A Week in the Desert

We've been here in Buckeye for just over a week now, it's feeling pretty dang comfy!  We are renting a house in Del Webb's Festival.  It's an "Active Senior" community (hehe) with tons of amenities.  Going to the pool or hot tub feels like a resort in Mexico! Most of the week has been spent settling in. Bob and Lowell have done some prospecting and hiking, We've all been for walks and done a bit of geocaching in the desert around here.  We spend evenings,out on the patio, playing cards and enjoying the hot tub. The hummingbirds are here every night splashing in the fountain.  Jean and I have done some sewing and hit the Quilt Show in Phoenix as well.

This part of Buckeye sits on the north side of the White Tank Mountains.  It is literally in the desert, 12 miles to groceries, gas, etc.  17 miles to Target!!   Well, there is a gas station here in the development, and a nice restaurant at the community center as well.  Happy Hour from 3-6 Monday through Friday :-)

I'll share a few pictures, but it has been a pretty quiet week.  We'll get out and do more hiking and exploring in the next few weeks.
On your mobile device - click on this picture to go directly to the album -

Buckeye, AZ

Big Bend National Park

Big Bend National Park

When we left Harlingen, we decided to take some extra time to visit Big Bend National Park on the way to Arizona. Big Bend was established in 1944 and is located in that bump on the map is west Texas - on the north side of the Rio Grande.  The park is known for its rich geology, over 150 miles of hiking trails and its diverse climates where over 450 bird species can be found.
  Big Bend Nat'l Park

Since we only had one day to explore the park, we took the advice of the entry ranger and chose to hike the Window View Trail.  2.2 miles each way with an extra quarter mile spur to a plateau with amazing vistas. The trail descends gradually about 1000'.   We took our time on the trail, stopping to listen to and watch for birds and critters and to simply soak in the beauty of this desert gem.  While we didn't see many people, apparently it was a work day, because there seemed to be rest stops and benches around every corner on our way in, but on the way out they were few and far between! On the return it

ascends 1000'. 

After a couple of delicious sandwiches at the Starlight Cafe, we drove the Ross Scenic  through the park to the Santa Elena Canyon.  At this point the Rio Grande River has eroded a 300 foot deep canyon - it is beautiful!  Unfortunately we didn't arrive early enough to hike into the canyon, next time we will put this at the top of the list. 

We ended out day about 3 miles outside the park in a old mining town of Terlingua.  It was home to the Chisos Mining company in the early 1900's. Now it's big claim to fame (other than cabins and park adventures) is a big Chili Cook-off.

If you can't see the slideshow in your mobile device, click on this link to go directly to the album:
 

Big Bend Nat'l Park

Slideshow  is here :



On Thursday morning we headed toward Tucson, hoping to get there early enough to hike at Sabino Canyon. Unfortunately, the canyon park closed at 4:30 - we drove through at 4:15.  So, on to New River, AZ, north of Phoenix - to meet Jean and Bob.  On Friday we headed out into the desert to Buckeye, were we have rented at house in Sun City Festival.  It is LOVELY!!  It feels good to stop and know we are in one spot for nearly a month.  We'll be exploring some new hiking trails, gold prospecting (Bob is the master), visiting friends and hit the Mesa Market at least once.  Meantime, there are hummingbirds visiting the backyard every afternoon and we are happy with our decision to spend this winter "not in Minnesota".
Talk at ya later!

South Texas - Family and Friends

Our short week in south Texas was all about relaxing and reconnecting.  The list of things we didn't do (Mexico, the flea market, Bass Pro Shop, Laguna Atascosa) is probably longer than the things we did.  But that's fine, we had a great visit with Mom and Dad and other friends in the Park, and we did make a trip to the beaches on South Padre - followed by shrimp at Pelican Landing.
Today's post is told mostly by the captions in the slideshow.






If you are on a mobile device, Click on the picture/ link below to get to the pictures and slideshow.

Road Trip 2014 #2

On the Road Again----

The Schumacher 2014 Road Trip is under way! This year we are heading to Buckeye, AZ, via Harlingen, TX, Big Bend National Park, Tucson, and Casa Grande.  We are looking forward to seeing some new areas of this great land as well as visiting family and friends.
Day 1 - We drove through Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and Oklahoma - 850+ miles.   Another 625 miles -- all of them in Texas! Not the most exciting landscape, but traffic was easy and we made good time.
We traveled on the east side of Kansas City to Joplin, Missouri and then into Oklahoma on the Will Rogers Turnpike.  An interesting set up on this particular roadway, after driving 26 miles on the turnpike you need to stop at a toll booth and pay $4.  We got off at the very next exit - 2 miles later - stopped at the tollbooth again and are given a $2 refund!
The next section of the drive was through Muskogee, OK and a bunch of other small towns.   Interestingly, much of this drive is through the Choctaw reservation and the only radio station that we could get was Mexican Polka music!!! Yes, Mexican Polka Music!!  Stopped in Durant, OK for the night.
Day 2 - was a rather short driving day, only about 300 miles from Durant to San Antonio - The toughest part of the day was getting around the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. That is one big, busy area!

We spent a relaxing afternoon and evening in San Antonio, strolling the River Walk, a river cruise, with lots of architectural and historic information and a great dinner on the River Walk.  It was warm even for San Antonio so we were able to eat at a sidewalk table.

