Hockey Games, Boat Drinks, Pirates and Juicy Fruit....What a beautiful cruise this has been....

Our hotel rooms are booked for the first 2 nights of our return trip. We depart Mesa Regal on Thursday, March 31st. This means that we have only 3 full days left to enjoy the desert. I plan to ride each of those days and Dana will join me on Tuesday. Tuesday and Wednesday will be all about cleaning and packing. I think this will be my last blog entry for our stay in Mesa. I might get a chance to blog on our return trip, but maybe not. I have had a lot of fun writing about our adventure here in the desert. I've heard from lots of folks who have read the blog. It's been fun having you all along for the ride. And what ride it has been. We are going to miss everything here that the desert has to offer. The sun, the hot days, warm evenings, Mike and Darlene being only a 5 minute walk from us, the desert flora and fauna, the sun, the hot days, the bike riding, the birds, the sun, the hot days......

We packed a lot of adventure into our time here in the desert. A very special thanks to my beautiful wife Dana for agreeing to this adventure and for supporting my cycling habit, and for nursing me back to good health from my cycling "incident", and for all the great times we have shared over the last 2 months.

One last picture. This one's for you Dana.

Barry and Dana, at home on the trail... What a great adventure it has been!

Pass Mountain Trail, and other stuff....

It's Sunday evening, our last one in Mesa for this year. Today was a flat out gorgeous day. 75F with a light breeze, not a cloud anywhere. This morning Dana and I put the bikes in the truck and drove over to Fountain Hills to ride the McDowell Mountain Road and Rio Verde Road. The section of Rio Verde Road that I wanted to ride is an arrow straight for 9 miles (15km) with a slight incline maybe about a 2% grade. I did 5 minute intervals while Dana road up by herself. By the time we got back to Fountain Hills we had covered around 60 kms which is a distance record for Dana. Way to go, Dana!

Yesterday Mike and I attended our last Phoenix Coyotes hockey game of the season. It's always great to spend time with my brother and although the game did not turn out to be barn-burner we had hoped that it would be, it was NHL hockey and we didn't have to mortgage the house for the tickets. While we were at the game, Dana and Darlene spent some quality time visiting every fabric store in the Valley of the Sun. They reported having fun and enjoying the day's adventures navigating the roads of Mesa, Gilbert and Chandler.

A couple of days ago, I believe it was Friday, Dana and I finally hiked the Pass Mountain Trail at Usery Mountain Park. This has been on our "to do" list since we first went to the Park in early February. As it turned out, we saved the best hike for our last hike in the desert this year. The trail loops 7.1 miles around Pass Mountain. There is some elevation gain but the trail is well maintained and I would categorize it as "moderate" in terms of effort/ability. We got to the trail head around mid-morning. We had planned 4 hours for the hike so we packed our lunch with us. Just past the half way point we found a flat open area beside the trail where we able to comfortably and safely sit and enjoy our lunch. I admit to being a bit nervous about perching on rocks. There are things such as reptiles and insects in the desert that I would prefer not to encounter.

I have included several pictures that we took on our hike on the Pass Mountain Trail. The views were spectacular, and as always the picture may not adequately show this. There were some plants in bloom and I got a couple of nice shots of the blooms. Enjoy.........


Pass Mountain Trail description


Dana enjoying the views from up high on Pass Mountain.


Scene from the trail. Barry and a Saguaro Cactus....


Spectacular views. If you look really close you can see the trail that lay ahead.


Blooms on an Ocotillo shrub.


Blooms on a Hedgehog Cactus.

Road trip to Sedona and almost to the Grand Canyon....

We are on the road in north central Arizona. We left the safe confines of our gated Mesa community this morning at 6:00 a.m. We did this to beat the Phoenix rush hour traffic as we had to traverse much of the valley of the sun on our way north on Interstate 17. Our first destination this morning was the magical red rock town of Sedona. With Pine and Juniper trees as well as green shrubs and grasses glistening in the morning sun contrasting the red rock of the surrounding hills, dirt, gravel and cement sidewalks, it was truly a sight that is difficult to describe. To help I have included a couple of photos shot this morning.

