Saturday, February 27, 2010

Friday 26 February -3 Road runners!

After lunch Mary and I went for a walk around the circle and we saw two road runners. Of course I did not have my camera with me. The first one was down by where the circle meets South Lost Gold Road and the other one was on the other side of the circle from Mary and Ron's. At first I could not believe my eyes. I got all excited and Mary got all excited and she said that she actually couldn't see well enough to see it and that I could tell her that I saw an elephant and she would have to believe me, that's how good her eyes were. We both laughed at that. So my witness that I saw a road runner was actually not such a good witness after all. We continued our walk and low and behold there was another one in someone's yard. They were bigger than I thought they would be and lighter in colour. I will have to check and see if there is a difference between the sexes. So I saw two roadrunners today. It was great. We got back to the house and told Ron and he thought that was great too.
Mary and Ron watched some olympics and I downloaded all of the pictures that I had taken on my walk earlier and photoshopped them. I put a new album on facebook and then it was time for dinner.
We had just finished dinner when, miracle of miracles, a roadrunner was in Mary and Ron's yard and we all saw it! Three road runners in one day! Again I did not have my camera handy enough. We discussed about the fact that just that morning we had talked about roadrunners and that maybe all we needed to do was talk about some creature that we wanted to see and it would appear. We decided not to talk about cougars.
Ron had tickets for us all to go and see Tomaseen Foleys Irish Times, a concert of celtic song, dance and storytelling over at the Methodist church. It was marvelous. The Irish story teller, Tomaseen Foley, was funny and the music and dancing were really good. We picked up some CD's and got home at around 10 pm. Checked out the latest happenings at the olympics, Canada had another gold in Mens relay short track speed skating and decided at 1030 that we were bushed. It had been a really wonderful day full of surprises and laughter.

A Lovely Long Walk on Friday February 26

The morning was lovely and warm with not a cloud in the sky. Mary had an appointment today to get her hair nails and toes done today so I went for ride to the shop and walked home from there.
First I mailed some postcards, picked up a few more
and some stamps and then got something to drink.
I went outside and heard some birds in a tree behind the store.
Now I have to explain the trees around here. They are so thick that you can't see hardly anything that is in them. When I got closer I realized that there were probably twenty birds in that thicket of a tree and some of them were quite large too. I did manage to get a few pictures that I might be able to use to identify what kind of birds they were.
The temperature is around 73 F and it was lovely summer weather.
In preparation for my walk I had applied a generous amount of sunscreen on and had brought my hat to keep my face out of the sun as much as possible.
There was a path that followed the road almost all the way home so I was mostly on that.
It is about one mile to the gatehouse and two miles more from there so I figure that I probably walked about four miles as I kept leaving the path to investigate things.
Right along the path I found a cactus with a bundle of sticks in it.
Well I thought maybe it was more than a bundle of sticks so I stuck my hand carefully through the spines and spikes into
a little opening and pointed my camera down towards the bundle. I am short and the cactus was taller than me so I was reaching trying not to get too scratched up
To my great delight there were three blue eggs inside. That was exciting and well worth the few scratches on my hand.
A little further down the path was a low bush with a fluffy flower that I found out from the 'Wildflowers of the Desert Southwest' book at Mary and Ron's was called a Fairy Duster.
A very appropriate name. There were different flowers everywhere. I could make my own book of all the flowers that I saw and took pictures of. I did get some great photos I
think. I used the photos when I got home to find out what they were in the wildflower book.
I was keeping a list of birds and now I could start a list of wildflowers that I had seen while in Arizona.
We need to find a cactus book so that I can find out the names to all the different kinds of cactus too. It is amazing the variety of cactus. Long sticks sticking out of the ground, barrel, saguaro, prickly pear and many more.


