From Santa Elena Canyon, we followed the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive to Castolon Visitor Center, stopping at the Dorgan-Sublett Trailhead to view the ruins of the Sublett house.

James and Melissa Belle Sublett arrived in the Castolon area in 1913. In 1918, Sublett purchased four sections of land at this location, and called his operation Grand Canyon Farms. Mr. Sublett was one of the first settlers in the Big Bend area to actively farm the Rio Grande floodplain on a large scale. 

Next was a view of Cerro Castellan.

This is a stone butte rising 1,000 feet straight up from the desert floor, peaking at 3293 feet. Near Cerro Castellan was an interesting mountain formation.

After Cerro Castellan, we hiked a short trail to view Tuff Canyon. Here, Blue Creek, fed by rains in the distant Chisos Mountains, has carved a spectacular canyon through layers of volcanic tuff and basalt.

It was on one of the viewing platforms that I almost met my demise. Stepping high to a concrete platform, I tripped and fell, making a three-point landing: both knees and my CAMERA/LENS. While I as bloodied and skinned up, the camera received the brunt of the fall, receiving several deep scratches. Fortunately, it still worked after turning it off and removing and replacing the battery. The bad news is that it now has little resale value! The lens was no worse for wear. Nevertheless, the canyon was photographed and several Cacti were in full bloom. Who knew this spiny plants could offer such pretty flowers. 

Another iconic image appeared in the distance as we continued the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive.

The “Mules Ears” are two distinctive eroded rhyolite dikes known as Mule Ears Peaks. In the valley floor, deposits of white volcanic tuff erode from the slopes and hard lavas cap the mountains. 

Our last stop of the day was the Lower Burro Mesa Pouroff.

The Lower Burro Mesa Pouroff Trail was a relatively flat, easy hike to a pouroff that is dry most of the year. A good portion of the trail follows a gravel wash lined by Mexican persimmon, Mexican buckeye, and desert hackberry trees. The wash is bounded by volcanic hills with layers of yellow and orange ash-flow tuffs. Large congomerate boulders litter the valley bottom. Along the way were cacti blooms and lizards.

The trail ends at the pouroff—a 100-foot tall vertical channel carved into rock that funnels water from the mesa above.

Preceding retirement almost 20 years ago, Kay and I spent several hours over the course of a few weeks developing a “life list” of items we wanted to do in the years to come. (Our dear friend Ed Richmond coined the term “life list” long before the movie Bucket List came out.) Among the things on that original list—we’re now on our fourth revision—was a trip to Big Bend National Park in Texas. Today, Wednesday, March 27, 2024, we checked that item off our list. This entry and the next few that follow capture the essence of our visit. 

Leaving the RV park about 9 AM, we drove Texas Highway 118 south to the Big Bend National Park (NP) entrance station, showed our “old age” card, and immediately turned onto the rough graveled Old Maverick Road. The Old Maverick Road runs between Maverick Junction (park entrance) and Santa Elena Canyon. It is a 14-mile improved dirt road that passes along the Terlingua Creek badlands on the west side of the park. While usually passable for most vehicles, this road was rough and washboarded; the fourteen miles takes around an hour and a half to drive. Few opportunities to photograph presented themselves, though we did photograph a bird or two, a few cactus blooms, and some badlands panoramas.

As the drive continued a narrow opening in the sheer mountain cliff appeared, and became more prominent as we neared the mountain.

The drive ended at the Rio Grande River, the border between Mexico and the United States, at the entrance of Santa Elena Canyon.

Santa Elena Canyon is an iconic natural feature in Big Bend National Park.

While the best way to see the canyon is by raft or canoe, we opted to hike the short but steep 0.8 mile nature trail. The nature trail crosses Terlingua Creek, climbs several flights of ramps, stairs and switchbacks before descending into the very narrow canyon along the Rio Grande River.

This trail overlooked the Rio Grande River in many places.

At this point the canyon walls loom over 1,500 feet above the nature trail adjacent to the river.

Along the trail, wildflowers were abundant.

And, the cacti blooms were astonishingly beautiful; what a paradox.

Even a Checkered White butterfly made its presence known.

Let’s not forget about the well camouflaged Greater Roadrunner—beep, beep!

We kept loyal to our morning routine Monday morning, and then the internet cable was unhooked and stored, the slide outs were retracted, and the leveling/stabilizer jacks were stowed. In a large parking lot, the “old” Honda CR V was hooked up for towing and we were off, driving south on I-10 towards Tucson. A brief fuel stop was made at Picacho, and the drive continued south. At Tucson, I-10 turned east. It was a bit cool and windy, but the wind was at our backs. Interestingly, it rained, snowed, sleeted with a little sunshine thrown in every now and then. We overnighted in Las Cruces, New Mexico, at Hacienda RV Park, a very nice facility. Before turning in, we watched a couple of downloaded French detective shows.

