Part 3 Getting Caught Up-All Caught Up

February 1-11 , 2018

If you missed my catch up posts yesterday here's the links
Part 1
Part 2

Hiking continues in February, love this area for all the different hiking opportunities it has. We recently purchased a small GPS for Dave to use with geocaching and hiking. It seems to have worked in getting Dave involved in geocaching. Just a few miles from where we grocery shop, at the best Fry's ever, is part of the Sonoran Preserve. We decided to try out the gps geocaching, we had a great 7 mile hike and found plenty of caches. We took the Ocotillo, Sidewinder and Apache Wash trails to form the loop. This is a great place to get some exercise but the views leave a lot to be desired, city views as far as the eye could see. Think I've got Dave interested in geocaching now, give the man a toy and he's happy.

One day we took a ride out to Prescott Valley to hike the Watson Lake Loop Trail, on All Trails it was called Watson Lake and Flume Trail. Beautiful trail once you get away from the parking area. Small lake, no motors allowed, with a diverse landscape.  The north part is what Dave photographed, the southern area was a riparian area with dormant Cottonwood trees and bridges across dry river beds. We parked in a free parking area just off of AZ 89, then hiked clockwise around the lake. We did find a few geocaches on the trail but if we come back we need our canoe, lots of them are only accessed by water.

One morning we met up with our friends, Marv & Alice, whom we hosted with at Cave Creek. We headed to Usery Mountain Regional Park where Marv had picked out the Wind Cave trail for us to do. This is an in and out trail, 1.5 miles up hill with a 761' elevation gain, good cardio. Wonderful hike with some nice views but the company was the best. After our hiking challenge we ended up at BJ's Brewhouse, part of chain we had visited just last year in our brief visit to Colorado. Couldn't ask for a better day. 

Pioneer RV "Resort" is located just off of exit 225 on I17 on the west side, on the west side is a parking area with a "trail" up to a flag. One morning instead of walking the park we decided to hike to the flag. Great cardio, just a couple of miles but nice to be doing something different, think we might add it to our regular walks a couple of times a week.

Visitors

Friends and former Grand Design owners Laurie & JP stopped in for a visit. We were able to get a few meals in together including a stop at the Four Peaks Brewery, talking too much to remember to get the phone out and take a picture, but then most of my phone pictures turn out terrible.

Our friends Alex and Paul came and stayed at a local hotel for a weekend, it just happened to be Alex's birthday weekend. He wanted to celebrate at his favorite restaurant which is Aunt Enchilada's in Tempe. There were about 10 of us there to help him age another year. As usual the time flew by and soon the weekend was over but more great memories were made. 

We had to keep an eye on these two

Happy Birthday Alex!!!

We're always finding tourist things to do. Some how when looking for things to do around Phoenix I came across a Carnival of Illusion which looked interesting. We invited Curt and Glenda to join us. We met them in Tempe at Cornish Pasty near  the Tempe Center for the Arts. Cornish Pasty on Mill St in Tempe is not for those coming in to sit down as they only have 2 inside tables and stools set up around a bar that is open to the sidewalk. This is college town center, coming at 3 for a meal though we had no trouble getting one of the tables. We talked until it was time to leave for the show which was just a mile away. Carnival of Illusion bills itself as an evening of old world magic. Our audience was just around 100 people which allowed for the audience and setting to take place onstage, up close and personal. A great show, so glad I stumbled across it. My phone photos didn't come out so I've borrowed Curt's photos from the evening, thanks Curt I think you need to give me tips on photo phone taking.

When we came out of the show the bridge at the arts center was lit up. Another great time with some special friends.

We have been in this park for 2 months already, I don't know where the time has gone. It surely has flown by. This park has served us well, while we not taken advantage of the amenities nor joined in any of the activities we've not been bored.  The location gives us access to so much, we have the big city when we want it but yet we're outside the city itself. The best of both worlds. The outlook for the rest of February is just as busy as the first part has been. In March our neighbors from Gulf Waters in TX will in the area, the park they are staying in is 11 miles away. Looking forward to seeing them, maybe we can even get DuWayne to play tourist at least once. 

All caught up now!!!

Until next time...