There were also paths that went off the main path and I went onto a couple of those too.
They went up into the hills and I found out what was looking so green.
Lichen. After it rains the lichen spring into action, as it were, and grow like crazy, for a lichen that is.
It comes in all colours as right beside the rock with the bright yellow green lichen was a rock with the blue, black and orange lichens too.
Also there were little plants about the size of mown grass but with tiny flowers on
them.
I heard so many different
bird sounds out there I
thought that there must have been a hundred birds in the bushes around me and I could not see any of them.
I left the little path and went up a hill and got a
good look at the terrain.
That was when I heard this little chirpy chuffy noise coming from a tree.
I went toward it slowly and eventually narrowed it down until I found what was making that little noise.
A hummingbird. Just sitting there waiting for me to take a
picture. I really do need a better zoom on my camera. It was lovely.
I wondered if there was a nest around but I did not see
one.
I was, by that time, halfway down a slope and
didn't want to walk all the way back to the little path so thought I might just continue down into the wash and follow it along to the road.
I found some scat. maybe to an exotic animal like
a coyote or a bobcat?
It was quite small so I voted for bobcat.
Continuing down the slope I soon realized that it was was getting very steep and rocky so I skirted around the slope and found myself in a boulder and rock filled wash, along a subdivision with a fence.
The rocks were put there to prevent erosion during rainy periods. I climbed over the rocks and boulders and worked my way over to the road.
There were Gambels Quail all over the place.
There was also a lemon tree growing in someone's yard with some of them hanging over the wall I really wanted to go and pick one but I resisted the temptation. Can you imagine. A lemon tree.
I followed the road down to the gate house and talked
to the man there for a minute. They feed the quail in the morning so there were usually lots around.
The path kind of disappeared for a little while but I just walked on the road side till I found it again.
It was getting quite warm out now. The road was on a gentle and steady rise towards the mountain.
I continued to stop and take photos and wave at people driving by.
They all smile and wave here. very friendly folks. I saw a hummingbird investigating a stone wall. I am not sure why he would be checking the wall as there were no flowers there, but he was lovely and I got a picture
of him.
It took me two and a-half hours to walk three and a-half miles.
When I got home Mary and Ron were just starting lunch and so I joined them and shared stories of the birds and flowers I had seen. They had taken the short cut home and that is why they did not pass me on the road.
I still have not seen a road runner.
Ron said they were not seen in this area very often. Well I still have a week to go so you never know.

Friday, February 26, 2010

Thursday evening in Arizona

Mary and I had a great time reading the wildflower book. There were words in it that I had no idea what they meant, so finally I got my computer and looked a few of them up. While doing that I put on my Itunes and played oldies from the 30's and 40's and Mary and I sang along. She remembers lots of songs.
Bajadas - a slope at the base of a mountain that is formed from eroded sand and gravel.
Mesas - is spanish and Portuguese for table and refers to that formation in the landscape that rises up from the land with steep cliff sides to a flat top.
Tohono O'odham - is a native tribe not related to any Irishman that I could find out about.
Arroyos - is a dry channel that intermittently has water in it after it rains and is also called a wash, or dry creek bed.
after we had learned all of these things Mary went with Ron when he had to soak his foot and change his bandage.
I went on the computer and worked on the blog. At around 5 I started dinner and we ate at around 545. Just salad, garlicky mushroom potatoes and pork with broccoli and corn. Dessert was chocolate brownies with strawberry frozen yogurt. yum.
The olympics today was exciting. The Canadian girls hockey team won gold. I hit the sack early and didn't get to see all the skaters.


25 February Thursday - So long Will and Tony

Awake at 5. tea and blog. that seems to be my routine here, or anywhere for that matter.
Got a few photos of the sunrise. It is warm outside again today. at around 7 30 I poked my nose into Wills bedroom and he was awake. we looked up the weather in Sedona and found out it was going to be getting cooler so we looked at temperatures in tucson, Flagstaff and phoenix too.
If it gets too cold up in Sedona they will go down south to Tucson.
Tony came in and I departed so Will could get ready.
I got the table ready for breakfast. We all had Ron's world famous porridge. Will and Tony thought they might get away after breakfast but there was so much to do. We had to talk about second cup versus starbucks. We had to put the door back up in the bathroom. They had to get their things packed up and then go on the computer to write a few emails. By the time that was all accomplished it was practically lunch time so they stayed for lunch too. We had penne pasta and salad out on the patio.
It was so nice. We
sat out there for a while and chatted in the warm sunshine about the olympics and road construction in this area. Then they had to go.
Tony had already packed just about everything. The only thing left was to transfer Will into the passenger seat and load the wheelchair. With goodbyes and see you laters said they drove off for their adventures in Sedona.
Mary and Ron and I went inside and although we had plans to go for a walk we somehow ended up reading the flower book. Will and Tony had brought Ron and Mary and I a desert wildflower book and I found out that the flowers in the patio are desert verbena. How exciting. It is going to be such a useful book.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Wednesday Evening- Artichokes

