11/26/2010 (FRI) Shopping and More Shopping but...

I am not one of those 'black friday' shoppers.  In fact I have all my holiday shopping completed.  It's been a bit since I've last posted as really we have not been doing much.  Same ole same ole.

Thanksgiving here in the park was really nice.  We had in excess of 200 people attending and it went incredibly well.  They had the tables set up in sections of two eight foot tables end to end.  Then one singe table.  Each grouping was like this.  I was in charge of hosting table two.  By that all I had to do was make sure the table was decorated and the food was uncovered when it came time to eat.  I had friends Pam and Joanna helping me so it was really easy. 

Our Table For 16.

Our table, we were told, was the nicest decorated table of all.  It did look very nice and all those sitting at the table thought it looked nice......or is that because they did not have to help...

Food Table

Each couple had to bring a specified dish that would feed 16 people.  The park furnished the turkeys, gravy, and drinks.  We had dressing, cranberries, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, salad, vegetable, rolls/butter, and desserts.  Food was excellent and not one person went away hungry.

Yummy Food...

The really bad thing (or it could be a good thing) is that you never have any leftovers to munch on later in the day.  But really after eating all we did we certainly did not need leftovers.

Friends Mel and Joanna

Friends Bill and Pam

Thursday was also a very special day for our friend Bill because it was his birthday.  Later in the day we all met here to celebrate his 61st. birthday.  Was just a fun time.

Bill And His New Hat

Happy Birthday Bill!!

Poor Bill had to open some of the most unusual gifts that we had purchased from a garage sale.  Cake was excellent and we all had a great time.  Hurry and turn 62 Bill we want another piece of cake.

11/21/2010 (Sun) - Orme Dam Victory Days Pow Wow

Today after church we decided to go to the Orme Dam Victory Days which is a celebration that has been taking place for the last 29 years.  This is to celebrate the 29 years since Interior Secretary James Lee Watt announced the decision to not build Orme Dam. The dam would have destroyed the culture and reservation of Yavapai People and its land.  In the early 1970s, Arizona officials and the federal government sought to construct Orme Dam, which would give Phoenix more water, but would flood two-thirds of the 24,000 acre of the Fort McDowell Yavapai Indian Reservation.  To read more about this proposed dam click on this link.   http://www.ftmcdowell.org/communityevents/ormedam08/aboutod.htm

My pic of the day

Today was the pow wow grand final with many of the dancers in full costume.  I can only imagine how expensive those costumes were as they were just gorgeous.  It's always interesting to observe different cultures celebrate.  The celebration was held in one of the largest tents I've ever seen.  It's also a very good thing it was, as it rained most of the time.  I can't remember the last time we've had rain but rain it did today. 

 

As we were getting closer to Fort McDowell we ran into a lot of traffic only to find that they also had a bicycle race going on. I don’t know how long this race was but it had to be a long way as it seemed like we drove forever and the bicycles were still racing along.  In fact when we left the pow wow three hours later the bicycles were still riding along. 

Once back we all decided to have pizza at our favorite pizza place, which is The Red, White, and Brew.  Jim and I shared a pizza and that was a good plenty for us.

11/18/2010 (Thur) - 11/20/2010 - This and That

November 18, 1968 was a very special day in my life, because on that day I became a mom to this little screaming, arm flapping, kicking, red faced little boy.  Well many years have passed since that day, and he's still flapping those arms, kicking those feet, and screaming all the while riding that motorcross bike.  Happy Birthday Don!  I'm proud of you.
Last night our little group took in another play.  This one was called, 'The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.' 

What a well done performance.  It was a bit hard to understand the Grinch and also the little girl but really it did not matter as by now most people have heard the story.  Every scene was like a Christmas card. I would go again for sure.  It is from a production called Progressive Broadway Across America;  Big League Productions, Inc.  If it ever comes to your town be sure to see it.

Since getting back from our National Park's visit we really have been staying put.  We did wax the big truck and it looks really nice.  All shinny and clean, almost hate to drive it. 

Clean Huh..

Today I went shopping!  Needed to buy a few things at various stores.  At the church we are attending they have taken on 60 children and we signed up to purchase a gift for one of them.  Ours is a little 8 year old girl.  The only requirement is we buy a sweatshirt and then we can buy anything we want so long as it fits into a 14" by 17" bag.  Can't be any larger than that.  So I have all those items ready to put into that bag.

On Saturday Nov. 20th we started to tackle the waxing of the 5th wheel.  We started out on the right side at it gets the sun early thinking we could beat it but the wax we had, left swirl marks on the unit.  So off to the store to get different wax and another buffer.  Now we have two buffers one for Jim and one for me.  We also have more microfiber cloths than any one person needs.  We spent what seemed like forever waxing the left side.  The unit is 37 foot long and on that side it has 3 slides.  Big job but whoo who we have it finished.
Now just three sides left.  The other long side only has one slide so that will be faster and besides we have part of it done.  Maybe tomorrow....or maybe not tomorrow.   The front and the back are easy and small.   The biggest problem I have is that I am short and we only have one ladder so I do what I can reach.  I did get the basement doors cleaned.  That is the part under the 5th wheel you store stuff in.

