Week thirteen @ BTA

Sunday February 13th, 2022

Sunday morning at six o’clock and Mr. Sam thought is was time for his morning treats, a couple of mornings of my early rising and now he thinks five o’clock is the new normal time. This morning is the last morning with a real frost risk, because as we look ahead the temperatures will be back in the seventies (twenties) this week. Because I was much more diligent this week with my daily blog updates, there was no late Saturday night of cramming to complete the blog, a nice change and one I will work diligently at duplicating.

It amazes me how quickly things can change, as we now have a couple of big events this week that look to be coming together, now we just have a few loose ends to tie up before we can make an announce, but stay tuned, looks like this year could end up being a very special year.

We have our last four hours to complete this weeks shift this morning, so 8 till noon and then we are off till Friday. I ordered a rock tumbler for Miss Laurie, everyone knows how much she loves her rocks, sea glass and sea shells. So now she is telling everyone that I’m her enabler, while I’m not sure that is a totally true statement, but if I can lessen the bowls full of newly discovered rocks soaking in water on our bathroom counter, then I think it is win win and beneficial to everyone.

A couple of the host volunteers had left for the weekend, one pulled their coach out, while the other just took their toad for an overnight event. I’m watching the Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament, always a good tournament to watch, as play is so effected by the weather off of the Pacific Ocean that it effects many scores, what makes it so interesting is that the Pebble Beach golf course is a public golf course so it can be played by any hacker for a mere $575 plus cart fee per person, or you could hire a caddie for just an extra $150, per person.

It’s going to be a big week in Arizona as the Waste Management golf tournament is being played at the TPC of Scottsdale golf course, this is the wildest event on the PGA tour with some serious party tents on many of the golf holes, certainly not your normal quiet soft clap of admiration by spectators at most tournaments, making it almost a must watch. Although the Sunday is always the quiet day at this golf tournament because there is that other little game happening on Sunday as well, you know that whole Super Bowl thing. And here at the arboretum we have a live music concert as well this Sunday afternoon in the picnic area to celebrate Valentine’s Day on Monday, so it will be a busy week.

So this afternoon was pretty much wasted watching television golf, news, YouTube, and the second episode of the Reacher series. Dinner was wings prepared in the air fryer, we had purchased the wings at Costco, precooked, frozen, even came with dipping sauce. Wings are not nearly as available here in Arizona as they were back home near Buffalo but there again there are a lot more tamales and enchiladas here to choose from. So just an early evening after a couple of long work days.

Monday morning and with coffee in hand I’m watching the sunrise over the eastern ridge, at 7:45, it is still a chilly morning with a 40°F (4°C) start, but we also still have this darn breeze making it feel cooler. So no early morning walk through the Arboretum this morning, but there will be a walk after breakfast, it’s been five days since my last adventure in the park, and I could be suffering a little bit of arboretum withdrawal.

Here are a few photos from this mornings walk through the Arboretum, Miss Laurie joined me for a stroll around the arboretum, going in latter in the day means there are lots of people doing lots of things, lots of bird watchers, many strollers, and even a power walker strutting around the main arboretum trail backwards, and when I say backwards it is because there is an easier way to walk the trail and a more difficult way, and she was doing laps the difficult way. There were a number of cardinals again this morning, and they don’t seem to be afraid of us, oh they still keep their distance but will sit nearby as if they are observing us as much as we are are admiring them.

We stopped a number of times to sit and listen to the birds, I even jumped up and down on the suspension bridge, just like a child, I know I’m an old fart but there is just something about a suspension bridge that brings the kid out in most of us. The staff are making some much needed repairs on the Benson bridge, that’s the wooden bridge over the Silver King Wash, this was a bridge donated by the Benson family, after hearing stories of their father trying to cross the wash to lubricate the pump during some storms from the past, a great story that I have detailed in my Arboretum review that is soon to be published.

On our return to the coach Miss Laurie caught up on laundry while I worked on the blog, it is still breezy so it is not possible to leave the coach awning extended, although I did try, after our lunch we headed for the antigravity chairs on the patio, to absorb some of that Arizona sunshine, I have a new book that I’m reading “Birds, Bats, & Baling Wire” and while the title would maybe not have likely caught my attention, this is a true story of a portion of the life of one of the host volunteers, so I have to admit that I was at least curious if nothing more. But five chapters in I have to admit I can’t wait to get to chapter six to see what happens next.

“For five years the Anderson lived in Goose Prairie, Washington, population 12, surrounded by the William O. Douglas Wilderness Area without telephones, televisions, or commercial power.”

“Kathleen was the proprietor of the Double K Mountain Ranch, a bed and breakfast retreat center in the Cascade Mountains.”

“Join her as she experiences the joys and trials of mountain living.”

