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.

8-13 Feb 2011 - Casa Grande, AZ

The caravan stopped briefly at the Organ Pipe National Monument on our way to Casa Grande. One of the WINs had spent the night there, and he said that driving the loop was definitely worth it, so I will go back and do that some time.

I spent the week in Casa Grande, AZ, at the WIN Dance Rally. Casa Grande is just an hour south of Phoenix. During the day we took dance classes (line dances, two-step, waltz, cha-cha, etc.). The teacher, Judy, was great. She did a good job of including enough info for the beginners, as well as providing the experts with something new. Then there was a dance each evening. Steve, the guy I met on the sunset dinner cruise in Mexico, joined me for the weekend. The highlights were the luau on Saturday night and the Valentine's Dance on Sunday night. The catered Hawaiian luau food was very good. We laughed a lot at the "Best Hawaiian" costume contest at the luau (imagine men parading in grass skirts).

Several of us took some time on Sunday to attend the Native American Music Festival going on at the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. We heard and saw some basket dancers, and heard some excellent Native American flute music, which I love. The highlight, though, was seeing Tony Duncan, the world's best hoop dancer (he had just won the contest in Phoenix - more info at this site:

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/02/06/20110206mesa-man-wins-hoop-dancing.html

He said that most challenging dance is the one with one hoop, as it is the most difficult to dance creatively. He has danced with up to 32 hoops, but we saw him dance beautifully with eight. He also played a beautiful flute. The jewelry and other wares offered at the festival were reasonably-priced. I've never seen so many flutes in one place; there were many Native American flute vendors there. I was pleased that I was able to get a case for my flute. I look forward to going again next year.

Steve at Casa Grande →

3 Feb 2011 - Puerto Peñasco - Days 8-12

We had a couple days of cold, windy weather. Since this is desert, and we are on the beach, the wind whipped the sand up into the air, and we were in the middle of a sandstorm. When we went outside, which wasn't often, we all were wearing our winter coats. As cold and yucky as it was here, however, we knew it was better here than it was up north in the US, as friends and family were letting us know just how miserably cold and windy it was up there. After the weather cleared and warmed up some, a group of us went to tour a classy local resort, where we weren't allowed to take pictures in case we might catch a celebrity unawares. Then we went to eat at a palapa on the beach near an oyster farm. The ceviche (marinated shrimp) was excellent, the quesadillas were good, and those who had oysters said they were good too. I took off with one of the guys in his jeep, heading down the beach and to the estuaries, looking for birds. We saw some earred grebes (with red eyes) in winter plumage [on right], but, mostly, got to see a wilder part of Mexico's coastline. Our last full day there, we looked for walking clams at low tide. We saw one, but it wasn't walking. :-( As we were searching, the birds around us went into a fishing frenzy, and we were surrounded by screeching, flying birds. Incredible! As I watched the sun set over Cholla Bay for the last time, I was so grateful for this wonderful trip to Mexico, but looking forward to heading back to the US.

The trip back was uneventful. There were several groups leaving that day. I was in a caravan of four rigs. The route we took back, through Ajo, to Casa Grande, got us back to the US in only about 75 minutes. The border guards decided to check out my rig thoroughly (even looked through the bedding), so there was a slight delay at the border. I was glad to be back in the US, but with many wonderful Mexican memories. I will definitely go back!!

30 Jan 2011 - Puerto Peñasco, Mexico - Days 4-7

I spent some time the next morning watching the beautiful California subspecies of the brown pelican and the gulls, that were right on the beach where we were parked. All the brown pelicans I'd seen before had been of the Eastern subspecies. The California brown pelicans when breeding have striking red gullets. And many of the gulls were Heermann's gulls, which I think, with their red beaks, are the prettiest of the many different types of gulls [above, left, with the pelicans].
That evening about 20 of us went on a sunset dinner cruise. Before the cruise, I spent a long time watching some pelicans catching fish in the bay. I spent the evening with one of the WINs, a guy named Steve. We watched the incredible sunset over the bay together, then drank margaritas and danced all evening. :-)


The next day many of us went in to town to the wharf area, the Malecon. We did some shopping, and ate good Mexican food at a restaurant over the water. Again, we were serenaded during our lunch, and had good margaritas and good seafood. A group of us went dancing at a club right next to our beach camping area that evening.
The next day a group of us went to the local aquarium, which was a unique experience. The facility was typical Mexican, in that it was pretty run down, but they allowed us to pick up the sea cucumber, and to touch the rays and octopi and other sea creatures, and everyone enjoyed it. We got a lecture at the Center for the Study of Desert and Ocean (CEDO) which was interesting and informative. [whale skeleton below]

