RUINS; MONASTERY; CACTUS; BUTTERFLIES; FLOWERS

I am at a Starbuck's that actually has posting power which the RV park is lacking in!  So I plan to cover a lot of categories, hence the title!

 Casa Grande ruins just south of where we are staying.  This is another home of the Hohokam peoples.  I find it interesting that some were living in cliff homes, some in the stonewalled ruins I showed previously, and now some right smack in the middle of the desert in this adobe type of structure.  This big building was probably a

community building of some kind.  Maybe sort of a temple?  They did have the holes on the top of the structure that sunlight shone through on the equinox and solstice.  And that amazes me, too.  How did they figure those things out?  An early version of Google?

Then we went to a monastery.  Also right smack dab in the middle of the desert.  This place, in contrast to the ancient ruins, is brand new.  The Greek Orthodox head sent out several groups of 6 monks to build monasteries in different parts of the world in the early 1990's.  Six men arrived in 1995 and built this beautiful oasis in the desert outside of Florence, AZ.  There are several beautiful chapels, lovely fountains and gazebos, and beautiful, and very productive gardens in this compound.

The grapefruit are about the size of a softball and a half!

The chapels are beautiful, ornate, and very peaceful.  Visitors are allowed except when services are going on.  There is no entrance fee, but everyone needs to be tastefully dressed, and as they are dealing with not very tastefully dressed tourists for the most part, they have clothing there for you to wear during your visit.  Ruth and I had to don long, ankle length skirts, long sleeved shirts or jackets, and head scarves.  Ernie and Ike had to dress in long pants and long sleeved shirts.  And it was a warm day!  Thank goodness the chapels were cooler than the outside, and there is a lot of shade as you walk through the gardens.

The furnishings are sparse, but what is there is very ornate, like this lighting fixture in the largest chapel.

And as we left the grounds, there on the top of a little hill sits this beautiful chapel and cross, sparkling white in the afternoon sun, just as I imagine the buildings in Greece look.  This was a very pleasant day.

On Tuesday we again joined Ruth and Ike and we went to the botanical gardens.  The temps had dropped so the afternoon temps were only in the 70's, as opposed to the earlier 90's that we had been blessed with. a lovely day to spend outdoors and to ponder these words of Luther Burbank: Flowers are sunshine, food, and medicine for the soul.

These chartreuse colored "plants" are glass sculptures by the glass artist, Chihuly.  Very interesting, I thought!

This cactus is starting to bloom.  The desert should become much more colorful after everything is blooming.

I don't know the name of this tree, but it was lovely!

I absolutely love this photo.

And this one.

The whole tree was this sunshiny yellow color and was just lovely!

Another blooming cactus.

The butterflies are lovely, as is the glass dish they are feeding out of!

Isn't our God an awesome God?  Such beauty He made for us!

We stopped at the gardens of the LDS Visitor Center and found this fountain and these flowers.

And this lovely red tree that was covered with these flowers hanging against the blue sky.  Beautiful!

A TUESDAY TRIP

 

Yesterday morning we left our place just a bit after seven to drive to Mesa and meet up with my sister and BIL to take a road trip.  We headed up into the mountains to Sedona, the famous spot of vortexes, crystals, and red rocks.  Along the way we stopped at this National Monument, Montezuma's Castle, another cliff home of the Hokoham peoples back in the 1000's through the 1400's.  Again, by the time Columbus "discovered" America, these people had moved on.  I find these homes of our early American people so fascinating.  But everytime I see a home like this, my first thought is 'Oh mamas!  I hope you are watching your babies!'  Can you imagine raising kids in a place like this?

 

The scenery around Sedona is beautiful.  I love the red rocks, especially against the blue skies.

We stopped at this chapel.  And yes, we had to climb up to it.  There is a steep winding road on the right side, and we hiked up to the chapel.

This is the view of the interior.  I believe the windows behind the altar and the outstanding scenery outside would be very distracting!  But oh, so beautiful!

 

It seems that every view of the red rocks and blue skies included the contrail of a jet.

