We were a little hesitant about RVing this year, but we felt if we stayed away from other people, we should stay healthy. So far it has worked. It’s been a sacrifice to not visit with friends and family when visiting different areas, but on this trip, we’ve been keeping to ourselves. The Ham is small. If one gets sick, we all get sick. We’re healthy, we’re happy and, through electronic devices, we’re still in touch – sort of. Lois’ Facebook account got hacked and trying to recover the account has been very frustrating.

Sunday, Jan. 23

Here at Usery Park in Phoenix, I was thinking of spending a leisurely day working on my suntan.  Carol and Lois thought I could still get a tan by hiking up the mountain and taking pictures. After lunch, I was on my bike pedaling towards the trailhead. As I weaved around cactus after cactus, a branch came out of nowhere and bit me. I’m not sure what four-letter word I used, but it immediately helped ease the pain. My first instinct was to pull it out with my other hand, but with my vast desert experience, I know that leads to more four-letter words – I stopped. Carol started making me carry a plastic fork in my pocket to rescue our dogs from the cactus monsters. Luckily, I had my fork-carrying shorts on. With the cactus mostly removed, I pulled out the remaining needles from my shoulder, wiped the tears from my eyes and continued on.

The trail started in the desert and gradually took me up the mountain. It was mostly gravel over rocks, constantly turning and taking me in and out of creek beds. I could hear other hikers on the trail before I ever saw them – it sounded like people walking on Rice Krispies. As I was hiking up through a long trough, I heard something right above me coming fast. It was a biker flying down the mountain at a blazing speed. He had no way of stopping and I had nowhere to step aside. I scrambled up the dirt wall to my right as he flew by underneath me. None of the Youtube hiking videos that I watched ever mentioned killer bikers. The vegetation changed during the climb from scattered saguaros, to a forest of saguaros, to none. Towards the top, it was mostly trees and bushes. When I got to the viewpoint, the distant mountain scenery made it worth the hike up. I wish my photos could fully reflect the beauty.  

Click on this link to view the hike: https://photos.app.goo.gl/KmkDM8SKdHCjehBF7

Monday, Jan. 24

Biking takes different leg muscles than hiking, so I decided to ride through the desert and explore more of this park’s beauty. There are times that you think it’s been landscaped, but a human couldn’t possibly have done such a perfect job in such a large area.

Click on this link for a bike ride video. It’s long, so pause when you get bored. https://photos.app.goo.gl/QDdkT5U2AEX2Zo7y7

We have tried for the last three times in the Southwest to get a site at Catalina State Park, Arizona’s top-rated campground. People stay up until midnight, a year before they stay there, to book their site. Well, when I got back from my bike ride, Carol had put her former travel agent skills to work and found us five consecutive days for next week! 

Tuesday, Jan. 25

Our morning dog hikes have been cut short lately due to a limping Lucy. It seems to be getting better, so we don’t push her. We have to keep reminding ourselves that she’s the same age as Lois.

Wednesday, Jan. 26

It was our last day and I had hoped to hike/bike some trails but my legs desperately needed a day’s rest. It turned out to be a do-nothing day today. At bedtime, we realized that we had run out of propane to heat the RV. It was going down to 39 degrees and Carol was not happy with me. It wasn’t too bad sleeping on the dog beds while the dogs stayed warm, cuddling up with Carol.

Thursday, Jan. 27

We moved to another regional campground in the Phoenix area just an hour away. It’s hard to leave Phoenix when the weather is so good. In the afternoon, I had a mountain to explore. The trails are shared with a horse-riding tour company. Each guided tour has about six horses. The trails are about three feet wide so you have to get off the trail and let the parade go by. As one group approached me, I had to climb up the mountain about three feet. Pleasantries were shared as each rider went by until one horse found me of interest and stopped. His nose was all over me. The riders got a kick out of it, but the guide did not. The horse was not leaving until he was done sniffing. That’s when I reached into my pocket and pulled out some of my dog biscuits. Happy with his tasty treats, he wandered away. Further down the trail, I ran into a man carrying a rake. I apologized to him that I had forgotten to bring mine. He worked for the horse company and his job was to hike the 15 miles of trails each day and rake horse droppings off the trails. He said it was a really crappy job.

Friday, Jan. 28

High winds are a normal occurrence in the desert. Last night, the Ham was rolling, shaking and rattling all night long. Unless you’re trying to sleep, it’s really kind of fun.

Before moving to another regional park, we stopped for lunch in the small town of Cave Creek, AZ. The downtown was full of restaurants, cowboy-themed shops and gift shops. We picked up an order of tacos, cheese and spinach enchiladas and Indian fry bread, smothered with an apple sauce at Indian Village. A parking lot with a beautiful mountain view from our RV was the setting for our wonderful lunch. The tacos were tasty and crunchy, the enchiladas were so good we forgot to share a bite with Lois. The fry bread was a perfect dessert. We love finding small, local restaurants with great, authentic food.

We did some laundry today with our new washing machine – a plastic storage container, filled with soapy water and sitting in the shower. By the time the drive shook it around, it was clean, hopefully, and ready to rinse and dry.

For the third time in our three trips to the Phoenix area, we ran into our hometown neighbors just a few sites away. We think they’re stalking us.

The sun put on a nice show for us this evening.

Saturday, Jan. 29

We took a long hike in the desert this morning and I was in charge of Lucy. Lucy started limping soon after we started and Carol wanted to return. Since Lucy was having fun, it was a beautiful morning and I’ve been limping for 30 years. We kept moving down the trail. Our neighbors came out of their RV as we passed by and we had a nice visit.

Afternoon means it’s time to venture out of the Ham and find great scenery to photograph. Two hours later, I had biked to the base of a mountain and climbed near the top. I was tired of taking pictures and it was already past tea time, so I returned to the Ham. In the early evening, our local coyotes came by our site and howled us goodbye.

Click on this link for my mountain hike. https://photos.app.goo.gl/7bASk5VmTN3us9yE7