Last days in Mesa

Hi everyone!  All in all, we’ve had a great time catching up with our snowbird friends down here, hiking in the desert, and seeing an environment that is incredibly different from our beloved Northwest.  Since Patti was here, we had the opportunity to watch her daughter-in-law, Jessi, compete in the first  Symerta golf tour.

John and I took off into the hills, heading east about 40 miles on Hwy 60 to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park.  Thompson was a wealthy copper magnate, and used his fortune to establish the arboretum because he understood the importance of plants to mankind’s food, clothing and shelter.  He began collecting plants for the park in the 1920’s and built his mansion there.  After his death, the acreage passed through several private hands and finally became a state park.  We hiked the area for a couple of hours with a knowledgable docent, and Cisco, since it is a dog-friendly park.

The next day, we headed the opposite direction, to Sun Lakes, to have dinner with

Chuck, Carol and me

Chuck and Carol Ingram, our ex-neighbors from Bellingham.  They bought a gorgeous home in an upscale community that centers on a golf course and several artificial lakes.  It was super to connect with them.

We met Janet and Gary Eerkes, good friends from B’ham, yesterday, to visit the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, which is hosting a Dale Chihuly exhibit.  We took a couple of hours to explore that impressive arboretum (very well tended gardens!) and of course, Chihuly’s work was amazing!!  The installation will move on after May 18, so I’m glad Janet and Gary suggested the trip.

We’ll pull out of 798 10th St. in the Val Vista Village in 2 days.  The sun and friendships have made the Mesa trip for us, but frankly, I’ll be happy to get back to the state parks and “camping”.  VVV, as this is known, has more rules than bumps on a toad, and I think John and I together have broken every single one.  I was walking Cisco today, and  Cisco was eating some grass that had grown up along a chain link fence.  The grump that lives next door to the weeds came out and informed me that “this is not the dog area.”  A couple of days ago, a laundromat troll called John a “culprit” because the washer had finished the cycle 5 minutes before and “a number of people have been waiting to use THAT washer”.  (Of course there are only 40 washers in the building).  We have met some sweet folks, but aside from the great yoga class, there isn’t much in the park that tweaks my interest.

So on we go.  I’ll look forward to reporting from Tucson and other locales as we move through them.

Hangin’ in the heat

We set up camp in an RV park (one of thousands) in the Mesa area.  Located just east of Phoenix, Mesa is a growing community.  I read somewhere that it’s population is 39^th in the US.   I’m not sure if they are counting all the baby boomers who run around in golf carts for 6 months out of the year, but there are a few of us.  In rather daunting numbers, I might add!  Our site is a south facing one, which I didn’t realize when we were assigned our spot, but that’s a lesson to be learned when you are moving through the south in an RV (something we’ve never done before).  The sun can make it practically impossible to sit out on your deck between noon and 4 o’clock even with the awning out (at least for my timid skin).

Of course there are many social groups in these RV  “resorts”, composed mostly of folks who return year after year and form southern friendships during the winter.  The resorts try to provide lots of activities (including the traditional shuffleboard!).  I have attended a couple of yoga classes and the instructor is very good and right up there with Yoga Northwest.  Friday, I was the only attendee in a bird watching class, and later hooked up with the instructor at a riparian water refuge here in Mesa to identify the birds with some very experienced birders.

We’ve enjoyed some good hikes, got an opportunity to watch Jessi White, Patti’s daughter-in-law, play golf in a semi-pro tournament,

Jessi’s drive in the Cactus tour

and just weave a schedule together as we please.   There’s a good community of hikers in this area, all about exploring the Usery National Recreation

Superstition Wilderness in the Tonto National Forest

Area and the Superstition Mountains.  We’ve enjoyed several opportunities to get up into some elevation and catch the vista over the valley.  It’s important to plan your timing so that you can get back to your vehicle around noon, because, as I mentioned, it really heats up, especially for the pooch.

Cisco isn’t sure what to make of this dry desert climate.  We found a dog park with a small lake that he thoroughly enjoys.  It only took him one encounter with a prickly pear cactus to understand that no matter what wonderful odors are coming from them, you don’t just go up and stick your nose right into one!

Future plans include hooking up with more friends who winter down here, getting into Phoenix for the Chihuly exhibit at the Botanical Gardens, getting on our bikes (which we brought all the way down and haven’t ridden once!), more hiking, and watching Jessi golf in the Symetra LPGA tour.  Fun in the sun!!

Into the saguaro cactus country!!

