are our "extended" family.  This is our tenth year here, but only the last 7 or so has been on a long term basis.....many of our friends have been coming down longer than that.

Our resort held a group Thanksgiving "pot luck" dinner and had several tables set up seating 12 at each table.  Each table was an individual "family" gathering and folks at their table were responsible for the food only at that table.  The activities department of the park gave each table a contribution ($$) towards the expense of what ever meat that was being prepared; then each person at their table brought something to complement the meat (we had Turkey and ALL the trimmings...Yum).

With all the great cooks here, it makes it very hard to not put on tons of weight..... but who cares on Thanksgiving--right?  Anyhow this is the day to count your blessing and be thankful for all you have......and we did!!  We were very thankful that we were able to walk (not waddle or roll) our way back to the coach after eating (grin).  However, we really thank God for each other, our health, and the great health of our friends and loved ones.

The two pictures below only show two of the many tables which were occupied.  Our table is the first one, and as you can see, all were enjoying eating and visiting.

     

After being in the high 70s for the last week, we had rain and even some thunder yesterday.  We were hit with the storm that was coming in from California.  Today we had some sun, some rain, and even a bit of hail, and the temps topped out in the high 60s.  But, it turned out to be a very pleasant day!  This weekend it is supposed to snow in the higher altitudes, but we are hoping it will be clear when we begin heading home for Christmas.  We plan on leaving here around the 4th or 5th and back in Salem around the 10th.

Again, we hope all of you had as nice of a Thanksgiving as we did!

Four Peaks

It’s Tuesday, November 18 and the weather has been fantastic. This last couple weeks have been in the low to high 80s. Humidity is very low which dries our skin out, so we have to use more moisturizer than normal. However, it is still nicer than being in the rain and cold (much nicer).

We have been pretty busy with park activities and some caching, but the highlight of last week was on Friday, the 14th. We along with several other couples in a total of 5 vehicles took a 4WD trip around “Four Peaks” which are located in a 60,743 acre wilderness area of the southern Mazatzal Mountains (north of Apache Junction and the Superstitions).The Four Peaks, which rise to 7,650 feet, are visible over a very large area around the Phoenix area and have been a major landmark since Indian times. Usually, the northern upper most peaks have snow on them, but not now.

From Queen Valley, we drove west on hwy 60 to Mesa, then north through Usury Pass to Hwy 87, then northeast on 87 towards Payson before turning east on Four Peaks Road. The entire Four Peaks road is 28 miles long and can be driven in a two wheel drive vehicle, but there are narrow, twisty, rough, and sometimes steep sections, so high clearance is recommended.

The beginning portion of the road was graded thick dirt, sometimes wash boardy, but as we crawled higher, it turned rougher with exposed larger rocks because all the dirt and smaller gravel had been washed away....it was kinda teeth jarring in those spots! The 28 miles are slow going in many places and can take as much as 3-4 hours to finish.



When we reached the top and headed down the other side toward Hwy 188, we were treated with some gorgeous views of Lake Roosevelt and the small town of Punkin Center.

Our elevation change was from 1,900 feet to well over 4,000 before heading down to the lake. This route around Four Peaks is quite popular with people in Jeeps and on ATVs, so doing it on a week day is usually the smartest. On a weekend, we would have had a lot of traffic to dodge which would not have been fun. As it was, we did have some idiots on ATVs that rushed up on, and around us, as we were crawling up the narrow, rocky sections of the roads. We really thought we were going to see blood somewhere ahead of us, but we never did (thank God).

Once down to lake level, we drove into Punkin Center and had a late lunch (early dinner) at the Butcher Hook Restaurant.After lunch, we all headed back south to Globe, then west on hwy 60 through the towns of Miami and Superior before arriving back at the park in Queen Valley. We all had a great time and even some of our group got to see a Gila monster on the trip…. We weren’t the lucky ones (dang it). Our round trip mileage from start to finish was just over 163 miles

Last week I turned the ripe old age of 66. It was a bit disheartening when my husband gave me a huge kiss and said “gee, just think, only 34 more years and you will be 100.” What a sweet guy!! Well his turn is coming in less than four months (grin).

Anniversary

Today is our 28th Anniversary. It is really hard to believe that we have been married that long. Guess the old saying "time flies when having fun" is true...And yes, we are having fun!! Like everyone, there are good and bad times, but the bad just reinforces your love and commitment to each other. Of course, the good is what makes it all worth while (and it ALL is good...grin). HAPPY ANNIVERSARY KEN, I LOVE YOU!!

We celebrated our anniversary (and our friends anniversary) last night at the San Tan Flats Saloon and Bar in the Queen Creek area. The place is rustic in appearance and has a huge outside patio where there are open fire pits where you can make your own smores. Plus, the outside entertainment adds to the ambiance. Inside, it is cozy (but loud) with a huge fireplace and lots of antique tools hanging on all the walls. They even have used old wagon wheels for the over head lighting....really neat place. Depending on what you order, the meals can be expensive, but they serve a lot and it is good. Lots of fun!!!

The other day, Ken removed an old Prickly Pear Cactus because the base stock was rotten, so today we bought some new cacti (two Golden Barrels, and one Torch Lily Cactus) to replace it. We hope to get them planted in the next week while the weather is still nice. Right now, our temps have cooled to the high 70s and low 80s and the evenings get down to the mid 50s...NICE!!

Lift & Tires

The 3 1/2 inch lift along with the installation of new 32 inch tires is done, and we are now ready to hit some rough roads. Of course, we are still waiting for the "custom" license plates from Oregon.

This is the before and after of the side view:


This is the under carriage before and after the lift:


Check out the rear view...That is our Geocaching Name (LOL):

Now for the OFF ROADING!!