Glowing Cacti

The new growth on this Cacti against the sunset looked radioactive. 

Redblooms. All was brown just a month ago

We have the perfect spot to capture the sunset against the desert and the mountains.  Only a 20 minute hike and we have this beautiful vista;  Hills behind us, the desert floor in front and then the Red Mountains.  Today wasn’t the best sunset but it is still good to be out in the desert and watching the sun.  Today we were not alone.  Shortly after we got settled and looked for a good photo frame a family climbed the hill to share the sunset.  The kids, a boy and a girl were quite shy and when Duke greeted them with his bark the girl picked up a rock the size of a tennis ball and tossed it at him!  Scared him and he ran away with his tail tucked.  The good news is after some coaching she was prepared to pet him and as dogs are so forgiving he gave her a lick! 

Luke, please don't throw rocks!!!

Thankfully Luke was not as afraid of Duke as his treasures were pretty large!  Duke is such a good dog and just patiently waited until both kids were ready to pet him and share their cookies. 

We did finally get to see the sunset; not a spectacular one, maybe next week. 

and the sun goes down

The sunset makes a beautiful backdrop for the desert plants

aahhhh!

Our Arizona sunshine has vanished and we are starting to get a bit stir crazy!  This morning, being tired of 3 days of mostly rain we decided we should go out for a movie.  Paul caves in for a movie theater about once a year so it is a big deal which movie we are going to see.  It has to be one we think would be great on the big screen, something we both want to see and we always get the big bag of popcorn and the extra large soda!  A $25 date.

Today’s choice was Crazy Heart.

We arrive at the 25 movie plex and since we were running a little late and it is pouring so Paul drops me to get the tickets; as I am stepping up to the window I realize that Crazy Heart is not showing (not sure how that happened!) so I quickly choose another movie that we had talked about and I thought we would both enjoy, Shutter Island with Leonardo DiCaprio.

It starts out with these stunning views of this island and I am quickly trying to guess where it is being shot.  From there the movie gets very complicated as we did not read the trailers so we didn’t know the punchline!

Paul really didn’t like it as he says he didn’t get it.   I heard another patron say he didn’t like it either.  I cannot say I didn’t like it but it was not a favorite!  Next time I will choose much more carefully.

It was a perfect day for a movie as it has rained all day – this little house is getting really small!

This week is why everyone wants to come to Mesa in February.  There is not a cloud in the sky and the sun feels oh so great.  We are a bit in vacation mode this week as our friends Tex & Candy Tyner are visiting.  We are trying to give them a little taste of what we get to do everyday. 

They arrived on Saturday and we have not stopped enjoying the sunshine since.

Wish you all could be here!

Taking a break from the sun

Sometimes you have to take a nap

Life here is not just playing in the sun, sometimes we take a break and do some sightseeing.  We took our friends to see Roosevelt Dam which is at the end of Apache Trail, approximately 20 miles on a dirt road through canyons and amazing vistas. 

Fine friends, great views

The end of the trail, Roosevelt Dam

A quick stop to the ladies room!

Yes, we are enjoying our time here in Mesa and we especially enjoy having our friends coming to remind us what a paradise this truly is.  Looking forward to tomorrow and more fun here in the sun.

I am talking about  the song from the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  I remember buying this album in 1970 because I believe it was the first album I purchased and the beginning of my vinyl collection that someone else is probably trying to sell on Ebay today.

Raindrops keep fallin' on my head

The album cost me about $3.00 and I knew nothing about BJ Thomas other than the song was a hit and I had just seen the movie at the drive-in with my family!  I do remember listening to every song and learning the words so I could sing along.  It is a good thing I learned all those words because last night we saw BJ Thomas in concert along with Gary Puckett who I knew nothing about after all I am a child of the 70’s not the 60’s!  However I did know most of the songs that both entertainers sang because they have been very popular over the years.

The concert was really good; both men are still great entertainers.  The difference was they had water to drink on stage instead of ???,  their costumes were dress shirts buttoned up and jackets, and there were as many men in the audience accompaning screaming women!  Yep, even old ladies can get excited although it is from the memories and not necessarily the vision on stage!!

During the week we spend a lot of time in the park visiting our neighbors, playing pickle-ball, cards and enjoying  the free entertainment but on the weekends I like to get out of the park and see some of the desert landscape.  When we are in town, Mesa feels just like our home in San Jose, Costco is 2 miles away, there are 3 grocery stores within 2 miles, Walmart is everywhere, along with Starbucks and any number of fast food joints.  But when you leave our park and drive only 3 miles away from town you end up here!

Saturday’s I get itchy feet to get out and get away from the everyday and this week we ended up near Red Mountain.  The mountain is really red and juts out of the desert floor where the Salt River runs through.  We found a nice place to stop and take a short hike, only about 1 mile round trip but we found a spectacular place to sit and watch the desert – next time we are bringing a blanket so we can sit and watch the sunset!

There are so many cacti in the desert around Mesa and they are so interesting to look at.

Sunday we took a drive with our neighbors, Joan & Stephen out to Scottsdale to Greasewood Flats.  Definitely not the typical establishment for Scottsdale but such a fun place to go.   The sign on the entrance says “Sorry we are Open!”  It is very popular with the Sunday Biker crowd along with the Limo driven crowds!  Great music, good food and there is no indoors – it is all picnic style on a dirt patio!

Fountain Hills is a very upscale town with lots of golf courses and mansion type homes in the foothills near Scottsdale where they are known for the fountain in the middle of town.  We stopped on our way to Greasewood to see the fountain spray.

On our way to Greasewood we stopped at Reata Pass Steakhouse, another fine dining joint in Scottsdale and had a beer while inspecting all the dollar bills stuck to the ceiling and avoiding the pet rattlesnake in the glass case in the sitting room! – oh and we found a chair just Paul’s size!