Ron & Deb's April Adventure

[addicted08]

We are traveling again. We had to fly to Phoenix to pick up my trike from Arizona Boss Hoss. We had left it there in early February to get a bit of work done and I figured we better pick it up before they sell it! After picking up my trike we headed for Tucson and took a little detour on the way. We saw a sign for Casa Grande Ruins and it sounded interesting so we went to check it out. It was a pretty interesting place.









In the parking lot I saw this cactus with flowers on it and thought it looked really neat.

[addicted08]

After the Casa Grande Ruins we headed toward Tucson and I saw the sign for the Ostrich farm and got Ron to check it out. We pulled into the parking lot and there was this big truck. The sign said they had Monstor Truck tours but they weren't doing them today so we didn't get to ride in the truck.


We paid the admission fee and got a big cup full of green pellets to feed to the animals and a small cup of nectar for the birds. The lady told us to go clockwise around the compound starting with the mini donkeys.


After feeding the donkeys we moved on to the deer.



Next came the goats. This was such a funny "display" for the goats.




The Ostirch were next. They were a lot more aggressive going after the pellets and even the cups holding the pellets.
They knew that Ron had a cup of pellets and were eagerly watching him as he walked down the platform.


Ron even got one of them to stretch for a pellet just to see how tall it was.


This is the sign on the Ostrich pen and I believed it!


One of the Ostirch even tried to eat pellets right out of the cup.

[addicted08]

After the Ostrich were ducks. They had a different kind of food for them and Ron got some and fed them but I decided just take pictures this time.


Next we went to see the Lorikeets with our little cup of nectar. Those birds clearly know that they are going to get fed when someone walks into their enclosure because we got swarmed when we walked in.


Here is a bird eating the nectar from the cup that Ron was holding.


While I was trying to get pics of Ron and the Lorikeets I was holding the camera in one hand and a bottle of water and my cup of nectar in the other. One of the birds landed on my hand with the nectar and used it's beak to pry the lid off the cup! I couldn't believe it. Boy those birds are smart.


When we got to Tucson we were driving through town when we came to a stop light and there was this semi stopped halfway into the intersection. At first I couldn't figure out why he had stopped but then I saw the damage to the trailer just behind the cab. He must have made a sudden stop and his load shifted and this is the result.

[addicted08]

Today we decided it would be a good day to drive to Tortilla Flat. It was a really nice day and absolutely gorgeous scenery!! This pic was taken between Scottsdale and Apache Junction.


At Apache Junction we took Hwy 88 toward Tortilla Flat and it had the most amazing views!

[addicted08]

The ride from Apache Junction to Tortilla Flat was so cool! The scenery was breathtaking.



Then we arrived at Tortilla Flat. Which is basically 4 buildings in a flat spot on the road. But it was very interesting.




We went into the saloon for a drink and I heard some gals talking about the interesting restroom and taking pictures there so I went to check it out. It was really neat and I got my picture taken.


When we came out of the saloon there was a crowd around my trike and I thought it was pretty funny so I took a picture of them.


This is another view of Tortilla Flat and the mountains behind them.

[addicted08]

We continued on from Tortilla Flat until the road turned to gravel and then we turned around and went back the way we came. Seeing the views from another angle.







Here is a picture of Ron at Tortilla Flat goofing around.


And this is my trike with the neat scenery for a backdrop.

[addicted08]

There were so many things that we saw and did yesterday that I didn't get them all posted last night so here are a few more. After Tortilla Flat we stopped at Goldfield Mining Town...pretty much a tourist trap but it sure looked neat!

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There was so much beautiful scenery. This was across the highway from Goldfield.


After Goldfield we drove highway 60 to Globe and that was really amazing also.

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A few more shots taken on Hwy 60 between Superior and Globe.

[addicted08]

So we spent the night in Globe last night and got up and continued on Hwy 60/77 north and east toward Show Low. It was more amazing scenery!!

[addicted08]

We had a beautiful day, lots of sunshine and not too hot or too cold for the most part. The ride was wonderful because the road was nice and smooth with some nice twisties to make it fun. And of course the most amazing scenery!






This route had a lot more trees than we saw yesterday.


The drive from Show Low to Payson was nothing to brag about. We were at 7700 feet of elevation and it was pretty chilly, we even saw some snow! Luckily the road started going down hill outside of Payson so it warmed up quickly. We were behind this semi when his brakes overheated. Luckily there was a flat spot for him to pull over and let them cool off because there was still a lot of downhill to go.

[addicted08]

The road from Payson back to Globe was another good one. Nice and smooth with enough twisties to make it fun and of course great scenery.



The road took us to Roosevelt Lake. I couldn't get over how blue the water looked! There were a lot of people there, probably because of the nice weather and the holiday weekend. I was kind of surprised to see that people parked there RV's and campers right up next to the water.




And this is Roosevelt Dam.


Between Roosevelt Lake and Globe was a little more neat photo ops.

[Elvis]

Thanks Deb, great pics as always.

[addicted08]

Yesterday we went to the Tonto National Monument Cliff Dwellings at the suggestion of V8 Slingshot. It looked like it would be an interesting place with a fun hike to get up to them and it was!! I enjoyed it very much, thanks Roy.
This picture is from the Visitor Center Parking lot.


