It's that time again.

It’s that time again! We are getting ready to pull out of here on May 12 and slowly work our way back to Salem, Oregon.

April was a wonderfully slow and relaxed month since so many of the park’s activities were over and many residents left for their home states. We had more time to spend with great friends from Apache Junction & Florence by going out to dinner with them and even having some BBQs at their places. We will miss them a lot while we are gone!!

Ken & I did take the Wrangler out several times for some fun Jeeping & Caching adventures. We explored a lot of old roads that we hadn’t been on before and discovered a lot of great places. We only saw two Rattlesnakes and one Bull Snake this whole season, but we did get a very close up and personal shot of a Gila Monster on one of our last drives. He was not happy that we were invading his space, but did take the time to pose for us.

Because there wasn’t that much rain this year, the wild flowers didn’t pop out like they have in the past.  The majority of cacti were late in blooming, but the huge Saguaro's bloomed right on schedule mid April.  This arm was low enough that we were able to walk up to it and look right into the blooms.  Aren't they gorgeous?

April was a strange month for temperatures.  It hit 100 on the first (April fools) and by the 9th it was back to 55 and rain.  It only rained one day then it turned dry and started heating up again.  Thankfully, with the warm dry days, we had wonderfully cool evenings.  We did get back up in the high 90s, but mostly we were in the mid to high 80s.  Because of the varying temperatures, there was a lot of wind.  So much wind and high gusts that we couldn’t leave the awnings out.  That has all changed and now for May it’s turning hot!  Yesterday, May 4 it hit 100 and it looks like it’s going to stay in the triple digits today and thru the weekend.  We leave on the 12th and are hoping that the temps don’t get much higher…. Of course, Laughlin, Nevada is usually hotter than it is here in Queen Valley.  Thank God we have 2 heat pumps that work very well.

Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone.  IF you go out this evening, please stay safe and drink sensibly!!

April Fools

This has got to be wrong, April 1 already?  WOW, only one more month and we will be getting ready to head back to Oregon.  I must be getting senile because I have no idea where the time has gone!!

We’ve been Jeeping & Caching a lot more this season, plus taking part in all the regular resort activities, which are way too numerous to mention here.  It seems like there was something going on, in and around the park every day, and we had to start saying no to more activities than we were saying yes to.  Also, we took more time this season visiting with and enjoying our geocaching friends.  We even met some very good friends for dinner several times and visited with other friends & acquaintances’ at geo events.

Of course, Ken continued working in the Lapidary Shop preparing his “rocks” for making belt buckles & pendants as gorgeous additions to his spectacular beaded jewelry.  In February, he had three tables set up of gorgeous jewelry for sale at our resort’s annual craft fair.  He sold some and took orders for more!!

Our geocaching was a way to get out more with the Jeep Wrangler and find old roads that we haven't been on before.  We did go out by ourselves a lot, but when we knew we were heading for some extremely tough roads, we had another couple go with us.  Along with the Jeeping & Caching, we hiked.  When there was a decent trail, I hiked and enjoyed it, but when it became boulder hopping and beating the brush, I called it quits (grin) and let Ken do it.

So far this season, we’ve only seen one huge Rattlesnake, and that was while we were happily in the Jeep.  It was quite large and very unhappy to have us disturb his “warming” in the middle of the road.  No, we didn’t have the camera with us and, of course, our cell phones were turned off (no reception) so no pictures.

So here it is April 1 already, and the weather is heating up.  In fact, we are supposed to be close to triple digits this weekend.  Supposedly, it won’t stay that way, but we will have to wait and see.  There are some wildflowers and cacti blooming, but because of the lack of rain this year, it isn’t a sea of colors like last year.  The huge Saguaro’s are starting to bud.  They will be breaking into bloom in the next few weeks.  I think the Saguaro bloom (state flower) is the most spectacular of all the cacti blooms.  It just doesn’t look real. 

The Resort’s activities have pretty much come to an end, with just a few things more happening before Easter.  Many residents have left or are in the preparation of leaving.  Yes, there are many like us that won’t be heading back to their homes till May and a very few that will stay all year long.  We plan on leaving around the second week of May, unless the weather stays at 100 or below, then we may leave later.  Right now, even though it’s getting warmer, the nights are cool and refreshing.  It’s wonderful to have the cool breeze in the evening and listening to the Coyotes howl at night.  Oh how we love the remoteness of this resort!!

We have friends, who live in Washington, arriving today.  They have been staying in southern AZ for the last two months and now are heading home.  They plan on stopping here for the weekend and visiting with us before their trek home.  As I said earlier, it's going to be one hot (98 degree) weekend, but we plan on having fun.

Happy April everyone!!!

January is over

Another month has gone by and we can’t believe we only have three more till we leave AZ. So much has been going on that I won’t go into a lot of details, but will say we have been having lots of fun and plan on continuing to have fun. We had a nice month of clear & sunny (sometimes cold) days with rain coming only on the very last day of the month. It was so completely different than what we had last year. So far, we have been pretty dry and the rain we got hardly settled the dust.

On January 4, our daughter called and said her car had been broken into. It seemed to be quite random since a huge amount of cars on their side of town were broken into. Sadly among the things stolen were our house keys plus our burglar alarm key fob. Thank goodness our address was not with the keys and we guessed/hoped the thief had no idea to whom the keys belonged. However, not wanting to take any chances with the alarm fob being active, Ken decided to fly back to Salem for a few days and meet with ADT to deactivate the stolen fob and change the house door locks.

Once Ken was back in AZ, we got back into park life and all the activities that go with it (many dinners, coffee socials, and lots of fun activities). We also hosted our annual ‘East Side Pot Luck’ where we provided BBQed Alaskan Salmon that we caught in September. Our neighborhood has some wonderful cooks who all brought a huge array of great food & desserts. The highlight of the afternoon was a ‘While Elephant’ gift exchange where we managed to wear off some of the calories that we all ate. As always it was a great time!

Since the days were so nice, we took time to get out in the desert with the Wrangler. It’s nice going out with a group, but mostly we enjoy taking our time and going out by ourselves just to geocache. We’ve been out Jeeping several times and have found lots of caches we haven’t been to before. Oh yeah, there are many more on rougher roads to get to.

On the 29th, we went hiking in Usery Mountain Regional Park with friends. Even though some of us were physically hurting (my knee, Dirk’s back, Kathy’s foot & shoulder), our goal was to hike the most popular Wind Cave Trail. The hike is 1.6 miles (one way) up a rocky terrain with an elevation gain of 800 feet. The trail is well marked, and in most places nice walking. It is rated at 2.5 (moderately difficult), but some areas have steep stepping spots and sometimes rough rocks. Going up was no problem, but coming down was quite painful on the knees. Even with the pain, it was a beautiful hike with some great friends.