We got back to Mary and Ron's and found out that Mary had a little bit of a faint earlier that afternoon so was not feeling well and was laying down. We started to make stuffed artichokes at about 5 and once Tony figured out the newfangled oven we put them on to roast far an hour around 6 pm. Will was chatting with Mary and Ron and they were all having a great time. talk turned to construction methods and the olympics. We have been kind of watching what is showing down here and we have been keeping pretty much abreast of the latest medals for Canada. We checked the artichokes at 7 and they needed to be cooked some more so put them back in for another 30 minutes. At 730 I checked them, basted them and I put them in for another 20 minutes with the convection oven on this time. at 8 they still were not done so I put them in for another 20 minutes at a higher temperature. at 830 I served them. Will and I had been chatting with Mary while Ron and Tony watched the Hockey game. the Artichokes were only just done and was maybe not the best dish I have ever made but we managed. Desert was great. Icecream. we were all bushed and Will said good night right away. Ron, Mary and Dennie stayed up to watch a bit of the olympics but around 10 called it a night also.

Wednesday Afternoon in Goldfield Arizona

We stayed for a bit in Tortilla flat. I picked up some postcards and some stamps which turned into more of a deal than I thought it should have. I also got Will a Tortilla Flat Sherrif's badge. He loved it and insisted on wearing it immediately. The weather had stayed so nice for us it was like summer. We decided since we could not go on to Roosevelt Lake maybe we could go on the boat ride down Canyon lake so we headed back across the one lane bridge and up the road that we had just come down.
When we got to the spot where the boat 'Dolly' was moored we found out that it was booked solid for the next two trips. We stayed around having a coffee and relaxing. There was a bit of a breeze off of the water and I can just imagine that in the summer this would be a very busy place.
We headed off for Goldfield , the mining ghost town.
There were some tourist buses in the parking lot and we really hoped that we did not run into one of them on the road back, especially on a corner.
We got to the ghost town and headed up the street. Well, Tony pushed Will up and I walked along side.
We were looking for a restaurant for lunch and the Mammoth Saloon, which was our choice, was almost at the top of the hill. The replica mining town has several little shops and museums and historical information
type places. Including a bordello.
When Will said that for all his talk he had never been in an actual bordello we knew we had to get him in there. We got the next best thing. One of the 'Ladies' came out and posed with Will and did he blush or what. It was fun.
The Saloon had live music and the singer was not bad.
He was singing John Denver and Kenny Rogers tunes.
At first we could not find a ramp to get to the seating outside but when we asked they told us where it was and we settled ourselves in to a comfy
picnic table with a great view of Superstition mountain. I had a cheese quesadilla, Tony and Will had sandwiches. The meal was good and the menu was in an old newspaper style with stories about the mine and Goldfield. It was very cute.
Our waitress Tiffany was actually from West virginia so when we asked her how do you pronounce Saguaro cactus she did not know but she did find out for us. We found out that you do not pronounce the g so it is said like 'suearo'.
After we ate Tony thought he would like to look around for the plant book that we had decided would make a great gift for Mary and Ron. Just a little thank you for having them and they said it would be a gift for me too as I was always looking at the plants and didn't know what they were. We all agreed and Tony
left Will and I to our own Devices.
This older gentleman with a fiddle came out and started to play. He asked Will what his name was and made up a song about Will and eating butter beans. It was actually pretty good. Amusing enough to make us laugh and give him a few bucks.
We took pictures and moved into the sun to warm up a bit. We are such lizards.
After a while of enjoying the sun and scenery we headed out and found Tony who was just coming in. We wandered around the town and bought a book that Tony had found,' Wildflowers of the southwestern Arizona'.
I found some rattlesnake eggs for Terrance my grandson and some cookie cutters for Corryn. I also mailed 35 postcards that I had written over the last few days.
Everyone should get their cards before I get back. I only have 10 more now to write up and get sent off but I think I can do that in the next few days.
We went into the Reptile exhibit . At First Will was a little hesitant about going in but once there he was just as fascinated as I was.
It was very interesting and warm too, they had it at about 90 degrees in there I think. After that we wandered down the street. past the jail and the old mine that you could go down into if you wanted but none of us wanted to. We stopped for an ice cream cone at the bottom of the street and just relaxed again from our hard afternoon of wandering.