Ernie and BIL Ike, resting.  See the tiny cars below?  We are parked even further down the hill!

And this was our lunch view.  I don't know who the silhouetted folks are, but I can't help it they were in the way of my photo op!

Then it was on to Tuzigoot, prounced Two-see-whoodt, another home of our first peoples.  This was different.  It was a series of stone walls forming rooms, situated on the top of a small hill.  These rooms were originally covered, with an opening in the roof and a ladder leading into the room.  Each room was the home of a family.  No doors to the outside, no windows, only the opening in the roof with a ladder.  I cannot imagine the stale air inside, can you? 

But at least your babies wouldn't fall off the cliff!  They would be totally enclosed in four walls!

These peoples were also gone by the early 1400's. 

I also could not imagine living in a small one room cabin, all alone on thousands of acres of land.  There is nothing.  No trees.  Nothing!  Just a few bushes or cactus.  I guess it's a good thing I wasn't one of the first people in this part of the country.  I've always thought it would be great fun to be back in the Little House on the Prairie days, but I know for sure I wouldn't like living in the little house on the desert!

127 MILES IN 5 HOURS!!!

If you can make out the fuzzy picture, you will have some sort of clue as to why it took 5 hours to go 127 miles.

We took the Apache Trail which starts out east of Apache Junction on a nice paved road, then quickly turns to washboardy dirt one lane road, and then on the other side, back to paved again.  It was fun!  Here, come along on a little ride on the mountain road.......

 

Ready?  Start singing:  Ernie and Marge went over the mountain, Ernie and Marge went over the mountain, Ernie and Marge went over the mountain, to see what they could see!

There were many spots where our big Ford 350 diesel had to pull way to the side to let other vehicles pass.  And corners like this one were quite interesting!

You can see by the dust in the photo below that there was a car not too far in front of us.

Overhanging rocks also make things challenging!

In the photo below, notice the guard rails......a little plowed up pile of dirt!

The lake was formed by Roosevelt Dam, built in the early 1900's.

 Still singing?  And all that they could see was the other side of the mountain, the other side of the mountain, the other side etc........

But on the other side, when the road turned back to pavement, we found the Tonto National Monument.  This cliff dwelling was occupied prior to the 1400's by the Hohokam or Salada peoples who came up from way southern Arizona area.  By 1400 they had disappeared.  Before Columbus "discovered" America, these people had been here and gone.

Had we not just taken off after we had gone to church, we would have hiked up to the dwelling, but a mile uphill walk in church shoes didn't appeal to me!  Next time I'll come prepared!

This was a very pleasant afternoon.  Do you see why it took five hours to go 127 miles? 

IS ANYBODY HOME?

Hello?  Is anybody home?  Did the last person out of the state of Minnesota turn out the lights?  Wow!  By the looks of the RV park, the highways, and any parking lot you enter, most of the state of Minnesota must be in the Mesa area!  Two sites away from us in this RV park is a couple from our home town.  No, we don't know them, but they know Ernie's brother.  We went to church in Mesa yesterday, and as we left the sidewalk to go to our truck, we passed by 6 vehicles.  Five sported Minnesota plates!  The other folks seem to be from Iowa, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Michigan, or British Columbia and Alberta.

Last night after supper, and as the sky was turning a beautiful orange, I went for a walk with the camera.  I left the RV park and walked down the road, trying to get a shot of the mountains and sunset without the annoying poles and wires that bug me so!  I finally found a spot and took some great pictures, which I tried posting last night, and the signal wasn't strong enough.  I'll try again.  But I found out something really funny today regarding my walk.  Apparently, they close the gate to the RV park at 8:00 and you have to have a code number to punch in to get back into the park.  Guess what?  I didn't know that!  Had I stayed out much longer, I would have found closed gates when I returned, and I wouldn't have had a clue as to the code!  And Ernie didn't know where I had gone, so he wouldn't have gone looking for me.  It could have been interesting!

