White Tanks & Wave Cave, AZ

Surprise, AZ - White Tanks Regional Park
Apache Junction, AZ - Lost Dutchman SP



It was time to get back to Surprise to visit with Steve's Dad before we head up to Colorado for the next 6 months.   Since we couldn't get a spot in the private park his Dad lives, we sometimes stay at White Tanks which is about 15 minutes away.  Just before we arrived, there was an air show going on at Luke AFB.  We pulled over and watched some of it.

Sorry the pictures are blurry, but some were taken from inside the truck.

 

 

After enjoying some of the show we settled in and went for a little hike.

 

A pretty halo around the sun.

 

 

 

Some hieroglyphics

 

Finally caught the Saguaros blooming.

 

The view out of the rig at night. 

There was this interesting couple that brought a complete sectional sofa and set it up around the firepit.  Best picture I could get without being obvious.  Hope they are not homeless?

One more hike before we left Surprise.  It was a hot week so I did not hike too far.  I did find some nice geocaches along this canyon.

Back one last time to Lost Dutchman State Park.  We had some friends from Placerville, CA move to Gold Canyon so we stopped by for some hiking and BBQ.

 Just can't resist pictures of the Superstition Mountains.

Flat Iron in the back. 

 

I had wanted to hike Flat Iron once more but before I even got to the "Thumb" some hikers coming down warned me of a large, angry swarm of bees in a bush along the trail.  Well, that's all I needed to hear! (I really, REALLY dislike bees!)  No way around it.  So I took a shorter hike then headed back to camp.  That's the bummer when the temps heat up, the bees swarm and the Rattlesnakes come out.  Luckily we did not come across either this trip.  Took a shorter side hike.

 

Hiking towards the "Praying Hands"

I was glad Shelly was able to go for a hike with us during our last few days.  We wanted to hike what is referred to as the "Wave Cave".  Only problem was it was a cold, dreary day with a thunderstorm expected later in the afternoon.

Steve and Shelly heading up the mountain toward the cave.

As you get closer you can see the cave from a distance.

Nice view, as always, looking back down.

Shelly and Steve

Almost at the cave entrance.

 

We arrived just as someone else was "surfing" the wave.  Really cool to see!

Us taking our turn "surfing" viewed from inside the cave.

A different view of the wave.

 

Storm is moving in much earlier than expected.  Time to boogie down the mountain.

 

We got rained on and hailed on just a bit.  It was windy and very cold!  Glad we didn't have too far to go to get back to the truck.

Back at camp I took these pictures of Flat Iron with the low storm clouds.

We got all cleaned up and headed to Shelly & Jeff's for some great BBQ.  What a system Jeff has in place for BBQing.  Pretty amazing.  So was the food!

Jeff, Marty, Shelly, Steve and Laura.

I was so happy that (ok, bad memory, I'm going to guess it was Katie) Katie happened to be in town for business and stopped by for a visit.  She and twin, Courtney, were both in my Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goat Project in 4-H back in Placerville.  She recently got married. All these years later and I STILL cannot tell them apart!  I know, shame on me.  Loved seeing her nevertheless.

 

We celebrated my birthday by going to the movies in Mesa and seeing Junglebook on opening day.  What a surprise these seats were!  Leather (or pleather?), fully reclining and oh so comfy!  Never saw such a nice theater! We really liked the movie too.

One last picture of the "Supes" before we head north to Colorado where we will spend the next 6 months roaming around the southwest corner of the state.  Should be much cooler!