This was across the road from the Visitor Center but the hike doesn't take you over there. Darn it.


They have a really nice path made to walk on although it was rather steep in places. You definitely get some excercise going up there.


My trike in the parking lot from a little ways up the path.


Almost there.


The view from the Cliff Dwelling.


Pictures of the dwelling. It was really neat.

[addicted08]

After our hike to and from the cliff dwelling we stopped for gasoline and a bite of lunch. While we were talking to a couple of locals about the best rides in the area a man walked up and said "Hi Deb, Ron". I had never seen him before and couldn't figure out how he knew our names! Then he introduced himself....Tucson Tom and his wife Laverne. They were up around Roosevelt for a ride and he saw our trike. He had seen my posts that we were out this way and figured it had to be us. What a small world!!


Later in the day we went back up to Show Low then east from there to White Mountain and spent the night in Alpine. We are at 8046 feet of elevation so it is pretty chilly. On White Mountain there was still snow on the ground! The higher we went, the more snow there was. It was a really pretty ride, I'm just glad that we had warm clothes and gloves!







Really looking forward to todays ride. Tucson Tom tells us it is really pretty and lots of twisties going south from Alpine down Hwy 191. The sun is out and it is almost 60 degrees so it should be a gorgeous day!

[addicted08]

Yesterday we headed down 191 from Alpine. My trike wasn't on its best behavior but luckily it wasn't the worst either! The ride was absolutely beautiful! When we started out we were at 8046 feet of elevation, it was almost 60 degrees and the sun was shining. This is what it looked like....


The lady at the gas station told us we would climb to 10,000 feet before heading back down and as you can see by all the snow we were up a ways.


We were bundled up pretty good so it wasn't too cold for us and it didn't seem like it lasted very long at that elevation. Soon we were without snow and a bit warmer. But with this kind of scenery I really didn't care what the temp was.





The road was so much fun. Lots of curves and turns.

[addicted08]

As you can see from the pictures, we had a great day to ride and amazing scenery at every turn. This should definitely be on everyone's bucket list!





I really like the foliage here in Arizona. I suppose it intrigues me because it is so different from what we have in Iowa. One spot we were by had several of these trees that looked white. I thought they were really pretty.


When we came down from the mountain this is what it looked like.

[addicted08]

Then we came upon the biggest mining operation I have ever seen! It was really kind of neat to see the different colors in the dirt and rocks and the terraces they make to haul huge dumptruck loads out of the pit.




In the middle of all the mining was this little hill that hadn't been touched. It kind of looked out of place.


As we drove through this whole area there was a "Scenic Viewing Area", so we stopped to see the view. This was heading on down the road.


This is my trike in the fenced off area.


These are pics I took through the larger holes in the fence.



Then we drove on and came to this tunnel. It sure seemed "rustic" for a tunnel on a main road.

[addicted08]

After the tunnel came views of the mining operation's buildings. It is a really large complex!



Then back to the open road. Dang it is pretty around here!!


Then we came to a little town.

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This is some of the houses in the little town. I thought it looked so strange to see a big group of them and then more up on terraces above the group.


Here we are on the open road again.



I thought this was so neat. Up ahead of us it looked hazy or foggy but by the time we got there you couldn't see any evidence of haze of fog, just a bright sunny day.


This was a really neat trip. Thanks to Tucson Tom for telling us that 191 was a fantastic ride and that we should definitely take it.

[SRF]

Looks like you are having a great time!!!

Shane

[addicted08]

Today Ron and I are in Oklahoma. There is some rather dicey weather around so we are going to stay in the hotel in Miami for the day and try to get home tomorrow. So I thought I would use this time to post the last pics from our trip. Brian at Boss Hoss Arizona replaced the fuel pump on my trike and it has been running like a champ! Here is a pic I took as I followed Ron from Phoenix to Tucson to take the Blazer and drop it off at our place.


Then we headed east from Tucson and soon found ourselves in New Mexico. The scenery along Hwy 10 is pretty good. At least it keeps me entertained by being photo worthy.

[addicted08]

We made it to Miami, OK on Friday and though the weather was pretty dicey in the area we managed to make it with out getting rained on. It started pouring about an hour after we checked into the hotel.

Stan Hughes is turning 50 this month and a few of his friends and family got together to surprise him.



His reaction to finding a group of people in his shop when he opened the door to "show Deidra Ward his shop" was priceless!



Everyone had a good time and lots of fun at Stan's expense. Check out the walker, complete with a horn and roll of toilet paper, that Roger and his wife gave Stan.


Stan got several thoughtful gifts as well and several bottles of Jack!



Shelley had some unique table decorations made up. The black buckets had all of Stan's favorite things arranged in them. There were Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Pretzel M & M's, beef jerkey and a can of Skoal in each one. And the birthday cake was really something! The picture doesn't do it justice. It had 3 tiers, the bottom one was red velvet cake, the middle was lemon cake and the top was white cake with raspberry swirled in it. Very yummy as well as pretty!



Well, that is the end of another adventure. As always we had a lot of fun, saw some amazing places and the best part is that we get to do it together.