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.

Roadrunner Christmas Meeting

 

On December 30 active and inactive members of the MFC Roadrunners camping group met at the Fusts home in Sun City for a holiday gathering. In all 14 attended, including six who are active (the Fusts, Sees and Strongs).

 

Dottie Engelman, Maggie Zimmerman (both in their 90s) and Celia, Dottie’s daughter.  Maggie and Cheryl See are the only remaining original members of the group founded in 1966.

 

Maggie, Celia, Nancy Audet and daughter Chrissy.

 

Jeff Clyde, Fusts’ dog Emma and Jo Clyde Strong

  

Greg and Cheryl See, Jeff Clyde and hostess, Mary Fust. 

  

Lynn Blickenstaff and Greg

 

Greg See checks out the well-stocked refreshment center!

 

Trish, Greg, Nancy and Cheryl with Lynn’s back to the camera

Trish, Jeff, Herb, Mary and Jo

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San Diego Wild Animal Farm (now Safari Park)

 

Our last day trip in our San Diego week was to a branch of the San Diego Zoo first named Wild Animal Park. The Safari name was adopted to emphasize the several kinds of activities (Safaris) which may be undertaken there (zipline rides, rope swinging, overnight camping, etc.) to generate more income. I much preferred to first version of the park which had a monorail ride around the outside of the whole park. Now there is a motorized tram just around the large African plains part.

 

Birds like this water feature, including the native ones which come to visit.

 

Hippo?

 

Rhinoceros in the large enclosure with other herbivore animals.

 

Their herd of elephants had a nice enclosure just for them. The herd ranges from babies to mature bulls and females. (What is a mature female called, a cow?) We spent a long time watching the elephants interact with one another, and then took in a show where trainers demonstrated the behaviors taught to the elephants so the trainers could look after them without getting in their enclosure.

 

The bird show is a longstanding attraction of the park. Food is used to entice the desired behaviors of the birds. The largest was a beautiful secretary bird. Here one of the performing birds is in flight just to the left of the trainer.