After a hearty (second) breakfast at Jose's Cafe we headed into the heart of red rock country. Our first stop was a Scenic Pullout just before we entered the town of Sedona. Aside from getting a couple of great shots of Dana, we spotted a Western Bluebird, 2 Kestrel Hawks and a Red Tail Hawk. Was this an omen of good birding to follow? Come along with us.....

Our next stop was Red Rock State Park, 5 miles west of Sedona. This park is an Environmental Education Centre. I believe it caters to school and other groups wanting to learn more about the environment in this area of the State. We went on a 2 hour hike through their Riparian area and in the surrounding hills. While we did not see many birds this day but what we did see was absolutely fantastic. Our big score today was the sighting of a Common Black Hawk. This was confirmed by a notice in the park visitors centre that indicated that the Common Black Hawk, which is not so common, makes its home in the area. In fact, there is some effort to support the hawk and to increase their numbers. What a beauty this hawk is. We also spotted a pair of Western Bluebirds, a Black Phoebe, a Juniper Tit-mouse, Yellow Rumped Warblers, Ruby Crowned Kinglets and another Red Tail Hawk.

After a picnic lunch at the Park we headed north into the Oak Creek Canyon. About 10 miles north of Sedona we stopped to hike the West Fork Trail. It is about a 3 1/2 mile hike from the trail head to the end of the trail. This day we had time for only about 2 miles in, then out. The elevation was a factor. The trail head is at about 5,000 feet elevation. Had we gone to the end of the trail we would have ended up at around the 7,000 ft mark. The West Fork trail winds it's way up Oak Creek. We had to traverse the creek 9 times on the way in and 7 times on the way out. Because of the elevation we actually hiked in and out of snow patches throughout the hike. Now for the hiking quiz of the day. Why did we have to cross the creek 9 times on the way in, and only 7 times on the way out? Answer:

A) The water in the creek was higher on the way in and lower on the way out?
B) It was Dana's fault.
C) The intrepid leader, Barry, took a wrong turn and went "off" resulting in 2 additional crossings.

Post your answer in the comments section. Prizes will be awarded for the correct answer.

Tonight we are safely tucked into our motel room in Flagstaff. Yet another, "but at least it is clean" roadside motel. We enjoyed a good meal at an Outback Steak House within walking distance from our Motel.

Day 2 - Our plan to travel to the Grand Canyon was interrupted by snow. We got up to the white stuff this morning. We checked the weather forecast and found that the weather forecast for the Canyon was not what we had expected. After some discussion we decided to put the trip on hold until...next year.

Enjoy the pictures. Don't forget to enlarge the photos for some awesone scenic shots.


Two beauties....Dana and one of the red rock mountains of Sedona....


....more Sedona scenery..... Wow!


Double Wow....!!!!!!


Photo shot from high above the Red Rock State Park.


Oak Creek Canyon that runs north from Sedona.


West fork trail, Oak Creek Canyon. At this point on the trail we found snow at around 5,500 ft elevation.


Barry negotiating one of the 9, or 7 crossings on the West Fork trail


Picture shot on the West Fork trail. Awesome canyon.....


The scene outside our motel on the morning we had planned to visit the Grand Canyon.

Desert Botanical Gardens-Phoenix, Az

Incredibly we are down to single digit days before we head north to our Summer home with the thousands of other Canadian "Snow Geese". As time is counting down we have put together a short list of "must do or see" before we depart the desert. Today we headed to the Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden. This world famous Garden is adjacent to another Phoenix landmark, the Phoenix Zoo. I hate zoos. Ok, maybe that is too strong...... Nope. I hate zoos. I think Dana shares my view that the animals in captivity are better off left in the wild. The ones that are held captive in cages or small pens are, in my opinion better off dead. They are always very sad creatures and it breaks my heart to see them treated so poorly. But I digress.....

