13 Apr - North Dakota

FEMA called me on Apr 12 and wanted me in North Dakota the next day, so I flew from Albuquerque, NM, to Bismarck, ND, on the 13th. I'm working a special project for FEMA here, part of a hotline we are running for the state of North Dakota. Like all the rest of the FEMA people here, I am working 7 AM to 7 PM, 7 days a week (7x7x7). They told us recently, though, that our hours will decrease starting Apr 25th - only ten hours a day instead of 12! :-) As usual, the first days on the assignment, I was pretty wiped out at the end of the day, but I have adjusted to the schedule (as much as you can). I'm still tired at the end of the day, but not as bad as I was at first. Working these hours, I have had little time to drive around and see anything.

Although most of the winter's snow had melted and there wasn't much snow on the ground when I got here, we got eight inches of snow my second day here, and it's snowed most days since. It's been cold too - down into the 20s most nights. Some days haven't gotten out of the 20s for highs either. Most days have been overcast and cool. Some have also been windy. Someone here said recently: "Welcome to the state of North Dakota - the only state that goes straight from winter to fall!" We're not out of winter yet. :-(

On the good side, the late spring and cool weather slows down the snow melt, so that is good for the flooding situation.

The rumor is that this will be a short assignment, but I haven't heard anything official yet.

7 Apr - Roper Lake SP, AZ, and Rockhound SP, NM

We drove from Tucson to Roper Lake on Thursday and spent two nights there. We sat on the lawn chairs outside my rig, enjoying the beautiful view of the lake ← with the mountains behind. The weather was gorgeous the first day - sunny, 70s. Steve and I walked around some of the trails, out onto the "island" (peninsula), over to the hot spring, along the lake, and saw lots of birds. There are lots of birds here because the lake is on their migration route. I saw a ruddy duck, with its bright blue bill ↓ , for the first time ever (it's only blue during breeding season). I saw some other birds that I’d never seen before too. There are lots of yellow-headed blackbirds here. I loved watching them filling the trees, flying so fast, playing on the wind.

Our second day at Roper Lake wasn't as pleasant, as it was pretty windy. The sun was shining, though. A dust devil came right over my rig, and blew my lawn chair into the road, right in front of a truck that ran over it! I'll have to replace it, though that will be hard, as it was very lightweight.

We left Roper Lake around 8 AM Saturday, just ahead of the oncoming storm. We lost an hour when we crossed into New Mexico, as New Mexico uses daylight savings time, and Arizona does not. We ran into high winds and a duststorm so bad that there were times I couldn’t see a thing in front of me - reminded me of a North Dakota blizzard. We arrived in Rockhound State Park near Deming, New Mexico, around 2:30 pm. Although the campground was right up against a mountain, and somewhat protected from the wind, we stayed in our RVs the rest of the day, as they rocked and rolled with the wind. The forecast was for 50 mph winds, and that's sure what it felt like we had. Sunday early, before the wind started to blow, we hiked up the canyon at Spring Canyon State Park, which was right next door. It wasn't a long hike, but it climbed up into the mountains, so we got our exercise for the day. ← We saw incredible views of the valley way down below. Again I saw a couple birds I'd never seen before - some black and white lark buntings, and another I haven't identified yet.

I enjoyed the drive to Albuquerque on Monday; I'd never driven that route before, through Hatch (famous for its chiles). I love driving through the desert in the West, with the wide-open spaces, the big skies, the cacti, and the mountains on the horizon. My rig is parked in front of Steve's house in Albuquerque. I'm looking forward to getting to know Albuquerque better!

1 Apr - On the Road Again - Payson and Yuma, AZ

Steve and I decided to head up to Payson for the weekend, where it was about 20 degrees cooler than it was in Mesa (around 79, instead of 99, degrees). Payson is in the White Mountains, northeast of Mesa. ← The drive up and back is gorgeous, especially this time of year. We camped among the pine trees, and enjoyed the cooler weather and quiet of the woods at Houston Mesa State Park. We hooked up with some other WINs there and enjoyed a happy hour together.

Then we drove down to Yuma so that Steve could get some dental work done. Yuma is right on the border, you park in a large parking lot and walk across to Algodones, Mexico. There are many dental, medical, and pharmaceutical offices along the streets just across the border. Going to a dentist in Algodones is similar to going to a dentist it the US, except the prices are much cheaper, and your dentist may speak English with a Maxican accent. Many of them have someone fluent in English as their assistant, to help with any needed translation. My exam included an x-ray and it only cost me $10. And the dentist used a dental camera that I'd never seen before to take a picture of my cavity to show me. I was impressed. After you are done in Algodones (including a stop at the liquor store, of course!), you stand in line to get back across the border. The lines everywhere were much shorter than when we were in Yuma in March. Most of the snowbirds have headed for home by the end of March.

On Tuesday, we had a "day off" (waiting for them to build his crown) so we took a short hike through the desert at Imperial National Wildlife Refuge [palo verde left and desert spiny lizard below] and ate lunch on the patio at Lake Martinez [photo at bottom].

After Steve's dental work was done, we headed back east, in the general direction of New Mexico. We stopped for the night outside of Tucson, where we went to a movie ("Limitless") which we both enjoyed. I've never gone to a movie while I was on the road before. But I'm learning to slow down....

19 Mar - Sedona/Las Vegas Weekend

Friday Gloria and I drove up to Sedona. She wanted to visit the family ranch outside of Sedona, which used to belong to her husband's family. We had a lovely visit there. [← the view east] The caretaker delighted in showing us around the ranch, showing us the improvements that had been made, and hearing Gloria's stories about Aunt Mary and Uncle Joe. Gloria delighted in her memories of the ranch, when she visited Mary and Joe there. Mary and Joe were early settlers in the area. They chose an incredibly beautiful place for their home, among the red rock formations.