Our wondering host volunteers have all returned, and Tom & Kathleen stopped by first this afternoon for a beverage, we soon had to move our gathering to the common area, to allow us to spread out and also sit in the sunshine as Lincoln and John & Karen also joined us, and as the sunset, I fired up the propane fire pit to take the chill out of the cooling evening air. We heard about their weekend adventures, while enjoying a couple of adult beverages, and of course hit some of the regular RV talk topics while sitting around a campfire, like propane fills, fuel prices, and the ever popular camping sites. We also discussed the upcoming events, the concert here at Boyce Thompson Arboretum, and we discussed some plans to enjoy the Super Bowl after the concert, you know real important things for a group of work campers.

I barbecued burgers for dinner as we all retreated for the warmth of our coach’s, I’m pretty sure Laurie is just messing with me because burgers are usually Friday nights dinner, we watched some of the Olympics on the television, and then called it an early evening as we both felt tired.

Tuesday morning and I’m up at six o’clock, and already the first signs of dawn are showing on the eastern skyline, Mr. Sam has scarfed down his treats and is settling on my lap for our scheduled alone time until Miss Laurie wakes just before seven. And while still being cool this morning I headed out the door for my morning walk through the arboretum, and I decided to be a rebel and walk the main trail backwards, I know, I’m out of control on a Tuesday morning. Well maybe not that far out of control, I do this every week or so, because besides being the more difficult route, it also changes you view, and you get to notice some sights that may be missed by always walking the same direction.

Upon my return to the coach Miss Laurie baked some biscuits for breakfast, a little jam, a tasty breakfast, a quick update of the blog and I’m thinking that I should be heading outside shortly. But that was put on hold as Miss Laurie needed a white blouse to work the concert at the arboretum this weekend, so a trip to Mesa where we found an Old Navy and a Ross outlet, we were able to find more than we actually needed, I found a pair of cargo shorts for $15 which I thought was a great price, cause the original tag was $42, but then Laurie found an embroidered sweatshirt for $0.97, the original price tag was $35, not much more to say about that.

We purchased fuel, and while still expensive for down here at $3.699 per gallon, or $0.95 U.S. per liter, when converted back to Canadian dollars is $1.19 per liter, expensive but cheaper than back in Ontario. A supply stop at Fry’s Marketplace for some items to get us through till next week and we were headed back to the Arboretum and to the coach. The breeze seems to have lightened so we will try the awning again, and I’m looking forward to getting back into my book, maybe with a cold beverage to cool my lips and to quench my thirst, could be in order.

Five o’clock and I’m headed into the coach, I knocked off another dozen chapters of Kathleen’s book, but it’s time to catch up on the happenings around the world and here in sunny Arizona. It’s also taco Tuesday and as Miss Laurie works in the galley, tonight’s tacos are smelling yummy. Well I’m pleased to report that those tacos were just as tasty as they smelt, tonight we are catching up on a couple of series, an 1883 episode, and a couple of episodes of Reacher before turning in for the evening.

Wednesday morning, it’s six thirty and apparently Mr. Sam thinks it’s time that I was up, I think it’s more about his morning treats than about his time with me, I could be wrong but this is one seriously food motivated kitty. Laurie was up just a few minutes after me, so proving my point, no lap time with me this morning. It’s a very mild morning and the breeze has finally laid down so by seven fifteen I as headed to the arboretum for my morning walk-a-bout, and as I have stated numerous times ever trip is different then the previous, and I leave after each adventure in aw of the Arboretums beauty. But this mornings walk left me some what frustrated, it never fails to amaze me just how ignorant some people are.

As I made my way around the main arboretum trail, I noticed some new carvings on one of the eucalyptus tree. What kind of a goof goes to a ninety eight year old arboretum and carves their name into a tree.

Obviously a very special goof and this goof has a girlfriend who thinks that it’s ok to deface a tree in this manner, so they will most likely marry because that’s what goofs do. Then they will have a whole gaggle of little goofs that they can teach to deface trees the same as their goof parents must have done with them.

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Goof, on being so “special”!

Eucalyptus just one variety of the huge Myrtle tree family with over 700 variations under the Myrtle umbrella. We are fortunate enough to have a number of different species in the arboretum, and they range is size from almost shrub like to the tall majestic red gum variety that can stand 200 feet tall. Here at the arboretum we have some of the largest eucalyptus trees in North America, so it breaks my heart to see them defaced.

As I continued this mornings walk I was caught off guard by the unusual quiet along the Queen Creek riparian, this is an area with substantial bird life. Even the walk up to and past the Clevenger house was eerily quiet, a couple of rabbits under the salt cedars near the creek and a couple of rock squirrels scurrying along the ridge, but no quail or cardinals. I even sat for a few moments nearby thinking it was possibly my presence that was causing the quiet but after a number of moments still just quiet. The photos below are a few of this mornings shots.

Miss Laurie has decided that the first items to be tumbled will be about half of her apache tears, because they are already rounded it is more of a polishing process, so there are four levels of grit to choose from so after some pondering #3 was chosen, and some water to complete the mix. It was quickly realized that this was going to be way too noisy to tumble for six days in the coach so I cleared a spot in the basement for the tumbler to live and operate, we will check the results in a couple of days.