On Tuesday, the RV park was in the review mirror shortly after 8 AM. We stopped a few miles east of Las Cruces for gasoline. It was overcast and windy, with the wind coming out of the west. As we entered Texas, traffic merged into one lane, and slowed to a stop and start pace as El Paso, Texas, came into view. Significant highway construction (or replacement) was the cause of the traffic snarl. Consequently, Kay suggested we take the mountain route north of El Paso to bypass the city, and it proved to be a relatively easy re-route.  We continued south and east on I-10 to Van Horn, Texas, and then turned south on US Highway 90. This was new territory for us. South and east on US Highway 90 took us to Alpine, Texas, where we turned south on Texas Highway 118 to Study Butte. Along the way, we saw several Pronghorn just south of Alpine, and as we neared Study Butte, a couple of Aoudad were along side the highway. The Barbary sheep (actually more a goat-like mammal), also known as aoudad, is a species native to rocky mountains in North Africa. It has been introduced to Texas via escape from exotic game hunting ranches, and is not an uncommon sight in the Big Bend area. There were also dozens of “tiny” houses south of Alpine, and many were shaped like domes. The area is known as a “dark sky” area and many people visit with their telescopes for astronomy. At Study Butte, we turned west and drove a half mile on Ranch Road 170 to Travelers RV Park, our home for the next 4 nights.

Using on their 50 amp electricity, setup was quick and easy. In the evening, we grabbled a quick bite of leftovers, and gathered with other “campers” around a couple of campfires and listened to a pretty good cowboy band until cigar smoke drove us away.

This “Snowbird” season got off on a wrong foot for several reasons. First, it was more difficult and aggravating packing and readying the motorhome for the trip. And then, each of us had dental work in early January, delaying our start. Consequently, it seems like our time in Arizona this season never quite caught up—something was missing. It’s hard to put a finger on it, but part of it may be that a good number of HSV folks who regularly spent the winter in Palm Creek have gone elsewhere or decided not to winter away from home. And for me, I feel that my pickleball game is not where it should be, and I can’t get motivated to work on it. Kay would agree that since it’s our last year here, I’ve sort of already checked out, even before the season began. We have two more weeks here at Palm Creek, and then it’s off towards home.

Kay played pickleball Monday, but I canceled lacking any interest in playing. I finally returned to the courts on Tuesday, playing a mixed-doubles round robin. 

Kay played again on Wednesday, and we attended the “Shake, Rattle, and Roll” concert in the evening. The Elvis impersonator show was just okay, though the vocalist did have a good voice. He made way too many silly jokes during the songs.

Sweetwater Wetlands beckoned on Thursday, and I was able to photograph a number of birds during the trek. Highlights included this soon-to-be mama hummingbird sitting on her nest.

Another was this Song Sparrow.

And yet another was this Lesser Goldfinch.

And this Ladder-backed Woodpecker.

This Cooper’s Hawk was hidden high atop a nearby tree.

A Vermillion Flycatcher is always a sight to behold. This one was pretty far off.

And finally, this Pied-billed Grebe was swimming in an adjacent pond.

Other birds observed were Yellow-rumped Warblers, miscellaneous Sparrows, and Gambel’s Quail.

Following the Sweetwater Wetlands “shoot” I traveled to the US Forest Service Sabino Canyon Recreation Area. Little did I expect it to be so crowded, and the shuttles were booked solid for most of the afternoon. From there, the day’s trip took me north to Honey Bee Canyon Park. Honey Bee Canyon Park is a protected desert ecosystem in the middle of an urban area. Many species of cacti grow there, and there are petroglyphs and other cultural treasures along the 3.2 miles of trails. It proved to be a great stop as I hiked the “out and back” north trail to the petroglyph site.

Along the way, a few birds perched on rocks and cacti, but the 28-200mm Tamron lens was grossly under powered. 

And, how about this Coyote?

Even a few wildflowers were blooming.

On Friday, I processed photos, Kay shopped, and we played pickleball with the Bushee’s followed by dinner at Barro’s Pizza. Saturday proved to be a “dead” day for the both of us.

We enjoyed an afternoon watching skydivers on Sunday at Skydiving Arizona at Eloy, Arizona, just a few miles south of Casa Grande. It is the largest skydiving facility in the United States. There were lots of “jumpers,” mostly young. We enjoyed their swooping inane sliding to a standing landing. The jump zone was probably the most crowded with both jumpers and spectators that we have seen in our 5 years here in the desert.

