Today we took a short hike on Silly Mountain, a park in nearby Apache Junction. It really is a silly little mountain, compared to many others around.
Such as nearby Superstition Mountain (I think).
The trails on the mountain aren't just a stroll through the park. It is hiking, but not to remote areas, and the scenery isn't spectacular. The trails are easy to slightly-moderate, rocky trails. We did about 2 1/2 miles. We saw a number of dying Saguaro.
Rocky hillsides.
Surrounding homes and a golf course.
It appeared the local fire department was practicing with their aerial ladder and water hose.
We drive by Silly Mountain fairly often and have talked to others about hiking there. Looking at the parking lot, we know the area is popular. Today we saw a good number of people on the trails. We are glad we checked out the mountain, but we probably won't hike there again.
That was the theme of the free party given yesterday at Valle del Oro for all of the returning snowbirds. They came in cars
and on bikes
and in neat golf carts.
The theme seemed to be the south sea islands.
Or maybe Florida? I thought we were in Arizona.
The music was provided by the Southwest Surfers.
Wherever we are, there are lots of senior citizens out to have fun. Every Saturday night here, there is a dance. Since Nov. 1, all the crafts and other activities have been in full gear. All three men at our table have been doing woodwork; Jane took a stained glass class yesterday, and I have been trying my hand at beading, as well as pottery. Isabel knits and Barbara is still deciding what to learn this year. Even if it wasn't Saturday night, the music was so good some people decided to line dance.
The park is much fuller than last year at this time, maybe more so than when we left after Christmas. Look at all the people who are seated outside. And even more were inside the ballroom. The folks at the front of the photo are Barbara, Vern and Jane, three of the people who are parked just down the road from us.
Here is the rest of our table, John, Joe and Isabel.
What better way to end an evening in paradise than watching a nearly full moon rise over the Superstition Mountains a a palm tree?
Yesterday we visited the Chandler Salsa Festival in Tumbleweed Park. The idea was to sample all the salsas displayed and vote for our favorites. Although it was a chilly morning (for southern Arizona), the booths were set up.
At each booth, we would pick up a small plastic container of salsa.
When we paid our entrance fee, we each received the requisite wrist band, plus a bag of tortilla chips. Those were used to taste the salsa.
We saw a number of these chip-and-dip bowls.
Some entrants had obviously won other competitions.
Here I am, trying to fill out my ballot, not drop my bag of chips, and keep my camera both ready to use and clean of spilled salsa.
Salsa was entered in one of three categories, hot, mild, and unusual. We could vote for entrants in each category and for best overall. John chose the grape salsa from this booth as best unusual.
I thought the strawberry and jalapeno salsa from this booth was the best unusual. John selected their mild salsa as the most outstanding.
We agreed that these women had the best mild salsa.
John thought these folks offered the best hot salsa, whereas I try to avoid hot salsa.
The Chandler Police Department was there. I wonder if they really use this fancy cruiser?
Food trucks are all the rage these days. Have you watched Food Truck Wars on the Food Channel? This T-licious truck was selling food at the festival.
I mentioned that it was relatively cool yesterday. Friday, a cold front came in with lots of dust and wind. There must have been small microbursts of wind here in Valle del Oro. The dead leaf bases on several palm trees (certainly not all of them) were torn off overnight. Look at this pile of debris from one tree.
It doesn't rain much here, so there are no storm sewers. Instead, there are several areas in the park designed to contain run-off. It rained 1/2 inch or more during the night. This is one of the new-found ponds we saw.
At least it didn't happen to our rig. Earlier in the week, we noticed that the owners of another 5th wheel trailer on our street had emptied out the contents of their basement. We thought maybe they were cleaning house or reorganizing. The following day, everything was still out and we saw a fan that we know is used to dry out water damage. Oh oh.
When we talked to them, we learned that the woman in the motorhome next door had heard water running. She checked her own RV and couldn't find anything. Then she noticed water dripping off the roof the the 5th wheel--and it hasn't rained here. She then went to the woodshop and pool to find the owners.
