March 2013 – Apache Junction, AZ

Rex has continued to keep busy working as a handyman and working on the Desert Dwellers Express.   Some of his jobs included roof repair and seal, gutter replacement, water heater replacement, and plumbing jobs of all varieties.  He also built and painted a wall in an Arizona Room, installed an elevated outside cat house, and helped some neighbors close up their park models for the summer.

Nancy continued working in the park office 3 days a week and we continued as camp hosts.  All these jobs as keeping us busy.

We helped with the last pancake breakfast of the season on March 2^nd and served around 260 people.  We enjoyed helping with these breakfasts and getting to know our neighbors better.

We enjoyed a visit from our friends from Colorado, Bill and Linda, who winter in Yuma.  Bill attended a class in Tempe and we were able to have dinner with them while there were in the area.  It was great to see them again and to catch up on their lives.

Our park had an Abba Tribute concert in our main hall.  The band was really good and we enjoyed hearing some of our favorite Abba songs – Dancing Queen, Fernando, Take a Chance on Me, to name a few.

We continued attending the Monday evening lecture series at the High School.  The first lecture in March was on The Havasu Canyon Floods of 2010.  Lee Allison with the Arizona Geological Survey discussed the flood damage and the Havasupai Tribe’s efforts to reopen the canyon to tourism.   The flood changed the course of Havasu Creek resulting in one of the famous waterfalls drying up but also creating a new waterfall.  Havasu Canyon is an area we want to visit and it was interesting to see how the flood changed the area.  We now regret not visiting the canyon before the flood as we don’t think it will be as beautiful as it once was.  Another lecture was about Arizona place names – an interesting talk on the origins of the names of many places in Arizona.  We also heard an interesting talk on the Harvey Girls where we learned the history of the Fred Harvey Company and how the waitresses or “Harvey Girls” brought higher standards of civility and dining to the “Wild West”.  The last lecture was a Conversation with Governor George W.P. Hunt, Arizona’s first Governor.  We enjoyed all the lectures in the series and look forward to attending again next year.

Rex continued to lead the Friday morning hikes and we enjoyed many great hikes.  One hike was on a new section of the Arizona Trail.  It was a little rough getting to the trail head which required high clearance vehicles, but once we got there the hike was great.  There were two rock corrals along the trail.

The scenery was absolutely beautiful – we love hiking in the desert.

The riparian area in one of the washes was a pleasant relief from the heat.

Cody got to go on this hike and it’s hard to believe but we wore him out – just remember, Cody, you still have to hike all the way back to the Jeep!

We ended the hikes the last Friday in March as it is starting to get hot and the snakes are starting to come out.   Also, most of our hikers have left for home.

A majority of our park residents leave during March so the park hosted a Going Home dinner for the residents.  The park provided fried chicken and we all brought dishes to share.  As usual we enjoyed a great meal and visiting with our neighbors.

The park also provided the ham for our Easter Dinner which we helped serve.  Nancy’s parents joined us for another great meal and, once again, we ate too much - the ladies in our park are excellent cooks!