Daily Archives: April 9, 2015
April 9 Day 35 Mesa Arizona sec
I am in love all over again. With the desert. Of course it is only April and I have not lived through a 110 degree summer day. Oh my goodness, is it ever beautiful! I logged a few pictures on the blog, probably all in the uncategorized section. I still do not have the hang of this blogging stuff but I am slogging my way through it. I love doing it. Time is what I run out of.
Back to the desert. Please look at the few pics I logged today. One is along side the street where I was doing my morning walk. That is what yards look like here as well as the wild areas. It is illegal to cut down the tall cacti that you see in these pictures. If you see any huge piles of rocks in the pics they are all natural occurrences and cannot be moved even to build a house. You must build next to them and incorporate them into your yard as they stand. They look so dangerous and unsteady to me. Unless a plant is native to this region it cannot be planted in the landscape. In Phoenix I noticed a lot of palm trees and suggested to my host they would be pretty in her yard. The city of Mesa does not allow them to be planted because they are not native to this region. I behold this rugged landscape as serene and beautiful. It is spring here and some plants have already bloomed and other native plants are blooming. Unfortunately most of those pics are on my camera and not my cell phone. I only know how to transfer pics from my cell phone at present because they are all still in RAW in the camera.
What a beautiful community this is. My friend JoAnn and her husband Brent who live in Madison part of the year are currently here at their winter home. This area might be worth looking into if you are searching for a place to retire and don’t mind the summer heat. Mesa, which is in the Phoenix area is surrounded by mountain ranges. The first and largest is the mountain range I traveled through yesterday, the Tonto National Forest on the north and east sides of the Phoenix area. The South Mountain Range is, by coincidence, South of Phoenix. To the West of Phoenix is the White Tank MountainRange. I am very well acquainted with the Tonto Mountain Range as I spent several hours yesterday maneuvering curve after curve. It seems as if they go on forever.
Brent drove us up to the top of South Mountain today. The winding road, was perilously narrow with steep cliff drop offs. Brent was extremely adept at driving the roads and I did not once become concerned. Perhaps, because the road was so curvy that the speed was very slow. We SLOWLY made it to the top. And guess what I found at the top besides a splendid view? A photo op of course. There was a man standing on the window ledge of an old stone structure looking out over Phoenix. I asked if I could take his picture and he said yes. So I did. Actually, I took several silhouette photos of him as he stood there. It was awesome! I climbed onto a ledge at the back of the structure so I was almost level with him. I had the opportunity for some wonderful shots. I talked with him and he said I could post him on the blog. His name is Michael. And yes, he really was as muscular as his silhouette indicates. The last time I sent my husband a picture of a body builder at the gym in Arkansas he responded with “I THINK IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO GO TO YOUR NEXT DESTINATION”. He hasn’t yet responded to this one. Perhaps because he knows that as a photographer I really do see the body as a work of art.
The view was awesome as you can see in the background behind Michael. It was rather hazy and I do not have my zoom lens on my camera or on my IPhone. Look closely and perhaps you can see some of the mountains in the background. For some reason the camera just cannot capture enough to explain the true vastness of these mountains. I would like to relive everything in slow motion.
Lunch was at “Oregano’s”, an awesome Italian restaurant in downtown Phoenix. The downtown part of Phoenix is actually rather small compared to other cities of comparable size. Phoenix area has approximately 4,200,000 people. JoAnn and I orderd the special oregano salad, split it and took home over 1/3 of it. It was delicious. We finished eating about 3:30 and drove over to a resale shop. It closed in 15 minutes so we didn’t have much time to shop. I could have spent the day there. I’m still waiting to get hungry and it is almost 8:00 p.m. That salad was just too big.
It is days like today that are so awesome. Beautiful scenery, wonderful company, excellent food, and when we came home we just lounged under the lanai by the pool and listened to the waterfall spill over the “vanishing edge of the pool”. I enjoy each and every moment and live only in the present. Only in the present, in the presence of God.
I just had a call from my beloved and his words to me: “THAT BETTER BE A STATUE” relating to the silhouette photo of Michael that I sent him earlier. I said, “no, he was very alive”. Then Dave responds, “Oh, so now we know Michael really didn’t row the boat ashore, he carried it”.
A driving day tomorrow as I head out to California. “CALIFORNIA HERE I COME, RIGHT BACK WHERE I STARTED FROM”. Please remember to pray for driving protection for me. I thank you.
Good Night
April 8 Day 33 Arizona You are Beautiful
Albuquerque is behind me. The mile high city is behind me. Two mile high cities in a row. Tough on the body when it comes to exercise. So here I am in Mesa Arizona at 1,234 foot altitude instead of over 5,000 foot altitude. Tomorrow I will exercise and get back to routine.
