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...

A Day at The Lake

One thing we always thought was cool about living here were a series of nearby lakes, created back in the early 1900s thanks to the Mormon Flat Dam. The westernmost one, Saguaro Lake, is only 15 minutes from us. When we lived here last, we actually had a small inflatable boat with a 2HP electric motor. Every once in a while, we'd grab a Subway sandwich and a newspaper, brave the crowds, and putter onto either Saguaro or Canyon lake. We'd almost get flipped by passing boats and jet skis, and one time we had to sit awkwardly behind our newspapers for three minutes as two people zoomed in on a jet ski, started and finished having sex on the bank across from us, and then zoomed off. While mildly entertaining, the traffic and crowds got old, and we stopped going.
I had forgotten how beautiful the area is. Even the drive is pretty.



We decided to hike the 5-mile (roundtrip) Butcher Jones Trail (after getting our $6 Tonto Pass).I don't know why it never occurred to us to come here this time of year, but what a darn shame. There was very little traffic on the lake, so it was pretty quiet. There weren't many people on the trail either. This would be pretty hot in the summer, so this is really the time to go. Here's the "beach."



The trail starts out very manicured and even has a handrail so anyone can do it.



Then you have to squeeze through a tight wire-fence entrance. ??

Then you're on a relatively easy track, you just have to watch where you're putting your feet so you don't twist your ankle in holes or on loose rocks. You can see that we gain some elevation (about 200'), but it's nothing killer, even for non-hikers (just take your time). Saguaro Lake isn't as canyon-y as Canyon Lake is (go figure), but is still pretty magnificent.

You're not always along the lakeside.



There were a couple of places to get a nice photo of the Four Peaks, including the turn-around point, where we stood for awhile just listening to the birds. Along the trail there are spots you can wade into the water if you want to cool down, and some rocks to plop on and rest/eat/take in the view - just look for critters first).



One other good thing about this hike was being able to get a good layout of some of the lake for future boating.



There's a steamboat that plies the water.



And a marina. Can you imagine living onboard (not allowed) and having that for a backdrop?

There's a rather uninspired looking restaurant too. We know the view is good, but can't vouch for the food.

We definitely want to rent a boat sometime and come back out. If you rent on a weekday, like today (Friday), you get 20%. A small fishing boat (for 4) would only be $80 for 5 hours, so that's cool.