Back to the Botanical Garden. Frankly I did not see a single unhappy plant today. In fact, the caretakers of the Botanical Garden appear to work very hard to ensure that every single cacti and/or plant is very well cared for. While not a fan of staged and organized "gardens", I will admit that this is a very beautiful place. One downside is that it is very busy and in my view was crowded, which detracted some from the surroundings. Perhaps it is that we have been wandering in the wild desert for 2 months and the contrast was startling.

I think the saying, "a picture tells the story" is appropriate in this case. I have included 9 photos from our walk through the Botanical Garden. Let's see, is that 9 stories, or 9 chapters of 1 story? Oh well, enjoy the tour.

Tomorrow we head out on a road trip to Sedona and the Grand Canyon. How Grand it will be!

Chihuly Glass Exhibit in the Garden


Chihuly Glass Tower "Cactus" in the Garden


One of the "non-plant" inhabitants. A Tree Lizard catching some afternoon rays...


Demonstration Native American Indian vegetable garden.


garden includes.....Fava Beans just like Dana grows in her garden in Victoria.


A display on "Ethnobotany" This one is for you Carly....


And for Mike, a Cactus Wren......


Flower on a Pricly Pear Cactus


Flower on a Strawberry Hedgehog Cactus

March Madness is upon us....

The NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament started yesterday. My final 4 picks are Ohio State, Duke, Pittsburgh and Kansas. My underdog favorites are the University of Washington Huskies, Gonzaga State Bulldogs, the Arizona Wildcats and the University of North Carolina Tar Heels. 66 teams started the tournament. There were 16 games yesterday, 16 today, 8 tomorrow and 8 on Sunday. What a great time of year for basketball fans. By the way, so far I have not watched a single full game on TV. I stay in touch with the scores by the way of the Internet (ESPN).

This week has been another busy week. It included bird watching, feathered and aluminum. Both varieties of bird watching resulted in unique finds. On the feathered front, on a trip to Usery Park with Mike, Darlene, Glen and Heather (Darlene’s sister and hubby who are visiting this week from the “wet” coast of British Columbia) we spotted a pair of Kestrels perched in a Palo Verde tree. While we knew they could be found in the area it was the first time we spotted this species. To find a pair was special. We also saw a Western Whiptail lizard and of all things a Mule Deer. Fun to see a deer in the desert. I thought I might have heard Dana mumble something like...."where my gun. The wretched beast...."

We checked a couple of new parks this week. On Monday we visited Veteran’s Oasis Park in Chandler. This park has been open for about 2 years. It seems to be modeled on the Gilbert Water Ranch. These parks include settling ponds for waste water. Waste water is pumped into the holding ponds where it seeps through layers of sand and rock eventually re-entering the aquifer. The added benefit is that it creates wetland and riparian habitat as well as habitat for mammals and reptiles. It’s pretty cool. On Friday we visited another of these water parks. This one is called the Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Area. It is practically in downtown Phoenix and is also fairly new.

At the Rio Salado we came across a biologist who is studying Monarch butterflies. Apparently this small area is a unique desert migration destination for Monarch butterflies. Today she was counting butterfly eggs on desert milkweed. Fascinating stuff. We also saw a hummingbird nest (picture included). Although there were few birds present today we did spot a pair of juvenile Ring Neck ducks and our first Common Moorehen (not a duck but a Rail). Actually with its red and yellow bill it did not look “common”.

Dana and I got in several bike rides this week. Dana is finding the 50 km rides to actually be fun. Last time out she said she felt pretty good when she finished. Actually she said “I must be getting better because I didn’t collapse when I finished the ride”. I think she “rocks”....

So, what about those aluminum birds? It seems you can’t come to the desert without visiting an aircraft museum. On Wednesday afternoon Mike, Glen and I visited the Commemorative Air Force museum which is housed at Falcon Field Airport which is only 3 kms away. Mike has a fascination with World War II aircraft. His enthusiasm to see new and familiar aircraft and to hear the stories of the CFA hosts/guides got Glen and I into the spirit as soon as we entered the museum. I should point out that this day we were very fortunate to see 3 aircraft that our Dad flew in WWII; the B17 - Dad was a member of a crew who ferried a B17 over the North Atlantic to England; DC3 Cargo plane which Dad flew many hours over North Africa; Cessna AT-8, UC-78 Bobcat (Bamboo Bomber), or "Witchta Wobler" which was used by the RCAF to upgrade pilots from single to twin engine aircraft. Dad also flew the DH82 Tiger Moth, which served the RCAF as a trainer, but was not on display. Yes, it was very special indeed. Oh, did I mention that the B17 actually made a flight that day? We got to stand beside the B17 as it was readied for take-off and then watch it taxi out and lift-off. Very, very cool. Picture included below.

