Pictured below are some of the many Hieroglyphics at the culmination of the trail. There were some stagnant pools below the rocks, which obviously form a creek during wetter weather. Also, right near the pools, Janice sits in what was probably used as a shelter by the natives. Also pictured is the uncanny balancing act of a boulder on a pinnacle of rock.
Until today we hadn’t been able to find lamb in any of the stores down here but, on the way home from the hike, we stopped for a few groceries and Janice spotted a couple of lamb shanks. She put them in the crock pot with some garlic and Rosemary, to slow cook, while we went to scout out a couple of other RV parks.
We had decided to stay in the area for another week for a couple of reasons: Because there’s lots to do around here and because Janice’s mom, Rhelda, and her friend Jenny, are flying into Phoenix for a week, next week, before driving to Sedona for another week. We’ll move closer to Phoenix when they’re there and spend a day or two with them.
We didn‘t find an RV park that was better than what we had so we booked another week here, though we did have to move because our spot had been booked previously. We went for a dip in the pool before having a cocktail with our neighbours from Ontario, Cathy and Russ.
Pictured below is the sunset at cocktail hour.
By the way, the lamb shanks with Greek salad and garlic toast were excellent - tender lamb drumsticks.
Our new neighbours are four elderly Brits that are traveling together in a large motor home. The host couple now lives in Florida but, for his brother and his wife, this is their first time in America. They’re all very funny and visitor, Doug, (pronounced Doog of course) is already sporting a white ten gallon cowboy hat that he can wear with his Lawn Bowling Whites when he gets home.
Doog loves a good curry and is more open-minded about such things than his somewhat Americanized brother, Gary, who won’t touch the stuff, muttering, “ I wouldn’t touch that Goddam Pakkie rot.” Seeing as Janice was making us some Papadons for an appie, she decided to treat Doog to a few. Papadons are those very thin, large, slightly spicy chip-kind-of-things they always start you off with in an Indian restaurant. We dropped them off before we went for a short bike ride. When we returned Doog thanked Janice effusively while Gary grumbled, “Tastes like they have Goddam fish in them or something.”
On Valentine’s Day we thought we’d go for breakfast at the Waffle House, right next to the park. It was crowded, with a lineup though, so we drove uptown instead for bacon and eggs.
I had researched the internet for the Best Restaurant in Apache Junction, which turned out to be Elvira’s Mexican Restaurant. We had planned to go there for dinner but, after touring the old mining town of Gold Field on the Apache Trail, and then stopping for a Margarita at a bar near there, we decided instead to get some beef tenderloin, romaine lettuce, (so I could make Tim’s famous Caesar Salad) and a bottle of 7 Deadly Zins. We had dinner at home instead.
Pictured is the mining town of Goldfield. I always use a polarizing filter on my camera because it reduces glare, takes the reflections off of water, gives clouds more contrast against the sky and gives colours more saturation. Still, there can be no bluer skies than those in Arizona.
Tuesday was sunny and hot again so we set out for the Butcher Jones Trail at Saguaro Lake, just north of Mesa. The trail was about six or seven miles round trip and offered some nice vistas of the lake, the best being at Burro Cove, where we turned around.
Pictured are a couple of shots of Saguaro Lake and Tim at Burro Cove.
We stopped at the Saguaro Lake Marina and split some fish & chips before heading for home, where we hung at the pool while the laundry went round.
There are now three months left in our Intermission. We’ve put on roughly 40,000 kilometers - about the equivalent to driving around the circumference of the earth.
The one disappointment is that it’s not looking like we’re going to get to Mexico. We have several sets of friends that are now or, have been, vacationing there and my sister, Lisa, is going to be in Tulum in a couple of weeks. We had hoped to drive in but, because of recent events in the border towns of Mexico, that idea has been nixed. In lieu of that, we’d hoped to be able to fly in and meet people but, unbelievably, flights from Phoenix to Mexico are a lot more expensive than flights from Vancouver. Frustrating, and a little disappointing but, hey, it’s still all good here.
Beautiful pics, thanks for the tip as to how to get sure good pics. Lamb is so expensive this year as just before we were in NZ there had been a severe freeze killing off the little sheep which had to be disposed of by the truck load. Gordon did a beautiful Lamb Steak for Valentines Day, enough for three, cost $12.00. Frozen still might be cheaper till that runs out.
ReplyDeleteSee you soon.
XOXO Mom/Rhelda