"GO CARDS"

Last week Ken had a cold; this week, I was down with it. I am feeling better this evening, but still have a dry hacking cough (not fun)

Before I came down with Ken's "bug," we went to the movie “Gran Torino.” It was a great movie and I would go again, but the language was pretty rough….Ken called it "typical" street language.  Well, I didn’t think there needed to be THAT many bad words, but I got through it.  Like I said, it was a great movie and I would recommend it to anyone, but warn them not to take the "itty bitties."

Ken spent Monday, Thursday, and part of Friday in the Rock Shop.  Wednesday, we got a couple hours of caching in (found 12 in 2 hours).

Tomorrow is the Super Bowl. We will be here watching the game and cheering the Cardinals on. This is the first time in franchise history the Arizona Cardinals have made it to the Super Bowl, and everyone is really hoping they come away with a win.  However, the Steelers really have the advantage and are rated much higher than the Cardinals.  Lots of people (in Pittsburg) are saying a “BIRD” cannot beat STEEL (hmm, we will see).   We just hope it's a good game, and the Cards come away smiling.

Slow Week

I say it has been a slow week because not a whole lot has been going on.  On Tuesday, we did meet some friends (Marilyn and Joey) from home and had a nice visit with them.  They are in Apache Junction for a few weeks and we hope to get them out to our park and show them some sights around our area.

Monday through Wednesday, it was 78-80 with some wind, then on Wednesday night we got rain.  It rained all night and all the next day (Thurs).  It was still quite warm (75) and humid.  Ken was not feeling well, so we stayed home and didn't do much.  He did venture out to the rock shop Thursday afternoon, but still felt poorly when he got back home.  There still was some rain showers on Friday, but by mid afternoon, the sun was shining brightly (and warmly).  It is amazing how the desert floor turns green after just a couple days of rain.  One day it is brown and dirty, then the next there is a green carpet below all the cacti.......gorgeous!!!

The forecast is that there is a chance of more rain next week, but not sure if we will get it or not.  Most of it is predicted to be further north of us.  With the rain we have had, it is looking like we will have another beautiful spring.

Saturday, we attended the Phoenix Gun Show and could not believe the crowd that was there.  Most of the throng of people were buying ammo and accessories for what ever weapons they possess.  Right now there is a huge rush on ammo (and gun) sales.  Pistol ammo is getting very scarce in the local sports and hunting stores.  We didn't need anything like that, but Ken did buy some extra clips and things for his guns.

Today (Sunday) we had a Wine and Food event at our park.  The deal was everyone bring two identical bottles of wine from their home state OR something they considered special.....(and of course some food to be shared).  The bottles of wine, and the person bringing the wine, would receive a number.  One bottle would be opened and placed on a table for tasting.....the identical bottle would not be opened but was placed on another table for a later drawing.   After an hour or so the numbers were drawn and the people whose numbers were called had the opportunity to go and choose a bottle of wine (unopened) from the table.  Everyone who brought two bottles of wine got to go home with another bottle of wine......and IF they were lucky, they got to choose a wine that they really liked.  It was a lot of fun and of course there were a LOT of different wines and tons of snacks......no one went home hungry or thirsty.  However, I am sure some had a hard time finding home (grin).  Thankfully, we are only 150 feet from the activity hall and had no problem finding our way home.

Fun Weekend

It has been a beautiful week and an even nicer weekend.  Temperatures in the very high 70s with nice cool evenings.  On Friday, we along with 27 other people from the park in seven vehicles took an all day drive and went to a little town called Young.

Young is pretty remote and hard to get to during heavy rain or snow.  To get there from Queen Valley, we drove east on highway 60 to Globe, then north on highway 88 toward Roosevelt Lake.  We then turned toward Young on highway 288 and drove for 44 miles.  The majority of the road is paved, but there are sections that are dirt/gravel, narrow and twisty.   We even had snow on the sides of the road at the higher elevations (6,700 feet).

  

Young is where one of Arizona's bloodiest and most savage feuds took place.  The feud lasted five years and all efforts by the law to restore order during that period failed.  It didn't end until all of one family (the Grahams) were dead.  To read more about that "war", you can click on this link:  Feud 

Our destination in Young was a small Cafe/Bar that has great food.  Space is limited, so having 28 people show up all at once can be daunting, but we called ahead and they were expecting us.

 

We even stopped at the local cemetery on our way north out of town.  This is where the feud victims are buried and is still in use for current burials.

