To say that we stay busy would be an understatement. Kay has something going on almost every day and evening; on the other hand, without competitive pickleball and golf, there are large gaps of time in my days. Filling these gaps has been a relatively easy task, what with researching and writing about the Fred and Zoula Dunn ancestry (my paternal grandfather and grandmother), editing what few photos that have been taken this season, posting an occasional photograph on Facebook, and keeping this blog up to date. Wednesday evenings have become my personal favorite as we play “duplicate” bridge with the Seitz’s. Here’s how it goes. The hand is dealt, we bid the contract, and play the hand. And then, we reconstitute the hand face-up on the table, and discuss the various bids and ways to play the hand. Steve Seitz provides lots of very helpful guidance and input. Again, my favorite activity this winter. And, Friday afternoon “Arkansas” pickleball is always fun, but the dinner and adult beverages afterward is even funner!

Sunday afternoon is typically reserved for “Arkansas” golf and the 19th hole (or 10th hole in our case” but the last Sunday was called off due to lack of participants. Instead of golf, we drove to Elroy to watch the dare devil skydivers jump out of perfectly good airplanes, and free-fall thousands of feet before swooping in for a perfect standup landing. A long wait was in order because of dust devils and heavy wind.

And then, Sunday evenings are usually concert/show evenings. Our last Sunday evening concert was Down on the Country, a Credence Clearwater Revival Tribute Band featuring vocalist and professional entertainer Mike Yarema. The was a great concert with great music. And, Mike Yarema sounded just like John Fogerty.  Mike told the stories and sung the songs of this iconic group, including several favorite hits: Born on the Bayou, Fortnuate Son, Proud Mary, Who’ll Stop the Rain, Green River, and many more!

Monday afternoon, we met for the next to last HH (happy hour.) “Arkansas” happy hours provide a great time to visit, eat hors d’oeuvres, and enjoy an adult beverage or two with other Arkansans, but the number of attendees is dwindling as couples end their winter and return home. Also on Monday, Kay and I have been participating in “our street’s”neighborhood” Monday night pickleball.

The wind was howling in Casa Grande on Tuesday, March 21, so Kay and I opted to do a day trip to the Salt River area in Tonto National Forest near Mesa, Arizona, where the winds were not to high, but it was misting rain. Our goal was to view and photograph the wild horses of Salt River. We slowly passed by the 7 recreation sites where the wild horses have historically been observed: Granite Reef, Phon D Sutton, Coon Bluff, Blue Point, Pebble Beach, Saguaro Lake, and Butcher Jones. These 7 recreation sites are all within 13 miles of each other, only taking 20 minutes to get from the first (Granite Reef) to the last (Butcher Jones). There were no wild horses at any of these sites, but the landscapes were great.

We traveled further north and east on the North Bush Highway, and then veered north away from the river and Saguaro Lake. Near MP 35, we noticed a number of cars parked on the side of the highway. Sure enough, a few wild horses were coming into view on top of the hill, and they grazed towards the highway. As we watched we noticed several scattered bunches across the entire hill side.

In addition to photographing these magnificent creatures whose genes date back to the 1600s in this area high desert flowers were in bloom and presented great photo ops.

We were particularly drawn to the Cactus bloom and the Desert Globemallow, aka Apricot Mallow.

Bush Highway, we traveled south to the small city of Apache Junction, then northeast on East Apache Trail. Apache Trail is a scenic byway designated in 1998. It is approximately 39 miles long, winding in and out of some of the most awe-inspiring country in Arizona—or for that matter, in the West. A couple of years ago, we drove the section from Roosevelt to Globe, and a couple of weeks ago we drove the section from Globe to near Apache Junction (we had also driven this route a couple of years ago.) Today, we closed the loop by traveling the drivable portion of the Apache Trail from Apache Junction to Fish Creek Hill Overlook/Rest Area (MP 220). Note: Due to the potential for severe flooding from areas burned in the Woodbury Fire in June 2019, a 5-mile, unpaved section of the Apache Trail from the Fish Creek Hill Overlook/Rest Area (MP 222) to MP 227 (near Reavis Trailhead Road) remains closed for public safety reasons, due to extensive roadway damage and rock debris.

The first main attraction (4.5 miles from Apache Junction) on the Apache Trail was a reconstructed 1890s ghost town, Goldfield Ghost Town. The second main attraction was Lost Dutchman State Park. It gets its name from a longstanding legend about a lost gold mine within the mountains that was discovered, then lost to time by an infamous “Dutchman.” Even today, treasure hunters continue to scour the Superstitions looking for the lost gold. Next was Canyon Lake. It is one of three man-made lakes along the Apache Trail, and by far, the most scenic. Dramatic red rock cliffs surround the lake. Following Canyon Lake was the small town of Tortilla Flat. Founded as a stagecoach stop along the Apache Trail in 1904, Tortilla Flat is one town that’s refused to be swept away by the desert sands of time. The saloon and restaurant are famous for their hamburgers, a fact we didn’t know until later. And then, Fish Creek Hill presented itself. The drive from Tortilla Flat up to the Fish Creek Hill Viewpoint is quite challenging but very scenic. We stopped at viewpoints along the way for dramatic photos of the Sonoran Desert vistas.

