Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Arizona Lightning
We had a beautiful warm day today. It was 72 degrees with not a cloud in the sky. However, look what happened about 8:00. A storm started and moved around the camp for about 2 hours. The thunder rocked the motorhome a few times and then the rain hit and did it ever come down. We saw all these warnings about flash floods as we were driving across Arizona. I bet there was water in those places tonight.
The Mining Camp Dinner
Amber and Jerad flew in this evening. They came our way for dinner before heading to their condo. We went to The Mining Camp Restaurant. It's a great place that was built to resemble an old mining camp. We have been here to dinner before when we came to Mesa to visit my mom and dad many years ago. This restaurant has been in business for many years under the same ownership. It's a very popular spot.
Here's some of the food we had for dinner. We started with fresh rolls with Prickly Pear Cactus jam, raisin bread, baked beans, and coleslaw. Then they brought chicken, ham and barbecue ribs. For dessert we had oatmeal raisin cookies. Notice that the food and our dinnerware is all tin. Quite fun! Oh, and I forgot to mention the water, tea, lemonade and coffee to drink. We hardly put a dent in the food, so we have lots of leftovers.
Here's some of the food we had for dinner. We started with fresh rolls with Prickly Pear Cactus jam, raisin bread, baked beans, and coleslaw. Then they brought chicken, ham and barbecue ribs. For dessert we had oatmeal raisin cookies. Notice that the food and our dinnerware is all tin. Quite fun! Oh, and I forgot to mention the water, tea, lemonade and coffee to drink. We hardly put a dent in the food, so we have lots of leftovers.
Lost Dutchman Mine State Park
We pulled into The Lost Dutchman Mine State Park just at sundown. Doesn't this look like a classic Arizona picture? The conditions were perfect for a beautiful sunset.
This is a picture of Superstition Mountain taken from our campsite. We are definitely out in the desert and it has it's own special beauty. 
This is another picture if Superstition Mountain. Notice the fuzzy looking tree in the lower left corner? Don't let it fool you, it is actually a very sharp cactus. However, we are seeing little birds building nests in them. The pokies must not bother them.
Here is a close-up of the tree the birds are building their nests in. Hard to believe they can get in and out without getting stuck.
Here is one of the famous saguaro cacti. They only grow in Arizona. This one must be very old as it has many arms.
This is a picture of Superstition Mountain taken from our campsite. We are definitely out in the desert and it has it's own special beauty. 
This is another picture if Superstition Mountain. Notice the fuzzy looking tree in the lower left corner? Don't let it fool you, it is actually a very sharp cactus. However, we are seeing little birds building nests in them. The pokies must not bother them.Here is a close-up of the tree the birds are building their nests in. Hard to believe they can get in and out without getting stuck.
Here is one of the famous saguaro cacti. They only grow in Arizona. This one must be very old as it has many arms.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Heading to Phoenix
Today we are heading into Arizona. We want to be somewhere near Scottsdale as Amber and Jerad are flying in on Wednesday. Amber will be running the Phoenix Rock and Roll Marathon on Sunday, so we wanted to be able to spend a few days with them. Here's Ron as we start our drive from Joshua Tree into Arizona.
As you can see there wasn't much traffic today and we had very straight roads.
This plant was growing everywhere. As you look out across this valley you can see it just goes on forever.
Yup, that's our road out there. It just keeps going on and on and......
As we were nearing the California Arizona border we saw where the kids had written their names along the rail road tracks. They used the black and white rocks from under the tracks to make their creations. Here is one made by Vince and Sheri.
As we hit Highway 10 heading east we saw a great deal of truck traffic. I'm sorry the picture is small , but if you look carefully there are trucks as far as you can see. Traffic on our side of the road didn't seem to be to bad.
One thing Ron did NOT want to do was drive through Phoenix. He was afraid the roads would be bad and the traffic worse. Well, he got part of what he didn't want. Because we needed to be near Scottsdale we ended up heading to the Lost Dutchman Mine State Part in Apache Junction. Well, guess what? It's on the east side of Phoenix. That meant driving through the city and we hit it right during rush hour traffic. Fortunately, their freeways are amazing. Not only is the surface in good condition, but the shoulders and walls have beautiful artwork on them. They are using a brown cement that blends in with the desert. I hope I can get a good picture of them in the next few days so I can show you.