What happened? While the water in the park was turned off to fix a leak somewhere, workers also came and replaced the water faucets for that site. They then reattached the hoses and turned the water on--for the wrong hose. One hose was the fresh water supply, the other went to the sewer system flush system. That is the one they turned on. So, when the water in the park was turned back on, it started flushing their black tank, which was closed. When it filled up, water came up through the toilet into their bedroom and shot up the black tank vent pipe, putting the water on their roof. That is what caused the dripping water.
Since the trailer was slanting just slightly toward the front, the only floor damage was to the bedroom. Some sewer water did get into the furnace ducts. What a mess! The park is taking care of all the damage, having new carpet and vinyl installed in the bedroom, etc.
The lesson? Only hook up the water to flush the black tankt when you want to do just that. Don't leave it hooked up. Needless to say, I'm not posting any pictures.
Yesterday, we went hiking in the Superstition Wilderness, just a few miles east of Mesa.
We took the Hieroglyphic Trail, a short, easy hike to see some ancient petroglyphs.
They were made by the Hohokam inhabitants of the area, probably between AD 700 and AD 1100. There is debate whether they depict hunting scenes or were used by shamans to depict the origins of life. Unfortunately, there are also recent graffiti and early Christian petroglyphs of crosses in among the ancient drawings.
In addition to the rock art, we saw some birds and animals:
A Cactus Wren
A Warbling Vireo (I think)
A Curved Bill Thrasher
A very small chipmunk, maybe a Lease Chipmunk
This Saguaro looks like someone wearing a knight in armor costume for Halloween. Is he waving at us?
A dead Saguaro had fallen over. Note the hollow base, the fresh green arm and the liquid that has drained out of the base.
It was a very popular day for hiking. When we passed Silly Mountain, a hiking spot between Valle del Oro and where we hiked, there were 14 cars parked. When we arrived at the trail head for the Hieroglyphic Trail, we were the 14th car in the lot. When we returned to the trail head, there were still 14 cars. Since a number of people came down the trail after we did, we know more than 14 car loads had been there. If you click on the photo below, you will see at least 10 people in the area where we found the petroglyphs.
Saturday we connected with someone we hadn't seen in probably 36 years, Bryan Ruth. Bryan is a family friend who was working at the Castle Rock funeral home when we bought it in late 1975. He got in touch with John by email after the class reunion in August. Since he lives in Scottsdale, we met him and his wife, Susan, at Famous Dave's BBQ this weekend.
It was amazing to learn how many things in his life were similar to John's. We really had a great time getting re-acquainted.
Unlike the times we volunteer or travel, the time we spend parked for three months here in Mesa allows us to concentrate on our hobbies. Over the past week, I sewed a skirt for myself. I have never carried a skirt in the RV, but since this is all we own now, I thought it might be a good idea if I had at least one. And I enjoyed refreshing my skills in sewing.
I learned to sew in junior high home economics and sewing was one of my 4-H projects for five or six years. I used to be fairly accomplished and made many of my own clothes, as well as things for our boys and two or three sleeping bags. But the last time I used my sewing machine to do more than hem or mend was in December 2008 when Kylie wanted to learn how to sew. This fall she is taking sewing as part of middle school home ec.
John has been doing a lot of wood carving since we got settled in Mesa. He had also carved while we were at Lathrop.
There are lots of opportunity to learn new hobbies and skills here at Valle del Oro. Today I spent time in the pottery studio, something I learned a little last year. Many of the people here work in stained glass in a way we hadn't seen before. They cut the colored glass in patterns then, instead of putting it together in a window with lead or copper foil, they put it in a concrete form. The resulting disks are used to decorate their yards. Some people choose Southwestern themes.
Some choose a design that reminds them of home.
Others use an animal motif.
Whatever they choose, the results are very attractive and durable.
Exercise is one of our hobbies. John runs 3 miles 3 times a week and we weight train 3 days a week. Monday I was able to run about three miles. I am almost afraid to write about it, because every time I have blogged about my progress since my surgery, I have had to eat the words in a day or two. Maybe this time, I really am on the mend.
