Goldfield Radar Station trail

We went on a fairly easy hike this day.

 It was kind of chilly and one of the first sights we saw was a large tarantula.  It was about the size of a fist.  It wasn't moving, so either it was dead or stiff from the cold and waiting for the sum to warm it up.  It was right in the middle of the trail and still there on the way down.

 The trail was fairly easy and followed a dirt road.  Here's Jacquelyn with two other people on the trail with us, from the Roadhaven Hiking Club.  Only two other people came besides us.

 We saw this hawk on top of cacti.

 Beautiful but barren desert scenery.

Then the road went up a hill and got a little steep. At the top was an old radar station.

Tianna visiting in Arizona

Tianna flew down to Phoenix and visited for a few days.  It was really nice to spend some time with her in Apache Junction.

 We also got in a visit with her Grandma Rucker and with Duane and Patti.  We played some card games and had lunch there.

 We also went to a Phoenix Suns basketball game with her Grandpa Swift.  I had never been to a pro basketball game before, and neither had my dad.  But Tianna has been to some Utah Jazz games.

The Suns were playing the Orlando Magic.  Unfortunately they lost, but it was fun anyway.

 Three generations - Dad, me, and Tianna.

 The Suns tried their best and kept it close the first half, but they were outmatched.  And the referees were not on their side.

I blame their loss on the refs.  They were a bunch of gorillas.

Peralta Canyon Trail

We went on another hike, this one the Peralta Canyon trail to Fremont Saddle. 

 This hike was in some of the foothills of Superstition Mountain.  It was sunny out but a little cool temperature-wise, so we thought it would be a good day for a hike.

 This is how rocky most of the trail looked.  It was 2.2 miles out and 2.2 miles back, so a little longer than our other hikes but not much.

 We were surprised though.  It was up hill all the way.  Our paper said an 800 foot elevation gain but the volunteer ranger at the start of the trail said it was 1600 foot.  It turned out to be hard for us.  We saw the boulder formation in the picture above, when it was way above us, and didn't realize we were going that high, and ended up going way above it.

 We made it though and saw some beautiful scenery.  It was a challenge well worth the effort.

Jacquelyn at the top overlooking  Fremont Saddle.

Nathanael's family visiting in Arizona

Nathanael and his family came down to visit in Apache Junction and we had a wonderful time.

 Here we are with Hannah, Jonathan, and Jacob.  We had so much fun seeing the grandchildren.  And they all seem to enjoy the sunshine and the desert.

 Me with Hannah and Jacob in front of a giant Saguaro Cactus with Superstition Mountains in the background.

 Got in two games of nine hole par three golf with Nathanael.  We also got to play some pickleball and did lots of swimming and made several visits to the jucuzzi.

 For Thanksgiving we went over to Duane and Patti's house.  Besides Jacquelyn's Mom we also saw two of her sisters (Conni and Linda), and her brother Duane, and their spouses, and one neice, Lydia.  Everyone brought some food but Patti did tons of cooking.  There was lots to eat and the turkey and ham were great.

 We also went to see Great Grandpa Swift and went out to diner at his favorite place, Texas Roadhouse.

 One day when the weather was nice we went for a hike.  We went on the Hieoglyphics Trail.  It's about 3 miles round trip and it was a hot day so we enjoyed the challenge.

 At the end of the trail are some spring fed pools of water (see bottom right of this picture).

 Hannah and Nathanael on some of the rocky clifts around the springs.  Great for climbing on.

 Jacquelyn and Jacob with some of the petroglyphs left by the ancient indians.

 We also wend out to Goldfield Ghost Town and got to see an old western miner town and even witnesses a gunfight.

 Hannah in a birdcage.

 Jacob in a mining cart.

 Jacob kept begging and begging to drive the golf cart at our place in Roadhaven.  So finally Nathanael gave in and gave him a driving lesson.  He actually could do it.

And we went out to eat at a Mexican Restaurant.  We are so glad they all came to visit.  We are lucky to have such great kids and grandkids.

Wind Cave Hike

Yesterday we went on our third hike, this time Wind Cave Trail in Usery Mountain Regional Park.

 This is at the start of the trail and you can see the Usery Mountain in the background.  It was sunny with temperatures in the low 70s, perfect for a hike.

 The trail crossing a dry streambed with the mountain in the background.

 A large Ocotillo Plant on the skyline.

We saw lots of pretty Sugaro Cactus and Barrel Cactus and Jumping Cholla Cactus, all visible in this picture.  Did you know the Sugaro Cactus don't start getting branches until they are 70 years old.

 Boulders and rocks strewn all about.

 A panoramic view from part way up the mountain at the end of the trail.

And this is wind cave.  Not very deep but very pretty.

Silly Mountain Hike

We went on our second hike the other day. 

 Silly Mountain Trail.  It was sunny and nice out and we enjoyed being outside in the desert.  We bought some new hiking shoes and plan to do a lot of hiking.  The trails are typically rocky and often have some mild climbing so we needed some sturdier shoes.  Also to protect from snakes and scorpions, but we haven't seen any of those yet.  We did see a lizard on today's trail.

 Silly Mountain is close to Apache Junction and has a good view of the much larger Superstition Mountains on one side.  The trail went around Silly Mountain and wound in and out of some crags and small hills.

At the beginning of the trail is an interesting botanical garden.  Arizona sure is different from Washington.

Roadhaven RV Resort

Here are some pictures of Roadhaven.

It's nice and sunny and there are lots of activities here.

 This is the RV we are staying in at 215 Shawnee.  It has the regular living room, kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom in the park model RVs.  Then an Arizona room added on with another large bedroom and a laundry room.  You can see our front porch behind the trees.

 We usually start out the morning with a visit to the fitness center.  We alternate days between aerobic exercise on the bikes or treadmills or elliptical, and then strength training on the machines.

 Right next door in the same building is a little Cantina.  We tried it out the first day here and the food was pretty good.

 Then we head over to the main pool areas.

 Jacquelyn in the water.  They keep it pretty warm at over 90 degrees.  We do the morning water exercise classes.

 They have this statue that is the exact same one we have back home, only the maiden is holding water jugs instead of flower baskets.

We have two pools, an outdoor jacuzzi, and an indoor jacuzzi here.  Over by the fitness center we have a lap pool and a third jacuzzi.

 We've been enjoying time in the pools and the water.

 We've also taken up pickle-ball.  We have three courts but only certain times are open to anyone and the others are reserved by the pickle-ball club.

 This is the first hole on the golf course.  We have a beautiful 9 hole par 3 course here.  We have played twice.  On the second time Jacquelyn beat me.  I couldn't believe it, she's only played 3 times in her life.  She shot a 41 and even had a par. 

 We've gone on one hike already.  The Hieroglyphics Trail out at the foothills of Superposition Mountains, which is only a few miles away from us.  It was nice and sunny and really beautiful.  The hike was about 3 miles long.

At the end of the trail were the hieroglyphics.

There interesting rock formations at the end of the trail to climb on and some pools of water fed by a a stream running down the rocky canyon.  We thoroughly enjoyed the hike.