Touristing in Tortilla Flat

Still snow at elevation, NE of Apache Junction

Tortilla Flat - tourist stop for scenery, food and live outdoor music

Canyon Lake

 - paddle wheeler dwarfed by cliffs on far side of lake -

Dramatic low water crossing courtesy of last week's rain

Rugged mountain panorama

It's Over...

...our string of cool weather!

We heard on the radio this morning that Phoenix has endured 24 days of temperatures below seasonal average. 

Shorts, t-shirts & sandals

Happy hour, dinner & then games - all by the pool

We won't waste this fine weather!

Finally....🌞 🚴

Three for three

The weather has turned!

 We are looking forward to our third day in a row of cycling

 - thought these days would never return!

Betty, Mike, Larry & Charlie, Bill

Still warmly dressed on our Monday ride along the Salt River Tempe

Sunny Saturday

Finally a sunny, dry, day...temps still in low 50sF/ just above 10C!

We drove to Apache Junction to attend the jam and this is what we saw:

This beauty was parked at our lunch stop.

Mazatzal Mountains 

(north of A J, between Phoenix & Payson)

We drove through these mountains (highest peak 7900 ft) on our way to Payson & Wilcox about a month ago. That same road, where we saw snow at the highest elevations, was closed during the storm that produced this dramatic scene.

Snow again on the Superstition Mountains east of A J

Snow Arrives in Southern Places

This morning we heard reports of snow in the foothills on the north east edge of the Phoenix area - that's mighty close to us here in Tempe! Snow was in Las Vegas yesterday and arrived in Los Angeles last evening!!!

The article below reports that the NV and CA snow was courtesy of Alberta, Canada:

https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-california-snow-20190221-story.html

Wonky Weather

Still weather whining!

Rain, wind (gusting 25-40 mph /40-60 kph) and temperatures in the 40sF/single digits . Wha, wha, wha! So, in the morning all four of us got our hair cut!

Best part of the day was the fortuitous plan we had made with RL's cousin, Sue & Bruce to play cards in the afternoon, eat their great cooking and attend a concert with The Diamonds* at their RV Park! It poured rain the whole time and we walked/waded through the running and pooling water to the hall!

It was well worth the walk as The Diamonds were over-the top good - pitch perfect harmonies, great costumes and choreography, and talented instrumental musicians (they and their backing band). 

*The Diamonds are a Canadian vocal quartet that rose to prominence in the 1950s and early 1960s with 16 Billboard hit records. The original members were Dave Somerville (lead), Ted Kowalski (tenor), Phil Levitt (baritone), and Bill Reed (bass). They were most noted for interpreting and introducing rhythm and blues vocal group music to the wider pop music audience. (Wikipedia)

Formed in Toronto in 1954, you'll probably know at least one of their biggest hits, Little Darlin'. One of the current members (fellow on the left) has been with the group for 45 years!

Divide and Conquer

Today was another touristing day - while the weather was clear, the temperatures were not enticing for a bike ride!

Bill and Mike are car nuts so today they toured a business they spotted in a Barrett Jackson publication,Desert Auto Parts in N Phoenix (in the area we just left!). Here's what they say about themselves:

"You’ve reached the home of the world famous Desert Valley Auto Parts, star of the hit Discovery Channel TV show “Desert Car Kings”. In business since 1993, Desert Valley Auto Parts is the legendary treasure trove of classic cars (and parts) from the 1940’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and a few 80’s thrown in the mix for good measure. With two locations in the dry Arizona desert, just on the edge of the Phoenix metropolitan area, we are 40 acres of dreams come true for collectors, enthusiasts or anyone else looking for a whole car or part of a car they thought they might never find."

Say no more!

Betty and Rose Lynn coffeed and shopped - a departure for both but it was a large outdoor mall so they too got in a few steps.

We lunched together and then took a road trip to the foothills community of Cave Creek, just north of Phoenix, where we enjoyed the sun, scenery and strolling "the strip" . (Update from Friday, Feb 22 - apparently there was snow there last night!)

