A Girls' Day Out

 It has been a few years (since before COVID) when friend Nancy and I would plan a girls' day doing something different in the valley area. Nancy has moved and I miss our museum visits or looking at historic homes in the nearby mining communities. 

Last week I joined some friends for a trip to Globe.

The temperature in Globe for the day was to be in the high 40ºs. Judy wore shorts! There was snow in Globe as the elevation is 3500'. The elevation of Apache Junction is 1700'. No snow here.

Marlene was prepared with her hat and gloves.

We stopped for a snow ball photo op because all of us are thankful we are NOT back in our home states. A little snow will be just enough of a winter fix for us. 

Queen Creek was flowing

We met Sherry for lunch at an eclectic local cafe. Great food.

funny bathroom decor

creative bathroom decor

box spring strung with miniature lights on the ceiling

Queen Creek runs through downtown Globe. The water ripples along the edge of the creek caught my eye.  The water level in the creek had closed some roads. The higher elevations have had snow while our area experienced rain earlier this month.

These paper whites were blowing in front of one of the stores where we stopped to shop. The store owner said they have a pleasing aromatic smell. I did not get that close to find out. There were other spring flowers making their appearance, but did not have blooms.

This shop had tiaras and the shop owner allowed us to wear some of them for a photo op. It was a day of shopping and laughter. Good for the soul.

It's Been a Quiet Month

 It has been a quiet month so far. Writing class has started. Bowling has started. Tuesday geocaching meetings continue. I hosted a geocaching event early last week on a rainy day, so the attendance was much lower than usual. The weather has been cool to those of us who have spent 18 Januarys in Arizona. It is soup and comfort food weather.

We met Sherry (LifeIsGuud) Saturday afternoon for some geocaching. I have to admit it was a perfect weather day for walking around in the desert looking for geocaches. Sunny. Long sleeves. Long pants. Warm but not sweaty warm.

This was one of our first geocache finds ~ a field puzzle. We had to take the puzzle ball apart to get to the log and then reassemble the ball puzzle pieces. Let's just say it took awhile. No engineers in our group. Some laughs, some mental cursing, but we got it back together before moving on to the next cache. (Sherry's Photo)

Thankfully no puzzle. Just a cute turtle hiding behind a brick.

We walked along the horse trails and did see some riders.

I never get tired of this view. It isn't often we get a full view like this one.

Hubby and Sherry are in this photo looking for the geocache.

There they are! 

Another geocache find and paper log with our geocaching names on it.

Sometimes you find the most unexpected things that bring a smile. Just nine geocache finds, but a perfect day for hunting for caches. Thanks Sherry for getting us out of the house!

Starting the New Year with Some...

 Geocaching! LifeIsGuud (Sherry) joined us for a day of playing in the desert on Thursday. 

The day was mostly overcast, but all the recent rains (two inches earlier this past week) have created a green desert. We did most of the geocaching along a gravel road with the Superstition Mountains to the north.

Another view of the Superstitons and the green desert.

We had been out to this area last month and knew we would probably need to get on the other side of barbed wire fences. Three tight strands of barbed wire and the bottom strand tight but not barbed. We had tried to get through the fence on our earlier visit but it didn't go well. The scabs from the wire scratches finally healed earlier this week! So Hubby came up with a great plan. We hauled the Little Giant ladder with us and set it up OVER the wire fence.

and off they go

I said someone needed to stay behind and get help if something happened! 

easy peasy

the perfect Tool Of The Trade (TOTT)

For one of the 3 times we needed to get to the other side of the fence, Sherry decided crawling under would be easier than hauling the ladder down the ditch. They both made it under, but I set the ladder up for them to get back out!

At this location the mountain erupted spewing boulders. Pretty to look at, but not fun to climb. We did not and will not. There are 5 geocaches on and around the eruption. You'll see their location in another photo.

Other than the trips over and under the fence and the view of the Superstition Mountains, there wasn't much of interest. So this cross in memory of someone who lost their life at this location made the list.

one final Superstition view

Most of the 40 caches were in palo verde trees similar to this one. The containers were not this large though and sometimes were well hidden.

This geo-art was the goal for the day. Those 5 orange circles in the guitar center? Those five were placed on the erupted mountain of boulders. The guitar has a Johnny Cash theme. Very appropriate on both levels: Johnny Cache and guitar, Johnny Cash and cache????

We found a few other fun puzzle geocaches after we completed the guitar. Sherry volunteered to get this one.

The out-dated phone was inside the ammo can/box in the tree.

Sherry's call did not go through!

We ended the day meeting geocachers from Gilby (ND), Winnipeg (Manitoba) and Seattle (WA) for a geocaching event at one of our favorite restaurants. A great day with friends and a great start to the new year. Thanks Sherry for sharing some of the photos.