Beginning of February

Hard Up for Entertainment

A person had to be hard up for entertainment on February 2nd.  Liz got up and went hiking with the group.  Temperature was 31 degrees when they headed out.  Karol was hard up for entertainment also, she took the motorcycle out and went grocery shopping.  Weather for us this week has been colder than normal.  We really cannot complain.  No snow, ice or wind chills to deal with.

Where does a person being.  It has been a month since we have posted anything.  Guess we have settled in. The days just seem to get away.  We have been hiking with the group.  Some of the hikes that we were on are:

Apache Dam

Apache Tears

      
Apache Trail

      
Butcher Jones Trail   

      
Liz is still carving although she took some time off due to being discouraged.  She started her second project and made a mistake.  But in wood carving there is not such thing as a mistake, all a person has to do is "Go Deeper".  That is the saying in the carving shop.  Karol built her a carving table so that she can sit outside and carve.  Yes Liz is spoiled.

The park had a week set up for Breast Cancer Awareness, which included a walk, a silent bid, an auction, and a raffle.  It was a great week.

The year 2010 has come to an end

Just to catch you up on the past few weeks of our lives since it has been awhile since we have posted anything.

The last hike that we joined in on was Massacre Grounds.  Here are a few pictures from this hike.

Our neighborhood group went out to dinner to San Tan Flats.  What a great place!  Dinner was outside with a bonfire, desert was the best part.  We roasted marshmallows and had s'mores!  Almost felt like we were in Minnesota.

Mike and Christy

We have started to slow done and relax a bit more.  We took a break from hiking since Liz did something to her back.  She also took a break from carving, as sitting was a bit difficult.

We spent our first Christmas Holiday season in Arizona.  We can honestly say it was really different.  No snow or cold weather, just blue sky and warm weather.  We attended the park's Christmas Eve Dinner Buffet.  Walking to dinner with our friends in shorts and short sleeves which is where the weird comes in.  After dinner the day was spent enjoying the weather and seeing yet another beautiful sunset.  Christmas Day was spent with Karol's folks and her aunt.

We went riding with Karol's folks and the group that they ride with.  Total of eight bikes, small group this week, must be due to the holidays.  Rode up to Globe, the ride up was beautiful.  We plan to travel back so that we can enjoy the sights and take pictures.

New Years Eve has come and gone.  We decided to just to hang out, have dinner and chill.   Chilling consisted of having a few cocktails, dinner, movie and talking to those back home.

Happy New Year, may 2011 bring you everything you wish for!

Neighborhood Pot Luck and Sunset



Saturday December 11th we attended our first neighborhood pot luck.  There was a total of approximately 24 attendees.  Here are a few pictures:

Diane, Christy and Karol

 

Chet -  our chef

Christy, Joy and Jane

Sue and Joy

The ladies of the neighborhood

Chuck, Candi, Karol and Dubbie

Dinner is served

A person could not have asked for a better day.  The weather was perfect and the evening was topped off with a perfect sunset.

Hidden Valley Loop - South Mountain

Friday (December 10th) we were off to South Mountain.  Travel time is about an hour depending upon traffic from our park. We hiked what is called "Hidden Valley Loop".  Along the hike we went through Fatman's Pass and a natural tunnel. Hike is a total of 4.6 miles which we think was a bit off.  Group took a wrong turn, which ended up in our favor.  We hiked along a ridge and were given a panoramic view of the city of Phoenix and Casa Grand.  A person could see for miles.  As we neared the end of the ridge, we saw the trail that we were suppose to be on.  So we had to bushwhack our way down the trail. 





Karol heading into Fatman's Pass

Fatman's Pass

Slippery footing, had to slide on our back ends

Karol at the start of the Natural Tunnel

This was a very relaxing hike.  The easiest that we have been on so far.

Boulder Canyon Trail to Overlook

Wednesday December 8th 2010

Today we hiked "Boulder Canyon Trail to Overlook".  According to the database that we were given, the length was 5 miles, moderate to difficult and we hiked an evaluation of 1000 feet.  We were told that the worst part of the hike was the beginning.  We tend to disagree, the beginning was straight up and then it would level out and we would climb again.  There were thoughts in our mind to stop and head back down, but we did not.  We kept saying "Let's see what is around this curve", needless to say we kept going.  We are so glad as the end result was breath taking.  Today we saw "Weavers Needle" from a different angle.  As you looked the other direction, you saw "Canyon Lake".

After a brief rest and lunch we started back down.  We thought the trip back down was going to be easier since the trip up was difficult.  Not true, Liz slipped and landed on her behind.  What a tough broad no injuries.  We saw a tarantula.  The tarantula must of known that everyone wanted to take pictures, it just sat there so everyone could take a look and take pictures.  The rest of the trip was straight down.  We were the last group down today, Karol took on the role of the guide.  She did a great job, we made it to the bottom without any other issues.

Temperature today was about 80 degrees.  It was a good thing that there was some wind while we were hiking otherwise it would have been really hot.

Another terrific day was had!