Monday, April 6, 2009

Check One Off My Bucket List!!!!

You all aren't going to believe this unless you see the pictures below!!!! I always said I'd NEVER, ever do this, but you know those quick decisions you make??? Well about 3 or 4 days ago I asked a friend if he would mind doing something with me & he said Yes. I thought Bill would pass out! Okay kids, family & friends, here it is.......................


Kerry says: Are You Ready??????

Peg & Kerry - Here We Go!

This is the bike AFTER the ride - No scratches to the bike or either of us!!!


Yup, it was a Harley!!!!Peg & Kerry W.

Before the bike ride, I spent the afternoon painting 2 cardinals on our steps that we are going to leave here on our lot. I didn't have quite the right color for a female, so she's rather red too. Oh well, at least with our names on them, maybe people will be more apt to leave them on our site.Rather bumpy material (siding) to write on

This is the sign that our friend Don S. from Minnesota cut out for me. I drew it from the PA map & he cut it & designed it to fit over our hitch. I painted it & then lettered it. I probably should have done a NY State one too & then hung this from the bottom of it. Oh well, I guess PA is considered our "home" state.

Sunday evening we went down the street for wine & cake to celebrate Lynda & Lou's 51st wedding anniversary. A nice little gathering & I can't believe they are old enough to have been married this long! After all, some of us don't look "old"! LOL Oh, by the way, that's a knife she's holding, she was cutting the cakes!


This morning around 9:30AM, Bill & I went for a walk/hike up at the end of our road into the Usery Mts. where we hiked last year. I told him we would walk for 1/2 hr. to 45 min. & then turn around so he wouldn't get too tired. The wind was blowing pretty good so that kept it cool. There weren't very many flowers out yet. Last year we left here April 1st & the mountains already had been covered with poppies & other wild flowers. This year there are none! They say it's because we haven't had any rain. Last I knew it was about 52 days without rain. Maybe by next week we will see a few more out. They are just beginning & there are a lot of blossoms on the cactus.
Bill trudging up the hill
We went as far as fish rock (so someone named it). Does it look like a fish????
This cactus reminds me of the burrow tail cactus my mom used to have. At least the parts that are hanging down. The prickly part doesn't. These grow numerous ways - short, fat, tall, whatever. Of course I can't remember the names of all these. I'm not a very good botanist. I can remember the barrel cactus, the saguaro & the prickly pear & that is about it.




This is some of the rocky trail that we walked. Really have to watch your ankles walking through this, especially on the way down.

This little guy scurried in front of me. I don't know what it is, but looks like some kind of toad. Sure blends in with the ground.When we got back to the truck, Bill found out that he had lost his beloved Hidden Valley cap that he won at the horseshoe tournament last year at Hidden Valley. So I told him to stay at the truck & I'd back track to see if I could find it. Remember, we walked for 45 min. I walked all the way back to Fish Rock (where we originally stopped & turned back). I only looked to my left on the way up so I could concentrate on the trail. No luck. So on the way back I looked to the left again. Of course I had to go through all that rocky trail again. Well, right after the rocky part I found the hat. Had I been able to look on both sides of the trail at the same time I wouldn't have had to walk quite so far. Oh well, what us wives don't do for our hubbies! He was very appreciative. He started out walking a little ways again & brought a bottle of water with him for me. I should have taken one but I left the truck in such a hurry I forgot. I didn't think I would have to walk that far. By then it was 11:30 & getting pretty warm!

Since I was driving, I told Bill I wanted to drive some of the back roads off Meridian Rd. So we took as many roads as we could that didn't say Dead End (the ones that end at the mountains). We went from the $700,000 homes down to the $10-20,000 homes & back & forth. There sure is a mixture of buildings at the foot of the mountains. New, old, stables, you name it. I don't think they have any zoning in Apache Junction. But it was interesting. Some of the homes have a beautiful view of Superstition Mountains. This picture is from the end of Idaho Rd. which is one of the last N/S roads in town before you head out on the old Apache Trail.

Then we took McKellips Rd. to as far as it would go. Didn't see any Dead End signs but we ended up on Bulldog Mine Rd. which was a dead end. There was actually some type of mine there. This was the view from across the road from where we had to turn around & head back out. It never ceases to amaze me at all the different rock formations in the mountains.

Well, that about sums up our weekend & our Monday. Bill is down playing cards tonight, so I guess I'll go to the club house & take in a movie. It's called The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Don't have a clue what it's about, but it is 6:30pm & 88 degrees. It was 90 when I looked about 15 min. ago. I don't really want to run the air conditioner, so I guess I'll go to the movie instead.

So, until next time..................The Traveling Cardinal's

1 comment:

LaVon Baker said...

Ok, that big fuzzy cactus is a Cholla (pronounced Cho-ya like villa is pronounced vee-ya) and the lizard looks like a Horny (Horned) Toad. We had those in Texas.