It is another sunny day in the Arizona desert and the sunshine feels hot when sitting out, but the temperature today is 70F (21C), I’m reading more of Kathleen’s book and Miss Laurie is painting a thank you note to the Savino’s for a very special hand made gift. She joined me on the patio for a beverage and as the afternoon rolled along Tom & Kathleen joined us for a happy hour beverage.

I barbecued a couple of chicken breasts for dinner, but they are so large that we will most likely split one, add some rice and buttery brussel sprouts and its nearly a perfect dinner, catch up on some news, a couple of YouTube videos then a couple of episodes of Reacher and it’s nine thirty and time for bed.

Thursday morning and a five thirty start for me, Mr. Sam always happy to get his treats early, and stretched out on my lap for a nap while I checked our emails, I decided to head to the arboretum early this morning, at 50C (10C) it is certainly a nice warm morning, so by seven I was off for my morning trek around the main arboretum trail. Knowing I am the only person in the arboretum, with the birds, the bunnies, and all the other creatures that I haven’t seen yet. Before the first staff members start at seven thirty, so by getting out ahead of the staff just allows a better chance a sighting wildlife. The birdlife was everywhere this morning so I decided to sit near the Picket Post House just to listen for a few moments, then instantly it was all quiet just like the day before but this time I found the reason why.

Just above the ridge was a large hawk circling, I tried to get a photo but with a moving target, an iPhone, zoomed out to 10x, lets just say it is not a very great picture.

But during the period when the hawk was in view, the arboretum was dead quiet and after the hawk disappeared the birds came back to life.

So I’m thinking he was close by yesterday, just our of my sight lines.

Back at the coach by eight fifteen and catch up on a little breakfast while watching the news and catching up on my postings. We are heading to Gold Canyon to-day to have lunch with Ray & Karen, its been almost two weeks since we have seen them as Ray has been under the weather and has not been up to his usual hectic pace. As we head to the valley the temperatures will be near 80F (27C) a number of degrees warmer than we would experience here at the elevation at the arboretum.

What a great day from so many outlooks, the weather could not have been finer, temperatures were perfect, we sat on Ray & Karen’s patio, enjoyed a cold beverage, we were treated to a hot lunch with a salad, we learnt a new game “Fast Track”, then had tiramisu for desert. And talked and laughed our way till eight thirty, again we are so blessed to have such good friends. Ray is feeling much better, and is on some medication for an inner ear virus that was throwing his equilibrium off, which effected his hearing, and balance, but there was no sign of any issue today.

We made it back to the arboretum and our coach just after nine o’clock, no need for any television this evening, Miss Laurie took a few minutes to appease Mr. Sam who was not pleased with his dinner being four hours late. I’m taking a few moment to reflect on the days events, as we had shared some of our upcoming travel plans with Ray & Karen. and keeping with my new plan to keep up to date with this blog to avoid the Saturday night marathon. So now its close to ten and I’m headed to bed to prepare for our Monday morning.

Friday, and we are back to work for an eight o’clock start, Mr. Sam thought that I should be up or at least he thought I should get his treats so at 5:40 I full filled his request, and he honored me with nearly an hour of lap time before heading to my spot on the big bed. It’s now 6:30 and dawn is close at hand, as my iPhone comes to life this morning and the first thing to flash up is a weather advisory, I’m still getting all the alerts from LHR, I guess I need to figure out how to stop them someday. But in the mean time it’s kind of fun to see what we are avoiding, it’s 46°F (8°C) a little cooler than yesterday, but way better than that weather advisory thing … jus’saying.

So we start the day with a bowl of cereal, a cup of coffee and a couple of vitamins, Miss. Laurie has packed our lunch, and filled our water bottles and we will be heading out the door shortly. Because it is to be in the mid 70’s (20’s) today I decided shorts were in order but that cold hit me as I exited the coach, we had the outside displays uncovered before Chris landed to open the door, Miss Laurie is helping in the store until more staff arrives, and by twenty after eight I have checked in two members and a guest, it needs to pickup or it could be a long day.

So while I’m waiting for admission number four I decided to do some checking on what it would take to move this counter that is on the south wall of the admissions booth to the west wall where we actually are greeting the guests. And I was pleasantly surprised that the stainless steel counter is actually sitting in a one inch angle, so the removal of a couple of dozen screws and it should be free to reposition on the wall that actually faces once visiting guests. It will also pave the way for the addition of a second check-in window for the members.

Because I don’t want to alienate myself with the maintenance staff I’m going to try and talk with Lenard who is the head of maintenance, and offer to take on this project for him, it looks like at most an hour and half to move the equipment out, move the shelf, and get the equipment reset up, but I also know it has been a subject of some friction between departments, and I’m not trying to throw gasoline on any fires.

One of our favorite visitors is Lucy, she is the only dog among all of the host volunteers, and is always so excited to see either myself or Laurie, she is Tom & Kathleen’s dog and always brings a smile to our faces with her antics. Mr. Sam is not as impressed, because with most small dogs their movements are too quick to make him comfortable, oh he will sit and watch from the coach door, but that is usually as close as he wants to be.