26 Jan 2011 - Puerto Peñasco, Mexico - Days 1-3

When I was visiting the WINs I heard about a group of WINs caravanning down to Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, Mexico, (often called Rocky Point by Arizonans) right after the WIN rally. To make a long story short, I decided to go with them. It's something I've wanted to do for a long time, and I decided this was a great opportunity. So I joined the WINs, and joined the caravan! It turned out there were 33 rigs heading down. We all met up at the Wal-Mart in San Luis (just south of Yuma), and left from there in three groups. We all had to get Mexican liability insurance on our vehicles in San Luis (required by Mexico) and many of us picked up some things at the Wal-Mart. I was in the last group, of five rigs, that left from San Luis. We crossed the border at San Luis without incident; most of us weren't even stopped. Our trip was in the "no-hassle zone" in Mexico, where they make things as easy for tourists as possible. Our route from San Luis to Puerto Peñasco took us 200 miles through the Sonoran Desert, about 5 1/2 hours driving time, arriving on Sandy Beach at night. I was really glad to be right behind our trip leader, who knew where he was going!! We parked right on the beach ($5 per night, no hook-ups).

The next morning I awoke to find myself parked on white sands, next to the blue, blue waters of the Sea of Cortez. The first order of business was getting the three rigs un-stuck that had gotten stuck in the sand. :-) Some parts of the beach are hard and okay to drive on; some are not. I knew I was in Mexico when a man and his young burro came by [above], picking up aluminum cans. Once the word went out that a large group of RVs were parked at Sandy Beach, we had a constant stream of vendors coming by. The seafood vendor did a brisk business. Several days I purchased fresh shrimp from Manuel, and one day I purchased chocolate clams. (They don't taste chocolate; their shells are chocolate-colored.) The shrimp were huge; the shrimp that they call "large", we would call "jumbo". I bought the biggest shrimp I've ever purchased while I was there. A couple of the WINs went kayaking in the bay first thing. Since this is wintertime in the desert, generally the mornings are cool, but the afternoons are sunny and warm. I was surprised to find out that this part of the Sonoran desert averages only two inches of rain per year. That's dry!! And you could tell, as there was little vegetation away from the few washes. (The desert around Phoenix gets about 18 inches per year.)

The next day we went shopping at "Shacks Fifth Avenue", one of the local tourist markets. There were few shoppers besides our group. I've heard it said that Arizonans consider Rocky Point to be the Arizona coastline! However, WINs who had been there in previous years said the number of shoppers was much fewer this year, due, I'm sure, to all the publicity about the drug violence in Mexico. The townspeople, who are always poor by American standards, are really having a tough time with the decrease in American tourist business. We all went to a good Mexican restaurant for lunch. La Casa is situated at the top of a hill for an unbeatable view of the bay and the wharf area. We sat outside on the patio, under the sun, while mariachis serenaded us, and most of us drank margaritas and danced. The WINs know how to have a good time!! :-) We went to a local ice cream shop for dessert, where a couple of young vendors did their best to sell us their trinkets.

Another highlight of that day was walking the beach that evening at low tide, watching all the shorebirds, the California brown pelicans, the gulls, the fishermen, the gorgeous sunset. I saw a man with a probe catching octopi that were hiding in the rocks. I'd never seen that before. I don't know whether he was going to eat them or sell them; he didn't speak English.

19-25 Jan 2011 - Quartzite

I decided to spend a week in Quartzite,AZ, with the Escapees Solos (RVing singles) during the big rock show there. I've wanted to check out Quartzite for awhile so I'm glad I got over my bronchitis in time. Quartzite is a small town (4000) that turns into a huge town (over 1 million) during January, when RVers from all over the country descend on the place for the rock show. Think of a town turned into a big flea market. The "big tent" is full of things that RVers might want to buy. But there are lots of things for sale that aren't just for RVers, in the big tent, and outside the big tent, and all over town. The Escapees SOLOs had a camping rally there, which is an annual event for them. Although I've been a member for a few years, this was my first event with them that I attended. About 85 of us dry-camped (no hook-ups) in the desert outside of town. We saw some incredible sunsets. I got to meet a bunch of neat single RVers. The group is pretty evenly split between men and women. I made some new friends. There was a campfire every evening. One day we went to a restaurant/saloon way out in the desert, a couple times we had some good Mexican food in town.

Several of the Solos also belong to another single RVers group - the WINs (Wandering Individual Network) and I visited their group a little while I was there too. The WINs' group was bigger (180-plus), and they were parked just across the road from the Solos. One of the things that happened while I was there was that a single RVer's rig burnt up. She was having dinner that evening at a neighbor's RV, and when she got back she could feel that the door to her rig was warm. But she thought it was just from the sun. When she opened the door, she could see that the rig was full of black smoke, and, unfortunately, opening the door brought in the oxygen and it quickly went into a full blaze. There were a bunch of us watching when the fire trucks came, but, by then, it was already a total loss. She lost everything - her purse, her laptop, her clothes, everything. Like most of us, she lives full-time in her rig so it was her home. So sad. It made us all very aware of fire safety issues for the rest of the rally.