Exploring the 'Hood

Rose Lynn got curious (surprise!) about the history of the location where we are now camped, Apache Palms RV Park on Apache Blvd in Tempe; it's clear from the vintage motels, RV parks and dated buildings in the area that we are located on a route that was probably an east-west, cross-country corridor through the area, a la Route 66. Here's what she learned:

Apache Boulevard is one of Tempe’s historic roadways. Formerly designated as U.S. Highway 60/ State Route 89, Apache Boulevard was one of the connections that people driving from the east would use to travel to California and other West Coast destinations.

The corridor along Apache Junction’s Apache Trail, Mesa’s Main Street, Tempe’s Apache Boulevard and Mill Avenue and Phoenix’s Van Buren was a haven for travelers, as the roads were lined with tourist attractions, motels with newfangled swimming pools and air conditioning, service stations and restaurants.

The scenic road changed significantly when Interstate 10 opened in 1962, creating a fast-moving corridor for traffic that bypassed those businesses. Blight set in. Buildings became run down, abandoned and crime rose. These were hard times for a once-loved roadway.

During the early 1990s, responding to the concerns of area residents, the City of Tempe determined that the area needed help to break the cycle of slum and blight. The city invested in landscape improvements, undergrounding power lines, and locating a grocery store to the area. A redevelopment district was created to provide land use planning, promote economic tools for new developments and businesses and to help the community members create a vision for their future. Some of the worst buildings were torn down to fight crime as well as blight.

A plan for light rail transportation brought new life to the Apache Boulevard corridor in 2000; the route opened in 2008 with several stations on Apache. With the road returning to its roots as an innovative transportation corridor, Apache is once again flourishing. New student housing (AZ State University), home developments, apartments and businesses have revitalized the once struggling area with new residents.

Apache Palms entrance from Apache Blvd

Looking south onto Apache Blvd from the Park

with light rail passing the Park in the middle of Apache Blvd

 and new development behind

 This building is now a tavern but looks like it may have been a business  (motel office? gas station?) 

The sleeping dude is part of local colour -
students and street people for the most part

  A dated mobile home park

Raining on our Parade!

Rain again yesterday morning! Glad we got a dry, partially sunny and fairly warm ride in on Sunday ✌

By the time our cycling/eating/laughing friends Mike & Betty arrived at Apache Palms RV Park here in Tempe yesterday, the afternoon had dried and we went on a couple of walking errands in the neighbourhood. It was good to be out!

This morning, we woke to 37F/2C, clear blue skies and frost on windshields - will this AZ winter 😉weather ever end? 😕

Super Saturday

Morning

Went to Tempe Lake to walk in the sun (seemed too windy & cool to be inspired to ride...). There we came on a crowd completing the "Fro Yo 5 K" and decided to complete the same route.

Afternoon

Returned to Apache Junction and Rock Shadows so that Bill could play with the jammers.

Evening

Invited our neighbours Spencer and Joy out to eat - they've been so good to us for two seasons now! They chose Italian as Spencer was carbo-loading for a 20k run in the Lost Dutchman Marathon event tomorrow morning in the AJ area.

👍It was all good 😁

Valentine's Day

We decided that we must be a pretty "nutty" couple as we gave each other cards that both contained squirrel images! After almost 50 years of being a couple, we'll probably pick out the same card some year soon!

Here's some amusement we found for our rainy Valentine's Day

Just for "grammar police" like Rose Lynn

Garden & Gun is a magazine????

(for southern fashionistas & foodies, hunters & home lovers...)

We finished the day with a family meal, once again hosted by Ron & Elise. We move to Tempe tomorrow and the youngsters return to the Calgary deepfreeze on Saturday morning. That was a fun week!

Hole in the Wall

Hole in the Wall at Papago Park in Phoenix

(note figures standing in the opening)

Centre three figures are (from L) are Colin, Zachary and Bill

Looking south from the hole!

We followed up the hike to the hole with a walk in the desert in another area of Papago Park- enjoyed the sun!

