Fillies, Maidens & Yearlings

Tuesday, we took a short drive through Phoenix to Turf Paradise. We were accompanied by Sandi & Tito and Rob & Julie. Our expectations of winning were high because Rob & Julie had actually owned horses back home in Iowa. However, our chances of winning depended heavily upon Sandi's pony tail (for luck) and Rob's ability to pick the right ponies.

Yvonne says: Look, the sign says "Tuesdays - Seniors Free". We'll lie about our ages and get in for nothing! 

I could see that Sandi and Tito were put off by this tactic. There's no way "we'll" pass as seniors. Surprise....

The seniors set up camp in the Turf Club and it only took a minute before the table was covered with racing forms and cold drinks. We quickly scanned the program and the girls giggled at some of the horse names: Tony-the-Pony, Strum-Bum, She's-on-Top-Yodeling and Hello-Vodka-it's-Me,  just to mention a few.

Outside, you can see the horses gathering for the 1st race and we still needed to pick our winners and place our bets. As it turned out, there was no need to panic.  You can place a bet right up to the point where the horses are standing in the starting gate. During one race, Tito's horse was disqualified while in the starting gate. Apparently, a horse cannot lie down in the starting gate. Tito managed to change his bet.

Two of the ten races were actually run on the turf (grass) track.

I found it thrilling just to be near the track as the horses come thundering by.

Outside by the track, Rob secretly seeks advice from the girls.

Yvonne and Julie take a stroll to see the horses up close. 

Some slow shutter speed action.

Blinkers. Some wear them, some don't. 

Happy Jockey being congratulated by an owner  in the Winners Circle.

All in all,  it was a great day even if none of us came home rich. 

But you could hear the mumblings from the back seat on the drive home. "If only we had bet on Coco Beans in the 10th". 

Coco Beans was a 35:1 long-shot and paid $78.80 on a $2 bet.

Spelunking

There are so many interesting things to see and do at the southern end of Arizona. Lately, we've been to the Biosphere near Florence and the Pima Air and Space Museum near Tucson. Today was Sandi's "Foursday" turn and her decision to take us underground to explore some ancient caverns south of Tucson was an excellent choice.  The two and a half hour drive started early in the morning and we drove all the way to Benson before we even had a cup of coffee.

Today the Kartchner Caverns are a state owned attraction but when they were first discovered by Gary Tenen and Randy Tufts in 1974 the caverns were virtually unknown to humankind. Aside from a few animal skeletons the discoverers found absolutely no evidence of past human presence inside the 200,000 year old caverns. They kept the caverns a secret from the public until 1988 when they, along with  the Kartchner family, who were the landowners, approached the State Governor with a plan to preserve and protect their discovery from public vandalism. After seeing the spectacular finding for himself the Governor started the process to acquire and develop the site as a state park and show cavern. 

The two caverns were imaginatively named the Big Room (left) and the Throne Room (right). What you don't see in this drawing is the long and thin tunnel that the discoverers first used in their quest  to find a larger underground space.  Their entrance was very small, no bigger in diameter than a basketball and they spent a lot of time crawling on their bellies. Today there is a much larger entrance complete with stainless steel doors, paved walkways and several air locks to prevent air from channeling out and possibly drying out the caverns. Nowadays the original entrance is only used by 1000 or so cave bats that use the space to hang out and raise their young.

The combined caverns are approximately 7 acres in size and the Park Rangers do a very thorough job keeping the caverns in pristine condition. To ensure that nothing new is introduced into this confined space everybody is misted down with water as they enter the tunnel.  Apparently the mist minimizes the amount of clothing lint and loose skin cells that might fall from visitors as they move along the 2.5 miles of pathways.

We visited the Big Room on this trip and plan to see the Throne Room on another day. The caves are closed for the summer because of the cave bats.

I would love to take credit for the pictures that I've posted below but all have been downloaded from various internet sites. These caves are dimly lit and your eyes gradually become dilated due to the low light.  Apparently some overly sensitive people do not appreciate the unexpected flashes from cameras so, for purely selfish reasons, picture taking is not allowed inside the caverns. We were also warned against taking souvenirs. What happens in the cavern stays in the cavern.

