So sorry for the late update, but I have been playing way too much on Face Book and Twitter and have ignored my main Blog. Check it out and send me a friend notice for Face Book IF you are on it. As for Twitter, I am known as Cachinbird (see the link at left of this page "Snobird's Tweet Site." Look me up and follow me if you want.
I have added more photos to “Our Web Album” for your viewing pleasure. The link is on the left side of this page.
It’s Good Friday and our park’s “season” is basically over. Many of our friends and neighbors have already pulled up stakes and headed back to their “other” homes. I still don’t know why because our weather here has been exceptionally cooler and nicer (albeit more wind) then in years past. To date, it has been 50 days without measureable rain, however, it is predicted that will end this evening (rain is forecasted for tonight and tomorrow).
You ask, “What have we been doing?”
Well on the 27th there was a group from our park who took a drive to
Superior and went to Arizona’s famous 1880s
Silver King Mine site.
We were treated to a short story about the mine from Jack San Felice, who wrote the book “When Silver Was King,” which is a marvelous book detailing the discovery and history of the mine. The mine is dormant now and rests quietly below the mountains for which it was named. See the crown? It is a bit left in the pic at the top of the mountain. The big crown is the "king" and the smaller one a bit lower and left is the "Queen."
The 28th, we paid a visit to our “sick” Wrangler that was in the Jeep hospital. Seems the previous owner neglected to tell us that the gas tank had a problem and we didn’t notice it until it refused to run anymore…we thought it was the fuel pump. We were told the Jeep had landed on a rock too hard and the skid plate under the tank was pushed up into the tank and cracked the feeder hose in the tank. Our bouncing around on some rough roads the last few months enhanced the crack to the point that the fuel pump was sucking mostly air and little fuel. So, the tank, skid plate, and more had to be replaced. We were told it would take another week or so to finish because a 1993 tank was not available and they would have to build one (yikes).
On the 31st, we drove to Mesa and Chandler to do some geocaching. From 10:30 AM to 4 PM, we found 31 caches and even stopped for lunch and dinner in that period of time. It wasn’t a hard day and didn’t even go off road even though we had the Grand Cherokee and could have.
On April first, friends (Larry & Laura) from Spokane arrived in our park for a week. They had been in Tucson for a couple months and were working their way back to Washington and decided to pay us a visit. What fun it was seeing them and showing them our little neck of AZ.
On the 2nd, we, along with Larry and Laura, spent the whole day in town and had lunch at a neat restaurant in Apache Junction called “Dirtwater Springs.” Check it out on Google…some say it’s good and some not so good. We enjoyed the atmosphere and the food was not pricey, but good. For the evening we went to the
AZ Opry. As always, we were treated to a marvelous show along with a nice dinner and even better dessert.
On the 3rd, we had strong winds with gusts up to 50mph (not a fun day). Larry and Laura had stuff to do that day, but we got together for happy hour and put the Margarita Machine to work (inside, the winds were too strong to stay outside). While enjoying the Margaritas we “happily” played the evening away learning a new card game called “nothing.” Around 10 pm we heard “rain?” (if you can call it that) on the coach. That was a surprise because rain was not in the forecast!
We woke the next morning ( 4th) with mud splattered all over the cars and coaches….thanks to the meager “rain” we had the night before. There was soooo much dust in the air from the high winds that when the rain did come, all it did was bring the dust (mud) down on everything (yuk). The morning was clear and sunny, so we took Larry and Laura to a place they hadn’t been before. We drove east to
Boyce Thompson Arboretum and spent the day there. The walk through the park was gorgeous with many of the cacti and plants in bloom. With the slight breeze (wonderful), the main loop trail was a delight to do.
This is just a sampling of the 134 pictures that ken took. To see the rest, click this link
Our Web Album and then click on the Boyce Thompson Arboretum Album. There are more albums there to enjoy, so take your time and click through all of them.
When we got back to our coach for the evening, the wind, again, kicked up so it wasn’t a good idea to eat outside. Instead, we all gathered together in our coach for a marvelous dinner, then Ken & I taught Larry & Laura a new game called Jokers and Marbles. In spite of the wind, it was fun evening!!
On the 5th, we all went to lunch at Arizona’s only active
Olive Mill near the San Tan Mountains. After lunch, we went to a nearby mall and did some shopping (girls did). Later in the day, we joined a group (about 40) from our park at a quaint restaurant called
San Tan Flats for dinner. There was live “outside” entertainment where everyone could dance along with open pit fires where everyone could make their own “smores.” The smoke was a bit much for us, so we didn’t stay too late. Besides, everyone was pretty tired from the long day and busy week.
On Monday, Larry and Laura spent the morning making calls and plans for their leaving on Tuesday, so we just got together for happy hour and dinner in Gold Canyon at the Red Sage Restaurant (always a great place for a nice meal).
Also on the 6th was our son’s 46th birthday!!! Happy Birthday Bill, we love you!!!
Sadly, Larry and Laura pulled out Tuesday morning heading for the Grand Canyon and much cooler weather. They only plan on staying there a couple days before making their way back to the cold temps of home in Spokane, Washington. What fun it was to have them visit us for a week!!
Also on Tuesday, we had word that our Wrangler was ready to pick up (yea). After doing some needed grocery shopping, Ken retrieved the Wrangler while I drove the Grand Cherokee back home. When Ken got home, we took the Wrangler out for a trial run on a semi rough road and found two new caches. It seemed to run smoother, so hopefully, we won’t have that problem again. In the next few days, we will try it out on rougher roads and see what happens.
Right now, we are being warned of another storm coming from the west. Again, we are told there will be high winds with even higher gusts along with the chance of some needed rain. We are supposed to get measureable rain up to .50 of an inch tonight through all day tomorrow. Wow, this is going to make a very cool Easter on Sunday.
Anyhow, that is all I have for right now, so HAPPY EASTER to everyone and a wish you all are happy and healthy. God Bless!!!
This Saguaro is huge and has a fantastic mutated top.
We were very surprised to see it had a bloom in an area that we could reach to get a nice picture (see the little white speck on the tip of that downward arm). Ken had to step on a rock and hold on to me for balance as he managed to get some of these shots. I must say, he did a good job!! These shots really are of the Saguaro Bloom. Don't they look fake?
Of course while we were out "wheelin," we did find 19 caches. They were all way off road or at the top of some awful hill (tough climb). We even had to chase 2 King Snakes off the road so we could pass. We really didn't want to run over them! With the 19 finds, we surpassed 5,200 finds. Hopefully, when we get to Laughlin, we will be able to devote more time to caching... no, we don't gamble when we stop there.
