Can hardly believe how lax I have been on posting to my wonderful little blog!!!! (could it be that I was so very involved with Mesa and the surrounding areas to such an extent, that I BLANKED out on updating the dearest of my friends?
I suspect, that that is, indeed, what has occurred.
Yes, you may, if you wish, call me a slouch............but, I plead that you give me a second chance.
I SWEAR that I will improve on my slovenly habits!!!
Afterall, I was/am having a wonderful time!
3 months folks.
It has been an incredible 3 months.
I have met some awesome folks and I have done some awesome things, and I have learned so much about Arizona .
I love it here, but miss my Florida friends and family.
Super duper groovy.
So, I ask you..........WHERE do I begin to re-count my adventures??
Heaven only knows.
Here, however, is how I think it will go down.
I will ramble. I will ramble on about the places, friends, events, weather etc, and THEN, I will share some awesome (is this word overworked??????) pictures.
What think you??????
So, initially upon arriving, I ventured out...... predominantly by myself............I saw the sites, I went to the happy hours, I stalked the neighbors.....
........no, wait, scratch that last thought!!!
What kind of person do you think I am?????
Stalking neighbors???????
Just cause I brought my lawnchair on walks with Lilly, and parked myself on the street outside of private parties does NOT equate to stalking!!!!!!!
JEESH folks...........lighten up.................don't be so hard on me!! SURE, you blame me for not reporting in more frequently......but accusing me of stalking!!!!????
There I go again, digressing!!!!!
DAMN ME.
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I went MANY places.....I enjoyed so many events....I have seen so much of my area of Arizona!!!..
...Sedona,.......the trip to Sedona is incredible.............here you are driving down a relatively bland road, when all of a sudden, you go around a corner and SHABANG!
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Saguaro lake,.........this was one of the places I went to, and took a boat trip around the lake. It was very very beautiful!
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Usery Park ...........and the multitude of fascinating talks/hikes led by RANGER B,
Scorpion hike where my hiking bud Karen Rankin and I, spotted 50+ scorpions....48 Arizona Bark....most toxic, and 2 Large Hairy scorp's!!!! A black light will floresece the scorpions, so we all carried a black light.
Mine was a 100 LED light....... MASSIVE and AWESOME.
Despite my incredible respect for nature and all its creatures, I did, temporarily become the
MESA REGAL SCORPION VIGILANTE.............and would venture out each night in search of these venomous creatures..smashing them....did you know that a scorpion bite has the pain of 100 bee stings and that a visit to the ER can cost you upwards of 40 thousand buckeroos?????
Unless you are anaphylactic or experiencing grotesque facial edema and drooling pustules.... it is advisable to avoid the ER and suck it up and endure the pain.
YIKES!
Little bastards!
Look at this little bugger!!!! Enlarged for your viewing pleasure! He is eating lunch.
Of note, it is a common known fact that everything that you keep in an RV should serve at least 2 purposes..........so be it, with a black light scorpion light......it also serves as a urine (and other bodily fluids) detector for hotel sheets.
Multi-tasking device.
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Boyce Arboretum, ...................(which I personally, and ignorantly thought was Arbortorium!),.....lots of 'life' here, with spectacular hiking.
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Wind Cave trail ...hiking....with my peeps! Intermediate level hiking. My friend Coleen had never hiked before and she made it to the top with us!!!
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| Wasp hive!!! |
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....Painted Desert and Petrified Forest (Capital A for Awesome!), an incredible must see. Karen and I spent the weekend here. We went thru Winslow Arizona and then were WOWED by the desert and the forest.
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Tortilla Flats, a replica of a hard ass cowboy saloon/stop in the unforgiving mountains of Arizona
Saddling on up to the bar!!! Awesome restaurant! GREAT food.
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The Hieroglyphic/Petroglyphic trail....hiking....This was a long and hot hike. Lilly was most unwilling to hike, and wanted to rest frequently, so I had to carry her about 1.5 miles over rocks and boulders.
It was well worth it. At the end there was a little pond, and she just plopped down in it, savoring the coolness!
Lilly soaking in the water!!!!
See the cute little great horned toad?
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Roosevelt Dam, ......I ended up at Roosevelt Dam, quite by accident. I had made the trip to Canyon Lake, and decided to go on to see the next lake in the chain.....Apache Lake.
Well.........the road to Apache Lake......another 10-15 miles of gravel, washboard narrow, cliff-type roads was devastating!!!!! If I could have turned around I would have!!! (NO place to turn around at all.....) at one point, my truck actually slid towards the cliff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was scared poopless!
So, I decided, after consulting my map, to just keep going until I reached the highway!
Well.........what do you suppose I ran into?
Roosevelt Dam!
A great treasure of a find!
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Phoenix Zoo, ...... I mainly went to the zoo in order to see a Gila Monster.
It was a GREAT zoo, however a Gila Monster was kind of a let down.
pink and fat...period.
Desert Botanical Gardens....(which I will return to in April/May to see the cacti in bloom.....)
Karen and Liz
Blood Moon at Usery Park........fun night but lousy pictures!!!
A few pics of "standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona"......
Canyon Lake......In my very humble opinion, this is the most awesome lake around these here parts!!!
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We were supposed to go Kayaking at Canyon Lake on another occasion, however, the wind was blowing so hard there were white caps............so, we went hiking at Lost Dutchman trail!
Prickly pear icecream!!! super yummy!!!Christmas was kinda sad cause I was away from friends and family for the first time......so my friend, Karen Rankin, loaded me in the car and drove 3 hours north to Flagstaff, so that I could make a snow angel!!!! What a pal!
Please note the temperature!!!!
Purty pup!A couple of weeks ago I thought I would freeze my little tooshie off!!!!
Scraping ice off the windshield bites largely!!!!
I finally got around to selling my beautiful yamaha guitar that I could never play, and bought myself a very lovely ukelele...........(Pronounced Ook a lay lee)
I know a few chords and there are lessons here in the park as well as a bunch of neighbors that play as well!!!
Tip toe thru the tulips with me!!!!
Ain't she a beaut!!! And, yes, that is an adult beverage beside my instrument.
One of Lilly's best friends.....Neil.
I scared most of my neighbors away!!!
A party with neighbors and work mates at my place............
A trip to Prescott (pronounced Preskitt) to see grade school friend Linda Winslow Zimmerman and her family.
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Pumpkin carving party at my place
Paint and wine party...........
a neighbors art work
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A funny fella at the pool!!! What a hoot!
Phil from work
Ben, Phil and Darrell
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We have covered just about everything, though, I did have an issue that I would like to share.
In RV parks, everyone walks their dogs........they are everywhere!
Love them.
When you walk your dog, they inevitably will do their 'business' which, as a good dog owner, you would pick up said business, and carry it in a little bag.
Cars, trucks, golf carts and bikes drive by, and wave at you.
For a while, when waving, I was forced, due to the leash issue, to wave back with my 'business bag' hand.
This started to feel 'naughty', or impolite or something, so, I alternatively came up with the smile and head nod........I glance toward the vehicle, smile and nod my head, hence avoiding the poop wave.
Seems like an ideal solution to a previously awkward situation. Thought i would pass that on, in case any of you were facing this same dilemma.
Miscellaneous photo's to share.......
My hummingbird friends.....
GREAT performance!!!!
