The month started here with a wedding and reception in the Desert Gold Recreation hall, Larry and I attended because we've met the bride before in Canada and thought it would be fun. Dorothy Galvin, aged 81, married Eugene Hester, aged 88, in the evening of the 3rd of March. Turns out Dorothy's late husband, Blake, was John Steele's uncle and we have camped with them in Alberta years ago. After the ceremony there were toasts, and a dance, a very nice evening!
The last pinsguaer ride was to be in February, but we talked the drivers into one more adventure and that was on the 12th. We left at 9:00 am with all 3 vehicles loaded to maximum and 2 more following. This trip was to the Vampire mine and it was the best trip we've done in the pinszguaer's yet! We drove straight down ravines, climbed boulders and rocks, tipping and screaming (not me!) and me hanging on to that OH SHIT bar in the front seat for dear life. I saw my first cactus in bloom, and made the whole caravan stop for that photo-op! After our lunch break at Bill Williams River we passed a family walking the wrong way through the wash, gave them each a bottle of water and got them heading in the right direction. Good thing we found them, NOT good to get your directions mixed up in the desert, they had walked a least 15 minutes in the wrong direction, so still had over an hour to walk (most of that uphill) to get back to there vehicles.
On the 15th we decided to do the Parker Dam scenic route that our neighbours told us about. You drive straight through Parker into California, along the Colorado River (on our right), over the Parker Dam, and you're back into Arizona driving along the Colorado River (still on our right) into Parker. This scenic loop is for cars, motorcycles, and small trucks only as it is very narrow. The dam crossing itself is manned on either side with gates and security in booths and is closed from 11:00 pm-7:00 am. It is a beautiful trip and lets you see all the RV parks, State parks and campgrounds along both sides of the river, I could live there!
On the 19th we took Erik and Bernice, a couple we met from Pincher Creek Alberta, for a tour in the desert outside of Quartszite. We found abandoned mine shafts, stone buildings, and a working mine that will do tours, but that part was closed, so we looked around and signed the guest book. I managed to find some cactus skeletons and more rocks to add to my collection before we stopped for supper at Grubstakes in town. Great day!
Our nephew, Andrew (and his dad, Michael) flew into Phoenix from Calgary on the 20th for a ball tournament, so we drove in on the 21st to watch a few of his games. When we got to Phoenix we had lunch with some friends, checked into our hotel, and watched the end of Andrew's 7:00 game, then joined them for supper. We didn't realize the extent of "rush hour traffic" in Phoenix, and got caught in it on our way to the hotel-took us over 2 hours to go 28 miles on the 101-then an hour to drive 10 miles to the ball park-making us miss the first game and only half of his second! Now we know better and left the hotel at 11:00 am Friday morning to watch him play at 12:30 and got there at noon, in plenty of time and enjoyed a great game! After the game I gave them some lemons, oranges, and pink grapefruit to take home to Calgary and we left them in Scottsdale at 2:00 got onto the 101 to head home and guess what? RUSH HOUR AGAIN! REALLY!
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| Andrew gets a hit |
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| Steels third |
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| Comes home |
We arrived back at Desert Gold at 5:20 (normally a 2 hour drive!), in time to change and walk over to dinner theatre starting at 6:00. We were served roast chicken, gravy, whipped potatoes, dressing, veggies, buns, and a home-made jellied cranberry relish that I need to get the recipe for, and ice cream was served during intermission. The play was an interactive Melodrama, "The Saga Of The Prospector's Daughter" OR "She Was Only A Miner's Minor". There was a lot of audience participation and the play was made even more hilarious because some of the actors were forgetting their lines and being prompted, very loudly, from the front row. At one point Catastrophy Kate said, "What do you expect, we're all over 70?"
Monday the 25th was my birthday, so after my beading class Larry took me out for supper to a cafe in the middle of nowhere, the Koffa Cafe. When we got home I talked with Collin and then my mom for a bit. Tuesday Steven called to wish me a happy birthday because he was out the night before, and Wednesday was paper crafts class, my last one, where I made some beautiful (if I do say so myself) cards. This morning I went down the street for a pedicure and managed to once again put off doing laundry, there's always tomorrow! In preparation of our departure from here, Larry and I looked at maps, plotting our route home this afternoon, while sitting in the air conditioning. It's 30c outside now, the heat has arrived, it's time to go, soon!
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