I am “pickleballed” out. So much effort went into preparation for and playing in the tournament, that I’m almost burned out with little desire to play and/or compete. Kay played on Monday, March 4. On Tuesday, March 5. I drove north to the Riparian Reserve at Gilbert Water Ranch in Gilbert, Arizona, Tuesday morning, and had a decent morning photographing birds. Species included Abert’s Towhee, American White Pelican, Anna’s Hummingbird, Black-necked Stilt, Curve-bill Thrasher, Great Egret, Green-winged Teal, House Finch, Northern Mockingbird, Northern Shoveler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Say’s Phoebe, Verdin, Veterans Oasis Park, and Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Even a Gray Hairstreak butterfly made an appearance.

Kay returned to the pickleball courts Wednesday while I processed photographs. In the late afternoon, we had a going away party for the Seitz’s who left Palm Creek a few days early to attend a wedding in Florida. It was a great party, and we’ll sure miss them until returning home in early April. Kay again played pickleball on Thursday. And we played hand and foot with the Barbara and Norm and Jolene and Gary. The guys lucked out with another blowout victory!

Kay and I drove to Picacho Peak State Park Friday morning in hopes of viewing a super bloom of California poppies. Regrettably, it was too cool for the poppies to open, and besides there was not a super bloom this year as opposed to last year’s exceptional bloom. After the wildflower failure, we drove to Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch. Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch is a three generation family owned and operated working ostrich ranch. Joining the ostrich were Miniature Sicilian Donkeys, Nigerian Dwarf Goats, Fallow Deer, Peking Ducks, the Goat Penthouse, the Hole in the Wall Gang featuring Boer Goats, the all-time favorite Rainbow Lorikeets, and last but not least Sting Rays. This visit had been on Kay’s Arizona list for some time.

Washington state friends, Ralph and Debra, visited Saturday, and after a great lunch at Texas Roadhouse (one of our favorites), we drove to St. Anthony’s Greek Orthodox Monastery.

St. Anthony Greek Orthodox Monastery is located in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona near Florence. It was established in the summer of 1995 in the name of Saint Anthony the Great. It is home for approximately 42 monks. Visitors must adhere to a strict dress code. Women must wear long-sleeved, loose-fitting shirts that fully cover the chest up to the neck; long skirts (or dresses) without deep slits; and scarves that cover the head and wrap under the chin and around the neck, so that the neck is also covered. Menare kindly asked to wear long pants and long-sleeved shirts. For both men and women, socks (at least ankle high) with shoes or sandals are to be worn at all times. Sheer stockings are prohibited. The Monastery buildings and grounds were immaculate, and a large number of other visitors were present. It was quite amazing to see this “oasis” in the middle of the desert.

Sunday was an uneventful day. In fact it was so uneventful that all we did was read and watch TV.

At Palm Creek Resort, everything turns to pickleball this week with the annual pickleball tournament. Players from all over come in to stay the requisite 10 days to be able to compete. I played in round robins on Monday and Tuesday to practice, and played terrible, though I did have an Around The Post (ATP) on Tuesday, left side, back handed. An ATP is a specialty shot where a player hits the pickleball around (rather than over) the net post and into the opponent’s court. Otherwise, as stated above I’ve been playing like crap. In fact it was so bad I considered asking to be downgraded to a lower skill lever! Although she’s not playing in the tournament, Kay also played her round robin on Monday.

We took a break from pickleball on Wednesday and drove to Tucson to explore Sweetwater Wetlands. There were fewer birds than two weeks prior, but a few were in the open enough to photograph. One of the highlights was an Abert’s Towhee, a large, ground-dwelling sparrow with a thick bill and long tail. It is native to a small range in southwestern North America, generally the lower Colorado River and Gila River watersheds, nearly endemic to Arizona, but also present in small parts of California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Sonora in Mexico.

Another highlight was an Anna’s Hummingbird sitting on a nest. We were respectful and kept our distance.

There was an assortment of other birds and a blooming cactus, and a Queen Butterfly made an appearance.

And then, a ferocious thunder storm struck with rain being blown sideways, shortening our day. We almost made it to the car, but did get a bit wet.