Oh, one more new experience for Barry this week. On Tuesday morning Barry joined a couple of the neighbors and went out to a small orange grove and picked oranges. Came home with about 50lbs or fresh oranges. They have been shared around the neighborhood for many to enjoy.

I can’t conclude this post without a comment about the weather. It’s hot and dry. The temperature hit 92F yesterday and 91F today. The evenings are still cool although it is not cooling off as much as it did last week. We have yet to turn on the air conditioner in our trailer although many of the neighbors have their units going most days and into the evening. A cooling trend is expected for the weekend, high 70’s, low 80’s.....brrrrr......

Enjoy the pictures. Don’t forget to click or double click on the picture to enlarge it....

Mike, getting his kicks at the Commemorative Air Force museum (B17 ready for take-off in background)


Hummingbird nest at Rio Salado Park.


Barry at one of the duck ponds at the Rio Salado Park.

March 14th - Time to take stock of the week that was......

Holy smokes! Or as my dear friend Nat would say, “Pheufff”!!!!! (english translation - Phew!) It is time for a recap of the past week. I need to do this because this week has already begun and things are cookin’ in the desert.

Let’s start with the “Highlight of the week”. Dana had a birthday! On March 13, 1868, the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson began in the United States Senate. And, on March 13, 2011 Dana had a birthday. We celebrated with that all American food, Bacon! Yes Madelyn, Bacon and French Toast for breakfast. Also, real Canadian maple syrup. The rest of the day included bird watching, with new Nikon binoculars. (reports are that they are fabulous!). In the evening, after some badly needed pool time, Mike and Darlene joined us for dinner at El Charro mexican restaurant in downtown Mesa. It was an excellent meal. We adjourned to Mike and Darlene’s for tea and birthday ice cream sandwiches for dessert.

Okay, let’s talk cycling. Last week saw Barry put in 7 hours in the saddle. This was down from the 10 hours from the previous week but the 7 hours were “quality” hours. Hill repeats and intervals. This past week also saw Dana put in her longest ride, 50 kms.

Let’s talk about the weather. This past week has been outstanding. Average daytime high, 80F. A few days in the mid 80s. What is great about this time of year is that it cools down in the late evening. The morning low temp is between 52 and 55F. Sleeping is not a problem. What is a challenge is getting in a decent ride in the morning before the temperature goes above 80F. Not a bad problem to have.

This past week we visited South Mountain Park. This is the largest municipal park in the U.S.A. It covers 46,000 acres. One feature that is interesting is the road that climbs 10km from the entrance to the peak. (I can’t wait to cycle this hill....). The day we were there we hiked one of the trails, about 4 miles, and were able to see the entire Valley of the Sun.

On Wednesday afternoon we took in a guided Desert Wildflower walk at Usery Mountain park. The park Ranger was very knowledgeable about desert flowers and we learned a lot about the beauty of the desert.

On Friday Dana and Darlene took in the Arizona Quilt Show in downtown Mesa. 400 quilts, more than 30 vendors. (Dana provided this info. I have no idea what this means.......).

Throughout the week we stayed in touch with our Canadian roots by watching the Brier on TV. Hat’s off to Jeff Stoughton for his inspiring win over the Glen Howard rink from Ontario. All the best to Jeff and the boys at the World’s to be played in Regina in early April.

These were some of the highlights from the past week. Pheuff! What a week it was. In deferrance to our family and friends back home, I have left out mentioning the many hours of pool time and tanning. It just seems wrong to go on, and on, and on about how much sunshine and hot sun we are enjoying...... oops... Enjoy the pictures!


