Mormon Christmas

This is our third year visiting the East Valley of Phoenix for the "season" and it was time to visit the lights of the Mormon Temple and Christmas scenes. Sometimes, it is nice to do something that doesn't involve sweat and dirt.
Visiting the Mesa Arizona Temple during the Christmas season is a feast of both sight and sound.

Hundreds of thousands of decorative lights covering ground-level flower beds to towering-tall palm trees illuminate the north lawn with Christmas music playing in the background..

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We expected large crowds but were pleasantly surprised to find them not too big.

Inside the visitors’ center is the annual nativity display. There is a collection of nearly 100 crèches from around the world.

A life-sized white sculptured nativity that appears to float on a negative reflection pool in front of the temple, and a blazing star lights up a large, traditional nativity imported from Italy with a neighboring shepherds’ field.

It was a good way to spend an evening getting into the holiday spirit.



Bushwacking cactus to Sunrise Arch

Why would anyone bushwack through cactus? We started our hike just off Bush Highway by the Salt River, excited that we were going to see one of the Goldfield Mountains secrets. These mountains have many natural arches. Most hikers do not know this nor have they been to any of them because there are no trails throughout most of these mountains. There are a few faint jeep roads around the lower elevations but the majority of hiking would be off trail.

Wild horse family in the river

We changed our water shoes into our hiking boots after crossing the river.

Good thing Mike carries his handy pliers to remove the chollas as we weaved between the cactus. There were plenty of opportunities to remove the buggers from our body parts.

Another wild horse.

There is controversy over the management of the growing wild horse population in AZ.

There is some steep scrambling the last 1/4 of a mile reaching the arch.

The arch goes through an outcropping of rock with a rock cliff directly behind it is difficult to pick out from afar.

The actual arch is about 25 feet high and 30 plus feet across and has a saguaro growing on top of it. It is called the Sunrise Arch because at one point in the morning the sun from the east shines through the arch. At all other times it simply blends into to rocky backdrop.

The arch is beautiful with varied colored rock walls and the views of Saguaro Lake and the Salt River are spectacular

Time for a snack and rest.

Happy Thanksgiving with Matt and Megan



Schnepf Farm and Hackberry Trail

Cycling with the snowbirds from Minnesota, we learn new routes to ride, meet nice people and stop for lunch. This day was a stop at Schnepf Farms.

 The Schnepf’s joined other farmers to begin clearing the brush for row crops. The farmers soon realized the sandy soil in this area was perfect for crops such as cotton, wheat and vegetables. In the late 60’s, Ray Schnepf began growing potatoes used for potato chips. They continued to diversify in the 70’s planting Queen Palms, Mexican fan palms and pine trees in a large field. Before long the Schnepf’s were farming over 5000 acres and shipping vegetables across the country. His favorite crop was candy corn. As visitors drove out to the small farming community they would often stop and ask if they could pick a few ears of corn and some peaches. It wasn’t long until Ray realized that selling corn and peaches for U-Pick was the way to go. And Schnepf Farms began to grow….

Today Schnepf Farms is enjoyed by over a quarter of a million people throughout the year. Visitors come to the farm for festivals, events, weddings, educational tours, pick your own vegetables, to pick peaches,  shop, foodie events  or just to enjoy the beautiful feeling of walking on a true family farm

There is much for a person to do while in Arizona with the Snowbirds arriving and ready to get out and go. We pulled on the hiking boots to head out for a hike with a group from our resort.

This was an easy hike with a stop at the Hackberry Spring as we rounded the hill.

Hackberry Springs Loop is just an extension of the Garden Valley Loop. The trailhead starts at the First Water Trailhead just past Lost Dutchman State Park 

This hike was rated as easy and 4 miles and a good one to get our hiking legs back.

 

It is amazing to me how easily the desert can change. On the other side of this mountain are jumping chollas and mesquites, and here are grasses growing in the wet soil amidst lush green shade trees.

Dave was our leader and chief picture taker.

Looking up, we could almost see where the rains during the monsoons would flow over the cliffs above.

First Water Ranch

 

 

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.