The admissions traffic picked up and by 11:00 when Miss Laurie relieved me so that I could water plants, we were well on the way to two hundred visitors. The build up of plants for next months plant sale has started already, so the watering time is stretching out to over an hour to water just the plants at the visitor Center, as a truckload was just delivered on Thursday and there are many more on their way, the spring and fall plant sales are some of our biggest fund raisers, and while a lot of the plants are grown on site, we don’t have the space to grow them all, so they arrive by the truckload right up until sale day.

Miss Laurie and I switched off to allow us to both get some lunch, a number of things are always in play. The arboretum offers these discovery tours at no charge, and on Thursday & Friday there are two one at 10 am and another at 1 pm, people can sign up on line for the tours, but because they don’t pay for the tour they just don’t show up. So there is always extra confusion around tour times with people checking in for the tour or trying to get enough people to make the tour worthwhile.

I had more watering to do at the growing beds, which are located near the propagation greenhouse, and the number of pots increases daily as we are building stock for the big sale, so now that area involves more than an hour of watering. Because the store is getting so much new merchandise in they are short staffed to get it priced and on to display, so Miss Laurie is helping out in the store to cover lunches and staff shifts and shortages. So, today I started in the admissions booth and also finished my shift in the booth as well, today was just under 400 visitors, not a busy as we would like but not bad for a workday, it’s always busier on the weekends.

After our shift we sat on the patio for a little while with a beverage to wind down, it’s nice that the temperatures are warming, making it very comfortable , but by five thirty we moved inside, to catch up on the news before I barbecued burgers, our regular Friday night dinner. And as I checked emails the last piece of this year’s puzzle seems to be falling into place, more on that in the next week or two. This evening is catching up on some YouTubers, and a couple of episodes of a series from the food network that our streaming service saves for us to watch at our convenience, before turning just before ten.

Saturday and another early start, 5:30 and I’m up and going, again Mr. Sam is happy for his treats a little early and I’m also rewarded with some valuable lap time, a lot of my blogs are written with the kitty on my lap, I don’t know as it is inspirational but I’m sure it is calming, it’s hard to rant when receiving so much love. So, if yesterday was our Monday, then today has to be our Wednesday or hump day, it should be busier today, but there should be more store staff as well, and we have three tours today at 10, 11 and at 1 o’clock, we will hope for close to eight hundred visitors today, but the PGA (Professional Golf Association) is playing in Scottsdale so it may not be a busy as we hope today or it could be lots of ladies escaping their significant others, I guess we will know shortly. Another morning of cereal, a vitamin, and a coffee before our eight o’clock start.

This mornings temperature is 52°F (11°C) but the wind is back, so we will have to batten down today, our days has stretched out to 10 hours and fifty five minutes, and we are expecting another day in the seventies ( twenties) today so just another sunny day here in Arizona.

The first visitor checked in at 8:01, I had just opened the booth while Miss Laurie was helping in the store, another first time visitor to Arizona’s best kept secret. The pace through the morning was steady, but not a busy as we are usually hoping for, I had watering detail again this morning, all the newly transplanted items need lots of tender loving care until they get their roots established in their bigger pots.

There are lots of people hustling hither and thither completing tasks for tomorrow’s big event, cases of beverages, bags of ice, chairs, tables, decorations and probably lots of things we never seen. It’s noon now and I’m grabbing a tuna sandwich and some pretzels (Dots) for lunch, it just works out better on the eight hour days to pack a lunch, something we can grab quickly between the surges of visitors. Miss Laurie is much quicker in the booth than I am so I usually take the job of map explainer to direct people to the different areas of the arboretum.

Well when I returned from lunch, I found that Miss Emily had decorated the admissions booth with some valentines and then I see the “kissing booth” sign on the window next to Miss Laurie, and there I was without any money. Of course that took a strange twist when I took over while Miss Laurie had lunch jus’saying. The wind subsided this afternoon, wind in the desert is a normal occurrence, but how they start and stop still amazes me almost as much as they way they change direction.

The afternoon seemed to drag a bit, the days that aren’t as busy are like that, and with half an hour to go I’m thinking about a cold cocktail after work instead of what I’m supposed to be. None of what we do is complicated or difficult it’s just very repetitive and your also trying to maintain that we are thrilled to see every visitor mode, it all goes back to the first impression and we only get one chance. At 4:00 we were packing up and heading to the coach, I’m going to watch the last few moments of the third round of the Waste Management golf tournament, then make a cold beverage to enjoy before dinner.

I snapped a couple of photos as we walked down the ramp at the visitors center, everyone likes a photos of flowers on a sunny warm afternoon.

