Change of Scenery

There really is more here in southern Arizona than RV resorts, a new house and furniture shopping. Today we finally had a change of scenery, going to the Gilbert Water Ranch and Riparian Area for our morning walk. In an effort to recharge the underground aquifers, the town of Gilbert has created a number of ponds which attract numerous birds and encourage lots of plants to grow in this desert area. This a view of one of the paths.

At times, one or more ponds are dry.

But all you have to do is add water and the birds come.

We saw great egrets

There were cormorants and what I think are snowy egrets feeding together. There must have been a school of fish and the birds followed each other from one place to another.

There were mallard ducks

and northern pintails

There wasn't too much water. Obviously, it wasn't even 3 feet deep.

We also saw spotting scopes (and a group of bird watchers nearby).

 And lots of people walking with their children or their dogs, horseback riders and a few bike riders.

Note to self: go there mid-week, not on the weekend.

Wait and See

Sight see, that is. But first, what are we waiting for? We are in northern Indiana to have some work done on our home. The first stop was Tiara RV in Elkhart. They are a dealer that sells DRV Mobile Suites and we came here so they could replace the valve on our black tank (read sewer). For the past couple of weeks, that valve has been leaking. If you understand RV plumbing, you will know what a mess that can be. If you don't understand, I'm not going to explain. Thursday we took our RV to them and they replaced the valve and the cable that opens and shuts the valve. We are happy to have that repair done.



Beginning Monday, we will spend a couple of days having repairs done at the Mobile Suites factory in Howe. Our one-year warranty will be up in October and we wanted to have these repairs done under warranty. So, we waited on Thursday while they worked on the black tank valve, we wait for the appointment on Monday, and we will wait while the factory does its work. We are parked in the Elkhart RV Campground and enjoying the sights in Amish Country.

Thursday, we visited the deli at Martin's Supermarket here in Elkhart, using their wifi to spend time on the internet. We also had lunch there. Martin's is a local chain and a great store. We love exploring new grocery stores. When we felt we had taken up enough time and space in the deli, we browsed at an RV surplus store and Menards. Wow, that is some store! A lot more than the big box hardware store we thought it was.





This part of Indiana has a large Amish population. The Amish don't have electricity or phones in their homes. They do have phone booths in places. See this one out in a field.



We saw a number of men and women traveling by bicycle. Riding in this kind of traffic doesn't appeal to me.



We visited the nearby community of Shipshewana today. There is plenty of parking, even for big dually trucks like we drive. There are also hitching rails for the horse and buggies many Amish use.



We had a great lunch at The Blue Gate Restaurant. I had Monterey chicken with baked apples and hush puppies. John had meatloaf with a baked potato and green beans. Both meals were delicious and way more than we usually eat at lunchtime.





Shipshewana is a city with lots of beautiful flower baskets and gardens in the downtown area. They provide a real feast for the eyes.











We also checked out Yoder's Meet and Cheese Market. Their products are interesting. We even bought fried pies home for dessert this weekend. I don't intend to try pickled asparagus, either plain for zesty, though.











I'll be sharing more sights from this area in the next few days. Waiting isn't bad when there is all this to explore.

Giving Thanks

The Thanksgiving weekend began with Holy Eucharist at Epiphany, where we received the fruits of creation in the form of bread and wine.



Later in the day, we joined with 910 people at the resort's Thanksgiving dinner. We enjoyed the meal with neighbors.





Today, we enjoyed the beauty of the Arizona desert with a hike at San Tan Mountain Regional Park. We love the saguaros.







And the cholla.



In places we saw lots of green ground cover. This is the result of the rain we had a couple of weeks ago.



In addition to hikers, there were horseback riders and bikers enjoying the desert.





It was a beautiful day. I hope you have a lot to be thankful for this weekend.

Saguaros and Horses

Monday we hiked the San Tan Trail at San Tan Regional Park, north of Coolidge. The desert there is full of Saguaro cactus, my absolute favorite. Some of them are very tall and others have many arms.





When a Saguaro dies, the green flesh falls off and only the skeleton is left. These come in all shapes and sizes.







This cactus appears to be dying and you can see the skeleton appearing at the bottom, while the upper part appears healthy.



For some reason, some Saguaros become crested and, instead of growing tall and sprouting arms, they grow these ornate tops. This is the first one we have seen in the wild. The Saguaro National Park web site says scientists don't know if the crest is caused by genetics or frost damage or something else.



This is a Teddy Bear Cholla cactus. The park also has lots of Hanging Fruit or Jumping Cholla, so called because the fruit sticks to the hide or clothes of those passing by so it can be transported to other areas to seed a new plant. In this photo, John is pointing to all the Teddy Bear pieces that have fallen, just waiting for someone or something to brush against them and carry them somewhere else. Don't be fooled by the name Teddy Bear; these plants are not soft and cuddly.



This Barrel Cactus looks like it is growing right out of a pile of rocks.



The parking lot at San Tan Mountain was full of horse trailers. The park has lots of equestrians.



These two cowboys stopped for a few minutes to talk. They are from Montana. The fellow bringing up the rear was on his first visit to the Arizona desert in winter. The younger man--probably the son--moved here a year ago when he married a woman from the Valley of the Sun. He makes furniture out of Saguaro ribs, as well as out of old barn wood. We enjoyed our conversation with them.



The San Tan Trail is rated "moderate in difficulty with a few challenging areas such as a 200+ yard section of wash." This sandy wash was difficult to walk in.