Today being Sat. I am off to do the yard sales.  Will wax when I get back.  Not to sore at all today.
I'll try to add some pics when I get back but for now this is it.

11/14/2010 (Sun) - Chiricahua Monument National Park Part 2

It was late when I finished the first part of Chiricahua so today I'll finish part 2.  Our hike called Echo Canyon was a mass of rock formations that is referred to as the Grotto.  This hike actually took us to the center of those huge formations. We were like ants by comparison.  The neon green lichen made the rocks just stand. 

Neon Green Lichen

Each formation was totally different from the other.  You just stand in awe of what you are seeing.

Many years ago, perhaps 75 years, the CCC came in and constructed the six mile road to Massai Point.  They also forged hiking trails.  They put in rock steps and cleared a path thru terrain that I would not have thought possible.  All the while not disturbing much of the beauty of the area.  You will not see any destruction of any kind on your walks.  People are very aware of not leaving things along the trail. 

The park has a rescue horse they call Boomer.  Boomer is from Knoxville, TN and was purchased for $2,000.00.  During the year 2009 he was used in seven rescues.  From the description of his skills and disposition I got the feeling he is a much loved and respected rescuer.  He is able to transport an injured person easier and faster than humans can.  It only takes Boomer and his rider whereas it would take 5-6 people to accomplish the same task. 

Where ever we looked it was like this

Alligator skin look a like.

No I did not paint that sky in

How plant life can survive here is miraculous.  From the wearing of the formations bits of dirt and dust gather in the cracks and crevices and before long a plant seed lands and life begins. 

We were in and among all these formations.

Some of the formations were sitting on top of others and one had to wonder how long it would be before they lost their footing and would tumble down.

Notice all the cracks and crevices. 

We had to wind our way up and around in this area.

The formations were so tall they tended to block out the sun thus making it difficult to photograph them due to the shadowing.

Imagine turning 360 degrees and seeing this with every turn.

Looks like a good push would topple this formation.

Looking at the formations different images pop into mind. 

To me this looks like a dolphin.

We hated to leave but time was not in our favor as we wanted to get back to Mesa before night came, as it was a three hour drive getting back.  I suggested when we left the park that we take a different route.  I could tell right away Jim would not have taken that route but did it for me.  What a nice drive and there was actually homes and farm land on this route.  And the most important issue was, I still believe it was closer mileage wise.  

So ends our National park viewing season.  Since September of this year we have been to Glacier, Bryce, Zion, Grand Canyon, White Sands, Carlsbad Cavern, and last but not least Chiricahua National Park.   It would be impossible to pick one and say, 'This is my favorite as each one is vastly different than the other.  I think more than anything it is a state of the mind issue when you venture into a park.  To me I like this one better than another, but to someone else it may be a totally different park.  I have been to a number of countries that have amazing sights to see, but in traveling across the United States, I have come to realize, this country is one fantastic place to live.

11/14/2010 (Sun) - Chiricahua National Monument Park - Part 1

Last night we decided to get an early start so we were up and out of the motel by 7:15am this morning.  When we got to the restaurant there were icicles hanging from the roof.  Can not figure out how we can be so far south and have it so cold.  Do you think it might be that we are up in the mountains.

The park opened at 8:00am and we arrived at 8:15am.  It was almost to early because not only was it colder than heck but the sun was hardly up.  Chiricahua (pronounced Chair-ah-cow-a) has a six mile road that you drive on.  This takes you to different places where you can hike.  We ended up not hiking a lot because when Jim got out of the truck he did something to his back and it was bothering him.

We did take the hike at the highest point of the mountain, which was called Massai Point Nature Trail.  What a view we had from there.  I had a really difficult time cutting these pics down as every where we walked we saw new and unbelievably beautiful rock formations.  You really need to see this in person as there is no way a photo can show just how magnificent this park is.

Organ Pipe Formation

On the Massai Trail

This is the famous landmark of Cochise' Head. 

Can you see him?

Acres and acres of rock formations

That green rock cover is called lichens

My pic of the day

This formation made me think of a cross with a hole in the center. 

The entire Chiricahua Park was caused by a huge volcano that threw hot ash all over the place.  This ash heated and melted together forming layers of gray rock.  Cooling, heating and uplifting created joints and cracks in the rock.  Weathering by ice and erosion enlarge the cracks. Loose material washed away leaving behind endless spires, balanced rocks, and other shapes.  This of course has taken millions of years.  I've never seen anything like it. 

This park is the only park that is an island.  By that they mean all around the mountain range there is grass.  It's a grass island not a water island.  The park was referred to as The Wonderland of Rocks by President Calvin Coolidge and he made it a national park on April 18, 1924.  The park is 11,985 acres of just the most amazing rock formations you'll ever see.

We also took a short hike to a place called Echo Canyon Grotto.  Jim said this area was the highlight of his trip.   I will post that hike tomorrow.