Dinner tonight was salad with sliced chicken breast, a little catch up on the news to see what is happening in the area, we watched a few YouTube videos, and then the last two episodes of Reacher the latest series from Prime Video, then finished the evening with an episode from the food channel. It has been an interesting week, and next week looks to be even more interesting as we start to put a plan together for the rest of the year, and some of the options will be exciting so stay tuned.

Only 36 days till spring – Be well, stay strong

Blog 404

Day 1594

Week twelve @ BTA

Sunday February 6th 2022

Sunday morning, and it’s just seven o’clock, I kind of slept in this morning, it was near midnight when I finally hit the hay. The blog got published as scheduled and there have been a number of hits already, I guess all those snowed in folks on the eastern seaboard needed some morning entertainment. I may have to rethink the Sunday morning blog release or maybe I just need to be more diligent at keeping it up with daily entries, because I was a couple of hours tying up loose ends from mid week, before being able to publish.

It’s a warm but cloudy morning here in Arizona, with an eight o’clock start time today we just have time for a vitamin, some cereal, and a coffee (with Baileys) and were out the coach door. We like to get there a few moments early, to switch on the computer and prepare to receive visitors, and be ready for the gate opening at eight, and we often also assist the morning store staff by moving the display racks out from their night storage spots in the store itself. But this morning as we stood by the still locked store door, there were a number of vehicles entering the lot and still no staff to unlock the store and allow us to get our money drawer and key to open the admissions booth. So by the time I have the computer terminal turned on and are able to process guests, there is a lineup before eight and then of course the credit card terminal decided not to energize this morning, I think that it was not seated properly in its cradle overnight, and because the battery won’t hold a charge it was discharged, and then it has to re-charge enough to be able to turn on. Ten minutes later the world is all good again, with everything up and running and the lineup is gone.

So there was no quiet walk through the arboretum this morning, that makes three days in a row, and I do really kind of miss it, so no photos to start the blog this Sunday, but I promise there will be soon, so by noon at the end of our shift, we had completed a busy morning, maybe not Saturday busy but much busier than a Friday. So we are done our shifts till 8 o’clock Friday morning, Miss Laurie put together a small charcuterie board for lunch, cheese, several meats, pickles and crackers. Just a regular lunch for us, something to eat slowly to enjoy the flavours, with a cold adult beverage in the Arizona sunshine.

Miss Laurie has arranged a get together with all the other host volunteers for this afternoon at four o’clock in the common area. It had been a while and because we do not all work in the same areas and some work opposite shifts, so this is after everyone’s shift, and it’s just a couple of beverages and some snacks, the outcome is yet to be determined, but that happens after my nap in the afternoon sunshine. I’m pleased to report that the evening was a success, everyone got to met all the hosts and as the days are stretching out a little further, everyone stayed until the sun set, and there seemed to be good conversation amongst the group. There are now seven couples so the one couple is camped on the other side of the arboretum, up near the picket post house, so some of the group had not met them before this evening.

By seven o’clock everyone was gone and the area cleaned up, we settled in to catch up on YouTube, have a little more dinner, watch 60 minutes, and headed for bed by nine thirty. Our work shifts are intense but after working only two and a half days later, we have four full days off.

Monday morning and I’m up way too early this morning five o’clock, just because of a nature call, but Mr. Sam needed a couple of treats and then he likes to curl up on my lap, and to be real honest I kind of enjoy this little tradition in the mornings as well. He is a very affectionate cat, and will spend hours sitting or laying on our laps, and on these cool mornings he is like a furry hot water bottle. So the cat is on my lap and I’m starting to draft this weeks blog.

A walk through the arboretum this morning, I took some less traveled paths, and seen more signs of some javelinas, there were lots of bird life this morning and I have to admit that I walked some paths that I have never been on before. The morning sunshine made for some spectacular views, and although I got a bit of late start, I walked for a full hour and only seen my first guest as I exited through the visitor center.

On my return to the coach Miss Laurie made me sausage and eggs for breakfast, yes some of those “Maple, Apple, Pecan pork sausages”, and while you might think they sound too sweet but there is a subtly hidden little bit of heat that just adds some punch to the flavour profile. Miss Laurie was doing this weeks laundry this morning and thought she wanted to go for a hike in Arnett Canyon so I loaded up the drone and the GoPro along with some water and we drove to the trailhead.

This area of Arizona has so many hiking trails that it can almost be confusing, and when they name some of them the LOST trails you might even think a little unnerving. But here in Arizona LOST stands for “Legends of Superior Trails” and we were headed for that trail through Arnett Canyon. The map below was located at the trail head and showed a number of trails even the “Arizona Trail” which crosses through this area, it starts at the Mexican border and treks north to the Utah State line and is 800 miles long. And while the map board was loaded with information did very little to explain the local hikes or the LOST trails, so when we returned to the coach I found the LOST trails map.

This map details the trails so much better, and with the addition of a second vehicle would make these trails one way hikes instead of our halfway and turn around. This was an excellent hike, and knowing it was just one ridge south of the arboretum, and was burned in the Telegraph fire last summer, left us feeing saddened by the damage but really thankful for the hard work of the firefighters to save the Arboretum from this disaster.