Three miles east, the road passes above a short slot canyon with pools and dry falls. The road forded Tortilla Creek, up to our running board, and then soon after, the paved section ends and a narrow gravel track continues to Fish Creek Hill Overlook/Rest Area, where the road was closed.

After turning around, we traveled back to Casa Grande, winding up a great day.

While Kay is keeping active with pickleball and Sunday afternoon golf, and partying, I have been working on writing a book on the ancestry of Fred and Zoula Dunn, my paternal grandparents. My participation in sports is limited to playing occasional pickleball left-handed as the right arm is useless due to a suspected rotator cuff tear.

Weather continues to be subpar, with cooler than normal temperatures, occasional rain (much needed in the area), and high winds.

Highlights of the week include Wednesday evening bridge with the Seitz’s, Friday afternoon pickleball with the Arkansas group, Sunday night concerts, and Monday afternoon “Arkansas” happy hours.

Sunday night concerts have mostly been really good, but on Sunday, March 12, the Eagles and Friends Show featuring music of the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Joe Walsh, and JD Souther was average. It was the same band, The Big Zephyr, that performed for the Linda Ronstadt concert a few weeks ago, with another lead vocalist. Most of the musicians were “mature” and one of the lead guitarists pranced around stage like Mick Jagger—not becoming!

The “That’s Country—The Outlaw Show” On Sunday, March 17, featuring music of  Johnny Cash and his outlaw friends Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, and Charlie Daniels was really good.

All the musicians and vocalists were good, but the fiddle (and violin) player, Cathy King from Mesa, was excepti0nal. She had all the audience rocking in their seats.

Monday afternoon “Arkansas” happy hours provide a great time to visit, eat hors d’oeuvres, and enjoy an adult beverage or two. But, the number of attendees is dwindling as couples return to their domicile.

And, Friday afternoon “Arkansas” pickleball is always fun, but the dinner and adult beverages afterward is even funner!

Here’s hoping that March brings “better” weather—not the cold, windy days experienced most of winter here in Arizona.  

Kay played pickleball on Wednesday, and I processed photos taken yesterday at Picacho Peak State Park. And, we “played” bridge with the Seitz’s in the evening. Our Wednesday evening bridge lessons with Steve and Mary have proven to be one of the highlights of the winter season here at Casa Grande. We’ve learned that there is so much we don’t know, but every week it seems a little tidbit is added to the repertoire. And, the evening is kept simple—no drinks or snacks—and it makes for a very pleasant evening! Now, if I could only keep Kay from saying, “just one more game.”

Thursday was Kay’s “cut and color” day, and she was real happy with the results. If Kay is happy …

Another highlight of the week was a cycling trip on the Consolidated Canal Path in Chandler and Gilbert, Arizona, on Friday. Norm Bushee and I met at the Paseo Vista Recreation Area Trailhead in Chandler, and rode north about 10 miles to Guadalupe Road, then back south to to the trail terminus at the intersection of East Hunt Highway and South Arizona Avenue, and finally back to the trailhead. This ride was a long time in the making. On the trip from home to Casa Grande, we almost lost my bicycle twice because the bike rack slipped and the bicycle kept tipping backwards. Fortunately, Kay’s bicycle was firmly enough entrenched in the rack to keep mine from falling completely off. The problem was solved by adding a “stopper” bolt in the bike rack bar to prevent further slipping—and it worked! However, there might be a new bike rack in our future. Now, back to the ride. Make no mistake, it was a great ride. However, there were several intersections and some road noise from nearby traffic. Signage was good, and the intersections were well controlled to allow trail user crossings. Statistically, here are our results. 

26.67 mi—Distance, 2:22:09—Moving Time, 110 ft—Elevation

137 W—Estimated Avg Power, 1,169 kJ—Energy Output 

	Avg	Max
Speed	11.3 mi/h	18.9 mi/h
Heart Rate	90 bpm	106 bpm
Calories	1,304
Elapsed Time	3:30:20

Despite heavy traffic on I-10, I made it back in time to play (left-handed) pickleball with the “Arkansas” group. There were three full courts, and we had some fun games. Afterwards, we enjoyed beer and pizza at Dell’s.

Kay played pickleball again Saturday afternoon; for someone who never played sports, she does well and is steadily improving. Sunday afternoon was for the “Arkansas” group to play golf, and of course, Kay played and won a bit of money once again; that seems to be a habit. Sunday night was a dinner and concert. The food was good and the concert was great. It featured Crystal Stark doing a tribute to Whitney Houston. She put on a marvelous performance and was backed by a great band and back-up singer. Of course her resume is outstanding, including graduating magna cum laude in music education from University of Arizona, educator, America’s Got Talent semi-finalist, and international recording artist. Images courtesy of her website.