Phoenix

We arrived in Phoenix on February 17 and set up camp at one of Mom and Dad's favorite spots.  It's called Lost Dutchman State Park and it's next to the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix.  To get a campsite for 14 days (the max stay), Mom reserved our spot on February 17, 2021.  That's before I was born!!

Mom and Dad decided to hike the Black Mesa/Dutchman Trail loop which is about a mile east of the campground.  It's a long trail (8.7 miles) and it's hot today, so I decided to stay back in the RV.  

Me enjoying the cool tile floor while Mom and Dad are out for a hike.

Boy, am I glad I stayed home.  The parking lot was full at the trailhead, so they had to park at the overflow lot 1/2 mile down the road (adding 1 mile round trip).  Then, the trail guide was wrong about the length of the trail.  Even though they didn't get lost and stayed on the trail the entire time, they ended up hiking 10.7 miles 😵 😬 💥  That's a new record for them for the longest hike they have ever done.

 

Mom with Weaver's Needle in the background

Another hiker. (Just kidding)  There was a wildfire in this area in the summer of 2019.  Even now, the damage is very evident.

Views from the Black Mesa/Dutchman Loop trail outside of the burned area.

Another day, I joined Mom and Dad on the Siphon Draw trail.  It was even hotter that day and we had to turn back because I was overheating.  We did log 3 miles and were 700 ft higher than the start, so we got a pretty good view.

Mom and I on the Siphon Draw trail at Lost Dutchman State Park

It turned cloudy late in the day, which gave us a really pretty sunset from our RV.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our neighbors from home, Larry and Kathleen, have a winter home in the neighborhood next to the State Park.  They invited Mom and Dad over for burgers on their patio, which turned into burgers in the dining room because it turned cold.  Mom and Dad said that it was still nice to see friends and dinner was delicious.

Another day, Mom and Dad invited our friend Gary M to come by the RV for Happy Hour and then Gary treated them to dinner out.  He said that he remembers a Happy Hour at our RV a few years ago with Doolin and it was such a nice time.  Well, this year it rained!  And it's cold!!  Isn't this Phoenix?  Isn't this the Desert?

It wasn't the beautiful afternoon that we'd planned, but we enjoyed Happy Hour and a visit with Gary inside the RV and then, when the clouds cleared, enjoyed seeing snow on the Superstition Mountains as we left for dinner.

The next morning we woke up to ice on the Jeep.

Last night there were clouds covering Flat Iron (the snowy peak left of center in the photo) but this morning it has snow, too.

By afternoon, it was nice hiking weather and we went for a hike near Gold Canyon.

Mom and Dad's friend Tammie invited them over for lunch on the 2nd Saturday that we were at Lost Dutchman.  Dad worked with Tammie before he retired.  Tammie and her husband Ed moved to the Phoenix area a couple years later.

Tammie told them that she has an owl that lives in her palm tree.  Tammie pointed it out.  It's at the top of the leaf stubble, just to the right of the tree trunk.  Mom took this close up picture.  Tammie - many people don't know this, but Poodles are bird dogs, so I'm kind of an expert on this type of thing.  I think you have TWO owls.  There are 2 more ears to the left of the one you showed Mom and Dad!

The next day Mom, Dad, Tammie, Tammie's step-son Adam, and Tammie's friend Judy all decided to hike to the top of the Flat Iron.  The first part of the Flat Iron trail is the Siphon Draw, which I attempted last week, so I decided to stay home.  Besides, they started at 7:30 AM and I'm not a morning dog.

Mom and Tammie on the trail.  It's still shady on this part of the mountain.

This part is very steep and there is lots of fine dirt/dust/gravel on it, so it can be slick.  It's tricky to go up and even trickier to come down.  Mom heard that it gets worse, so she decided that she would wait at the here while the others continued on.  That's Dad and Tammie continuing on up the trail.

A view of the steep slick part, taken from the top.

Tammie about to tackle some of the scramble up the rocks part.

The destination is in site.  That part sticking out is the Flat Iron. 

Dad at the top of the Flat Iron

Dad took this picture to show Mom what she missed.  She said she's happy that she didn't go.

One last photo of Tammie. 

I like to hang my head out the window when I'm riding in the car.  I've discovered that, on a windy day, standing in front of the RV window with the wind in my ears is almost as good, even if we are parked. 

A few years ago, our friend Gary M suggested that Mom and Dad check out the Boyce Thomson Arboretum near Superior, AZ.  It's been on Mom's bucket list ever since, but for one reason or another they haven't gone.  Last summer, there was a wildland fire in the Tonto National Forest surrounding the Arboretum and Mom read that the Arboretum was closed for about a week for the safety of the staff and volunteers.  The fire was very, very close (within a mile) and there was the fear that if there was a wind shift, the Arboretum could be destroyed.   

If you haven't been to Arizona, you may not realize that there is a lot of land called "National Forest" here that doesn't actually have trees, but fire still spreads in the cactus, shrubs, and other plants.  Warning:  Mom LOVES plants and takes lots of photos.  I'm only showing you a few, but it's still a lot.  You may want to scroll fast.

The Arboretum is in a canyon with cool rock formations.

This is less than 1/2 the cluster of Golden Barrel Cactus.

Queen Creek where it flows through the Arboretum.  As you can see there are actually trees in the Arboretum and quite a bit of shade.  Mom and Dad were happy about that because it was a warm day.

There were lots of African Aloes in bloom.

More Aloes

Red Barrel Cactus

A really big Prickly Pear cactus with Dad, so you can see how really tall it is.

These are called "Living Stones".  It's a succulent from Africa and is very sensitive to the cold.  Even here in Arizona, they keep it in a greenhouse.

A cool design on this cactus

This is a really wrinkly cactus

Another photo of the Aloe garden

I probably lost quite a few people with all these Arboretum photos, so I'll wait and show you the last few days of our stay in Phoenix in my next post.

Jake