I feel that I need to add some details of a near loss of the Boyce Thompson Arboretum, last summer from the Telegraph Fire that that started southeast of the town of Superior early in June and burnt until early July before finally being contained at the Arboretum property line. The telegraph fire was the sixth largest fire in Arizona history and destroyed 180,000 acres. The reason I bring this up is that the canyon we hiked through today was scared from that fire less that a year earlier. It made parts of todays adventure seem very sad, when you see century old saguaro cactus destroyed, as well as the loss of wildlife in the area, I can not imagine the anxiety of knowing this fire was just a few hundred yards away, and being almost helpless to protect this ninety eight year old treasure. But obviously someone felt that way as well and decided to direct water bombers in to drop their slurry along the boarders of the Arboretum to save it from being destroyed.

After our return to the coach about three hours later, a bowl of soup for lunch followed by a shower to wash the dust off, and I must admit the temptation to take an afternoon nap was running strong. But I resisted and spent the afternoon napping in my recliner in between researching information for this blog. As we closed in on dinner time, we got a last minute invitation to join Tom & Kathleen and Mary and Lincoln for enchiladas around their fire pit along with a beverage or two, but again the cool evening sent us scurrying back to the coach to warm up and watch the most recent episode of 1883, before turning in, and as I checked my activity app and notice 14104 steps, well over my daily average, maybe could explain a few new aches and pains this evening … jus’saying.

Tuesday morning and a big welcome to February, a whole month of 2022 already in the books, it is hard to believe that we have been here almost three months. So time does fly when you are having fun, we have just verified that little phrase. It is another sunny morning, as I can’t seem to get my butt in gear this morning to take that early morning walk through the arboretum.

The weather forecast for the next week is not maybe what we would hope for but as I watched the national weather forecast this morning I guess we really can’t complain. And a couple days under sixty is very doable, when there are getting freezing temperatures as low as Florida. Notice all those sunny days for the next week as well.

And after speaking with family back in Ontario 50°F (10°C) doesn’t seem as bad as the weather they were describing, we sure are glad that border opened!

So what is happening today? I foresee a walk in the Arboretum today, it’s just too beautiful not to spend some time there again today, I’m also hoping to get back to some video editing, but I think breakfast will be first on the agenda. In fact I can smell it cooking as I type on my laptop, breakfast this morning has a cheese omelet with some more sausages and as I was sitting enjoying it, I get a ping on my laptop that Tom Brady is retiring. Oh wooppee!

I have never been a Tom Brady fan, it’s not that he was anything but a capable quarterback, I think that that handful of super bowl ring proves that point. No I think its just that level of arrogance that some athletes take on, as they just have to be the center of attention whether it is because of their cheating or the need to announce their retirement after they were unable to get to this years big event, but want to try to steal as much attention as possible from the super bowl, and I’ve seen way too many athletes retire way too many times, after a few months out of the spotlight they usually manage to resurface again to try steal some more headlines. So goodbye and good riddance Tom and if you took Arron along with you, that would be OK as well, as he is starting to implode as well, and after this seasons display of stupidity and arrogance. Its time to move on and let the young guns to step in and take over, and my prediction is you will not be as missed as everyone might think.

Sorry for that little rant, they sometimes just sneak out, when I least suspect them. So I have been kicking around the idea of upgrading my video editing program, to something easier to use, what I find with program that I use now that a video with a number of videos clips it becomes too difficult to operate, it works well with two or three clips but because of multiple cameras, I’m ending up with well in excess of ten clips, then throw in a few photos, an introduction and an ending. And it just becomes two difficult to work with it, so I have downloaded a new program for a 7 day free trial, so I spent close to three hours trying it out and piecing yesterdays hike into a video that I think will be watchable, it’s a learning process but the eze of using the program seems much better and with close to twenty clips from GoPro, DJI Drone, iPhone, and still photos it seems easier and photo overlays are much easier. I have hit some sort of a glitch with a video graphics card issue, that I will look at tomorrow, I need a break today so I’m headed into the arboretum for a walk.

My walk through the arboretum today was as enchanting as always, it’s like chicken soup for the soul, and I started out for just a short walk, because the old hips are a little tender from yesterdays hike yet, but every where I looked there is more signs of the arboretum blooming it’s way into a desert spring. somewhere upstream must have got some rain yesterday as well because I got to watch Queen creek start flowing again through the arboretum, not a rushing torrent this time, no just a gentle flowing creek that just adds another element to the beauty of this place.

Miss Laurie spent a few hours painting yesterday, it’s seem like it has been a long time since she has sat and painted, I don’t think she realizes how talented she is, with the same eye that she can create depth in a photo, she can use to bring life to her paintings. Karen is a weaver, and has been dabbling with water colour, so Laurie showed her this painting and she was more than impressed, I have always admired her talent, but I’m just her husband.

