Hike to Massacre Grounds

Massacre Grounds is one of the hiking club's favorite hikes. The legend that goes along with the hike says something like: Mexicans with gold were roaming the Superstition Mountains. The Apaches took offense to the invasion of their territory and began chasing the Mexicans.

Notice the waterfall in the center of the picture.

Knowing the layout of the mountains better than the horse riding Mexicans, the Apaches drove the Mexicans to this area...


and drove them right over the cliff where they and their horses all perished.

Isn't the rainbow pretty? Low lying clouds, fog and some rain accompanied them on the hike this morning. The rainbow at the end was the prize for those who stuck with it and endured the weather.

Thanks to the photographer, Curt.

Breast Cancer Week

It is Breast Cancer Awareness week at the resort.

The Red Hats, The Canyon Vistas Vixens, danced to Beat It Sunday evening to make a video to promote the weeks activities.

There are a couple of concerts, a comedy act, and a dance to raise money for the American Cancer Society. The Red Hat Vixens have collected donations for gift baskets and raffle prizes and are selling tickets.

The week's activities will culminate on Saturday morning with the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk, a five-mile walk through our resort and the neighboring resort. Walkers are encouraged to collect pledges.

Last year the Canyon Vistas Vixens donated more than $8000 to the American Cancer Society for breast cancer research. This year our goal is $10,000.

Red Hat Luncheon

Wednesday was the Cal-Am Red Hat luncheon at a sister resort.
About 300 ladies attended.

There was red and purple on the tables,

on the stage, along with Elvis (who shouldn't have)
& an exceptional pianist who played to the older ladies.

This was half of the Vixen attendees.

I finally got to wear the purple dress I bought
2 1/2 years ago, just for Red Hat dress-up events.

Rainy January

The average rainfall in AZ for a year is about 8 inches. This is the third day of rain this week with more to come. The combined total this week could be more than the yearly average. We drove by these fields this afternoon. The soil is such that there is no where for the rain to go.

Tonight we had wind gusts of up to 50 mph, a tornado watch in our area, and flood warnings. There is so much snow in Flagstaff, I 17 and I 40 are closed until noon tomorrow. I 8 near Yuma was closed because semis were overturned today due to the wind.

The good news: it will be in the 60s next week and the rain will move to the mid-west.

Interesting Rock Formations

Cool, unusual trees and wildlife made the drive through The Joshua Tree National Park well worth the time and distance, along with these interesting rock formations...








including this formation called "The Skull." Can you see it?

Desert Wildlife

We have seen coyotes in our resort and in the area, but it is usually at night. This guy had just crossed the road when we saw him in the Joshua Tree National Park. I was pleased to get a day- light picture of a coyote.

This gecko was sunbathing near the highest peak in the Joshua Tree National Park. He also cooperated and didn't run away before I got his picture. I have seen geckos while out hiking, but 'til I got the camera out, they are gone.

We also saw a couple of road runners. They, however, were too fast and were gone before I could find them in the camera view finder. I used to see a couple of road runners here in the resort, but not the last few years.

Joshua Tree National Park

On our way back to AZ from CA, we drove through the Joshua Tree National Forest along I10.

The Joshua tree grows approximately 30 to 60 feet tall and can be hundreds of years old.
(One 60 foot tree in Lancaster CA was thought to be 1000 years old.)

They are found at altitudes of 2000-6000 feet in AZ, NV & CA.

Joshua trees were once harvested for fences and firewood by the early settlers in this region. The trees are now protected in this national park and are slowly emerging as a forest, once again.

Wind Energy

As we were heading east to AZ yesterday, this amazing field of wind towers appeared in a valley between Banning and Palm Springs, along Interstate 10. We did not see them on Thursday, as we were driving in the dark.

There appears to be a store house or plant to convert the energy.

There must have been a thousand wind towers.

Some were stationary; the blades not moving as the winds and breezes swept down from the mountains.

Other blades were moving slowly above the rocky terrain.

Some of the towers were older as this one, but many were newer. Some were short and others tall. It really was an amazing site.

Trip to Los Angeles

Late Thursday afternoon we left the Phoenix area and headed west to California. Our destination was Malibu to visit niece Dawn, and her parents who are visiting from Minnesota. We had not been to LA since August 1987. Driving in LA was not a great experience back then and neither of us was overly excited about driving in LA once again. With map in hand and excellent directions we braved I10 and "mega-city" traffic...


We drove as far as Banning on Thursday night. We did not leave Gold Canyon until 5:00 PM. Curt got in the HOV lane and we made the 60+ mile trip through rush hour traffic in an hour. We drove until about 10. This is the sight that greeted us in the morning...

Snow capped mountains near Banning, CA. I took the picture while Curt was filling fuel on Friday morning. I don't know the mountain range. If fact we were surprised at all the mountains once we crossed the AZ/CA state line. We drove through valleys and over mountain ranges all along I10 from Blythe to Malibu.


Traffic on Interstate 10 about 11:00 AM on Friday morning. I know, what traffic? We had no trouble getting through the LA metro area. We had great directions and good timing!

Skyline of downtown LA
There is a mountain range behind that skyline, that is barely discernible.


Our first view of the Pacific Ocean "smog" on Friday morning. See the line of brown? We were unable to Catalina Island which is usually visible, if the smog hasn't rolled in.

Final 2009 Gopher Football Game

We drove to a park & ride about noon today to ride the bus to the light rail which took us to the ASU campus and the Insight Bowl. We had lunch at Rula Bula and noticed the Mill Street area was all blocked off from traffic and set up for the Fiesta Bowl New Year's Eve Block Party. It looked like we would not be able to get back to that area after the game without paying the $20 Block Party ticket cost.

Curt and his "new friends". Three MN fans joined us on the bench prior to the game. They had brought their own beverage and I asked them if they were sharing. The one immediately offered a can from the 12 pack, which I declined. But Curt enjoyed a refreshment on the stadium grounds. The guys enjoyed Gopher conversation and replays, much to Curt's delight. Two of them were recent U of M grads in AZ for an "end of school field trip".

The Iowa State fans adorned the eastern side of the stadium, dressed in red.

The beloved Gophers just couldn't pull off a win in their third Insight Bowl appearance. The final score was Iowa State 14, Minnesota 13.

All the unused fireworks from touchdowns, extra points and field goals was shot off at the end of the game. A neat display for New Year's Eve. We also enjoyed the blue moon as it rose above the stadium walls. It was an awesome outdoor evening in AZ.