How many billions of water droplets falling from the ceiling would it take to create this kind of mineral buildup?

This type of calcium formation, found on the ceiling, is appropriately named "bacon". We spotted one that was over 20 feet long.

Stalactites hang from the ceilings while stalagmites rise from the floor. Given enough time they will eventually join and become a column.

click on this link to watch the Arizona State Park video

Kartchner Caverns

New Canon 7D

I picked up a serious camera today. A Canon 7D

Canon says it's a computer attached to a lens, capable of producing professional results. We'll see.

Aperture priority setting

Can't wait for these to ripen

excellent zooming capabilities!

great depth-of-field control

good macro capabilities

Palm Tree Trimming

Our neighbour had five palm trees trimmed earlier today.

$80.00 per tree. This Mexican does not work for free.

Amy visits

We were graced with Amy's presence for almost a week.

First order of business,   Margaritas

Amy, at home in the kitchen

Amy's famous Tortilla Soup and a glass of cool Chardonnay.

Amy's self portrait at the pool.

Tuesday rolls around and we celebrate Foursday, no, make that Fivesday. 

 Happy hour at PF Chang's where we start with Margaritas and enjoy endless Hors d'oeuvres.

The night is young so off we go the Mesa Lanes to lift heavy balls and wear funny shoes. Let's roll.

Tito perfects his delivery.

Yvonne gets 6 points.

Haboob and Yard Plants

Chuck & Ellen took this photograph from their doorstep last summer. That innocent looking house belongs to Sandi and Tito and judging by the direction the storm is travelling, ours will be engulfed in a couple minutes too.

A dust storm here is called a Haboob. They usually occur during the summer monsoon season.

Click the following link to see an amazing time-lapse video clip.

July 2011 Haboob hits Phoenix

Since we've started coming to Leisure World, in 2011, we've seen dust in the air before but it was never like this. This cloud was slowly creeping across Phoenix and covering everything in a layer of desert grit. Immediately following was a terrific rain storm that washed everything clean. Life is good here in Leisure World.

When you leave your house for the summer you can expect things to happen while you're gone. I think we got lucky this year. Our 6 ft curb-side Ocotillo was the only casualty of the summer. It apparently fell over during one of the summer rainstorms. As far as cacti go, it was on my least favourite list and I won't miss it.

Upon our return this year we noticed some changes in our yard plants. I had taken a few photos last year so I decided to compare a few of them.  Except for the automated drip system and some wire cages around the low plants, these plants are left to fend for themselves when we leave for the summer. Determining how much water they need during the extreme heat of the summer amounts to nothing more than a guess.  We were very pleased to see that all of our plants, except the Ocotillo, had survived the summer. Some days got up to 110 F (44C)

Last year our grapefruit tree produced only 3 grapefruits. We didn't expect very much from it this year except that Perry, our neighbour, said it normally produces lots of fruit.

Well, Perry was right. This year, over 50 big fat grapefruits hang from our tree.  All of them on the South side.  Can't explain why the tree is doing so well except that I had increased the watering frequency over the summer and painted the trunk white to keep it cool.  I've also had to trim the branches because some were touching the house.

Our little Hedgehog cactus only gets about half a gallon of water every month while we are here. During the summer it only gets watered during the occasional rainstorm. It flowered last year at the end of March so I assume it's getting adequate moisture.

This year we noticed two new stems on the Hedgehog.

That fat cactus in the foreground in front of the Red Yucca is an Indian Fig Cactus.  We noticed it last year when it was only 12" tall.

This year the Indian Fig is almost 3 feet tall.  The Red Yucca receives water every second day on our drip system and that's likely why the Indian Fig is doing so well.

When water is so readily available these desert plants do not develop much of a root system and they fall over because they get so top-heavy. I might have to move this guy for his own good.

This Sago Palm is one of three that we planted in our courtyard a month before leaving for Alberta lsat year. They receive approximately 3 gallons of water every two days throughout the summer.

This photo was taken in October after our return. The plant has filled out nicely and there are no dry or dead branches.

Our Totem Pole cactus cluster is mature and should not be over watered. It gets about half a gallon of water during the cool winter months.

During the summertime the Totem Pole only gets whatever water it can get from the summer rains. It's doing very well fending for itself. Note how it's filled out and has sprouted at least 3 new arms.

