Desert Botanical Garden

It's official. From now on every Tuesday will be known as "Foursday" as far as the four of us are concerned. Last week it was Yvonne who came up with the Foursday outing and yesterday it was Sandi's turn. Sandi's choice: The Desert Botanical Garden just outside of Phoenix. Apparently, it will be up to the men to push the boundaries of the Foursday experience.

 Sandi and Yvonne, our tour guides for the day.

 Bunny Ear Prickly Pears, Beaver Tails, Mexican Fence Posts,
Organ Pipes and Horse Cripplers.

It must have been fun naming these cactus plants.

 Sandi and Tito in front of a Golden Barrel cactus garden.

 Have you ever wondered what the inside of a Saguaro cactus looks like?

Who hasn't!

 Replica of a O'odham Roundhouse. Shelter for the Pima natives hundreds of years ago.

 Yvonne checking out the ceiling beams in the roundhouse.

 The group had to listen to Robert's version of how cactus and various other life forms reproduce.

Another beautiful, cloudless, day in the desert.

Usery Mountain Park, Arizona

Yvonne had mentioned several times since our arrival here in Arizona that she wanted to walk the trails in Usery Park just outside Mesa. Last Tuesday, with our friends Sandi and Tito, we did just that. The moderate walk/hike/climb to Wind Cave was our goal and it took us around an hour to reach the spot shown at the tip of the red arrow in the first picture below. It looks further than it actually is, only 1.6 miles from where we are standing in the first picture and it takes less than 30 minutes to walk, one way....

 Sandi and Tito were up to the challenge too.

Sandi and Yvonne taking a breather.

 Yvonne approaching the end of the trail. Hiking beyond this point is not
recommended for novice climbers and we already thought we were
 pushing our luck by going this far.

 Interesting rock. Any snakes here?

 Yvonne standing in the Wind Cave formation.

Robert and Yvonne at the end of the climb with the Sonoran Desert 
and Phoenix in the far background.

Barrett-Jackson Auction

This is a "must see" event if you are in Scottsdale in January.

Car buffs from all over came to bid on unique and rare cars but most come just to ogle. For the most part, the sale was unreserved so, with a little luck, a bidder can get a terrific deal on the dream car of his/her youth.  

I was hoping to see a Mercury Cyclone "Spoiler" like the one I owned in 1970. 1291 cars and trucks were sold during the 6-day auction. Unfortunately I found everything was selling for a tad more than my retirement savings could afford.

1958 Corvette, 350 hp, 6 speed manual shift, sold for $110,000.00

1932 Ford INDY fully customized pick-up, $275,000.00

 My favourite, this award winning 32 Ford Roadster went for $330,000.00

1954 Kaiser-Darrin, $121,000.00.  #65 of only 435 ever built.
Check out the pocket doors on this little beauty. Perfect for today's tight parking spaces.
Custom car shops in California were putting 427s in these tiny 2-seaters. This one was still original.

 This very rare 1948 Tucker sold for $2,900,000.00
The highest paid for any car at this years sale. Some people clearly have too much money!

Too many dragsters to count.

They auctioned off some novelty vehicles too. This 1969 2-person Submarine 

came complete with a Paul McCartney signed Yellow Submarine guitar, $58,300.00

Perfect for finding those big fish in Lac La Nonne.

A 1935 Auburn Bobtail Roadster. A steal at $29,900.00 even if was a re-creation.

Somebody went home very happy.

This is what happens when a talented hot-rod builder with a wild imagination and metalworking skills gets the urge to build his own motorhome. The DecoLiner is born. It's the most unusual, one-of-a-kind, motorhome ever built. It has an outside staircase leading to a flying bridge up top. It can be driven from either inside or out. Too bad this polished aluminum work-of-art was not for sale. I really wanted it. Perfect for a Chevy Chase movie.

