The desert is starting to bloom HA CHOO!

Before we started spending time in Arizona a few years ago, I never understood why anyone would want to live in such a place.  Now we find ourselves repeatedly drawn for different reasons. The main draw for us is the hiking and mountain biking in such a different environment of flora and fauna.

This year we ended up staying longer than in previous years. But now we have the go ahead. On our anniversary, Mike had a follow up appointment to find out the status of some biopsies. What a great gift, everything was good.

This winter has brought much more rain and the cactus are starting to bloom.

Over time, we have continued  the process of shedding our things. Our Jeep Liberty was an like an old friend that I liked to drive, a great vehicle for outings in the mountains and getting in tight places. Last year we brought it to Mesa and stored it for our return this winter. The hot summers are pretty hard on vehicles and we knew it was time for it to find a new home. I felt sad when we signed over the papers to the new owner but knew it was the right thing to do. It also feels good to let one more thing go.

 We started geocaching last year. Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location. There are also trackables,  a sort of physical geocaching "game piece.  They are moved from cache to cache by the geocachers depending on what the goal might be.

 1,400 CATCH-M trackables were released to geocachers in the USA to place inside geocaches. We received one and have released it in a nearby cache. It will be interesting to see where it will travel.

With the all clear from the doctor, it was time to make some plans. We were fortunate to get reservations for Catalina State Park due to cancellations and will stay here a few more days before starting our cross country journey. Got the "Hitch Itch" and sneeze (all of that pollen).

Peoria

We had to find a place to stay while our mini home was getting a new paint job and a few cracks filled. Juvaderm wasn't a fix for these fine lines. We headed west to Peoria to Cibola Resort and Spa. I didn't hit the spa but yoga in the courtyard was quite pleasant with the fountains in the background and clouds passing above.

We had stayed here 3 years ago according to Facebook and was a nice treat with a special that was more affordable than a hotel room and we had our own kitchen.

One evening we spent next to the pool in a hammock. The ropes were a little hard on the back of the heads but nice to rock and look at the stars.

We had missed geocaching because of the  heat so we headed out the find a cache that was 0.6 miles from our parking spot according to the GPS (as the crow flies).

That 0.6 turned into almost 2 miles before finding the cache. It was rather cleaver with a story about the mom that loved cooking and the cache went along with the theme. 

I don't like reaching in the rocks and voted that forego digging. Mike climbed until he heard the clink and lifted a rock, no snake, and found the treat.

I nice end to the day. The mesquite did get a bit stinky. Fortunately, the smoke was blowing away from our condo. Sorry, neighbors. 

We found a trail along the west side of the city than ran 26 miles thru Glendale to Tempe along different washes that made for a good morning ride. The next day, we headed into the wind to Lake Pleasant.

The paint on the front cap had faded pretty quickly after the first year. Premier had problems with a batch of paint they had used and many of the RVs had to be repainted. They were good enough to pay for the work even though the warranty had run out.

As much as we enjoyed staying in a lovely place with so much space, it is good to be back in our home with a good looking facelift. Everything is back in its place.

Bachelor Loop for rock hounds

The Creede Balloon Festival for Labor Day was right across the road from our camp ground at the airport which had a couple of planes outside and a couple in the hanger. There were 7 balloons and less than 100 people most of which were from the RV park. I really liked the small town atmosphere.  

After watching the balloons and having some breakfast, we headed out to try a hike to Phoenix Falls that our neighbor suggested. That didn't turn out so well due to narrow roads and bad directions. After backing down the hill so a lady could go down along a cliff to a stream, I voted to end that adventure. I think Mike was ok with that.

Once we got off that road, we decided to check out the Bachelor Loop Historic Tour. This 17-mile driving tour loops through Creede’s historic silver mining district and ghost towns. The tour’s first interpretive stop is just north of Creede in Willow Creek Canyon.

Part of the movie "The Lone Ranger" with Johnny Depp  was filmed here.

We took the hike up Humphrey's Mill after a couple we met at the first stop suggested it. There were numerous switchbacks to keep the grade not too difficult. Along the way, people had set out gems and crystals and other artifacts to look at. This was a big amethyst vein and plenty left to enjoy. There are signs saying not to take anything and it looks like people have been pretty good about it.

The old rail line from the Commodore Mine.

Plenty of cool rocks

The trail up to the mine had plenty of switchbacks to keep the incline down to "not too steep".

I wasn't sure if I would get Mike down with so many cool things and rocks to check out. 

Finally, we headed up the loop to see the other historical places.

The beaver pond showing fall coming

A fun stop for some geocaching. We had just missed the tour and the next was in an hour.

The mine is privately owned and has a couple of suites a person can stay in for a donation. The views were incredible.

Sometimes artists use this deck while they work.

Creede is such a nice small town with so much mining history and outdoor activities. After 24 hours, we were recognizing people we had seen on the trails or other places.

We are getting better at the geocaching with a few found around here.