We have plans to take a boat ride through a canyon lake.  It sounds like fun, and I've heard there is wildlife on them there hills.....as in rams up on the mountainside.  Ernie and his brother have golf planned for Wednesday.  I know.  Ash Wednesday, and church is 30 miles away, and they won't be done until too late to make the service.  I'm not happy about that.  There are many things in the area that I think sound interesting, so we have lots of plans to make.

But first I'd like to post a photo for your enjoyment.  Isn't it lovely?

WE'VE MOVED

Am I the most pathetic blogger ever or what?  I shouldn't even make excuses for the many days between each post, but I will.  I'm all about excuses.  You see, I just haven't felt like talking.  We've done some fun things, we've seen some nice sights, and I have enjoyed some of our time down here.  But I also have been kind of bummed, kind of disillusioned, and not really into this whole adventure.  I had the big flareup, I had a cold, I haven't been sleeping well at all, and I'm lonesome for kids and grandkids.  I am tired of beige.  Beige ground, beige roads, beige mountains, beige homes, beige landscape......I miss green.

Okay.  Did I get enough excuses in that paragraph?  Let's see if I can move on.  Heaven knows Ernie would appreciate a change in attitude.

Yesterday morning we packed up, hitched up, and moved our house about two hours north of where we were in Tucson.  We are now within 8 miles of Ernie's brother and SIL and within 30 miles of my sister and BIL.  We are in a nice RV park, I think.  I haven't explored yet, but Ernie went for his morning walk and reported back that things are nice.  Thanks Neil for locating this park for us!  Our original destination turned out to be a real dump.  I didn't even get out of the truck.  Ernie wisely decided to look further and called his brother who had already located this alternative spot.  And it's a 100% improvement!

So yesterday afternoon we got set up here, I vacuumed and arranged things for our stay here in the Mesa area.  And then we were invited to Neil and Karen's for a nice steak dinner on their patio, with the mountain sunset view to accompany our wine and conversation.  Thanks you two!  I needed that!  Love you guys.

Now it's time to get ready for church.  We are meeting Ruth and Ike, my sister and BIL, up by their resort for church and probably lunch after church.  The Garmin, nicknamed Ole, tells us it's about 30 miles from here, so we should leave a bit early to adjust for unfamiliar roads and unknown traffic.  It sure will be good to see them!  I miss my family!

But I promise I am going to do better.  We'll air for more posts and hopefully pictures, as the wifi signal seems good  and strong here.  And I'm working on the attitude.

TWO MORE DAYS

We have two more days here after today, and then we are moving about two hours north of here, to the Mesa area.  I am looking forward to moving, not only because I will have people around there that I know and will get together with, but also because I think we've stayed here about a week too long.  It's time to go!  We've seen what we wanted to see and it's time for new adventures.  I'm lonesome, I'm bored, and I'm bitchy.  Ask Ernie.

We woke up on Sunday morning to snow in the truck, ground, and on the mountains in the distance.  The truck and ground cover was melted by the time we left church, but the snow remained on the mountains all day and into Monday.  It's gone now.  The temperature here in the Tucson valley will hit 80 this afternoon.  Ernie is out on the golf course (for the third day in a row, I might add) enjoying the sun.  I did notice the temperature back home this morning was below zero.  I'm sorry.

We have picked out an RV park that we are aiming for.  Hopefully they still have room for us when we get there.  They advertise wifi.  Hoping it's better than the system here!  We have a booster antenna right across the street in front of the RV, but with about 200 trailers parked in this area, I think they need a few more because the signal strength does not handle pictures.  And you know I like to post pictures.   I have many that I haven't shared with you because I don't have the patience to wait 20 minutes for one to load!  So let's hope that situation improves.

We will be having a small steak and grilled asparagus for supper.  Serving at six.  Gluten free.  And we will have a glass of wine out on the little patio area at five.  Gluten free.  You are all invited!

TUCSON WILDLIFE MUSEUM

I have been to a lot of museums in my life, but this is one of the best.  Just look at this display of some exotic feathered friends.  Outstanding!