By Thursday morning, all court and vendor preparations had been made and the Palm Creek Pickleball Club Tournament began bright an early. The national anthems of both Canada and the USA were played, and the games began. My partner and I were scheduled in the 3.75 skill level mixed doubles double match elimination for our age group. We won both games in Match 1: 11-3, 11-8; lost both games in Match 2 11-8 and 11-1 to the eventual gold medal winners; won 15-6 in “Challenger” bracket in Match 3; won 15-9 in Match 4; won Match 5 by a score of 17-15; and lost again to the eventual gold medal winners 13-11 and 11-9 in Match 6, the gold medal match. We won SILVER. In our defense, the gold medal winners received a bye through luck of the draw and only played 3 matches, undefeated; we played 6 matches, and just didn’t have much energy left in the Arizona afternoon heat and sun. There are almost 500 entries in this club tournament.

On Friday afternoon we enjoyed a long happy hour with current and former Hot Springs Village residents including Rod and Sandy Hulbert, part of the HSV group here at Palm Creek for many years. It was great seeing them, and they got lots of hugs.

On Sunday, March 3, my partner and I lost EARLY in the double elimination for our age group in skill level 3.75 for men’s doubles. We did not play well as a team (having practiced together a few times it became pretty obvious that we weren’t terribly compatible), but we get along just fine. I played fairly well and didn’t have an excess number of unforced errors. Just goes to show that teamwork is important! One of the great things about this particular bracket is that everyone knows everyone and roots for each other when not competing. Our friend, Norm, competed in the 3.0 in his age bracket with a 90 year old partner, winning gold—hurrah for them! After all the pickleball hoopla this past week, I’m going to take a break for at least a week.

This past week was a fun, fun week with sports competitions between the Canadian residents and USA residents. 

In a closely contested game, the US eked out a narrow win in volleyball (there were a number of semi-pros playing for both sides.) 

Kay and I watched the Lawn Bowling competition on Tuesday, a sport with lots of participation here in the resort. Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a “jack” or “kitty”. It is played on a bowling green which is close-cropped, neatly manicured grass surface (or sometimes artificial turf). It is hugely popular in the United Kingdom. The USA squeaked out a narrow victory. 

Softball is also a “big-time” sport here at Palm Creek, with several teams being made-up of residents. Two games were played for the tournament. The Americans lost the first game, with “B” team members, in an error-plagued seven innings while the Canadians were near perfect. The second game with “A” players was outstanding with really good athletes—men and women—on both sides. Their throws and running was not hampered at all by age, and the women were just as good as the guys. The US won big. 

Pickleball was by far the most popular event. Played on Saturday afternoon to a standing room only crowd of several hundred, the 5.0 ranked women and men faced off in women’s, men’s, mixed doubles, and singles matches. It was incredible pickleball and after watching these folks play, it is easy to understand whey they are considered expert. There were a number of former pros—men and women—playing. The US barely won for the day, but the Canadians were very, very close in number of games won.

There were also contested matches in golf, tennis, pool, poker, shuffleboard, and horseshoes.

While the CanAm week was big, our resident pickleball tournament this next week will be even bigger with almost 500 entries.

Kay and I got a late start Sunday, and traveled to Sweetwater Wetlands in Tucson.

Our previous trips there did not yield many birds to photograph, and with the day’s late start—arriving after lunch—didn’t seem to be a formula for success. However, we were pleasantly surprised by the number of species and birds. We saw Black Phoebes, Chipping Sparrows, and White-crowned Sparrows.

Also present were a number of Anna’s Hummingbirds.

And then a Red-naped Sapsucker flew to a nearby tree.

several Yellow-rumped Warblers were flitting around, and one even landed out in the open, a rare occurrence.

A beautiful Vermillion Flycatcher kept darting up to catch an insect.

A Cassin’s Kingbird. only my second spotting of this species, posed nearby.

A family of raccoons also made an appearance. This one got “shot” (with a camera, of course.)

After a couple of hours at Sweetwater Wetlands, we shopped briefly at Costco’s, and then returned to the resort. Kay watched the Super Bowl Sunday evening and I read.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were filled with pickleball, and topped off with a Valentines Dinner and Dance. Monday’s pickleball included “4 + 1” training which was really good. It involved four players and 1 mentor/trainer. We worked on “No Volley Zone” or “Kitchen” tactics which was awesome.

Kay and I hosted the HSV group happy hour on Thursday, serving brats and buns, while others brought sides and desserts. A great time was had by all. After a busy week, Friday was anticlimactic. Kay did go out for dinner with the HSV folks, while I remained at the motorhome watching YouTube VLOGS. Saturday featured a return to pickleball, followed by extensive laziness!