View if the Valley of the Sun from the historic 1930's CCC building at Dobbins Lookout on South Mountain.



Dobbins Lookout at South Mountain Park.


Madelyn, this one's for you. The All American Birthday Breakfast.


One of the 400 quilts on display at the Arizona Quilt Show in Mesa.

March 8 - Sports Double Header

If you are from the west coast you will know that you are blessed with that unique ability to “double” in many sports at any time of year. For example, Ski in the morning; Golf in the afternoon. That’s an easy one and you can do that in many locations. Another one might be, Cycle in the morning; Surf in the afternoon. I like that one. So, I want to introduce a “Sport Double” in the Valley of the Sun: Baseball in the afternoon; Hockey in the evening.

On March 8, my brother Mike and I attended a Seattle Mariners vs SF Giants baseball game, the M’s won 2-1, then attended the Vancouver Canucks vs Phoenix Coyotes game in the evening, Canucks won 4-3 in overtime. If you are a sports fan from the great Pacific Northwest you will truly appreciate how fantastic this was.

The Seattle Mariners play their Cactus League games in a sweet little ballpark in Peoria. The ballpark has a capacity of around 6,000 fans. This day the park was mostly filled as the competition was the World Champion San Francisco Giants. Granted this is spring training and neither team fielded many of their starters from last season. However, under clear skies and temperatures hovering around 75F, both teams put on a spirited effort in a fast paced game. I have included a couple of pictures to try and get you in the game, so to speak.

After the ball game we made the short drive to Jobing.com arena in Glendale for the hockey game. For anyone, and I guess that is most of you reading this blog entry, who has not been to a hockey game in Phoenix (Glendale), you are in for a treat. Jobing.com arena and the surrounding entertainment district is fantastic. I wrote about this last year but it bears repeating. This entertainment district and area is unlike anything anywhere else. Nothing, not the Staple’s Centre in L.A., Roger’s Centre in Vancouver or the Bell Centre in Montreal, compares to this district and arena. Too bad hockey is not supported in Glendale/Phoenix. If the Canucks are playing, 50-60% of the fans are from the Canucks Nation, resplendent in Canucks jerseys some going back several editions. If the Detroit Red Wings are playing, same thing. This is somewhat unfortunate as the Phoenix Coyotes are a very good team. Also, even with all the Canuck fans in attendance the area was only filled to about 75% capacity. If Nashville is in town I would be surprised if they draw anymore than 5,000 fans to the game.

The long and the short of it all is that we enjoyed both games. The 2010-11 edition of the Vancouver Canucks could be one of the best teams to ever play for Vancouver. Of course, as Dana says every year about this time, “they will only break your heart”. Maybe, but I have a feeling that this is our year to go all the way! Okay, I’ve said that before. like almost every year. As for the Seattle Mariners, well, I think some of their players are hoping for “one more good year in the sun”, which is a quote from one of my favorite sports movies, Major League. Let’s hope no one tries to relocate this team to Florida. Ha!

Let's play ball........

Road trip, and other “fun” stuff...

I say other “fun” stuff because some, many, okay, most people think I’m crazy. Today I rod 100km on my bike. 3 hours, 20 minutes, 30kmph average. You be the judge. However, let me back up a couple of days and tell you about our road trip to Roosevelt dam.

Friday morning we headed out the door around 8:30. Destination: Roosevelt Lake, and Dam. From Mesa we headed out Main Street, which turns into Apache Trail then Hwy 88. The first point of interest is Tortilla Flats. This is nothing more than a wide spot on the road. Western style facade on the row of buildings beckons tourists to stop, eat, shop, leave. We didn’t stop and continued beyond Tortilla Flats to what is commonly called “end of pavement”. This is of course where the pavement ends. Duh!

26 miles of gravel road lay between us and Roosevelt Lake. We took a few photos of the road and scenery. Frankly, this area is stunning and well worth the pounding your vehicle and kidneys take to travel the road, beyond “end of pavement”. In places the road is barely 2 lanes wide. Hairpin corners, steep drop-offs, wash-board gravel, dust, dust and more dust.

