ROADRUNNERS CAMPOUT AT LAKE PLEASANT, APRIL 5 – 7

 

This was one of the larger outings of the Roadrunners in the last few years with 5 rigs and 4 visiting for the day. It was held at Pleasant Harbor RV park adjacent to  the east  marina on the lake.

Here is our motor home and next is the 5th wheel of Mike and Barb Williams. Others attending were the Fusts, Tom and Elsie Holz, and Keith and Maxine Stone. Guests for the day were Nancy and Crissy Audet and Nancy’s sister and brother in law.

 

Herb Fust, Mike Williams, Jo Strong and Mary Fust enjoying the shade of our cabana. In the foreground is our Fire In A Can in which we had a fire both nights.

From left, Mike, Nancy Audet, Maxine and Keith Stone, Tom Holz and Herb Fust

 

   We were treated to a pretty sundown.

Long walkway to marina on the west side of the lake, complete with boat storage and large restaurant.

  The walkway above for the west marina begins on a low bluff, and one may take a small funicular to the walkway to avoid the steps.

This view of the dam is from the Visitors Center on the west side of the lake. The horizontal structure is for Central Arizona Project water to be pumped in and out oft he lake.for storage.

 

  

View from the Visitors Center looking northeast. A sailboat regatta was under way this day in the upper part of the lake.

This is the walkway to the marina on the east side of the lake.

Covered boat storage

 

And more uncovered boat storage

 

 

Keith Stone in the restaurant in the east marina. There sure have been a lot of changes around the lake from the years we regularly waterskiied on the lake before the new dam  was built.

WEEK AT PUEBLO BONITO BLANCO, MARCH 2013 .

 

Blanco is the nickname of the first timeshare built by Pueblo Bonito in Cabo San Lucas. I bought a timeshare week there in our first visit to Cabo in 1991.The timeshare term was for 25 years, so it will be expiring in the next few years. It has been nicely maintained for the most part. When returning there I fondly think of past good times there.

This is the view from the balcony of junior suite 323. The palm tree in front has grown over the years gradually to impinge on the view of the beach and ocean.

View from the bedroom area to the sitting area, quite comfortable for reading. A table out of the picture to the right is fine for a laptop computer  and for two to have a meal.Here is the bedroom area with the kitchenette in the back. We had breakfast and most lunches in the room. The bathroom is behind the large painting.

That is me behind the bouganvillas on our balcony. 

 

This is a typical view on the beach in front of Blanco, trolling girls against a backdrop featuring a cruise ship.

 

Beach vendors constantly patrol looking for sales. Guests in chairs are behind the yellow rope, off limits to the vendors.  Medano Beach continues for several miles. It is safe to swim there, but the water was a bit cool for me.

Smart loungers on the beach will sit in  the shade  under the the and behind .yellow rope.

 

. Here is another view of the marina, an easy walk from Blanco.

 

Sorry that this one is a bit fuzzy, but I wanted to show the yacht in the background. I was told that it was built for Steve Jobs and was being delivered to his widow in southern California. It is huge – over 250 feet! More info may be on a website.

OUR WEEK AT PUEBLO BONITO SUNSET BEACH RESORT

 

We spent two weeks in Cabo San Lucas BCS in March. The first in Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach and the second in its companion resort nicknamed Blanco after its color.

Breakfast on the balcony of our junior suite.

 

Here are some of the smaller yachts in the harbor adjacent to downtown Cabo San Lucas. The skeleton building in the background is a resort under construction for several years.

 

Here are some of the larger yachts in the Marina. In the background is Pedrigal, a very upscale gated subdivision.

 

We had a nice walk on the beach. The large Sunset Beach resort is in the background. Our suite this year was in the highest building.

Some native fishermen were surf  fishing from the beach, with limited success.

This is the higher of two pools at the Sky Pool, complete with swim up bar and food service facilities. There are three more pools at the resort.

And this is the lower Sky pool. We gravitated toward this one as it was farther from the loudspeakers and crowds at the upper pool.

We did a lot of reading in these lounge chairs . Many turned their chairs around to gaze over Pacific.