 Isn't this bird awesome?  Almost unreal!

The room with our antlered friends was breathtaking. 

Every imaginable deer, elk, moose, caribou etc was there.  And a couple of bear, too. 

This elephant was huge, and I don't see how they could hang it on the wall like that!

Beautiful cats, especially this tiger.

Most of three sides are shown here.

And then the dioramas were out of this world.  They were clean, perfectly displayed, and very beautiful.

Love musk ox!

This otter looks like he lives in Seldovia where our son lives!

This was one outstanding museum!  Go if you ever get the chance!

THURSDAY CATCHUP

First of all, thank you for your comments and emails after my last post.  I am feeling much better, thank you!  I kind of made the turn around on Monday, and have done well since then.  Thanks for your concerns!  But, I sure did get behind in posting.  I'll just plug away at it and try to catch you up with our activities here in Tucson.

  Can you imagine being a Native American, an Apache, and living in the area of southern Arizona over 200 years ago, and seeing strange people come in and build something like this our in the middle of the desert? 

The San Xavier del Bac mission is absolutely beautiful.  Because of the ornate painting on the inside, especially on the domed ceiling, it has been called the Sistine Chapel of North America.

 

It has recently been cleaned and the paint restored, and it is very nice.

A tile picture on the outside wall of an adjacent building shows St. Francis of Assisi, as does this 

 

statue in the side chapel of the mission.  I love visiting missions.  They are so quiet and peaceful, although there were several tour groups here this morning, and it was a bit crowded.   

SMACKED DOWN, CHEWED UP AND SPIT OUT

The long drive down here has finally caught up with me!  This past week was a rough one for my FMS (fibromyalgia)  body, and I am feeling pretty beat up.  I haven't been sleeping more than two hours at a time since we left home. Then I wake  up with severe foot cramps, and I'm unable to go back to sleep.  I finally am so exhausted that just daily functioning is a painful chore. 

We were planning to go up to the Scottsdale area to visit an old high school friend this weekend, but we had to call them and cancel.  There was no way I could ride in a car for 2 1/2 hours and then enjoy any kind of a weekend with them. We felt so bad, but that is life with FMS.  Sometimes it takes over your life and makes your decisions for you.

But wonder of wonders!  I slept pretty well last night, one stretch of four hours, and I woke up this morning a bit more refreshed.  I think Ernie was getting tired of my constant hopping in and out of bed to try to work the cramps out of my feet, so I think he slept better last night too.

Stomach issues can also be a part of FMS,  and I have been experiencing some of them the last several months.  When I started baking bread every day, and then of course, eating bread every day, I finally determined what the problem probably was.  So since leaving home almost three weeks ago, I have been eating gluten free.  I am feeling much better and have not had the stomach issues flare up in this whole time.  Ernie was really enjoying home made bread every day, and I've not made any since we left home.  I will, however, start working on this technique of bread making with gluten free flours and see if I can find something that works for us.  Meat, fruit and veggies are gluten free, and Trader Joe's has a good selection of pastas, crackers, and dressings and sauces that are gluten free, so I haven't really had a problem with things other than finding decent bread.  That's why I can't wait to bake my own as soon as we get back home.

Our daughter, Kari,  and her family have made this same decision, but going a step further and also going dairy free.  They are hoping this change will help the two youngest special needs kids with some of their issues.  She has started another blog to record this journey.

WEDNESDAY NUMBER 3

Today we drove about 45 miles north into the desert to visit Biosphere 2.  No, there was no Biosphere 1.  The earth is the original biosphere!  Do you remember this domed community?  Eight people lived inside and raised their own food and ran the whole place for two years.  No going out and coming back in.  Two years inside.  It was quite an undertaking.  The University of Arizona now runs it, and there is extensive research going on under those glass panels.

 The building is huge, built by a man from Texas.

 There are many different areas inside: jungle

ocean shore

desert

and a couple others that I neglected to get a shot of.

And on a pole, just outside the community, we saw two hawks sharing the top.  I've not seen that before and thought it was beautiful!