Roosevelt dam is quite the sight. The dam was originally the tallest “masonry” dam in the world. The road to the dam site was build using Apache Indians, hence the name of the road, Apache Trail. Finished in 1909, the dam provided power to the Valley of Sun. Recently the dam was raised 77 feet and encased in concrete.

Did I mention cycling? Barry is well into training for the Giro in Sardinia. Dana is back on her bike. Thursday we rode in the morning. Interval training for Barry. Saturday was more of the same. Then today, well the 100k thing.... Dana went to church, I think to pray that Barry comes back safe.

Looking ahead to the week the weather continues to be fantastic. I see Victoria had “some” sun this weekend. This pleases us as we get no end of grief about our sunshine. Speaking of sunshine, yes, this week looks to be another stunner. 82F by Thursday. Enough said about that. On Tuesday Barry gets to see 2 of the Pacific Northwest’s best professional sports offerings. Seattle Mariners and Vancouver Canucks, on the same day. No they are not playing each other.....

Oh, we are staying connected with our Canadian roots. We are watching the Brier, curling for those who are not in the know. Oh Canada! What fun.


Dana and Barry cycling on the Bush Hwy Thursday morning, in the warm sun!



Lizards found on the side of the Roosevelt Lake Visitors (Welcome) Centre




Road? to Roosevelt Lake and Dam


Roosevelt Dam

Cactus League ball players, and other interesting creatures....

We attended our first Major league Baseball Cactus League game yesterday. Mike and Darlene, and their good friends Wayne and Lois also attended. Coincidently, it was the inaugural game at the new multi-million dollar baseball complex called Salt River Field at Talking Stick (First Nations land). This ballpark is the springtime home to both the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies. The game yesterday featured the D-Backs and our own Seattle Mariners.

The game was okay, I mean it is spring training, but Seattle fans might well be in for another long, long season. Regardless, it was fun to sit in the stands behind 3rd base and cheer on our Mariners. Interestingly there was no shortage of M fans on the park. Aside from the Mariner t-shirts and caps the Seattle fans were easy to spot. They were the people with untanned skin.....

A couple of days ago, Monday I think, we explored a park on the Salt River. It was mid-afternoon when we visited the park so there was not a lot of bird activity. Regardless, it was a nice location and we had a nice walk on one of the trails along the Salt River. We did spot an interesting lizard. I captured it on film. I cropped the picture using the Apple iPhoto program and have included it in the blog. We believe the little guy, or gal, is a Spiny Tree Lizard, very common around here.

Tuesday was "get back on the bike day" for Barry. We did the Usery Mountain Pass Loop. Well, Dana did it once and I did it twice. I logged 2:40 on the bike, around 70km. Most of the ride was into a stiff wind so I was pretty cooked by the time I got home. Also, the temperature reached 84 F at one point. Dana rode the furthest she has ridden in quite awhile. "Epic" was how she described the ride.

Today Dana and I went for another ride on Usery Pass. My training plan called for 2 sessions of 3 x 3 minute hard intervals. While I was doing my repeats on the Usery Pass hill Dana cycled up the hill to the Usery Mtn Park visitors centre. Once inside the building she was greeted by a park attendant. Dana initially thought the gal was wearing a large "clunky" necklace of some kind. Turned out to be a black and bright green King Snake. Apparently the snake was raised in the centre and was very used to the staff. Yikes!

This afternoon Dana, Mike, Darlene and I went for a birding hike at Usery Mtn Park, which is bar-none our favorite park. We saw lots of wildlife including birds, rabbits (including the large Black Tailed Jack Rabbit) coyote, Road Runner, Spiny Tree Lizard and our favorite Western Screech Owl. Pretty good for a short 2 hour hike in the desert. The hike was followed by beer and cocktails at Mike and Darlene's then we returned home for dinner and an early bedtime. What will tomorrow bring...??

Enjoy the photos.


Salt River Field - D-Backs vs Seattle Mariners


Spiny Tree Lizard (unless anyone has a better guess?)


Birding in Usery Mountain Park


Western Screech Owl - Can't get enough of this owl.


Desert Shadow Art