It is hard to believe that last week I was snowshoeing on our trails near our lake in Alaska and now we were hiking in the desert. After our hike, we continued down the famous Apache Trail to Tortilla Flat. The road with its many blind turns, steep descents, and sheer drop-offs is not for the faint of heart. However, we were rewarded with spectacular views of the Superstition Mountains, canyons and lakes. We took them to the former stagecoach stop, Tortilla Flat Saloon, where saddles are the bar stools and the walls are papered with $1 bills.
I remember the first time that I saw his work in Seattle and fell in love with his exquisite glass pieces. Gail and I have been know to lie on the floor at the reception area at the Bellagio in Las Vegas to admire his glass “flowers” suspended from the ceiling. Why Bellagio removed the couches is beyond me! He also has an impressive exhibit in Tacoma at the Museum of Glass called the Chihuly Bridge of Glass. It has been years since I have been at the Botanical Garden and was impressed with the trails that exhibit the cactus and diverse succulent plants.
We enjoyed a delicious salad at the Patio Cafe while being entertained by the Gamble's Quail.
That evening the four of us met Jay Kriner, our good friend and our daughter-in-law's Dad, from Alaska for dinner at Waldo's BBQ. We love the ribs and pulled pork!
It was sad to see Dan and Gail pull out the next morning but we knew that we would be seeing them in Florida on March 16th.
On Thursday, we met Jay, Don Moock, and Spence DeVito at Maggiano's in Scottsdale for a delicious dinner and great company. The guys were in town for a week of golf and it was fun to spend the evening together. The next morning, Bob and I went to Usery Mountain Regional Park and hiked the Wind Cave Trail followed by a pot luck at Harvey and Carol Robb's.
We also met a lot of new friends: John and Linda (Carol's sister) from Ottawa, Henry and Joan from Montana, Ivan and Sandra from Nevada, Gary and Peggy From California. After dinner. We all went to the Friday night dance to hear our favorite band, Road Runner.
There are so many activities, clubs, and events at Mesa Regal, it is impossible to get bored. Besides the daily Happy Hours at the pool, there is an Manager's Special once a month with free beer. Picture hundreds of retired people dancing, drinking beer (and occasionally tequila shots), and having a good time. There are also comedians and other entertainers throughout the month. The Phoenix area offers so many recreational opportunities. On Saturday, a group of us drove to Saguaro Lake for a picnic and a short hike. At the Marina, we checked on renting a pontoon boat for a later date.
The following day, we explored South Mountain Park and drove up to Buena Vista Lookout. We hiked 4 miles of the National Trail including Fat Man's Pass, a narrow stone channel, also know as Fat Man's Misery and Fat Man's Trap.
One of our favorite places is the Superstition Mountains. One of the hikes that we enjoyed was the Lost Goldmine Trail on the edge of the Mountains. We also found some interesting hikes along the Bush Highway at the Phon D Sutton Recreation Area.
Later in the week, Bob's brother Denny and his wife Kelly flew into Phoenix to buy more homes to rent out. We went with them to look at houses in the Queen Creek area with our realtor Hope Salas. There are plenty of good deals and we decided to look for one or two ourselves. Before they left, we enjoyed going out to dinner a few times with them. We also were happy to hear that our friends, Rik and Valerie Taylor from Carstairs, Canada were down at their place at TowerPoint RV Resort, next door to Mesa Regal. Although, they were busy settling into their new park model and selling the old one, we were able to get together for dinner. It was great to see them even if it was for a short time.
Harvey and Carol invited us to a block party one hot afternoon. Road Runner was playing and the free beer and wine flowed. We met some new friends, Norm and Bonnie, neighbors of Harvey and Carol on their place on the lake in British Columbia.
On February 11, we went to the Sara McLachlan Concert with Harvey and Carol. She sang like an angel and the other musicians were entertaining as well. It was a fun night with good friends.
Since Sunday was suppose to be in the high 80's and it was Harvey's birthday, 12 of us rented a pontoon boat and cruised the lake for the day, stopping for a picnic to celebrate Harvey's birthday. It was a perfect day and we all loved being on the water.
Before we left for Florida, we made one more Manager's Special and a block party/pot luck with Road Runner playing. It started at 5 pm and by 9 pm, there were over a hundred people dancing in the street. By the Friday night dance, we were all moving a little slower and it seemed that the tempo of Road Runner was slower, as well. On February 28, we said our good-byes, made reservations for next January and took off for Tuscon.
Our former neighbors and good friends, John and Betty Bea moved from Kenai, Alaska to Tuscon this past fall and we were excited to see them. We were welcomed into their gorgeous new home. Bob drooled over the two double garages that could hold 6 vehicles and a nice shop area.
They showed us around the area where they grew up and took us out to a delicious Mexican dinner at a local restaurant. The next day, we drove a few miles away to Saguaro National Park.
We took the 8 mile scenic drive through the giant saguaro cactus, some of the largest and oldest cacti in the US. Some live for 150 years, towering 150 feet and weighing more than 16,000 lbs.
Awesome photos as always.
ReplyDelete