Last year we planted this Arizona Sweet Navel Orange and a Washington Navel.  Both are well suited for this climate and are two of the recommended varieties for the Sonoran desert. I installed a wire cages around the trees to keep the rabbits from eating the leaves. Both trees flowered before we left in the spring so we had high hopes for some oranges upon our return.

Wishful thinking I guess. The trees have filled out a bit and are a bit taller and appear healthy but no oranges.
We'll have to rely on Perry's generosity again this year. He has plenty of citrus and can't eat it.

Pima Air & Space Museum

Another FOURSDAY and another road trip and today, Tito's dream activity is being realized. 

We venture out to Tucson, Az where the Pima Air & Space Museum has over 400 displays of American Military aircraft, Nasa Space items and other unusual and rare exhibits including a few Soviet built MiG fighters. Later in the day, we take a bus tour of the AMARG Aviation Graveyard where over 4,000 military airplanes and helicopters are stored or dismantled for resale, recycle or demolition. AMARG (Aerospace Maintenace and Regeneration Group) boasts that it is the only US military department that actually makes money.

Entrance into the Pima Air & Space Museum

Let me start by saying that Yvonne and Sandi should be commended for being such good sports about today. Their retaliation day will certainly come.
I will only post a few of the photos I took and only those I found to be most interesting.

This Lockheed SR-71A is, by far,  the most impressive plane on display.  The "Blackbird" was a CIA operated 2-seater Spy Plane capable of speeds over Mach 3. It set a speed record of 2,193 mph and altitude record of 85,069 ft. Quite impressive for the 1970's. In 1990 it flew from New York to London in 1 hr - 55 min - 42 sec.  It was a gas guzzler and could only fly for 1.5 hrs without nursing from a flying fuel tanker.

The U.S. Air Force has been flying the F15A since 1970 and is only now starting to replace them with with the F22 Raptor. Rob and Julie, our friends here at Leisure World,  have a son who flies this type of fighter jet. I found that if you want to know anything about fighter aircraft just ask Rob or Julie.

That innocent looking little item on the dolly in front of the F4 Phantom is actually an unarmed nuclear bomb.

The MiG-23 was the Soviet Unions answer to American fighters such as the F4 Phantom in the previous picture. The Soviets built over 5000 of these MiG 23s.

This is an OV-1 Mohawk that was used for battlefield observation in the 1960's Vietnam war. They are normally equipped with only cameras and infra-red sensors but sometimes do carry armaments. As the story goes, a US pilot got very lucky while taking pictures and he shot down a Soviet MiG after it first attacked him and then inadvertently flew right into his gun-sights.

This odd looking helicopter is a Sikorsky CH-54 SkyCrane. 

Image from Wikipedia

 SkyCranes left military service in the 1990s and are now widely used as Heavy Lift helicopters for erecting electrical towers, fighting forest fires and extracting timber from remote areas. They can fly at 30,000 ft and can lift up to 20,000 lbs.

Various flag markings displayed on a F4 Phantom fighter.

 

This photo and the following one were downloaded from the AMARG website.  They show a small portion of the 4000 aircraft in storage at the Military Aviation Graveyard near Tucson. 

The aircraft are divided into two basic groups. Flyable and Un-flyable. Flyable means they can be made flyable. These are usually up for sale to friendly foreign nations or sometimes they might even end up in museums or displays. Un-flyable aircraft are usually destined to become spare parts for flyable aircraft. Whatever is left over will go to the shredder.

And finally, a glimmer of hope for the future. These B52 bombers are heading for the shredder but not because they are un-flyable.
Under the 2011 U.S. - Russian New-START Treaty, hundreds of B-52's like these, amongst other types of nuclear missile launchers, are being eliminated from the U.S. active arsenal.

This small airplane is equipped with a radar dome on it's back.  Our tour guide told us a funny story about this airplane. Apparently a lady reported that an airplane was being abducted by a Flying Saucer when she saw this unusual airplane taking off from the airport. 

We ended our day with Fajitas and Enchiladas at a Mexican restaurant called On the Border.  

Great choice for Foursday Tito. Now we have plenty of ammunition for our next encounter with Rob and Julie.