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.

LOS CEDROS

January 8, 2020

Lynn and Rolf took us to some very fancy  horse stables in Scottsdale. I think only in a place like Scottsdale would you find such lavish horse stables. Very interesting.

The meeting room

The Therapy pool

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PINNACLE PEAK

January 8, 2020

I have been terrible about excising since I have been on the road. Back home I go to Bootcamp twice a week and Zumba/Commit/MixFit 3 times a week. I seem to loose my willpower when we travel. Since I have been in Scottsdale, Lynn and I have walked almost everyday. Today we went on a hike to Pinnacle Peak with her friend, Blake. We were going to do the whole hike, but they decided to just do a part of it. Fine with me since i haven't really hiked in 2 years. We went 5500 steps, 2.2 miles and the equivalent of 21 floors of stairs.

The very top is Pinnacle Peak

My friend Lynn and I

Had to show you pictures of just a few of the very large homes. Amazing how big they are, can't imagine living in such a large house, let alone cleaning it. Of course, if you re rich enough to live in a house like this, you probably hire it out

Hopefully since I have started  walking and hiking, I will keep up with it when we leave next Tuesday. Crossing my fingers 

DELUXE CAMPGOUND

January 3, 2020

After Cottonwood, we traveled to Scottsdale, AZ to visit with our friends, Lynn and Rolf.  We have know them over 30 years. They moved to Scottsdale a few years ago from Kirkland and built a home with 2 casita's, one for his Mom and one for their son.  He put in full  hookups, including 50 amp for his RVing friends to visit. We stayed in his circular driveway, our most deluxe "campground".

This is the view from their sliding glass doors looking at their patio. To the far right is the outdoor fire pit. There are covers on the chairs right now. The first night here, we were relaxing and drinking champagne being warmed by the fire. 

This is the view from the spa last night while we were in it.

Will never have a campground as nice as this.