Day 3 was a quick 250 mile drive from San Antonio into Harlingen - through lots of wide open prairie.  The hawks were having a field day - I'm not very good at hawk ID, so you'll have to take my word for it,  I think most of them were red tail hawks. 
So we are here in the Valley of the Palms - enjoying the (much) warmer than Minnesota weather. Visiting with Mom and Dad, cousins Jim, Judy & Don, Aunt Lorraine and lots of other friends.  I'm sure we'll have a few more pictures and adventures to share by the time we leave next week.

The link below will take you to an online album.  I need to figure out the slideshow link, but it isn't working the way it used to, so I'll need to check that out tomorrow!

2014 Road Trip Part 1

I think the slideshow is working now - you won't be able to see it on mobile devices tho - you'll need to click on the album above to see the pictures on your mobile device.
Slideshow for the pics above:

Home, Spring and new beginnings!

"Road Trip 2012" is in the books.  We arrived in Oakdale Thursday evening, in the midst of a good ol' fashioned rainstorm.  This year's stats: 5,532 miles, 8 states, 36 days. Once again we enjoyed great weather, good driving conditions and some of this country's most spectacular scenery.

We've been  home for a week already - I don't know where the time as gone.  I will share some of the last pictures from the trip. We drove to Albuquerque to visit our good friends Peg and Dave. Only one night, but with good friends it's a treat anyway.  The next morning we headed up through Colorado and Nebraska. On Thursday we sawsome of the hundreds of thousands of Sandhill Cranes that migrate through Nebraska and stopped for a few pictures :-)

Since we've been home, we've had a chance to spend time with the kids and grandkids and just got back from the cabin.   Most of you know that we are building a new cabin on the site of our old one.  Things are moving along quickly and we will have a spectacular summer up there!!!

Dallying in the Desert

dal·ly/ˈdalē/ - To act or move slowly

 Today is Monday, March 19.  We have been traveling for 33 days and put 3660 miles on our car so far.  It's about time to head back to Minnesota - we have had a fabulous trip.  

Over the past week we've hiked, lounged in the pool, participated in several happy hours, went to a wedding in Yuma and took a quick side trip into Mexico!

The cacti are just beginning to bloom, in another week it should be spectacular here in the desert.  I'll try to get a few more images today.
A couple more "travel observations":*Meeting new people is such a treat! I'll never get tired of it. And it's so interesting to see where paths have crossed. Last fall we made are first trip through Astoria, OR - at the wedding we sat with a couple who live there.  Pete's nephew is married to a young woman who worked at Metro Deaf School when I was working in NSP - we attended at least a few conferences together!

*We sometimes complain about the newscasters in MN, but oh my! We talked about this in San Diego with Dan and Mickey too - after a reporter started his story about a robbery hiding in the trees behind a house.  I thought Phoenix would have been a bigger market and better writers, not so much.  The other day they reported an accident victim was "taken to the hospital in pretty bad shape."  And that a particular councilman (or something) had "lawyered up" and was no longer talking to the media.  Really??  I miss Frank and Amelia!!

Today is laundry, repacking the truck and trying to figure out how the heck to get to Albuquerque to see Peg and Dave and maybe one more happy  hour!!
There is a foot or 18" of snow up by Flagstaff, they are predicting more snow and rain and part of the freeway is closed already.  That route would also mean driving thru Phoenix rush hour.  We could cut through the mountains by Payson, but that means two lane "scenic" roads through the mountains.  Looks like we may opt for the extra 100 miles and head down to Tucson and Las Cruces....

Happy Birthday Mom!

Wednesday, March 14
Today is my Mom's birthday! When I grow up I hope to be as beautiful, active and talented as she is, you're my hero, Mom. The Feine's are visiting Harlingen this week, so in addition to the bike ride, quilt meeting, an extended and active swim time, and visiting friends (i.e. showing off the grandkids) in the park, there are probably some birthday activites planned as well? South Padre and lunch at Dirty Al's perhaps? Enjoy a wonderful day, whatever you do!! Love you Mom!!
Our pace here in Casa Grande has slowed down a bit. The weather has been great, in the 80s most days, altho it cools off at night considerably. I think it was 43 degrees when I got up this morning. We've done a bit of shopping, at the Mesa Market and the outlet center. The Mesa Market is a covered flea market with something like 1600 vendors. It has 4 aisles that total a mile and a half. We generally get a good walk in each day. I need to bring my camera one of these days. The desert critters are all over the place, lizards and quail and birds galore. But they are all kind of skittish.
We spent a nice afternoon with Aunt Kathy and Uncle Ron in Surprise, northwest of Phoenix. Kathy makes the best gin and tonics! That night Bob, Lowell and I stayed with Bob's niece Kathy in New River and yesterday the boys went prospecting and I drove back down to CG and went shopping with Jean. The shopping was more successful than the prospecting. When you shop down here, many stores give you a discount for being old! Just another perk.

This weekend we'll head down to Yuma for Pete and Ed's wedding celebration and are looking forward to that.  The desert is just beginning to bloom - I am hoping that another week will give me the opportunity to get some good blooming cacti images. 

We'll head to Albuequerque next week, probably on Tuesday, spend some time with Peg and Dave, and then head home.  We are missing the grandkids (and the cabin activity!) and it sure sounds like spring has arrived in MN!!