 This 1962 Corvette named "Elegance" has a 500 hp engine and went for $401,500.00
Apparently, this car has never been driven except on/off trailers at car shows.
I'd need two. One to show and one to drive.

1965 Amphicar, perfect condition, $63,800.00.

It was equipped with an anchor, lifejackets and a set of oars.

The line-up for this racing simulator was too long.

For a few bucks you could "ride along" with a professional driver on this parking-lot racecourse. Your choice of a souped up Corvette or Mustang.

Road Trip: Lake Havasu and Sedona

The New Year got off to a great start with a 4 day road trip to Lake Havasu and Sedona with friends Stan, Cathy and Rachelle. It was a good time to visit these towns because Winter is the off-season and the weather is still perfectly acceptable for us Canadians.

Two nights at the HEAT Hotel in Lake Havasu, on the "island".

Sitting on our balcony, the London Bridge in the background.

A short walk across the bridge from the hotel and we're off on a

Sunset Sightseeing Tour and a history lesson on a custom built pontoon boat.

The tour starts as we pass under the city's main attraction. Captain Kenny explains how the outgrown 1831 bridge, that originally spanned the River Thames in London England, was dismantled, moved and reconstructed in it's present-day location. The bridge was reassembled on dry land on a peninsula. Once completed, a channel was excavated under the bridge, thus creating an island at the other end of the bridge. The feat was completed in 1971 by  Robert P McCulloch, the chainsaw guy and founder of Lake Havasu City. I found out later, on wikipedia, that it wasn't entirely McCulloch's idea but he did get the credit for making it happen because he financed the project as an attraction to promote his new land development project, Lake Havasu City. Wow, the things you learn while floating on a reservoir in the desert.

Capt Kenny has been offering this tour for years and he knows exactly where to 

position his boat for the best visual effects.

The highlight of the tour was the Sleeping Indian complete with 

sound effects and setting sun.

Group photo taken by the Captain.

The next morning a different boat took us across the lake into California, not to gamble 

but to have lunch at the Havasu Landing Resort and Casino. 

Day #3 and we find ourselves in Sedona having lunch at the Cowboy Club restaurant. The plate in front of Yvonne was the appetizer special we shared. Cactus Fries, Skewered Buffalo Brochettes, Rattle Snake Meatballs, Flatbread with house-made sauces and Prickly Pear Margaritas.

The mountains and scenery that Sedona is known for.

Great place in Sedona to see and buy unusual artwork.

One of several courtyards in Tlaquepaque Village.

Tomorrow morning we leave Sedona for Phoenix and Mesa 

where Stan, Cathy and Rachelle will catch a flight back to Alberta. 

It was great having them over and we look forward to 

seeing them when we return in April.

New Years Eve

The house is suddenly filled with visitors from home.  Stan & Cathy, Rachelle, Paul & Maryanne, Maurice & Jeanette and Denis & Shannon dropped in to visit and celebrate the New Year.

Maryanne, Cathy, Rachelle and Yvonne test out the "feel" of 

the grass on the practice putting green at Rec 3

What do you do while waiting for midnight on New Years Eve?

Wine tasting of course!

5 wines ranging in price from $1.99 to $14.00, arranged

 in random order, to be blind tasted.

Stan keeping secret notes.

Judge Maryanne ensuring that the contestants remain orderly.

Cathy, Rachelle and Jeanette sniffing, sipping and savouring.

Serious note taking by Jeanette.

Maurice showed the best skill by Guessing the Bogle Petit Syrah as the most expensive wine.

Quote of the night: "I don't even like wine but I can still pick the most expensive one."

In the end, the most popular wine was the Little Penguin Shiraz $3.33 

Midnight arrives and we celebrated with our special musical instruments.

More music please.

New Years Day Supper at Mi Amigos, a Mexican Restaurant 10 minutes away. 

Denis, Paul, Shannon, Cathy, Rachelle, Maryanne, Robert, Stan

Where's Yvonne? Behind the camera.