Double Dipping

The family had made plans to attend the Children's' Museum of Phoenix this morning. We thought to ride again but when it came up only 36F/2C  we opted to join them! That was fun - we've been here before but each child (even the big ones) see different things to play with each time.

We followed the play time with a fine oven baked pizza meal in the Heritage District of downtown Phoenix - thank you Janine & Colin.

After the abortive try for a sunny day ride on Friday, we finally got it done this afternoon! We took our bikes to a trailhead and enjoyed tracing Cave Creek and the Arizona Canal - all off road.

Earned our Turkey

Today we hiked some trails in Glendale's Thunderbird Conservation Park - more mountains, rubble and cactus but new panoramas of the west valley of Phoenix.

It was good prep for a turkey meal with family - thanks Elise & Ron for hosting and providing Thanksgiving/Christmas in February!

Musical Instrument Museum

The World’s Only Global Musical Instrument Museum


Today the family enjoyed "Canada Day" at the MIM. All day there were performances showcasing Canadian music forms - particularly the folk variety. In the restaurant we treated ourselves to poutine and nanaimo bars!

With two musicians in the group (Bill & son-in-law, Colin) we made sure to check out the special exhibition The Electric Guitar:

Janine with Magnus in the family room at the MIM, a nice quiet space

Zach and his dad Colin work on a puzzle

Phoenix Week Begins!

Got settled in a Park close to the family.

Bill worked hard to get connected to the Park's WIFI (an hour long telephone challenge with the provider) only to find that it was hardly worth the effort - will barely allow logging on, let alone email checking! Meanwhile, we'll use the phone as a hotspot.

When the internet debacle wound down we went out for a ride to wind down(!) and to celebrate the sunny, warmer weather. We took the bikes out of the truck only to discover that Bill's had a sticky rear brake that needed adjusting. After a few pedals, Bill diagnosed the grinding sound at the front of RL's bike as worn bearings in the front wheel; so, after consulting a passing rider, it was a trip to a local bike shop where they repaired it on the spot.

Came home for an adult beverage 😉✌

Needless to say, updates may be delayed as we visit distractedly with our family!

Moving Day

Today we are leaving Rock Shadows and the Apache Junction area and moving to N Phoenix for a week to be closer to our daughter and family: they arrive today and will stay with Colin's parents.

Stay tuned for fairly frequent moves over the next 6 weeks or so before we arrive back in Alberta by the end of March.

What's wrong with this Picture???!!!

8 am view from the driver's seat - it was 37F/3C

Sleep Disturbing Downpour

Eastern sky over the Superstitions about 6pm yesterday

Well, we looked at this dramatic display and discussed whether there was more rain to come? A heavy downpour in the middle of the night was the answer to this question!

Today it is mostly sunny,

 mostly cool (around 50F / 10-12C) and

 definitely very windy.

👎 ☂ ☔ ☁ 😒 Wet Weather Whining

It's been raining since the middle of Saturday night...

We togged up for a walk yesterday afternoon, when it seemed that it had stopped, only to be showered on within two minutes of stepping outside! The first drops of precipitation looked liked sleet!!!!

Oh well, it sure beats the weather at home in Calgary today where it's -17F/-27C.

South Mountain Park

Today, we and Robin drove to South Mountain Park, a huge SW Phoenix wilderness preserve.

It was a wonderful day for an adventure, starting cool and warming up nicely with sunny skies all day. We enjoyed the dramatic, snaking mountain drive to a series of lookouts on our way to a summit. From there we took a scenic hike to even more viewpoints. The flora (including blooming ocotillo and lupines) and fauna - fat lizards sunning on rocks and a variety of birds impressed us.

Fatman's Pass (not?)

Robin & Bill with Phoenix in Background

At the end of the day, the four of us enjoyed the beer selections on tap

 at a favourite restaurant, "Handlebar", in Apache Junction.

They also serve tasty creative food that is frequently smoked and grilled (never fried!).

It was our last evening with Robin and Carole

 as tomorrow they fly back to the deep freeze known as Alberta!