The drive through New Mexico and Arizona was absolutely astounding. Everywhere I go I see more and more that amazes me. The first thing that took my breath away today was coming to the edge of the plateau from the mile high city and looking at the expanse before me. Miles and miles spread out in a panoramic view as far as I could see. Oh to be able to take pictures and drive at the same time would be awesome. I just tried to soak it all in as I descended the mountain. It was a straight road before me going down to the lower elevation. Then when I thought I was on the bottom, after a few miles a new view would await me as the altitude descended even more. The roads changed, the vegetation changed and the mountainous rock formations changed. By the hour the landscape just kept changing and changing. Just driving these roads made me wonder, not just about God’s creation but at the engineering and ingenuity of man’s capability to design such roads through the huge boulders and lava rock. This is a highway I would like to travel again, but slowly next time instead of at 75 miles per hour.
Once I crossed over into Arizona the terrain just abruptly changed to flat lands and more desert like conditions. At least for awhile. My first stop in Arizona was a necessity stop (restroom). Stops are few and far between so I take every advantage I can. This time it was at Tee Pee Trading Post. The shop was filled with native American authentic art and jewelry. I seem to meet the kindest people wherever I go. I was browsing and the cashier noticed my hands and asked if they hurt. I said yes and she showed me a little tin with an Indian remedy for easing arthritic pain. She opened it and gave me a sample on a little stick. I put it on my fingers. I don’t know yet if it works. I inquired about buying one but they were all out and she insisted on giving me the remainder that was in the little tin. I’ll use it and let you know if it works.
After awhile my ma mapquest directed me to go to a little less traveled road called Highway 87. If you want the boonies, then HWY 87 is it. For miles and miles there is absolutely nothing but small mountains and open spaces. I could tell the car was climbing but didn’t realize just how much. After about an hour or so I came across a small business, store/gas station, and a post office. A very small post office. I was curious so I took a picture of the post office and a man got out of his car and commenced to telling me that this post office was the smallest post office in Arizona and the 3rd smallest in the world. He introduced himself as the post master. He was proud to inform me that I was in Happy Jack, Arizona. The interior of the building was about 4 feet by 5 feet. I’ll post a couple of pictures of the interior. This little Happy Jack community was in the mountains and the population was not very dense. I couldn’t see even one house. A little before Happy Jack the forest began to thicken up and soon I realized I was really climbing. A sign told me that I was in the Tonto National Forest. I read later that this forest is the 4th largest forest in the United States and ranges from 1300 feet to 7900 feet in altitude. It is one of the most beautiful forests I have ever driven through. The vistas that I could see from the top were so breathtaking with the late sun dappling the huge jutting rocks on one side of the road and the drop off on the side of the road I was driving on. The road was so winding and the grade was steep, both up and down. Very good roads but very treacherous. Google Tonto National Forest pictures and look at some of the views I saw today. You will see why I thought they were so spectacular.
Once I climbed to the peaks of the Tonto range I could look out and see layers upon layers of more mountains. It seemed they were unending, one behind the other getting higher and higher. The views below were also amazing to behold. It was like looking down from heaven and seeing all the variations of color and trees and different heights that went on and on and on.
The fact that I arrived in Mesa Arizona astounds me. True, I followed the mapquest instructions ,one of which was wrong and sent me in the opposite direction but luckily I know North from South because my rear view mirror tells me, so I turned around. Once I saw a road sign to confirm I was going in the right direction I still wondered if I was really going someplace. There was no sign giving indication that I was headed in the right direction. I have never seen such a dearth of traffic signs as in Texas, New Mexico, and I found out today, in Arizona. You can go for miles and miles and not see a speed limit sign or notification of what highway you are on. It is confusing to me at imes to not have occasional verification as to what road I am on.
Tonight and tomorrow night I am staying with my friend JoAnn and her husband Brent. What a delight it is to be in their home. Can’t wait to take a better look at the area tomorrow. I am falling in love with the southwest. I think this may be my favorite place of all. Like I said, wherever I am becomes my favorite. Maybe that comes by being content in any situation or circumstance. Let’s see if I get along tonight with my bed that takes a stair way to climb into. I may be able to navigate 4, 300 miles to get here but let’s see if I can get up those three steps to the bed. It’s not the getting up I’m concerned with. Rather the coming down two or three times during the middle of the night. Don’t ask me why. Figure it out.
A lovely day! Some of my favorite times is when I am alone in the car enjoying the beauty around me. No TV, no radio, no headsets, no reading. Just living in that simple moment of time where I am, who I am. No demands on my time, no need to try to impress, no need to hurry, no consternation or concern about anything at all. Do you know how good that kind of living is? It is called a place of freedom. It is a place where I like to be. And it seems, looking back, that the closer I came to the Lord, the easier it was to live in the moment. It’s a nice place to live.
More tomorrow. But first I have to get there.
Goodnight
Visions of Poetry 