WINE TASTING

January 25, 2020

Saturday, Denny and I met Lynn, our friend from Scottsdale at the Wilcox Wine Festival in downtown Phoenix.  Most of the wines were from Southern AZ. We have been there many times, but not in several years. So many more wineries than when we were there. So glad we were at the festival  when it opened.   By the time we were almost ready to leave, it was packed. They gave out beautiful wine glasses. Surprised, because we thought they would give us plastic because of the pavers on the ground. It was outdoors.  Had just been talking about what would  happen if  someone breaks a glass AND then Denny dropped his. Hate to admit it, but it was actually my fault. We were picking up the pieces and a lady from one of the booths gave us a replacement. How nice of her. Now we have 2 matching souvenir glasses

Lynn and Denny

GEOCACHING/HIKING

January 27, 2020

As many of you know, I'm into geocaching. It's like a worldwide hide and seek. The reason we are staying a month in Buckeye, is that my geocaching buddy, Bernie,  lives in Surprise for the winter. We first met in Casa Grande, AZ, then Palm Springs.  I Geocached with him for many years, then he moved to Surprise for the winter.  I have been geocaching with Bernie and his friends 3 times since we have been here. Like me, they are all avid cachers. I don't know their exact ages, but I know I am the youngest at 73. Thought I was in pretty good shape, but, they wear me out!

Bernie, my longtime friend, is in the middle. Think I have known him since 2011.  I have known his friends for 2 years. Harold is on the left, he is in his early 80's. I don't really know Don's age (on the right), but I do know I'm younger. We have a great time together, lots of laughs.

Picture below was one of the more challenging caches to find. It took all of us quite a while, but Harold was the one who finally found it. You can see a round hole in the middle of the bark. That is the cache. You pull it out and the container is behind it. Some are very easy to find, others NOT.  We like  the challenging ones the best. 

Robbie, a cousin on my Dad's side, lives in Buckeye, AZ. We went to dinner at their house. I met his sister, Ann for the first time. Great to meet new cousins. His wife, Elaine is a hiker. Ann and I went hiking with her last Thursday in the Skyline  Regional Park. It has 22 miles of trails.  Really enjoyed it, looking forward to more hiking

Views on the trail

Elaine took a selfie. She is on the right, Ann on the left

Elaine and me

Sisters in law, Elaine and Ann

My cousin, Ann and me

There were alot of mountain bikes on the trail. Some parts of the trail are all rocks, not sure how even a mountain bike gets through. 

Ann and me

I hiked the trail 2 years ago with Bernie looking for caches. There were 7.  The girls wanted to see one so we looked for the ones I had found before, but no luck. They hadn't been found in over a year, which usually means they are gone. 

BUCKEYE, ARIZONA

January 14, 2020

After having a great time seeing our friends, we moved to Buckeye for a month. Buckeye is about 10 miles west of Phoenix.  The usual campground we stay at in Surprise raised the prices so much that we decided to find another one. It is further away from everybody, but for the difference in price, it was a no brainer.  It is very nice to think that we don't have to move for a month. It is a very nice park

Relaxing after we got set up

Saw this sign in the clubhouse. Love it

When we were at Lynn and Rolf's, we discovered we had a leak in the power steering hose. We got little oil spots all over their beautiful driveway. So embarrassing! We are getting all the hoses changed today at the Chevrolet garage. Showing you this picture so you see the pavers on the driveway.  Denny tried a few products, but nothing helped. After we left, Rolf found a product at Home Depot that did the trick. So relieved. Denny was very upset. 

We don't really go to garages very often to get ours vehicles fixed, but thought it was unusual to see a putting green in front of the dealership.  Guess it would pass the time if you stayed while it was getting fixed. The dealership called Lyft to take us back to our campground so we wouldn't have to wait. They will pick us up and take us back.  The dealership pays for it all. Can't beat that service. 

PICTURES IN SCOTTSDALE

January 16, 2020

Here are some  miscellaneous pictures I took but can't really put them in any category, so thought I'd just post them

We met friends at the Barrio Queen Restaurant.  They are from Friday Harbor. We first met them in Parker, AZ many years ago,  now they winter in Lake Pleasant, AZ, not far from Scottsdale.  Nice to reconnect with friends along the way.  I ordered a margarita.  Looking at this glass, you could think you had more to drink than you thought. Have never seen a crooked glass

We have seen lots of cell towers camouflaged as Palm Trees, but never a cactus covering up electrical wires. Saw this on a walk not far from Lynn and Rolf's house

Never expected to see white duck tape covering up a dent, especially in a mall in Scottsdale

This was taken on the back deck of the Ausen home

Sunset in Scottsdale

This was actually taken in Cornville, AZ at a winery. Thought it was a clever chandelier for a winery

We have never seen a doggie menu at a restaurant. We were here for Sunday breakfast. We ordered off the human menu. Delicious, love going out for breakfast........ lunch and dinner too

MORE HIKING

January 13, 2020

The last 2 days we were in Scottsdale, Lynn and I went hiking again. Wanted to take advantage of having someone to go with. First we just went just out her  front door and across the street to an area called the Boulders. 

A memorial to a man that had passed away, but loved to hike her. The plaque on the right has his name. What a nice gesture to do

This is a view on the hike. The houses in the foreground look very close together but are actually 3-4 acres apart from each other. Lynn and Rolf's house is the top right with black color panels on the roof

This is Bunny Rock because it looks like bunny ears

I had never seen a red prickly pear cactus, only green. My  Prickly Pear Margarita drink was red, so it was probably made from this. I had been wondering where the red color came from 

The last day, we went on the Marcus Landslide Trail from Tom Thumbs Trailhead . Beautiful

 day, beautiful scenery

Mushroom Rocks

Thought I would post the signage about the Mushroom rocks instead of writing about it. I thought it was interesting, but, I like this kind of thing

The area in front of Lynn was the biggest landslide in Arizona, probably 500,00 years ago. It started on the far right to the far left

The big clump on the right is mistletoe. It is a parasite and will eventually kill the tree. Notice the bird at he top

My friend, Lynn

The fountain in the background is at the  Fountain Hills Community. It goes off every day at noon for about 15 minutes.

The strange things hanging from the Cholla cactus are flowers that have already bloomed. Have never seen a Chola bloom.

A mushroom rock that has fell over.

Lots of limbs on this Saguaro cactus.  Amazing to me why some Saguaro's have lots of limbs, others none. 

HIKING

JANUARY 9, 2020

Yesterday Lynn and I went on another hike to Brown's Ranch Trailhead in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, which is only  couple of miles from her house. There are so many trails in the area. You could go somewhere different all the time.  This wasn't quite as steep and rocky as Pinnacle Peak, but alot less crowded and more into nature. No houses around. We walked about 2.5 miles.

I'm standing in front of an Ocotilla Cactus. When it blooms, it has beautiful red flowers. To the right are the Squaro Cactus

Round Top Mountain

 This bunny wasn't afraid of humans at all

Think they are Mr and Mrs's

This is a Prickly Pear cactus. I had a margarita made of this at Saguaro National park. Very tasty

 Barrel Cactus

This is a Colla Cactus. It is called the jumping Cactus because the little balls seem to jump out at you as you walk by. BE VERY CAREFUL. The stickers  have to be dug out of your clothes with a pliers. That has happened to me.