Wednesday morning 24 February - A long and very winding road

I woke up at 5 and blogged until I noticed that the sky was becoming several shades of pink. Lovely. it was around 7 and no one was up yet so I finished off yesterdays blog.
When I got that done, I went and checked to see if Will was up and he was so we chatted until Tony came down. It seems that Tony is not feeling that well. Might be the water. We had a lovely breakfast and decided to go to Roosevelt lake which is about a two hour drive from here. We would lunch there and then maybe hit the mining ghost town on the way back. Uncle Ron and aunt Mary had a luncheon date with some friends so it was the ideal opportunity to go.
We headed off and Will and Tony reminisced about thier trip out to Mary and Ron's on Monday. We saw a gambels Quail run across the road right in front of us. They are so cute. we stopped off at the gate and got a new pass and we were on our way. It only took about 10 minutes to get to the ghost town and so we thought it shouldn't take that long to get to Roosevelt lake either.
The scenery was very desert and with the Superstition mountains right there it was spectacular . As we drove a round the mountain it became more rugged and jagged.
We entered Tonto national forest at around mile 203 and there was a sign that said Roosevelt lake was 38 miles.
Did you know that Tonto means stupid or silly in spanish and that Kimo Sabe in native means peeker?
So the lone ranger was insulting Tonto every time he talked to him and Tonto was giving it back.
The road was nice, if a little narrow, but the shoulders were not that big. Shades of Saskatchewan there. The road also started to change into a very windy, twisty, hilly thing and it started to go up.
There where narrow valleys, would they be called canyons, gullys, gulches or what here? The road narrowed with no shoulders and was fast becoming shades of Irelands roads.
I sure hope that Tony got to see some of the scenery on those hairpin 20 mile an hour roads because it was great. Cactus and grasses, hills and giant rocks in the hillsides. there was this pale green growth that was on lots of the rocks. I thought it might be lichen but did not get a good look at it . there were lots of shades of green but not a vibrant green, more muted shades of green.
It was lovely. The roads even though they were so narrow were in pretty good shape. We came to a viewpoint and stopped. Canyon Lake. It was gorgeous. It was at this point that I realized the car plates were from Illinois? I guess rental cars are from all over and slowly work their way back home? Will was loving the scenery, for that matter we all were.
There was a boat tour on the lake that we could go on if we wanted to, but we thought, no, we would like to see Roosevelt lake and dam.
We carried on across the one lane bridge and the marina and picnicking spots. We carried on over the next one lane bridge and entered a real long and very winding road. The speed limit was 20 MPH for a reason.
I kept taking pictures out of the car window at the valleys and hills. It really was beautiful country.
I can certainly understand now how people could get lost in this desert.
If you don't have a frame of reference you could easily mistake one cactus for another and it was really treacherous country. After we had gone about another 15 minutes we went across a one lane bridge and got to mile 207. There was a sign that said Roosevelt lake 38 miles.
Now wait a gall darn minute.
We had been driving for 4 miles and hadn't gotten any closer to the lake? The road became even more curvy if you could believe that. We now knew why the drive up to Roosevelt Lake would take two hours. you could only go 20 miles and hour at top speed.
Although I did catch tony going 25 or 30 sometimes. Being the good back seat driver that I am though I did bring it to his attention.
When we came to Tortilla Flat we had to stop as the road was flooded. The water was coming right over the road and even though the car could have probably handled it easily there was a sign saying Do not enter when flooding because it would probably hurt the road from the weight of cars on it and one could never be sure that there was not more water coming down the wash.
So fate had decided that we were not going to go to Roosevelt lake today.