 

Instead of going back the way we came, we drove 25 miles north on hwy 288 through the mountains to highway 260, then west to the town of Payson.  Of course we ran into deeper snow, but the road had been graded and there was no problem of getting through.

   

Once we got to Payson, we all stopped at the local Dairy Queen for a sweet treat.  After that, we headed back to Queen Valley via highways 87, 88. and 60.  All in all, we drove 260 miles and had a great time.

Today, Sunday the 18th, we along with our friends (Pat & Dave) hosted our neighborhood pot luck.  The main dish was BBQed Salmon that Ken & I  caught in Alaska last September.   There were 42 people in attendance who also brought a huge array of food to go with the Salmon.  We do have great cooks in our neighborhood!!  Needless-to-say, we all "stuffed" ourselves.

After dinner, we had a White Elephant gift exchange.   Everyone got to pick a wrapped "gift" and open it.  That gift then had to stay on the table so everyone could go around and "inspect" what was "available" for exchange...that is IF they got the opportunity to  "swap."  When all had viewed what was available, we had 10 minutes of passing the dice in hopes of throwing doubles so we could go and swap for what we wanted.  It got pretty exciting as everyone at the tables were hurriedly passing the dice in hopes for that "rare" chance.  Of course, there were some "hot" sought after goodies and some not so hot that many were trying to palm off on someone else.  We all had a fun time and those pour souls who got the not so good stuff, said there will be another time next season (grin).  Some of those items have strangely "reappeared" year after year.

Today turned out to be a SUPER DAY because after we got home, we finished watching the Arizona Cardinals BEAT the Philadelphia Eagles for the NFC Championship and the opportunity to play for their very first time in the Super Bowl.  In February, It is going to be the Arizona Cardinals against the Pittsburg Steelers in Tampa for the Super Bowl.  Hopefully, it is going to be a good game.

GO CARDINALS!!!

JEEPIN' FUN

The Rough Riders, a 4 wheel drive group from our park, goes out every Friday on some kind of back country adventure. Usually, we have something else going, so haven't gone out with them before.  This last Friday, the trip involved a ride south of our park which goes east around the back side of Picket Post Mountain and near an abandoned mine before ending in the town of Superior about 15 miles east of our park.  The "trail" is called Telegraph Canyon Trail, and since we haven't been all the way through it, we decided to join them for this fun trip.

This is a map of the trail we took.

There were ten vehicles, all but one a Jeep, which were loaded with up to 4 people in each vehicle. I don’t remember the exact count of participants, but there was quite a group.

This is in the park and folks are lining up and discussing the drive.

Once on the trail, some had to let air out of their tires (makes for an easier drive over rough rocks and such.

Of course, we aren't the only ones out playing today.  This is part of a huge group of ATVers that came by while we were stopped.

This is just a quick shot out of our window while on the trail.

Around Noon, we were near the Ajax Mine and it was a great spot for taking a break.  We stayed here for a while just so some could explore.  Ken even found some nice rocks around one of the shafts (have I said before that he is also a rock hound?).

This is shot of our group.  That cute, white Wrangler on the little knoll at the left of the first picture is ours.  Above us is one section of the old mine.

It was quite an operation, but didn't stay in operation very long.

This is all I know or have heard of the mine:

The Ajax Mine began in 1915, and is the oldest with the largest ore deposits in the area. Most of the smaller veins in the area branch off from it. Other mines in the area include: Orphan Boy, Grandfather, Jumbo, Silver Pick, Woodpecker, and Silver Crystal.  The mine produced lead, zinc, silver, and copper. It operated for a short time, then was in operation again in 1926, and was for sale in 1942 for an asking price of $45,000. It again operated in 1963 until mid-1964, employing 5 men. Operation was halted while trying to obtain financing for new mill equipment that would separate the lead and zinc sulphides.  It has not operated since.

This is one very deep shaft!!

After lunch, we drove on and at the top of the hills, took a quick shot back at where we had stopped for lunch.  Long way back there.  You can just see the mine toward the top center of the picture.

Driving on, we finally see Picket Post's back side.

There are more neat rock formations before we get to Superior.

Once in Superior, I didn't take any more pictures, but most of us stopped at the local Dairy Queen for some "cool" refreshments, then drove home where some had "happy hour."  We didn't do the happy hour, but instead took some friends to see Superior's "lost cemetery" where the common law wife of Wyatt Earp is buried (that is another long story).  Sorry, no pictures here either (maybe in another posting).

After touring the cemetery, we headed home for a quiet evening.