Lost Dutchman Days Parade

Rose Lynn went at 9 am to watch the annual Lost Dutchman Days Parade in Apache Junction. There were lots & lots of horses, a good collection of vintage cars, a Shriners go kart drill team, fire engines and ambulances, political and religious floats, a few mascots, candy spreaders(!) and one marching band! It was clear fresh day as you can see from the pics.

Not wanting to waste such a beautiful day, we enjoyed a great bike ride in the afternooon.

Local high school Marching Band

About Lost Dutchman Days Parade / Rodeo https://www.lostdutchmandays.org/about/

About "The Lost Dutchman", another story about a lost gold mine!

https://azstateparks.com/lost-dutchman/explore/the-dutchman

Signs of Spring in the Superstitions

 

                 

Hiking in the foothills of the Superstitions

Snow is still on the the northern exposures 

but the desert is staying incredibly green this year.

Desert marigold

Fiddleneck (borage / forget-me-not family)

Even grasses are trying to form a lawn - 

a hiker walking by observed that it looked like a putting green!

Very tiny, low growing ???

Blue Dicks (member of the wild hyacinth family)

It was beautiful day to be in the outdoors and see these exciting signs of spring. Looking forward to the cactus blooms!

Snow on the Local Mountains

 

After raining from midday to early evening yesterday,

today dawned cold (39F/4C) and clear.

Here we see snow on the Superstion Mountains,visible to the east

 of our Park

Snow on a local landmark, Four Peaks, in the Goldfield Mountains,

visible to the northeast from our Park

You can see both mountains in this photo taken later the same day

Frost on our truck windshield

Happy Twosday!

 

...and as we listened to CBC radio from Calgary this morning,

it was revealed that the temperature was -22C (-8F)!

Photos from Palm Springs

Tuesday was a pleasant day for a bicycle tour around Palm Springs. We were guided by Glenn & Corinne who are spending two months there.

Rose Lynn and her sister were born "Fair"!

We, Rose Lynn's sister Lisa, and B-I-L Robert, spent Thursday experiencing Joshua Tree National Park. We say experiencing because, while the weather was sunny and clear, it was also cold (low 40sF / around 6 C) and very windy. We had planned a scenic hike but the aforementioned effects of elevation helped us change our plans! We explored a few of the interpretive stops, found a sunny place out of the wind to eat our packed lunches, and then stopped for hot coffees and tea at a Starbucks in the town of Twenty-Nine Palms!

Bill was the only wise one to wear long pants.

The puffed out hoods on our jackets are reminiscent 

of the photos of arctic explorers, don't you think?!

Aptly-named "Skull Rock"

Off to Palm Springs

This morning we are driving to Palm Springs to meet up with Rose Lynn's sister Lisa, and husband Robert, who are visiting with his brother and S-I-L.

There will hiking, biking, eating and gameplaying...looking forward to all the fun!

Love the things we did today!

 👫 went for bike ride

 👫 had a yummy Valentine's meal at home

(meatballs simmered in tomato sauce, 

spread over cheesy polenta, and topped with parmesan)

 👫 Bill joined his Monday night jam on line with the Calgary gang

Rose Lynn enjoyed the music he made

Our Thoughts on Superbowl

 

A Thorny Issue

In three words....Goat Head Thorn

This invasive species has been puncturing our bicycle tires and tubes!

After three flats, and on the suggestion of our local bike shop, we have now upgraded all our bike tires with kevlar tire liners and thorn proof tubes. We ran kevlar-belted tires on our previous bikes and had few flats so hope this fix will provide similar protection in this desert area where thorns abound. It should also protect against the usual road detritus such as staples, tacks, glass, and nails. 

Food Truck Thursdays

 A great new feature this year at Rock Shadows has been Food Truck Thursdays. We have enjoyed a few of these delightful meals and this was another one.

Mexican Pizza

Crispy tortilla, topped with refried beans, guacamole, cheese, tomatoes, green chiles and your choice of grilled meat or grilled veggies.

This photo is the beef version but we ordered chicken tonight

The bottom crispy tortilla is spread with the refried beans,

topped with the second tortilla and the rest of the goodies!

Driving the Apache Trail Scenic Byway

 

Starting about a block from our Park, today we drove a twenty mile paved stretch of The Apache Trail Scenic Byway (it's gravel from there to near the dam). The route was built as a wagon trail for the construction of Roosevelt Dam from 1902-1909. It was named the Apache Trail after the Native American Indians who originally used this trail to migrate through the Superstition Mountains for over 1,000 years.

It's definitely scenic and, despite the fact that it was recently repaved, it's still a challenging drive. The Trail winds steeply through rugged desert mountains, past deep reservoir lakes like Canyon Lake and Apache Lake. The narrow, winding road has steep cliff drops and little in the way of safety barriers, especially past the tourist town of Tortilla Flat.

In a word , it was spectacular!

What kind of idiot burns a doughnut on the edge of an open dropoff?!!

Didn't notice the tire marks until after we were back.

Groundhog Day in Arizona