As you can see there wasn't much traffic today and we had very straight roads.
This plant was growing everywhere. As you look out across this valley you can see it just goes on forever.
Yup, that's our road out there. It just keeps going on and on and......
As we were nearing the California Arizona border we saw where the kids had written their names along the rail road tracks. They used the black and white rocks from under the tracks to make their creations. Here is one made by Vince and Sheri.
As we hit Highway 10 heading east we saw a great deal of truck traffic. I'm sorry the picture is small , but if you look carefully there are trucks as far as you can see. Traffic on our side of the road didn't seem to be to bad.
One thing Ron did NOT want to do was drive through Phoenix. He was afraid the roads would be bad and the traffic worse. Well, he got part of what he didn't want. Because we needed to be near Scottsdale we ended up heading to the Lost Dutchman Mine State Part in Apache Junction. Well, guess what? It's on the east side of Phoenix. That meant driving through the city and we hit it right during rush hour traffic. Fortunately, their freeways are amazing. Not only is the surface in good condition, but the shoulders and walls have beautiful artwork on them. They are using a brown cement that blends in with the desert. I hope I can get a good picture of them in the next few days so I can show you.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Joshua Tree National Park
Today we went to Joshua Tree National Park. This is one park you don't want to pass up. We had an amazing time walking amongst the Joshua trees and huge rock formations. It sure helped that we also had a beautiful day with perfect temperatures for our short hikes into the rocks. I was going to post a few pictures so you could have a sampling of what we saw today. Ah, but that proved to be a bit of a problem since I took almost 300 pictures. Every place you looked there was another photo opportunity. I decided to do a Smilebox as it would make it a little more exciting to see and I felt I could include more pictures. We enjoyed our day and we hope that you enjoy sharing just a little bit of it with us.
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| Make a Smilebox photobook |
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Heading South
I'm a true Washingtonian. I like the cool days and even the rain better than the hot days of summer. However, there is something exciting about getting away and having time to be outside in the sun. This is Seattle as we were driving through on our first day. It's just a reminder of why we are heading south.
On day 2 Oregon was not much better. We had fog and rain the whole day.
As we were coming into Coos Bay, Oregon the bridge just sort of floated above the clouds. It made for a great picture and just another reminder of why we are on this adventure.
After we set up camp I went for a walk and found this heron. Even he looks like he is trying to huddle up against the flog.
California and sunshine! Nope, not yet, as we head through the Redwoods we have more fog and rain.
We spent the night in Clearlake, California. They were very happy to have the rain as it has been so dry. Look how low the lake is. I'm standing where the water line should be.
California and we finally have sun. However, the day started out so foggy that we thought about pulling into a rest area in hopes that it would clear up. As we climbed into the High Desert we left the fog behind. Let's hope this is a sample of weather to come. It was a beautiful 69 degrees today.
As we were coming into Coos Bay, Oregon the bridge just sort of floated above the clouds. It made for a great picture and just another reminder of why we are on this adventure.
After we set up camp I went for a walk and found this heron. Even he looks like he is trying to huddle up against the flog.
California and sunshine! Nope, not yet, as we head through the Redwoods we have more fog and rain.
We spent the night in Clearlake, California. They were very happy to have the rain as it has been so dry. Look how low the lake is. I'm standing where the water line should be.
California and we finally have sun. However, the day started out so foggy that we thought about pulling into a rest area in hopes that it would clear up. As we climbed into the High Desert we left the fog behind. Let's hope this is a sample of weather to come. It was a beautiful 69 degrees today.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
New Years
We celebrated New Years with a party at Jennie and Will's. Here's the family.
Amber and Jerad
COUSINS
Cara, Amber, Jennifer and Jodie
(Cara and Jodie are my sister's daughters)
The Anderson Family
Cara, Rodney and Baby Rylie
Jennie with her Baby Riley
We ate and talked and ate and talked some more and then we played Wii Fit Plus. At midnight we watched the ball drop in New York and had a champagne toast. It was great fun! It must have been as Ron was still awake at 2AM and that is WAY past his bedtime.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!
Jennie with her Baby Riley
We ate and talked and ate and talked some more and then we played Wii Fit Plus. At midnight we watched the ball drop in New York and had a champagne toast. It was great fun! It must have been as Ron was still awake at 2AM and that is WAY past his bedtime.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!
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