Leaving Arizona in the Dust

Saturday, April 2, we said our goodbyes to the friends who were still left in our park, shed some tears, and were on our way. It was already warm at 8:30 in the morning; we had our windows all the way down. The sweetness from the grapefruit and orange tree blossoms hung heavy in the air, and I took gulps of air to try to preserve it in my lungs.

I silently said goodbye to my favorite mountain, Red Mountain, as we sped by it.

Four Peaks Mountain was off in the distance.

We saw many, many bicyclists on the road.

I didn't find out till later that they were participating in the "El Tour de Mesa",  a 72-mile charity ride around Red Mountain to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

I will miss this beautiful scenery,

and this.

The drive out of Arizona has many curves.

We soon left the desert-like surroundings with the tall saguaros behind, and entered in the Tonto National Forest. We saw small patches of that funny white stuff called "snow". Here is a huge flooded area from the melted snow. I just love the reflection of the blue sky and pine trees!

An area that was burned from a fire.

A couple of funny signs I saw along the way......


I might have qualified to work there if it were "FAT Ankles Cafe!"

A hotel for horses? Seriously?

Doesn't this look like a bat-mitten shuttlecock for giants?

We stayed in Holbrook, AZ overnight. The wind started to pick up later in the evening. The next morning we checked the weather and high winds were still forecasted. We got on the road anyway.

This is lava rock all along the road from a long ago volcano.

Horses grazing not seeming to pay attention to the gorgeous red rock backdrop.

Remember the high winds forecasted? It seems they weren't lying.

Look at these!

Not to worry. We made it to Albuquerque in one piece. With gusts up to 65 mph, that tail wind gave us better gas mileage! We set up in the blowing wind and it felt like we were getting sand blasted. The tiny granules of sand were stinging every exposed inch of our skin. We made sure all our windows were closed, but somehow a fine dust permeated the air of our trailer, settling in our ears, noses, and throats. Everything is covered in dust inside AND out. So much for Jim's wash job on the truck and trailer!

The wind blew through-out the night. The trailer rocked so hard that I felt I was on some kind of a ride at Disneyland. I was so worried that a nearby tree was going to snap in half and come crashing down on our trailer. It was an uneasy night. The next morning it was still windy, but not as bad as the day before. As we were packing up to leave, Jim hurt his back. It was only about 30 degrees outside. We were cold, wind-blown, and now sore. Time to move on.

Next post: our trek up a volcano near Raton, NM

Last Party of the Season

In keeping with the "Cowboy Week" theme last week, the music in the courtyard was a singing cowboy. It was our last party of the season, AND the park provided free wine and beer, so you know a good time was had by all!

The courtyard was decorated with western items such as stuffed animal horses, cowboy hats, red kerchiefs, bales of hay, etc.

We couldn't resist this cutout of a cowgirl.

Kathy

Lenore

Norma

Me

Those photos made me laugh because we all look like little kids that don't want our pictures taken! We actually are squinting because of the sun.

Lenore found a tall, dark stranger to hook up with. Too bad he was made out of cardboard.

The main event, of course, was the singing cowboy, who rode in ON HIS HORSE!

He had a pretty good voice and sang all the old western songs. His horse, Dusty, was very well behaved, considering how hot it was that day, AND the number of people so close by. Look how crowded it was in the courtyard.

The singer said that we could pet the horse on his neck. I went up there to pet him; the horse turned his head around and nibbled me on my boob! The cowboy quipped, "As you can see, he is NOT a LEG MAN!"

Me, still smiling even after the nibble!

Some crazy cowboys!

Our Activities Director, Camille, some of her staff, and some volunteers dressed up as saloon girls. (Yes, that's John Wayne in the background!)

During the break, Camille asked trivia questions about western TV shows. I won a T-shirt! Some of the prizes were plastic Sheriff stars.

After the courtyard we went to our friends Rachel and Don for a party. Good food, good times, good friends.

Where, by the way, I think I might have been the "star" of the show! *wink*

Side note: We are on the road, traveling each today. I have lots of photos to post and have to bring you up to date!

Fun in the Sun at Canyon Lake, Part Two

I am continuing with my trip on Canyon Lake in Arizona. This is elephant rock way on top of the rock cropping. Can you see it?

We thought this looked like an Indian head, facing to the left.

I thought that THIS looked like a bunch of ET heads gathered together.

Some more beautiful scenery.

Someone piled stones and made a cairn at the edge of the water.

We went as far as we could go on the lake, then turned around and started to head back. When we got to a wide part of the lake, we threw the anchor over, tied two of the boats together, and partied. The third boat went on by themselves.

There was eating,

Swimming,

Singing,

Diane and Pat singing, "They're gonna put me in a whorehouse"

and dancing!

It was Fun with a capital "F"! But, alas, our time was running out. It was time to head back to the marina. Our gas gauge showed 1/4 of a tank so we were a little worried if we would make it back. We kept the boats tied together for awhile and Jim K. towed ours while piloting his boat.

When we got a couple miles out from the marina, we unhooked the boats and then MY Jim took over piloting our boat.

Oh Captain, My Captain!

Right before coming into the marina, we saw the Dolly paddle-boat, full of tourists. The other boat went up alongside it, squirted some of the people, and I believe, sang, "Hello Dolly!"

Jim and me.

Just two weeks prior to this excursion, we took my sisters on the Dolly for a 90 minute tour of Canyon Lake. I took a lot of the same pictures, but a couple that you haven't seen are these:

Ann(l) and Linda(r)

Some more rock formations:

This was is called "Two Sisters" and is supposed to look like two women facing each other.

This one is two-faced. It looks like  a little girl looking to the left, and supposedly Beethoven sitting at the organ on the right. (Sometimes it takes a little imagination and maybe a little drinky-poo!)

I picked out this one. Looks like a screaming face lying on its side to me. See it?

I like this photo of the bell at the back of the boat.

We were lucky enough to see some big horn sheep on the mountain. I zoomed in with my long lens. Here are a couple of cropped shots.

The REAL Captain, My Captain of the Dolly.

Both trips were wonderful. I would highly recommend the Dolly cruise for $20 - it's well worth it! As far as renting the pontoon boats - we will definitely do that again next year! It was so much fun!