December Wrap-up

I apologize for the lack of updates. I've had a few projects on my plate that have been completed. I finally went through all the photos of the last 30 days, categorizing, organizing, backing-up, etc. etc.

So this is a summary beginning December 14th through December 27th, when we left AZ to spend Christmas back in SD until we left SD to enjoy winter in AZ.

DECEMBER 14th

early morning flight from Mesa

g'kids helped decorate the house for Christmas

and did a great job

they spent the night as parents had a work Christmas party

 DECEMBER 15th

Miss W's 'solo' for the church Christmas program

The first few days of the week were spent on appointments, book club, lunch with friends, and some geocaching in downtown Sioux Falls.

doing some leg work for a geocache project

newest Sioux Falls sculpture

 DECEMBER 20th

trying a new dessert for Christmas

certainly not what I expected at this unfinished point

and NOT how the recipe photo looked

G'kids making Christmas cards after 

helping with some baking projects on Friday night

DECEMBER 21st

family bowling tradition on Saturday

before Christmas dinner & gifts & games

helping prep the table for Christmas dinner

using the Christmas china

our bartender prepared adult beverages

Thanksgiving Mules

vodka, ginger beer, orange juice, cranberry juice, etc.

the finished dessert

Peppermint Chocolate Roll

tasted better than it looked

WAY too much filling

I might try it again with changes

ending the evening with some games of Farkle

after opening the gifts

and the g'kids scavenger hunt

After our family Christmas weekend, we drove to see my Mom before Christmas then removed all signs of Christmas, completed the geocaching project, attended a geocaching event and

DECEMBER 27th

left SD early evening on Friday

and returned to our winter home

just ahead of a major weekend snowstorm

**I think I have it right this time. If you click on the photos, they will become larger.**

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

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!*****