We left the gorgeous central California coastline of Santa Barbara, and headed inland to the dusty, congested byways surrounding Pasadena.  We had a long day ahead of us, and we were anxious to get to Interstate 10 and the central desert of California for our next campsite.  We were headed to visit some friends (Bob and Jane, thank you so much!!) in La Quinta, CA to watch the Superbowl game (hungry for a 2014 Seahawks victory), and looking to camp there.

Lake Cajuilla

We camped at the Lake Cahuilla Recreation Area, a local county park.   Do not miss if you are coming through this area.  Great dog friendly park and huge water feature.  In February, there was no one there.  Be aware that dogs are not allowed in the upper hiking areas due to the abundance of bighorn sheep.

After a few days of decompressing in Cahuilla, we headed even further east to the Mesa area (near Phoenix) to stay at one of the hundreds of sun city resort for campers.  We’re parked here now, and I finally again, got some wifi access.  We’ve been visiting with friends Pam and Bill Heward, who are staying here at the Val Vista Village, and with Patti Gargett who came down for a couple of weeks to hook up with her son and go see Canyon D’Chelly.  This is so NOT camping, but kinda nice just to stay put for awhile and take day trips.  Two nights ago, we went to an art walk in Scottsdale that was amazing.   The desert environment inspires so many vivid colors to pop out in paintings!  We hiked up to a ridge close to Usery  Mountain yesterday, and just hung out and played pool and went to Martin White’s (Patti’s son) country club today.

Hiking Usery Mountain

Looking forward to more exploring, and we’ll do our best to keep you connected.  Missing everyone back home, but NOT the horrid weather you’ve been having.

Sand-a Cruz, more of Morro, and Santa Barbara cousins

Most of the California coastline is a distant memory of our family get-aways from the dismal central valley heat of Bakersfield, when I was a child.  We rarely ventured north of San Francisco or as far south as San Diego, but the central California coastline was always fodder for our family camping trips.  So making the sojourn through the traffic of “the city” to Santa Cruz was a welcome reconnection to the coastline after leaving Eureka on Hwy 101.  We happened there on the weekend of a huge surfing competition, an interesting surprise in a happening town.  We tried to camp at a state park, which of course, was full, so we headed a bit back inland and secured a shady camp in the redwoods about 6 miles into the Santa Cruz mountains.  We hiked, ate one of our first meals out, and “did” the surf competition.

Santa Cruz surfer

Some of those kids are amazingly adept.  Thought–12 years old in Santa Cruz.  What to do for fun? Get a wetsuit and a surfboard and you have free fun for the next umpteen years (no lift tickets).

Redwood camp outside Santa Cruz

From Santa Cruz, we hopped back on 101 again to camp at Morro Bay–a frequent Roy (my maiden name) family haunt.  Back then we would camp at Cambria Pines, or the state parks in one of dad’s old army tents.  In the relative luxury of the airstream, we didn’t have to use the state shower rooms (warm water a dicey commodity).

In Morro Bay, we found the fresh seafood market, toured Hearst Castle and tasted some Monterey wine at the Harmony vineyards.  Absolutely gorgeous chardonnays!!  A truly not to miss, more than a tourist trap, best in off-season, is the Hearst Castle tour just north of there.  William Randolf Hearst was presented as a man of the people, follow your heart kind of guy.  He didn’t begin the project until he was in his late 50’s, hired a female architect, and basically lived his dream for the rest of his life.  After Hearst’s death, his family deeded the castle to the state in 1957, about the time I must have toured the castle with my family as a 10-year old.  We were blessed with no crowds and lovely weather and wine (of course) to follow.

Roman pool in the Hearst Castle

We also followed the road up past San Simeon to take in the elephant seals that had just given birth on a huge, sandy beach about 30 miles north of Morro bay.  It was Move to Trash

Indoor Roman Pool

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fascinating to watch the mom’s jostle for babies and the males ignore the whole scene.  Female seals loose half their body weigh during this nursing period, before they desert the little ones and swim back down to Baja.

Elephant seals in California

Our next stop, the gorgeous county park of Cachuma Lake, situated in the Santa Ynez valley, home to many more wineries.  We camped there, about 17 miles inland from Santa Barbara, the short stay allowing me to catch up with my cousin, after 50 years of having gone our separate ways.  He and his wife, Cheri, built their hillside home (to die for view of the Pacific!) themselves, literally.  tile work and stained glass included.  A great catch-up visit before we left the ocean and headed inland to the California desert.  More to come.