We drove to Las Vegas on Saturday, meeting Steve there. We went first to the Bellagio, to pick up our tickets for the Cirque du Soleil "O" show. The Chihuly glass ceiling in the lobby is spectacular. Then we strolled through the Conservatory, which was beautifully done, as always. Each time I've been there, the display has been different, and fantastically done - though always made of flowers and other organic material. [Gloria in front of a "painting" made entirely of flowers ↑] We visited the chocolate fountain, then walked down the Strip, past Paris, and Caesar's Palace, to the Venetian, where we saw the canals both inside and outside the hotel. Near the inside canal↓, we saw a living statue. [Steve and Gloria ↓] That evening Gloria and I saw the Cirque du Soleil water-themed show "O" at the Bellagio. Neither of us could figure out the story line, but the creativity, color, and precision and physical strength of the performers, was impressive. I will never forget the spectacular beginning or the end. Unlike any other I've seen. Then we stopped at the Forum lobby and went up the spiral escalator.

The next day, Sunday, was very windy, so we decided to drive a short distance out of town, to Red Rock Canyon State Park. We drove the loop through the beautiful canyon, amazed at the colors and formations. ← and ↓









That evening we met Gloria's friend Pam for dinner, and the four of us went to see Celine Dion. We all loved it. My favorite piece was the theme from the Titanic movie, "Love Will Go On".

↑ On our way back home the next day, Gloria and I went through Lake Havasu City and stopped and saw the London Bridge. ↓ We enjoyed the beautiful drive back to Mesa, with the amazing rock formations, mountains, and hills along the way.







While Gloria was in Mesa, she got to see my mother, my brother and his family, and my niece and her family, too, so it was a busy visit. But, even with all that, we barely scratched the surface of all there is to see around here. I look forward to her next trip, when we can continue our adventures! :-)

14 Mar - Visit from Cousin Gloria

My cousin Gloria flew down from the Seattle area for a week in the Arizona sun! :-) We'd been planning it for months. Her first morning here, Steve and I took her for a hike out in the desert, near the Superstition Mountains. We also stopped at the tiny tourist town of Goldfield and got a feel for the old West. Her second day the three of us drove south, to Tubac, a little artsy town just a half hour from the Mexico border. We stopped at the beautiful white San Xavier del Bac Mission on the way. We ate on the patio of a Mexican restaurant, with a view of the mountains in the distance, that gave you a feel for being in Mexico. We had fun exploring some of the over-200 shops and galleries in Tubac.

The next day Gloria and I toured Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesen West in Scottsdale. We were both inspired. He was such a genius, ahead of his time. So many of his architectural concepts became the essence of American architecture.

15 Feb - Exploring Around Mesa

Steve and I have been exploring around Mesa. I wanted to show him some of my favorite places, and we explored a few new places together. There are so many great places to walk and hike in this area, that we barely scratched the surface of all we want to see and visit.

Camelback - Steve and I hiked part-way up Camelback Mountain, in Phoenix, for great views of the city in the valley below.

Lost Dog Trail - We hiked a small part of the Lost Dog Trail in the McDowell Mountains.

Lost Dutchman State Park - We hiked a couple trails in this park, one of which goes up into the Superstition Mountains, so you get a great view of the Goldfield Mountains and Apache Junction to the west, and Four Peaks to the east ↑ . One hike was the day after it snowed in the mountains, and so all the highest mountains had snow on their tops.

Water Ranch Riparian Preserve - We made a couple trips to this park in Gilbert, which is one of my very favorite places in town. One Saturday we happened to catch a tour from an Audubon guide and I saw several birds I'd never seen before. I saw my first pintail duck and my first green-winged teal - they are both exquisitely beautiful - and a couple of gorgeous cinnamon teals. ↑

We also happened to catch a couple male Anna's Hummingbirds flashing their colors at each other, warning each other to stay out of its territory.
[↓ not flashing, flashing → ] Hummingbirds are very aggressive, and very territorial little birds, and I have seen them hit each other so hard when they are fighting over a hummingbird feeder ,that one of them knocked the other to the ground. You can even see on the photo on the left that the little bird looks mean and threatening. Their aggression is out of all proportion to their size. Amazing!

I also got some good shots at the Water Ranch of some of my favorites - snowy egret [at top of page] and great blue heron ↓.

Veteran's Oasis - I'd heard about this park for some time as a good birding spot. Steve and I hiked here and did enjoy the birds. We did get a great view of a roadrunner ↓ .

Apache Trail - The day after it snowed in the mountains, we drove the loop from Mesa to Globe to Roosevelt Lake to Tortilla Flat and back to Mesa. At Roosevelt Lake bridge, there was a reflection of the bridge in the water for just a few seconds, but I was able to catch it before it disappeared ↓. The drive from Roosevelt to Tortilla Flat is one of the most scenic in the country, though the road is primitive and not always even passable in the springtime. It was a treat this day, especially with snow on the tops of the mountains, and I'm glad I got to share it with Steve.

Salt River Trail - I took Steve to one of my favorite places, hiking along the Salt River north of town, near Red Mountain →.

Renaissance Festival - I have been many times to the big Renaissance Festival outside of Houston, Texas, but had never been to the one here in AZ, and Steve had never been to one. We spent a day here, and enjoyed the medieval carnival atmosphere, all the people dressed up in medieval costumes, the royalty walking by, the jugglers. The Falconer's presentation on birds of prey was especially impressive [↑ white African vulture] . Other highlights included listening to a harpist and other musicians, Ded Bob the comedian, and the glass-blower demonstration.