On this bright morning, the fishing boats found a hotspot just off the beach.

We had most of our evening meals there in this restaurant on the grounds, one of three. We had breakfast and lunch in our junior suite.

BREAKFAST FLIGHT WITH THE GROUTS

 

Jo and I fly once or twice a year with Jerry and Nancy Grout in their V tail Bonanza single engine plane. Our most recent flight was from Mesa’s Falcon Field to Payson AZ for breakfast at the Payson airport restaurant on March 2.

Jerry, who has had a pilot’s license for over 50 years, proudly points to the new Continental engine in his plane.

Snow from a recent winter storm highlighted the Mazatzal mountains near Payson.

The restaurant window nicely frames the Grouts’ plane at the right parked at the Payson airport.

 

Jo me next to the plane

Here is our group getting ready for takeoff from Payson.

 

Back on the ground in Mesa, it is time to put the bird away. Jerry is operating the electric tug device to roll the plane back into its hangar while Jo begins the task of good passengers to take the bugs off the leading edge of the wings.

DAY TRIP TO FOUR PEAKS, TONTO NATIONALMONTO NATIONAL MONUMENT AND APACHE TRAIL - FEBRUARY 2013

 

On Feb.27 we took friends Lindsey and  Rosa Ashby on a great day trip over the Four Peaks road to the basin containing Roosevelt Lake. Then we visited the dwellings at Tonto National Monument, returning  to Mesa via Apache Trail, the unpaved Arizona 88.

Our  trip was shortly after a winter storm which left snow on the high country, with snowmelt causing intermittent streams to run.

From the pass in the Mazatzal mountain range we saw snow on the nearby peaks, with remnants in the foreground.

 

This was our first good view of the cliff dwellings preserved at Tonto National Monument at the end of a half mile walk. We walked up steep paved trail shown below.

 

The natives who lived here for nearly 300 years had a great view of the Tonto Creek basin, now covered by Roosevelt Lake. It is Arizona’s oldest and largest irrigation impoundment entirely within the state.

Rosa and Jo exploring the ruins. Some of the original walls have been stabilized.

 

The metate is original to the area. Jo is not!

Great view of stabilized walls of the dwellings. The holes on the far right wall are for the logs supporting the second story

On way back on the Apache Trail, which follows the canyon of the Salt River, we drove along Apache Lake and Canyon Lake. Apache Trail was built for freighting materials for the construction of Roosevelt Dam.

Here is the fabled road up Fish Creek Hill. It is a lot tamer than its reputation suggests.

 

Visitors who pause at this scenic view point are rewarded with this view of canyons

INDIO FMCA RALLY JANUARY 2013

Early in January we attended the FMCA Western Region rally in Indio, me for the 12th consecutive year. 

On Monday AM our group drove from a closed Sams Club parking lot in nearby La Quinta CA to the Date Festival (county fairgrounds). Here we are lined up to go in as a group to park together. Our motor home is the second in the  line.

Once the rally begins, trams provide transportation to carry attendees around the large fairgrounds.

 

This and the next few shots were taken on the first official day of the rally from the tram as it traveled its route. Motor homes (about 1200 in attendance) are parked in every conceivable spot. Temporary electrical wiring circuits are supplied so we can enjoy electrical hookups.

 There was  a little snow on the nearby mountains.

 

Here are two of the fancier motor homes.

This is one of the buildings in which seminars on many subjects important to motor home owners are held during 3 1/2 days.

In this Fullenwider Auditorium events are held ranging from coffee and doughnuts in the mornings, Chapter Fairs and seminars during the day, to evening entertainment for the 2000 plus people in attendance. One of our members suggested that the auditorium got its name from the folks eating lots of doughnuts in the AM, making them “full and wider”.

One  of the benefits of a chapter parking together is that it is given space for chapter socializing. Ours had two evening meals here, the chapter annual meeting, happy hours and  just visiting. Above, left to right, are Barbara Westerfield, our newsletter editor, husband Tom Westerfield, the outgoing President, and Jim and Betty Steindorf, who put on  a Golden Spike rally in Montana last summer.

 

Below is the living room of our home as it was decorated for Christmas 2012.