More Sightseeing

I must thank the Chamber of Commerce for the great temps during my mom's visit. Just as she leaves, we'll be headed back into the 90s (where I like them), so all is well.

We've been to the Cave Creek Carefree Days Festival (art show - photos from Magic Bird Festivals)



We've hiked part of the Kovach and Lost Dog trails on the Scottsdale side of the McDowell's.



The reason for the "part" is because there are painful little cactus burrs on the trails, which you might not realize until you have a little dog who finally refuses to walk in protest. Could you blame him?

Of course, we hiked the Overlook trail high behind the fountain (and the path around the fountain).



We've visited the Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum just outside Tucson. We got a little lost when the GPS seemingly led us astray (there are no signs to the place until you're practically on top of it). It's worth the drive just for the views once you get there.

Yes, there are trails, so more hiking - yay!

Despite the grounds' map, it's rather confusing getting around this place, but you eventually hit everything. I love how the enclosures blend in with the surroundings.



I mean, how cool is this?

Another rare photo of my whole body, as opposed to just a discombobulated head in a selfie (

Like my halo? My hair was wigging out in the wind, hence
a little editing.

The museum specializes in fauna and flora found in Arizona, so has things like mountain lions, coatimundis, ocelots, bears, etc. They weren't that easy to see in the enclosures, so you may be disappointed when you don't actually see anything. A couple of the animals definitely seemed very agitated (bored perhaps), so that was a little concerning. There are programs that involve play; maybe they should implement them more often. The big horn sheep were looking at home, at least.




There were even a few animal guests not part of the display as a bonus. It kind of looks like he's singing opera, doesn't it? Fi-ga-ro!

Our favorite part is the hummingbird aviary. We both remembered more birds flitting around on our last visit, but maybe it was selective memory. Can you see the one in the nest?



At the end is a little aquarium (off the gift shop) with some not-so-native occupants.



It makes for a longish day, but we always think it's worth it. Mom got to spend an extra day and a half here when her early flight got delayed and turned into a late next-day flight. Too bad her luggage didn't get the memo. Oh well, there are worse places to have to unexpectedly extend a trip even without clean underwear.

A Visit!

My mom has come to visit before I take off. She likes to travel, so will come see us in the Caribbean as well, but she likes Arizona too so wanted to take advantage of the fact that I was here again to do some more sightseeing. The weather has been fantastic, with one short heat spell that's about to go bye bye again. Yesterday, we jumped on the Desert Belle steamboat on Saguaro Lake.

Duckies!



It was going to be a hot one, so it was nice that the boat had shade. On the other hand, the cover blocked the views if you weren't sitting in the outer chairs. Best to get there early to get a good seat.

You're surrounded by cliffs that just tower over you.

 

There are nooks and crannies, the Four Peaks, rock formations...



If you've got water transport, you can camp on the lake too.

Of course, the best part is looking for wildlife. Can you see the eagle in its nest? Luckily, we had someone onboard with binoculars, or we wouldn't have either.

Sorry, the closeup is blurred.

We also saw a couple of big horn sheep too. See it?

Again, blurry, but you get the idea.

The 1 1/2 hour tour was the perfect thing to do on a day you want something somewhat low-key.

You can hike this too, as we've done several times. You can also kayak the river on the other side of the dam, which is highly recommended. Of course, you can rent a boat and do this yourself, but then you don't get the interesting commentary - other than whatever you make up.

On Michael's front, he's still working hard. He was almost flattened by his billionaire boss the other day when the tycoon about ran him over with his mountain bike. "Sorry, mate!" Does that count as an introduction? Here's the bay where Michael's currently living.

Here's that bay and the Bitter End with lots and lots of boats.

The islands he's working on:



The bar he's taking the photos from.



About 80 days...

Better.

So after a rather not-so-great week, it didn't get any better after the last post, I was looking forward to pulling myself into the fetal position and sucking my thumb all weekend. Somehow, I managed to rally though and got a hike in, among other things.

I wanted something nearby, free, easy to follow, and yet a little challenging. So I chose the 5.5-mile Sunrise Trail in Scottsdale via the Ringtail Trail on 128th St. Although I was going to gain some elevation on this one, the switchbacks were quite long, so while it was still a little steep in places, it wasn't like Tom's Thumb (one of my favorite hikes). I decided to push it a little on this one and treat it more like exercise than a meander.



The views behind me were pretty great, but I wasn't worried about turning around constantly to look at them because I knew I'd be coming back that way and would snap some photos and take it all in then. Yeah, that didn't happen. I got to the turn-around, the hitching post, in exactly an hour.

I hadn't planned on going the extra bit to the summit, but I really couldn't resist its siren call. I mean, look how close it is! So I headed up.

It was only an extra 20 minutes and was worth it. There were nice views of Fountain Hills, Scottsdale, mountains, a great breeze. Sigh.



And then I headed back. Where did all those side trails come from? I hadn't noticed most of them on the way up. There was a lot of signage leading to the summit, but nothing on any other trail, so I had no idea which trail was the one I'd come up. I focused on staying on the Scottsdale side of the mountain range and just kept walking. I never saw the hitching post again or the views I had wanted to capture on my return. It turned out I ended up on the "official" Sunrise Trail which is steeper, not a problem going down but I wouldn't have wanted to take that going up. The view was, eh, and the next thing I knew I was at the bottom. On 146th Street.

My car was at 128th Street. The good news is that the street I had to return on wasn't all that busy and rather pretty.

Of course, I didn't just have to get back to 128th St, I also had to get back to the mountain since the street had veered away from it. Oy.

Despite that flub, it didn't ruin my zen. If I'm hiking, I'm happy. Add a view of crystal blue/green water, and it's my version of heaven.  About 89 days...