SPRING TRAINING TIME FOR BASEBALL LOVERS!

KC Evans from Midland, Texas is a baseball fan. We said "Come on up! It's time for your visit!"

She and Larry made plans to attend 2 games. The weather took a rainy turn for the 2ND game so we headed northwest. The new isolated community of Verrado was interestingly planned. We admired the bungalow style homes and I was impressed with their Basha's grocery store, all shiny and new. It was easy to find what you needed as all shelving was lowered to give a full view of the entire store.

While touring the community KC yelled "stop the car". Larry jumped out with the camera. A rattler was on the road. He threw rocks at it until the snake got all riled up. The rear view mirror gave me the safer view. For Easter he painted the snake. I wish they were that color for my desert walks!

Our route back to Phoenix took us along the Bradshaw Mountains and Lake Pleasant. The Gambel's Quail was spotted by Larry and he grabbed my camera. When will my shots be as good? It was another great road trip. Thanks for the visit KC. Come back soon!

KATHY AND GLENN KISTLER'S VISIT

Wow! The Kistlers visited from Charlotte, NC but that does not tell the whole story.

I grew up in a small town 80 miles north of Philadelphia, Pa called Slatington. If we had 2000 people we were lucky. Kathy and Glenn grew up there too. She was in first grade with me in Mrs. Anthony's class at Roosevelt Elementary School on Walnut St. I only lived 3 blocks away on the next street. Glenn lived on Walnut St. 3 blocks away so I could see his house from my porch. Being 2 years older, he was in 3rd grade then.

So having had 12 years of school together created a lot of reminiscing. Do you remember......? What happened to.......? Tell us about your family and what you've been doing all this time......

It was wonderful of them to spend an afternoon of their vacation in Arizona with us. Thank you!

TRIP TO TOP OF SOUTH MOUNTAIN PARK

Our friends, Judy and Gregg Smith visited from Craig, Colorado. We toured downtown Phoenix and then headed up South Mountain.

Judy and Larry were co-workers at BLM in Craig from 1983 to 1987 and Judy retired a year ago. It's still winter up there and on their trip down Judy cheered after seeing her first bug splatter on the windshield in Utah. They were here to warm up! Craig is in the northwest corner of their state and the area is frequently the coldest spot in the nation.

The first year we lived there we did not see the picnic table from Thanksgiving until spring. The streets were snow packed all winter. Although Larry enjoyed ice fishing in the winter I could not see the attraction of sitting over a hole on the frozen lake with the wind whipping around and temps in the minus.

I focused on community and craft projects. We had a much different lifestyle there. A river ran aside the town and Larry often drove the mile or two after work to fish. Weekends provided our family time to venture to many other lakes for some trout fishing. Much of our summer was spent wood chopping in the high country. My job was packing the wood in the back of the truck. (Bet you didn't know I love to pack- logs, boxes to move, the car, U Hauls) Not nearly as scary as Larry working his chain saw on the tall trees he felled. We loved our wood burning stove in the winter when it was so cold the nails in the house frame popped and the car in the garage needed a heating pad so it would start up in the morning....... until the chimney fire. But we got over that after a visit from the chimney sweep.

The Smiths visit brought back many wonderful memories of our time spent there. I'm a little jealous that they still live there. Hopefully they will take home some warm memories of Arizona.

Sooooo, back to South Mountain Park. The altitude at the top was 2220 feet and look at the view. Different view points along the top provide a look of Phoenix to the north and to the south where we live. The photo with all the pinkish roofs offers a birds eye peek at our neighborhood and house.

Cacti and wildflower blooms are everywhere. I love the color!

SPRING IS COMING TO THE DESERT

THERE IS GREEN ON THEM THAR HILLS!

We are obsessed with water in Arizona and love to look at it. When we have a storm during the day my favorite place to be is on the patio to watch. There's usually lightning and if I'm lucky maybe some hail. If the desert gets a lot of rain during the winter we are all be able to see the results in spring. The first thing that happens is the desert floor and the hills turn green. After that the wildflowers make their appearance.

I read an article that a green kingfisher had been spotted for the first time at the Hassayampa River Preserve near Wickenburg. So off we went. I did not expect to spot this rarity but what an excuse for a day trip! Larry drove and I clicked pictures. All the green growth on the usually barren surface is so pretty.

After lunch in Wickenburg which is NW of Phoenix we drove through town and I could see spring beginning. At the old depot spring bulbs were in bloom and the trees were flowering for the residents.

Wickenburg looks like a western town. Henry Wickenburg came looking for gold in 1863. It is famous for lots of reasons. Merv Griffin had a dude ranch nearby. Vice President Dan Quail grew up there. There are well known medical facilities for addiction treatments. The town gets lots of traffic from people on the way to Vegas. So much traffic that a bypass has been completed and it's now possible to skip the historic western atmosphere at the newly created circle.

We met a couple at the depot who come every spring to get their airplane painted. Huh, I never would have guessed that reason for visiting Wickenburg. A train rumbled through beside the display train. By the time my brain processed what a great photo it would be I only had time to point and click.

Now, for the river preserve. The visitor center had several hummingbird feeders and the birds were busy. We wandered about on the trails and heard lots of bird calls. I did see one woodpecker. The river is running fast and furious right now but you can see debris at least another story high caught on branches and I can't imagine the power of that amount of water. Trails aside the river are all sand and I thought we were at the beach. Huge trees and undergrowth provide a lot of shade and viewing benches are plentiful. We had a long walk and Larry remarked that it would be a good place to take the grandchildren. We enjoyed our day trip to a place I had always intended to explore since moving here in 1987. I'll cross it off the list and go back again.

A visit to the Riparian Park in March

Trees and bushes are waking up. We've had a lot of rain this winter and the desert is so green now. The wild flowers on the desert floor should be spectacular this year. The flowers will dry up in summer though and pose a fire danger. Everyone will need to be careful. All it takes is a hot car pulling off the road and parking over dried material to start a fire.

These flowers are in a neighbors yard close to Eunice's house.

On this trip I spotted Red wing blackbirds in the trees. They are most beautiful when they take flight. My shot was taken by accident so it's not very good but you can see how pretty the bird looks in flight.



The yellow headed bird I posted last trip showed up again and this time I found his hide-a-way. It's about 7 feet up in a tree and the entrance is so small I thought I was seeing things when he disappeared into the nest. I will re post his portrait from last trip and now the shot of him sitting at his front door. This time I carefully went through every bird book page but had no luck identifying him.

Of course there are ducks aplenty but this picture pleases me and hopefully you will agree.

Another hummingbird posed for me.

Quail are plentiful at LaCasa Trails. This one is sitting on a fence. I had no idea they fly about and sit on fences or in trees. Pretty silly of me since they are birds. I enjoy the quail families crossing the street in my mother's neighborhood.