John & Karen invited us over to sit around their fire pit, Miss Laurie made a round of whiskey sours and I tried a vanilla porter from a Colorado brewer, one of the singles I picked up at Total Wine, and I’m glad I didn’t buy a six pack, it was ok but not worth the extra price. We enjoyed some good conversation but by dusk decided it was time to barbecue before it was too dark. Barbecued pork chops, brussel sprouts, and some rice for dinner, didn’t get to watch any news as the streaming service was down, so we streamed some documentaries on the State of Utah and Yellowstone National Park, both we well done and took us around to bedtime.

Wednesday morning and welcome to Groundhog Day, that day when everyone waits to hear if some rodent seen his shadow or not, to forecast whether or not it will be an early spring. I don’t care because spring has arrived to the Arizona desert, end of story for me.

So it’s another early morning for me a nature call and an aching back had me up just before five this morning, right now I’m kicked back in my recliner, Mr. Sam is stretched out on my lap, and I’m catching up my blog on my iPad. I have the blinds open so I can see east toward the rising sun. It is quiet here at the arboretum, highway 60 is a ways away and we only here the occasional Jake brake from trucks as they wind their way through the valley toward Superior before starting the climb to Globe thirty miles east or as the start to climb to Gonzales Pass as the head West to Phoenix. It’s a few minutes after six now and I have disturbed Mr. Sam, because I had to shift my legs, so he has most likely headed to the big bed for his morning nap, but I can hear him having a snack at his bowl on the way by.

Yesterday I spent a lot of time in my chair working with the editing program so my step count was very low, even with my walk in the arboretum I was still only 3500 well below the daily goal that I set for myself so at first light this morning I’m heading to the arboretum, after that I really don’t know we are expecting sunshine but daytime temperatures only in the low fifties (10 to 11°C range) but it’s 43°F (6°C) already ant it looks like much cooler tomorrow morning so today is the early walk.

I was out of the coach at 7:30 and wondered around the main arboretum trail this morning, the morning started overcast so I was unable to get any photos with that morning sunshine. But the birds were out in full force this morning, so I stopped near the Clevenger house this morning to watch some cardinals for a while, a gila woodpecker, the a rufous-backed robin, along with lots of desert wrens. I met Lincoln with a cart full of frost-cloths, as most of the staff is preparing for the next few nights with the frost warnings. I arrived back at the coach shortly after 8:30 to a hot cup of coffee. Excuse the photos there were pulled from my iPhone video, taken at six times magnification.

Breakfast this morning was panettone French toast, with my Baileys laced coffee, talk about decadent. Whether I’m worth it or not could be debated for ever, but it was excellent and I think I was worth it, end of discussion.

Now I understand the high calorie breakfast, Miss Laurie has decided that we should go and look for “Apache Tears” and apparently they are are only located on the top of mountains, or at least that was how it seemed. Now I first heard of Apache tears in March of 2020 when we last visited this area of Arizona, and although we did not get a chance to scout for the tears then it had been added onto someone’s “to do” list and today it got added to mine.

Wikipedia:

Apache tears are rounded pebbles of obsidian or “obsidianites” composed of black or dark-colored natural volcanic glass, usually of rhyolite composition and bearing conchoidal fracture. Also known by the lithologic term “marekanite”, this variety of obsidian occurs as subrounded to subangular bodies up to about 2 inches in diameter, often bearing indented surfaces.^[1] Internally the pebbles sometimes contain fine bands or microlites and though in reflected light they appear black and opaque, they may be translucent in transmitted light. Apache tears fall between 5 and 5.5 in hardness on the Mohs scale.^[2]

We had heard many suggestions as to where to go and how to get there, and all indicated an uphill adventure, and the Perlite Road was mentioned often, I’m thinking road, we have a 4X4 vehicle how bad can that be?

It was a road at one time, well it is a road, but it goes nowhere and you can’t get to that road from here. Well that’s not totally true, but it is a tough journey to say the least. Many years ago the Perlite Road connected with US-60, but when it was widened, Perlite road was cut off, as it was no longer the main access to the Perlite mining operation, so now it’s just a steep winding road up the side of a ridge. For our LHR family picture the beach access hill only 1.6 kilometres (1 mile) long!

Let’s just say that I’m pretty sure that I have exceeded my steps for today, in reality the beauty of the view from the top of the ridge almost make the journey worth while, and we were able to gather a few hundred Apache tears in an hour or so, they are sitting on the surface, and are spotted by a little sparkle from the tear itself when it catches the sunshine just right.

**Panoramic view from ridge, notice the perlite mine in the middle of view**

**View from the other side of the ridge of Arnett & Telegraph Canyon**

We had left the coach around 11am and after a short drive to determine how to get the closest possible to the Perlite road, the hike up to the top of the ridge, an hour of collecting, the hike back down off the ridge, and the drive back to the coach by 4:15pm. Let’s just call it a full shift, there wasn’t a lot of activity after landing into my recliner, Miss Laurie made pizza in the air fryer, a catch up on the news, and a little mindless television, before turning in for a well earned sleep.

