"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood... And sorry I could not travel both. I took the one less traveled by. And that has made all the difference." --Robert Frost

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Last Minute Road Trip to Arizona

Surprise, AZ
Happy Trails RV Resort


Since the rain is not going to let us get our rig out any time soon and the time we usually spend with the in-laws is running out, we decided to just take the truck and make a last minute ROAD TRIP to Arizona!  Most of our RV friends have headed out in different directions now, but at least we'll be able to visit a few of them.  Before we head out we had our son, Shane's, birthday to celebrate. But before that, a few other get togethers.

 
A surprise of baby chicks hatched out before we left.


 Jody, my sister, Doug, Deanna and us.
My sister drove down for a visit and so we had a quick visit and dinner.  Jody, my sister, Doug, Deanna and us.

My brother & sister (and Hurley)

I got talked into a night of "golf" at a new high tech driving range.  It is 3 story and has about 200 bays complete with sofas, food, drink and, thank goodness, heaters! Not my favorite pastime but I admit it was kind of fun.
Scott's turn.

Miriam was about as excited as I was.

Next up, Steve.

Jim and Jenny taking a break.
The weather continues to be the same.  WET!  This evening we had a crazy bout of rain, thunder, snow and wind.  This little bout all happened in about 15 minutes then cleared out.  Off to celebrate Shane's birthday.

Off we all went to our favorite Mexican place in Placerville with some of Shane's friends and most of the family.  Our oldest, Ryan, was vacationing in Hong Kong and couldn't make it.
 
Shane took a little video of us goofing off.  No, my Mom really didn't have 2 drinks!

Happy Birthday Shane!
 Since the sun came out I had time for one more hike with Tina before we head to Arizona.


 
Putting locks on this bridge is becoming quite the thing to do.  I've seen it done in Europe, but not really here in California.


Even thought it was mostly sunny, there was a quick bit of rain (and snow!) that came down.  In the above picture you can see some of the snow.
 
We were up at 4:30am and headed to Arizona for a couple of weeks. I see the weather forecast has some nice sunny 70s and 80s for us! It was a long, 12 hour drive, but it was a sunny and beautiful drive.  The upside to all the rain is lots of green in the Central Valley.  The farmers are pretty happy about it.
Crops are in.

 The hills look velvety green.
 
Happy cows.

 All the fruit and nut trees were blooming.
 
 Blooming ground cover.
 
They were busy picking the oranges.

The farmland whizzing by as we drove made for an interesting visual affect that you can see if you make it full screen.  Pretty cool.

 Pretty pink blooms.

Pyramid Lake

Magic Mountain

The traffic in LA wasn't too bad at all.

 At first I thought the poppies were blooming on the hillsides, but it turned out that it was mud slides.



We're back

 
Since we couldn't get out in January, we missed seeing all our RV friends that hang out in Quartzite.  We waved as we went by.  We hope to see a couple on the way back to California.

Beautiful sunset as we make our way in to Surprise.

Squeaked in a quick dinner with Curt and Glenda before they mosey east.  Hopefully we'll see them in Maine later this summer.

A guy in a facebook group I follow took this beautiful picture of the Superstitions in Arizona.  We hope we have enough time here before we head to Maine to hike Flat Iron once more.
 
 
So nice to be here!

25 comments:

  1. Just so you know, I sat on a patio in Folsom this morning, it was so warm, I had to shed layers! Beautiful weather ALL week! Sorry 'bout it!

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    1. Of course the cold rain followed us! 70s and 80s starting tomorrow though! Glad you enjoyed some sunshine!

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  2. That's where all that cold rain came from.
    Be Safe and Enjoy Arizona!

    It's about time.

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    1. We can't seem to shake the rain! Thanks, looking forward to some warm sun tomorrow.

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  3. Well thanks for bringing the rain with you! Rained like hell overnight in Q...worst we've ever seen! How about lunch at Beer Bellies or Silly Al's if you make it this way?

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    1. I know, we're sorry! It was bad in Phoenix too. Beer Bellies sounds great! We'll keep you all updated when we head back. Either this Saturday or probably next Saturday.

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  4. Rained here in Tucson today as well! Glad to hear you guys got out even without your rig. Enjoy the sun!

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    1. Nice to be on the road again even if just temporarily. Looking forward to those warmer temps!

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  5. I'm loving all the green hillsides! Just think, if you were towing you couldn't drive in the fast lane :-) Here's hoping you both have a great time in AZ!

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  6. Ah yes, thanks for bringing that pretty good rain storm to AZ with you - it was nice :-)))) Love all the pics of the road trip, hope it's still that green when we head north in May! Darling little chicks and more great times with family. Hope you return to dry meadows!

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  7. A traveling spirit just has to travel. Enjoy your time in Arizona. We will keep California company. Our daughter and SIL are meeting us in SF next week. The best part is they are bringing our 1 year old granddaughter.

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    1. So true and it's really warming up now! How nice to get to see the grands!

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    2. Debbie, speaking of traveling. The 2017 tentative plans you listed show a trip in Kansas Aug-Dec. Any guess at what your route might be on the way to Kansas?

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    3. I'm betting we're going to be running out of time on the way back and it's looking like we may have to cut out Iowa, Kansas and a couple of others and cut down southwest. But our trip is very loosely planned. Besides visiting family in VA, Maine and some friends in NY, our trip is about hiking the highest peak in each of the other states we travel through (many we have already been through). So we may not need the time I have planned or we may need to speed it up because of winter weather. I really won't know until the time is much closer. As of right now we would be there mid November which wouldn't get us back to AZ until Dec 3. Doubtful that will work that way.

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  8. Wow...those velvety green hills are beautiful, Debbie!

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  9. Thanks for the shout out. You didn't have to edit your post for that. We were just happy to get to see you two and renew the friendship. Yes, we will make it work for Maine this summer. Stay dry and safe travels once you get going.

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  10. Hope you're able to get back on the road (for real) soon. Those photos of the rain and mud in the previous post were pretty crazy! Sounds like you're going to be in a rush once you get back on the road, but if you stop for a while in Tucson or Phoenix we should still be around and would love to catch up even if just for a bit! -Mike & Kathie / LifeRebooted

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    1. It's now snowing back there. Looks like we may be heading back to CA this Saturday to see if we can get out (if the weather looks sunny for next week, we'll see). If we can't get together for lunch or something this week, we're supposed to be in Apache Junction the last week of March (again, if we get out) and hopefully we can do a hike or something then? I'll get back to you. Hope you Kathy and Opie are doing well. How long will you be in AZ? Are you in Tucson or Phoenix area?

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    2. We're in north Tucson (Oro Valley) for a week-and-a-half, then Apache Junction until March 24, then north of Phoenix (Cave Creek) until early April, then boondocking near Sedona. Looks like end of March might work, near Phoenix somewhere, depending on how things work out for you guys!

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    3. We'll be at List Dutchman the day before you. Let's catch up then!

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