Saturday, December 7, 2019

Will I See Them Again?

Monday morning Hubby, Terry and I went back to complete the geocaching series we started on Sunday. This time I was prepared. I brought my good camera, just in case we might see the wild horses again.

But first we drove west hoping to be first to find on a geocache that had been published that morning. Hubby spent about an hour working the puzzle. Then the three of us took off in Terry's truck. Tension mounted. Would we be the first to arrive and find and sign the newly published geocache?

do you see it?


a bug was attached to the lid
Woo Hoo! A FTF to start the day's adventure!


Then we headed north to complete the series we had started on Sunday.

can you figure out where the cache might be?


Hi Ho, Hi Ho. It's off to work we go...


along the way, I noticed the remainder of
a saguaro skin/bark on a fallen giant


sad to see these guys toppled


no sunshine or bright blue skies on Monday


a police car glued to the cache container


evidence of the horses, but no sightings on Monday


I did scare up a small flock of birds
this one chose not to fly away


never get tired of seeing all the mountain ridge lines 
in the distance
there are 5 in this photo


remember the Target Shooting is Prohibited sign of
yesterday?


Jojoba nuts on a female jojoba bush (in the wild)
I use the oil as a facial moisturizer
I had no idea the bushes were grown commercially
for the oil, or that there were male and female 
jojoba plants


brittle bush flowers
either an early bloomer or a really late bloomer
we usually don't see them until February


Once the 3 of us complete the geocache series on the day's agenda, we found just a few more in the area that needed our signature. Terry and I climbed a hill (felt like a mountain after the trail we had just walked) to get a geocache Hubby had found in 2013. I took this photo of the parking lot from the cache's location.


two tents were set up at the entrance of this section of
Tonto Wilderness area


and a camper


remnants of another blooming bush


this school bus was in the parking lot on Sunday also
today, there were sheets of pressed wood, 2x4s, and 
electric saws around and in the rear of the bus, 
along with blaring music


Terry and I walked to another cache Hubby had
found and signed in 2013
2 coconuts and a wicker laundry basket
I have no idea why
not along a trail, not near the parking lot or highway


the final cache of the day
if they didn't find it, I would  have climbed out and helped




Thursday, December 5, 2019

Finally, After 13 Years...

Finally, after a wait of 13 years, I saw the wild horses that roam the Salt River area. Hubby has seen the horses while hiking. Others have seen the horses when driving along the Bush Highway. Even geocachers have seen the wild horses while caching in that area. The closest I had ever come to a sighting was to see the evidence they had been roaming the area.

Hubby and Terry wanted to scout a geocaching area on Sunday afternoon, so Jane and I rode along, knowing full well, we'd be looking for the elusive geocaches in the desert. As we walked along a fence to begin our geocaching adventure, we noticed some well hidden horses on the other side of the wire fence.


it might be prohibited, but that certainly
doesn't prevent people from shooting up glass 
bottles and other targets 


can you see the white one nibbling on the bush?


this one has a white face
there in the middle of the photo


two in one photo!


a few resting in the shade of the tree behind that horse

The horse photos are not the best as they were taken with my phone camera. The photos look pretty good on the phone, but once they are transferred to another device, cropping REALLY distorts them. I did see the wild horses. I did take photos of them. Just maybe I'll see them again...


loved seeing the green grass growing after the rains


finally the first geocache
can you see it?


great mountain views
blue sky and sunshine and perfect temps


toppled arms and top of a saguaro


met several bicyclists on the trail


admiring a unique saguaro

A successful afternoon of roaming in the desert,
enjoying the warm temps, the sunshine, and the
desert flora and fauna while finding a few geocaches.

*****And after blogging for 13 years, I also learned something new. I did not change the size of my photos  when I inserted them into the blog format in the last blog post or this one. That little action or non-action, allows you the reader to click on the photo, any photo, to get a larger version of it. I have wondered how other bloggers did that!!! Have a great day!*****



Tuesday, December 3, 2019

November Happenings

The last two weeks of November were a little this and a little that. None of the doings were enough for a blog post. The weather turned cooler. We had a three day rain delivering 2+ inches of rain to the folks in the resort who have rain gauges, more rain than this area had all summer. The following week there was another downpour leaving more than another inch of rainfall.

Before, between, and after the rains, this is what we/I did.


November 19th 
hosted a geocaching event on the patio
rain and cold weather, so Los Gringos Locos allowed us
to meet indoors in the Cantina
about 50 grateful people attended


November 22nd
musical at the Hale Theater Gilbert


theater in the round
row 4, close to the action


playbill
Jane and I attended


every seat was full


Dolly in one of her MANY costumes


Tuesday, November 26th
resort's Thanksgiving dinner
potatoes & gravy, cranberries, dressing, turkey,
mixed veggies, roll & butter, salad & pumpkin pie
served on glass plates, real silverware with tablecloths


November 26th sunset from along the desert
with CO friends
great evening filled with laughter


November 27th
the clouds add color and interest
taken from our street


Thursday, November 28th
flowers for Thanksgiving meal
I think Hubby was thankful for another, REAL
turkey dinner, so be bought flowers


a turkey breast...REAL turkey dinner
with all the traditional trimmings
and a SLICE of pumpkin pie
shared with friends, Terry & Jane
no other photos...OPPS!


Saturday, November 30th
rain in our area, snow on Four Peaks
(Jane's photo)


November 30th geocaching event
at my favorite donut shop






and in case you want cereal with your donut...


my selection
chocolate donut with mint frosting
and crumbled mint candy
YUM!


Hubby's raspberry filled donut


restroom door


other restroom door

And just like that, another month is gone. Time to think about Christmas...