(this is Friday’s post)HASSYAMPA RIVER PRESERVE, PIZZA & A CAMPFIRE

Hardly even needed the heater on in the rig Thursday night so I think we are once again back to one of the main reasons we prefer to spend our winters in the great southwest.

 

CAN’T ALWAYS BELIEVE THE SIGNS, THIS GUY’S A REAL SWEETY PIE

I’d better clear up this Peanut Butter Taco thing I mentioned in Thursdays post.  I was just joking.  Readers know how much I like my peanut butter.  And, long time readers know I am not a foody blog person so I some times take a humorous swipe at food related things.  What I had was actually a shredded beef Taco & despite all the veggie stuff thrown on it, I found it quite tasty.  Oh, & before I forget…..that wasn’t a real Rattlesnake or Gila Monster in Thursday’s post either.  Wickenburg has these plastic little critters spaced about on their downtown sidewalks.  Watch out for the Spiders!!  Check out the following dilemma we also ran into………:))

LESLIE, PETER, & KELLY DECIDING WHETHER TO HELP THIS HOMELESS PERSON IN WICKENBURG THURSDAY

 

ARE YOU ALRIGHT MISTER??

 

OH DEAR, I THINK HE’S RUNNING A TEMPERATURE

 

MAYBE A HAT OR A PAIR OF SUNGLASSES WILL HELP

DAMM TOURISTS!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

The crew was a little slow in getting themselves organized this morning so I was able to take advantage of the great weather & get a little yard work done.  Raking off some of the yards high spots & filling in the low spots.  Watched a great high altitude duel between 2 F-16’s with about a dozen flares being ejected by one plane.

About 10:30 (day’s about half over by then isn’t it) saw us all piled into the Dodge rent-a-car & headed back to & through Wickenburg.  Our destination was the HASSAYAMPA RIVER PRESERVE just a few miles south.  Kelly & I had never been there so today was a first for us.

HASSYAMPA RIVER PRESERVE VISITOR CENTER

 

Nice Visitor Center grounds with all the desert plants labeled. Spent about 15 minutes inside looking at displays & then wandered out onto the Preserves trails.  It is the many huge & very tall Palm trees that first catch one’s attention here.  Wide pathways around a densely wooded pond shadowed by towering age old Cottonwood trees make for a pleasant stroll.  Must be beautiful here in the fall & home to a multitude of birds during peak birding times.  This preserve is left in it’s natural state.  Nothing fancied up looking like a groomed tourist mecca.

LOOKS LIKE AN ARIZONA ALLIGATOR IN THE FOREGROUND

  

Nice relaxed walk around the pond area & then on to a second trail called, ‘River Ramble’.  The Hassayampa River for much of it’s hundred mile length travels underground, but here along the River Ramble it surfaces & trickles it’s way through the preserve.  In the summer Monsoon season this area can become a raging torrent & we saw evidence of that.  It is this river that just a few miles away killed many Wickenburg residents in a big flood back in the late 1800’s.  Arizona’s worst territorial flood ever.

 

Another trail led off from the River Ramble to a high point called Lyke’s Lookout.  We followed this meandering path through a tall stand of Cottonwoods & I liked how we could swish our feet through the Autumn leaves lying along the trails edge.  We finally came to a rock cropping & this is where the trail became steep & loose underfoot.  Had to do ourselves a bit of rock scrambling alright but we all made it to the top along a winding rock strewn path.  I was totally amazed at how well my troubled leg was doing.  Very little pain & hardly noticeable.

ALONG THE RIVERS EDGE

 

 

 CROSSING THE MIGHTY HASSYAMPA RIVER

The 360 degree panoramic view from atop the rocky ridge was worth the climb.  Could see all the way up into the Congress area & the river of Cottonwood trees winding along below must be a beautiful sight in summer.  A wide river of green foliage turning to gold in the October sunshine.

KELLY POINTS OUT SOMETHING TO LESLIE AT A REST STOP

 

ALMOST TO THE TOP

NICE VIEW TOWARDS CONGRESS FROM THE TOP OF LYKE’S LOOKOUT

 

As always, coming down a steep loose slope can be like going down hill on a sea of marbles.  This is probably when most injuries occur & it is definitely hard on anyone’s knees.  I was sure to be in position with my camera in case anyone took any tumbles.  It is those photos which become treasured memories….if you know what I mean:))

  

 

As with any hike, it is always great to get back to the vehicle, take the weight of the feet, & plant one’s buns firmly into a soft cushiony car seat. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh:))

KELLY CHECKS OUT A COYOTE IN THE VISITOR’S CENTER

FORGOT TO TAKE A PICTURE OF THE SIGN COMING IN SO I TOOK ONE ON THE WAY OUT

We were back home to Ghost Town road about 1:30 & again, a good time was had by all.  The best part of the week for me has been seeing Peter & Leslie really enjoying themselves, learning & experiencing a part of this country that we love so much.  Love to hear those ‘oooohs & ahhhhhs’ because I know exactly how they are feeling.

 

HEAVY TRAFFIC ON GHOST TOWN ROAD ON THE WAY HOME

Spent most of the afternoon working on the blog (well over a hundred photos again) & dodging in & out of zzzzzzz land.  Nice ambient music with a sun drenched temperature perfect Arizona breeze rustling in through the rigs open door.  Birds singing in a Palo Verde tree brushing up against the rig just put a special touch on another great day in Arizona.

By mid to later afternoon we were all out in the back yard soaking up some sun.  I spent most of that soaking up sun time taking some bird photos.  Supper time rolled around & Kelly, Leslie, & Peter headed on down to the CONGRESS DEPOT MERCANTILE to bring back a yummy Pizza supreme. 

 

Sun was just over the horizon when we slipped out into the backyard for a campfire.  Had the tripods set up with binoculars on them to show Peter & Leslie Orion's Nebulae & the Moons craters.  Cool, but not freezing night kept us close to the campfire for awhile shooting the breeze.  About 8, Pheebs & I headed for the Motorhome.  I still had a blog to finish up………….

  

I THINK PETER WAS ABOUT TO LAUNCH HIMSELF INTO SPACE HERE

GROANER’S CORNER:((  Late one night at the insane asylum one inmate shouted, "I am Napoleon!"
Another one said, "How do you know?"
The first inmate said, "Because God told me!"
Just then, a voice from another room shouted, "I did NOT !!

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- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.