Our 3.75 mixed doubles began on Tuesday at noon with ominous skies. Six games were played before the first sprinkles and then the court got a bit wet; we ended the seventh game at a 3-3 tie. It continued to rain Tuesday afternoon and night, most of the day Wednesday, and Thursday bringing in much cooler weather. Our only “fun” activities were bridge on Tuesday evening and Hand and Foot on Wednesday evening. By the way, the men won at Hand and Foot, tying the series at two apiece. Admittedly, we got really good cards. Happy hour went off without a hitch on Thursday afternoon, but it was inside for the second Thursday in a row because of weather.

Pickleball courts were too wet to play Friday morning, but dry enough such that the HSV folks played at our usual Friday time, 4:00 pm. After pickleball, we all had dinner at Texas Roadhouse—really cold beer and great food! Texas Roadhouse is perhaps our favorite chain restaurant.

It rained from about 3:30 am to 7:30 am Saturday, negating pickleball and most other outside activities for the day. With everything wet, we stayed inside for the most part, and vegetated, watching a few YouTube VLOGs and a movie (Kay watched My All American which included footage of the 1969 Big Shootout between Arkansas and Texas; I was at that game!) It was cool all day, even with the sunny skies showing through by mid-afternoon. This winter season at Palm Creek Resort has had remarkably more rain than the previous four years we’ve been here.

The title about says it all. Kay played pickleball on Thursday morning.

Happy hour was at the Seitz’s and because of the wind we gathered inside their spacious motor coach. Steve and Mary served pulled pork with slaw and there were assundry food and snacks from which to choose.

Too windy for pickleball, Friday was a “wash” as far as outside activities were concerned. We did enjoy dinner with the HSV group at Airport Inn.

A break in the weather allowed for pickleball to be played on Saturday and golf on Sunday. My pickleball game is picking up a bit, but I still need to work on dinking and returning more to the center, and to being more deliberate in play. As a former pro and current 5.0 player said a couple weeks ago, you “have more time that you think.” Kay is playing really well and fits in with her 3.0 group just fine, holding her own in most games. And, golf is getting more comfortable, though there are a lot of mental and physical mistakes in both our respective games.

Monday was a fully scheduled and busy day: photography at Gilbert, cycling parts of the Indian Wash Bend Path, and shopping at COSTCO. We drove north fairly early Monday, arriving at the Gilbert Water Ranch (aka Riparian Preserve at Gilbert) south and east of Phoenix about 9:00 am. No woodpeckers were hanging out on the large Saguaro Cacti as we entered, but European Starlings, Anna’s Hummingbirds, and Curved-bill Thrashers were numerous.

The “ponds” have been low this winter, so water birds were limited. A few Neotropic Cormorants were sunbathing, and a Green Heron was lounging on the pond bank. A Snowy Egret was wading nearby, but the Black-necked Stilt stayed far away. .

Flitting about among the small limbs of several trees, a Yellow-rumped Warbler (aka Butter Butt) paused for only a couple of seconds, but long enough to snap a photo.

As we neared the bathroom facility situated near the center of the pond array, a brightly-colored bird appeared in the low branches of a nearby tree. Hoping it was a Streaked-back Oriole, I was happily surprised to learn that it was an immature male Vermillion Flycatcher. This is only the second one I’ve observed, having seen the first at Falcon Lake, Texas, in late January 2018.

On a tight timeline, we departed just before 11 am, driving to meet up with other HSV folks for lunch before cycling in Scottsdale. Lunch was at Clancy’s and it was really good, and they had Guinness draught beer on tap, a rarity (at least for us) in the US. After lunch it was short walk to PedalJetz E-bikes. Steve, Mary, and Kay rented e-bikes and Norm and I used our own.

The ride took us to the Indian Wash Bend Path northward to the “horse heads.” These sculptures deserve a bit more explanation. Situated at its dramatic narrowing point, the horse heads sculpture titled Water Mark crowns the Indian Bend Wash and Scottsdale’s innovative flood control greenbelt. A series of five 14-foot high aluminum equine gargoyle sculptures spaced 125 feet apart graces the drop structure in the north basin atop stepped charcoal gray concrete plinths. Directed towards the passing traffic, each gargoyle strikes a different pose and stands sentinel, some with ears pricked back to hear impending flows, which can envelope but never overtake them. During dramatic flash flooding, water pours from the gargoyles’ mouths. Can you imagine something like this being recommended by the US Army Corps of Engineers?

Turning around, we rode south along the edge of the Chaparral and Camelback Parks and a couple of golf courses. Just a couple miles south of PedalJetz, we stopped for an afternoon “suds” before pedaling north and returning the rented cycles.

Kay and I left the group at this point and shopped briefly at Costco before driving to the resort in Casa Grande, ending a full and tiring day.