11/13/010 (Sat) - Movin' West to Chiricahua Monument National Park

We left Carlsbad around 8:00am this morning heading down route 62/180. This part of the country is totally without any scenic highlights. All I saw was desert type plants and dead looking grasses. Miles and Miles of this. After a bit we started to see mountains and when we hit the Texas border we were in the Guadalupe Mountains and they were amazing. We actually stopped at the National Park visitors center to see if we could drive in and thru the park but the answer was no, it is a wilderness park and only hiking takes place. They did have a museum and a theater so we could see what the park was all about.  We chose not to.

Once past the Guadalupe Mountains the scenic view was one of total flat land with nothing for miles on end. We did come across a short spot that had what looked like white sand but it was pretty chilly so who knows it might have been snow. Nah it was sand.

In this area all we saw was the whitest colored grasses, those cactus that look like they have about four stalks with yellow flowers or buds. A few small bushes but it looked almost like waste land. There was not even a house for miles and when one did pop up it was an old run down trailer or a really run down small shack. Once and I mean once in a while I would see a nicer house. All the land must be owned by ranchers but I would not live there. No people at all. It would be around 80 miles to a grocery store. Nope no sir not for me.

So today we started out in New Mexico, then we entered Texas, then New Mexico again, and finally we are in Arizona. If we had brought our passports we could have added Mexico to that list as we were only about 20 miles from there.

We are in a small town called Willcox and it is as close to a ghost town as I've ever seen.  The town is mostly closed buildings with very few places open for business.  All the traffic is centered around I-10.  It's hard to believe just two blocks away is the busy modern area and then head to historic Willcox and you step into a town that is in need of major repair.  I doubt that it can be saved.

So tomorrow it's touring the Chiricahua Monument National Park and then heading back home to Mesa, AZ.  It will be around a 200 mile drive.

11/12/2010 (Fri) - Carlsbad Cavern

Hello,
I don’t know about you, but I certainly got my exercise visiting the Carlsbad Cavern!!

It's a 7 mile drive once you turn into the Carlsbad Park and what a drive!

Visitors Center

We did not realize that we needed to get tickets ahead of time for some of the tour hikes and missed out on two of them. The gal told us those two were really strenuous and we most likely would have had a difficult time on them. We would have had to climb ladders and ropes in some of them.  Instead of the ladder and rope tours, we did the Natural Entrance and the Big Room tour and the Kings Palace Tour.
The Natural Entrance Tour we were told us is a really steep 1¼-mile descent which is equivalent to about 80 stories from the cave entrance to the Big Room. They said this tour is recommended only for those in good physical condition. People keep telling us these things when we try to hike. I get the impression they think we are wimps.
From the Natural entrance tour you come to the Big Room Tour.

Since we arrived early we decided that. “Heck, we can do the Natural Entrance tour into the cave.” This walk took us around the location where you can watch the bats exit the cave from April to mid October.  Thousands of bats.  Now can you understand why  I wanted to wait until November to go to the caves.  How all those thousands of bats know when November hits is pretty amazing but somehow the park personal tell us all the bats know. 

Bat Amphitheater

Bat entrance and exit

We walked around the bat exit area and started our downward descend into the cave. We walked in a switchback fashion never realizing that all this switch backing was equal to an 80 story hike. We zig zagged like forever before we even saw anything interesting. My legs were killing me by the time we had dropped those 80 stories (830 Feet)  All that time we were going down, sometimes pretty steeply going down, was done with very little light inside.   Besides I just knew there was a bat just waiting for me to go by. The walkways mostly had hand rails to guide us and it really was quite safe except I expected to grab onto a bat hanging in the dark on that handrail. I’m just glad we did not have to walk back the way we came.  You know how when something is really difficult and you get to where you are supposed to be and what you see is beyond description.  This was an oh my gosh type of an experience.  We found ourselves whispering because it did not seem like we should be there.

We were allowed to take pics but that is not an easy task to do at all. Those professional shots you see take a lot of prep work and when you stop, shoot, and walk you don’t get much. A special thanks to my daughter and family for getting me the monopod. It worked great. Notice I said the monopod worked great not the pics were great.

Views from the Big Room

Big Room

Ladder used when the cave was first discovered

The Kings Palace tour started at 2:00pm.  It was a one and a half hour guided tour through four unbelievably decorated chambers, better known as the king's room, the queen's room, and the papoose' room.  There is an elevator you take to get down to the cave and this is where this tour started. We descended a total of 830 feet beneath the desert surface and this is the deepest portion that is open to the public.  This tour was not as difficult as the natural entrance route, but this one mile tour does require descending, and later climbing, an 8-story hill.   We saw a variety of cave formations that were given names like draperies, columns, and soda straws.  The Ranger actually had a  black-out during the tour, and you guessed it.  It was totally black.  We could see nothing.  Makes one wonder how the first explorers could see anything at all with just their lanterns.

My pic of the day

This was called 'The Great Lakes.'  That green water was eight feet deep.

Both tours were an excellent way to see the cave. It still blows my mind just thinking of the unbelievable beauty of this underground cave.   The pictures I posted in no way show the total and complete beauty of this cave.  It must be seen in person.

Tomorrow we are on the road heading toward Chiricahua Monument National Park which is in Arizona.