Getting Back Out There

It has been humid. I mean sticky. Disgustingly icky. Despite sayings to the contrary, Arizona is not always a dry heat in August and September. Combine that with temps over 100 and it can be rather unpleasant. There were a couple of tropical storms/hurricanes in the Pacific that brought us this fun. It brought rain too, but Fountain Hills didn't see as much of it as other cities in Arizona did. We did see enough to bring out the mosquitos though. Thanks to that, I wondered how many people would brave the park for free movie night. The movie was Legos. We asked friends with kids if adults would enjoy this movie too, got a yes, so thought, why not?

The night wasn't overly buggy and was much warmer than the last movie night when we froze our butts off, ironically while watching Frozen. Our biggest disappointment was that the same temporary snack stand that had been there last time selling what you'd expect to eat/drink at a movie wasn't there. Instead it was Chik-Fil-A. Obviously they were sponsoring the event (thank you), but who wants a chicken sandwich during a movie? Okay, it turned out lots of people did, but still. They're not even a local business. We sulked a bit that we didn't have popcorn (obviously, we'd have brought some if we'd known), but eventually got over it.

The movie itself was weird. It took a long time for the kids to calm down (over an hour), so we missed a lot of the dialog, and people just stood or walked in front of other people as if they were in their living rooms or something (you can see an example of that in that photo below right - those adults stood there like that long into the movie), but what we did hear/see was strange. Funny, but strange.



Anyway, it was a nice way to spend a Saturday night out. Sunday, I decided I couldn't take it any more, wrapped my foot up and hit the 2 1/2 mile (if done both ways) Overlook Trail by the fountain. I normally do this trail (jogging) about 2-3 times/week. The last time I was here, a month ago (aack!), I was just feet away from a coyote that was crossing the trail in front of me. I gave him the right-of-way.



I haven't worn the boot since it was given to me. It was truly overkill, and I have things to do. I have refrained from running and hiking though and was starting to go through withdrawals. So off I went. It was the perfect length. Can you tell I was enjoying myself?

It felt good, but would have become more painful if I'd picked a longer hike, particularly one with steeper/longer downhills. It was just what the doctor ordered, just don't tell my doctor - ha! It was so worth it.

No swelling, much less bruising. This was just to make sure it stayed that way.
Jack doing his Renee impression in the background.

We had another dust storm roll through, as well. We were at our favorite sub place, Uncle Sam's, clogging our arteries with their big cheese hoagie & fries (no one's good all the time), when a dozen smartphones, including mine, blared out an alarm. Everyone looked down at the same time. Everyone mumbled "dust storm" at the same time. It was kind of surreal to have everything go in unison like that. The alert said to avoid travel, but of course, we headed right out. It was south of us, and we drove parallel to it. They're always cool, if you're not driving in them.

It's supposed to be a drier week but with humidity creeping back in by the weekend. I'll be leaving town for a week, so am going to miss the Ballet Under The Stars on Thursday (free),

And Octoberfest ($5) over the weekend.

Maybe Michael will go and take some photos. I wonder if temps will be under 100 when I get back. Yes, please.

Yep, It's That Day Again

Before we get to the hike you know is coming, I thought I'd just fill you in on last night - movie night at the Fountain. We debated going since it was just as cold as it was the last night we did a movie outside (at Biltmore Fashion Park), but we'd had fun before, despite the cool breeze, and decided to brave it again. We also went despite knowing there would be lots and lots of kids there (which is scary when you're not used to being around them). The movie was Frozen, a Disney film. And the title was apropos, because by the end of the film, Michael & I were frozen (the sofa throw we brought was not good enough). Anywho - there were lots of kids. It was a lot like Key West in the sense that you rarely see kids around, and yet when there's an event - wallah! - there they are.



The sponsors/organizers even had two princesses from the movie working the crowd and taking pictures with the munchkins.




This was a pretty good set up - there's a hill so it's easy to see, they was a little temporary stand that sold popcorn, snacks, and beverages, and it gets really dark so you could easily see the screen and the stars/moon. But as they warn you - don't lose your kids or your keys - I repeat, it gets really, really dark.



The movie (and popcorn) was good, I'm glad we went. I'm also glad we turned the heat on full blast once we got back in the car.

In the morning, I had to laugh as the kitties fought over the one sun ray we get all day. We still call our apartment "the dungeon." It's dark and chilly. If it stays this way through the summer, we'll probably appreciate it, but right now, we all fight for these early a.m. rays of light.

And then we headed for the Tom's Thumb trail again. We really enjoyed it last time, and the weather was the same as before (warmish, but with a cool breeze). We might get to 97 degrees on Wednesday, so it's now or never. The hike was just as spectacular this time around.

Despite the traffic (it comes in spurts).



Michael spotted this hummingbird hanging out, and it stayed on its perch so I could get a front and back shot of it. Not a bad view, eh?

See him at the bottom? I'm liking his view.

We did change it up a little though. Instead of heading right for the Tom Thumb's part, we headed left to the Overlook.

It added a mile to the whole thing, but it was so worth it. See the fountain?

Wow. Just wow.



At the top, the rocks were all kinds of weird colors.

On the way back, we followed the main trail, but we hadn't done that last time. Last time, we had taken a trail to nowhere, gotten lost, and then had to scramble and boulder back up to the main trail (no I hadn't mentioned that in the last post). So here's what we missed. This reminds me of Desolation Valley on the island of Dominica as you're making your way to Boiling Lake (okay, so Dominica was a little greener).



There isn't a part of this hike we don't like.



And if all that wasn't enough, we had lots and lots of wildflowers this time. People always think of the desert as barren, but it really isn't.



These were little berries.

No, we didn't try them, unsure if they were toxic. We need to attend Ranger Amy's Desert Grocery Store hike. Look at all these flowers!



Even off-trail, you see all these blossoming Palo Verde's. That second photo is the driveway to our apartment complex.



If you have allergies, this might not be the best place to be right now, but we sure are enjoying it! We actually ran out of time to do all the stuff we wanted to do but consider it another successful weekend.