Thursday morning and another early start for this guy, 32°F (0°C) but feels like 23°F (-5°C), so the weather people are now trying to explain “wind chill” to the folks here in sunny Arizona. There will be no early morning walk through the arboretum this morning, too cold, too tired, too many aches and pains, yea this guy’s feeling used and abused this morning. I guess 12,626 steps yesterday is taking a toll on my get up and go.

I’m starting into my second cup of coffee and it’s not even eight o’clock yet, I just had to close the blind to block the sunshine from blinding Miss Laurie, but I can feel the warmth already from the sun. I’m not sure what today will bring, but right now I don’t see a lot of productivity happening today, and after this week I’m thinking it is time to go back to work for a bit of a rest.

Ok the good news is that by noon I had got dressed, I’m still in the coach, but small steps, I’ve been making some calls to correct some issues, we have had some problems getting credit cards, that were up for renewal, so it’s a long process to get new cards sent to an America address from Canadian credit card companies. I’m also in the process of cleaning my computer, not physically, although I should do that as well, no this is just removing duplicate files, apparently in excess of 23,800 duplicated files, that’s going to take some time to sort through.

Miss Laurie has driven into Mesa for the weekly supply run, apparently there were a number of empty shelves for some basic regular supplies, but there were lots of “Super Bowl” snacks and beverages available, it’s all about your priorities that’s all. I watched some of the Pro-Am golf tournament from Pebble Beach, always neat to see the amateurs try to stay out of the way if the professionals. Some of the amateurs are celebrities others sport hacks, and even some high value executives and they are always fun to watch flounder.

Miss Laurie made meatloaf fir dinner always a cool weather favorite, and we caught up on a couple of YouTube videos, and a couple on nature shows from Australia, always entertaining to see the different species from down under, still a little a few aches from this weeks adventures we were in bed before ten o’clock.

Friday and we are back to the admissions booth, so breakfast, coffee, a little news to try to be up to date with the world affairs and out into the cold, our shift today is eight hours and with a number of school trips scheduled for today it could be a noisy day.

The admissions booth has been a work in progress since we first moved in at Christmas time, the booth was designed to be set up a different location than where it is now. But because of the size and the weight of this prefabricated building this location was a last moment choice. So none of the counters are by the windows that were designed to used to sell admissions. Now they have removed the two small counters and the work bench that I assembled a couple of weeks ago is now in the space but it is too deep to work over so we are kind of jammed in between it and the original counter.

It is another cold day in Arizona and at six o’clock this morning the wind chill was 21°F, so the native Arizonans are bundled up with toques and gloves. The day warmed up under the Arizona sunshine, but the easterly breeze continued all day, making it seem cool when out of the sun. Admissions was busy, although not steady, the two bus loads of grade three students had packed up and cleared out by one o’clock, so the afternoon was quieter to say the least. We finished our shift at 4pm and headed to the coach for a well deserved rest, I spent some time removing duplicates from my lap top, while Miss Laurie had a nap with Mr. Sam.

Dinner was leftover barbecued pork chops and some macaroni and cheese, good comfort food on a cool breezy night, some news a couple of YouTube videos and I got to watch the episode of Reacher the new Prime Video series, before turning in for the evening.

Saturday morning and I was awake early, actually at 4:30am so Mr. Sam was thrilled by early treats this morning, then he stretched out on my lap for a nap, I continued on with the removal of duplicate files on my laptop until Mr. Sam decided that it was Time that Miss Laurie was up so he headed off to the bedroom, to roust Miss Laurie, Because of another early start, just a simple breakfast and a cup of coffee and off to the admissions booth, Saturday is usually a busier day so should slip by faster. It was cold in our booth so I used the heater to take the chill off until the sun gets up higher in the sky and starts to hit the booth, then we have to start opening windows to keep the the booth cool enough to be comfortable.

While not as busy as last Saturday, the day rolled by quickly, and every day we work we are amazed at how many first time visitors we get everyday, being the oldest arboretum west of the Mississippi River, as well as one of the largest, we are convinced it is Arizona’s best kept secret, and many of the local people upgrade to a membership after that first visit. Anyone living within an hour of the arboretum a membership is a “no brainer”, a “Dual Membership” is $60 that gets a years worth of entry for two adult, it also includes two guest passes, a 10% discount for merchandise, and a $2 discount off of guest entry as well.

Four o’clock and another shift done, just four hours tomorrow to finish off this week, we sat with Tom & Kathleen for a happy hour beverage, Lincoln stopped by for a beverage, Miss Laurie made a snack of crackers, pretzels (Dots), and a cream cheese dip. As the sun set we all headed for the indoors, this to be our last cool night with the temperatures trending upward next week. More leftovers tonight, we actually plan for that, after working its great to have something to just warm and serve, so now we are watching some Olympics on the television, while I finish off this blog. I have done much better at keeping up this week, so no midnight rush tonight.

Survived another groundhog day – Stay safe!

Day 1587

Blog 403