February 11 to 20, 2010

I don't know if I can do this without taking up too much space but, this is what we've been up to over the last 10 days:

11th - visit to Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson; with friends Art and Linda

12th - We hiked the West Pinto Trail with friends from the Resort (lots of water!)

13th - Lise and I both got haircuts; we joined Art in a 9 hole golf game at Apache Sun

14th - I had my first golf lesson to work on some of my problem areas; we have a golf instructor that has just moved into the Resort and was offering lessons; We attended the Valentine Dinner put on by Meridian ($28.00 for 2 - included performance by a rock and roll band (pretty good band too)

15th - Lise had a double header with her softball team and I went to watch and offer fan enthusiasm :-)

16th - we both had our usual Tuesday golf (9 holes), and followed that up with darts from 6:00 to 8:00 that evening

17th - Lise had a softball game and I went on a hike to Picket Post mountain along the Arizona Trail

18th - I organized a foursome for golf at Toka Sticks (18 holes); Lise stayed home and did laundry

19th - Lise had another double header softball day and I went to cheer her on again; she's doing real well and enjoys playing even more now than in the past; later we bought a new GPS to play with - the old one was becoming outdated and it was cheaper to buy a new one than download new maps

20th - Lise went to Curves today and did some shopping after; I went out golfing - it started to rain but some of us persevered and put in our 9 holes; by the time we finished the skies had cleared and we decided to play another 9 - why not :-)

In amongst all that we have still found time to watch the Olympics and have enjoyed watching our athletes perform.

So that is it in a nutshell. Every day has been great and we are enjoying this life immensely.

Lockheed SR71-A Blackbird

example of some of the planes in the graveyard - some of these can be refurbished and fly again

I think this is a B-17 Bomber - Flying Fortress

This is our West Pinto Trail hike - we crossed this stream 5 times!

Feb 5 to 10,2010

Friday, Feb. 5 we were up early for a 7:00 departure to Picacho Peak which is about 100 miles from Apache Junction. This is a special hike set up for Friday for the hike enthusiasts that like a real challenge. The hike was certainly more challenging than I remembered - or maybe I'm older - and it was a very fun day. Some of the hikers hadn't climbed here before and were very excited to be challenging themselves this way. By the time we got back in mid afternoon I was ready for a quick nap. Lise must have quicker recovery skills :-)
We're at the first saddle - now it gets interesting







some cable climbing

lots of cable work near the top
Who said it was easier going down?

The Phoenix area puts on a Renaissance Festival each year east of Apache Junction. It takes place in a medieval town set up just like a movie set. There are lots of performers and events taking place and it is open Fridays Saturdays and Sundays for six weeks each year. The first day was Saturday, February 6 and we decided to go with friends from the park. What a rush. It was great!! and we were just blown away by the pageantry. The real stars were the people who came to the show all dressed up as though they were in a real medieval setting. Their costumes were very authentic - what an enjoyable day!
costumed locals waiting to get in

There's a person inside that tree!
Very realistic costumes!
two potential knights or squires?

Lise had two softball games on Monday that I attended and one today (I went hiking). She has been battling tight muscles in here thighs and had to have someone run for her in the second game on Monday. Today was a bit better and we're hopeful that she'll be feeling better by the next double header on Monday. She's still enjoying it though.

January 25 to February 4, 2010

Time just flies when you're having fun and certainly the last 10 or 11 days have been that. We are pretty busy every day and by the time we settle down in the evenings I don't always feel like updating our blog. The weather has been great and we have been doing all the usual things and trying not to think that we only have two months left before we have to leave this beautiful area. Of course we do get to see family and the grandkids again. It's all good! Perhaps I'll let some pictures tell the story this week.

First off I thought I'd take a picture of part of our living area to give you a sense of where we spend most of our time - when we're not out having fun. With the two slides out we probably have about 13 to 14 feet of width here, and it's about 20 feet from the bathroom area to the driver and passenger chairs at the front. It has always seemed large enough for us.

Here are a couple of hot rods framing our motorhome in the background. The owner of the silver hot rod (who is staying in our park) got some of his friends together and showed off the vehicles they had purchased at the recent auctions around the Phoenix area. It brought out many of the residents of the park - as you can see.

I was out for a hike with a friend last week and we mainly bushwacked our way through the desert. This is a shot of the Superstition Mountains from a different view.
Same hike, different view. This type of hike is fun because it's more exploratory and not so much getting to a destination and returning.
Some young ladies out for a ride were kind enough to pose for us in front of the Superstition Mountains. Some of these trails are multi-use and it is not unusual to see riders out enjoying the scenery from horseback.

A few weeks ago I got to go on a great hike with our hiking group but Lise had to go to a softball game and couldn't make it. This hike is popular for many of the local residents, particularly the younger crowd, and is a short, steep climb to the top of Piestewa Peak It is 2.4 miles to the summit and back (1200 ft vertical gain). Piestewa Peak is named in honor of Army Spc. Lori Ann Piestewa , the first Native American woman to die in combat in the US military. Since Lise wasn't able to go on the hike earlier she and I decided to do it by ourselves last Friday. Normally we don't go hiking by ourselves but this route is well marked and with all those people on the hill we figured we'd do just fine. This picture should give you some idea of how steep this climb is.

Lise is resting here after a very aggressive push to the top. We used this hike as a test of our stamina and climbed this hill at a very good pace. Phoenix residential and industrial areas laid out below.