Sunday, February 25, 2018

SOME CLOUDS AND SUNSETS

Another busy week.  On Monday I had thirteen machines in my group.  The weather was a bit iffy and very windy which kept some at home but the rest of us had a great ride.   We got to see some javelinas and had a really good look at a diamondback rattlesnake.  It was really surprising to see it as the day wasn't very warm but he was sheltered on a rock bluff above the river and he was right in front of his hidey hole which he went back into when he felt threatened.
Aileen feels that her knee is making some progress and we hope that continues to improve.  We've had a couple of card nights and we went to the Riverbottom Grill on Friday night for fish and chips.  Aileen took her own meal as there is nothing gluten free for her.
My friend Richard J and I made a reconnaissance ride on Thursday south of Florence checking out a new route for me.  I will be taking the main group there tomorrow and am expecting a large number of machines as there seems to be quite a bit of enthusiasm for it.

A brief burst of sunshine while we were riding on Monday

North Butte from the Gila River

Rest stop where Box O Wash joins the Gila River

Gila River


Looking down on and across the Gila River 

Lunch time

Solving world problems

The road along the Gila River below South Butte


Gambel's Quail singing his heart out

We have this Cooper's Hawk that likes to hide in trees

Some storm light images taken Friday evening on Memorial Hill out behind our park 



A few Friday evening sunset photos on Memorial Hill




People have made different types of memorials with rocks

Last of the Friday sunsets

These last four were taken this evening.  I walked out to see what kind of sunset we'd have with the clear sky

That's a Gila Woodpecker on the left hand cactus stem



Sunday, February 18, 2018

COOLER WEATHER BUT STILL NICE

We had about 3/4 on an inch of rain the other day which was very welcome.  It made for a pleasant dust free ride on Friday.  Our annual desert clean up was to have happened Thursday but it got rained out.  Lots of us had other commitments for Friday so they had a small group turn out.
Aileen is still struggling with her knee which is a drag for her.  Marie has made a fairly good recovery from being so very ill last week.  We went out for lunch yesterday then played cards on her patio and she even played piano at church this morning.
Aileen and I went for a back road drive this morning.  There had been some nasty mud from the rain but it was mostly dried up today.  I picked up eight geocaches along the way and we had lunch out in the middle of nowhere.  Nice and quiet.  No cars came by while we ate and we only met a small number all the way.
Tomorrow is President's Day down here so it will be very busy out on the trails tomorrow.  I will try and find an area that doesn't get much ATV traffic for my group ride.  We need a fairly short ride as tomorrow is our monthly ATV potluck.

Below Box Canyon.  Nice light on an overcast day.

Below Box Canyon

A lichen painted rock below Box Canyon

Desert Bighorn ram in Box Canyon

He stayed put while we moved up the canyon for a different angle

Road block on the Little Spine

Licking the other calf

Do I have to get up

There were no birds in our tree the other morning when Mitzy and I walked by when suddenly this Gambel's Quail hopped up and posed for us


Mitzy and I wandered through the car show on our return from the desert


A good piece of advice no matter where you are

51 Ford and 49 Studebaker

Old Chevy

Double reflection on the back of a 1956 Studebaker car.  That's the clubhouse behind me.

A male Cactus Wren this morning warbling to the world

The old house at 96 Ranch that we drove by this morning

Sunday, February 11, 2018

ANOTHER BUSY, FUN WEEK

Yes, another busy week for us.  I led a group of twenty one ATVs on Monday which went well.  Nobody got lost and no mishaps.  On Tuesday, Aileen and I took friends Mitch and Carol to Tucson for lunch at the Gourmet Girls Restaurant.  The restaurant is completely gluten free so celiacs don't have to ask any questions about the food or prep.
On Wednesday we went with our Colorado friends to another performance at Barleen's Arizona Opry.  This was a country music show and it was as good as the variety show we saw a couple weeks ago.  Our friend Marie has been in and out of hospital the past week and has now been diagnosed with type A flu.  Another Colorado couple came down and we got to visit a short while with them.  They were to come back today but she took ill so they are on their way back to Colorado instead.
On Friday I led a small group, just four other ATVs, over the mountains to Superior.  It was only about 34 miles there and we did over half of it in the first hour.  However, it is quite rough and the last half took us another 3 1/2 hours.  After lunch in a restaurant, we came home a different route that took 3 1/2 hours so it was a pretty long day.  I was already tired as the night before, Marie was taken to hospital by ambulance and later I drove Ken over to check on her.  It was nearly 1 am when we got home so after 1 when I got to bed then I was up by 6:30 to get ready to go to Superior.   No trouble getting to sleep that night!
Only five or six weeks before we start making our way north to the border!  Time is whizzing by.

The cast at Barleen's put on a rousing, high energy show

From the high spot looking down on the Ajax Mine and out on to the flat land near Florence while on our way over the mountains to Superior

And now looking toward Superior

Superior way off in the top left

On the way to Superior

Superior is getting closer







Almost there

Cooper's Hawk out behind Caliente when Mitzy and I were on our before breakfast walk

Aren't we pretty?

An Ocotillo bloom on a barren stem.  No green showing on the Ocotillo yet because of the extended drought but the odd one is blooming anyway.

Some of the trails radiating out from Box Canyon Wash

Twenty one machines seeking shade for lunch



Looking up to the bottom of Box Canyon