December 2010

The Duttons

December was a stay at home month for us.  We didn't do any traveling, but just attended Apache Wells functions (which were many) and went to a Christmas Special show at the Broadway Palms Theater featuring The Duttons.  Their show was not part of our season tickets at the Broadway, but we didn't have any shows this month and wanted to see their's.  They were on America's Got Talent in the early years, and were one of the finalists.  They do put on a great show and have their own theater now here in Mesa as well as their theater in Branson, MO.

December Pool Party



There were several coffee and donut functions here in Apache Wells at the rec. hall and a pancake breakfast.  And can you believe in December we had a pool party and karaoke?  Yep, it was a good function and the temperatures were in the 70's and 80's.  They had one last month, but we were in San Diego and missed it.



The Needham Twins





Marty Berk

The Apache Wells entertainment this month included a comedian named Marty Berk who mimed with funny faces and props to some old time music of Ray Stevens. He also did several acts to  Christmas music, it was a Christmas show after all! Another AW entertainment night included Carla Elliot who played a special key-board that simulated every instrument you could think of. It turned out to be a very good show! And then there was the Needham brothers who sang and played while we danced. You know, it's getting harder and harder to do that twist down to the floor and back up!

Molly busy quilting!

Molly spent most of the month making quilts for the family. She 

Quilts for Carrie, Jeanette, and Lynda

finally got 5 quilts done and in the mail by Christmas and then worked on a few more before New Years.  Needless to say, she was quite busy! While she was doing that, I have been converting tons of old slides into digital photos on the computer and then making PhotoStory slide shows out of some of them (Route 66 trip, eight years of backpacking trips from the 1980's, sailing and canoe trips, etc.). So you can see we didn't have much time for anything else.

Saguaro Lake Hike

We did manage to get out for a little hike along Saguaro Lake from Butcher Jones Recreation Area.  It was a short hike, but it was nice to hike along a lake that we knew so well, and it was a beautiful day for it.  We also saw several movies this month, Fair Game about the Valerie Plame outing, The Kings Speech about King George VI's speech stammer, and Social Network about the creation of Facebook and it's founder.  We like the first two the best.

Christmas Dinner

The Christmas dinner was just great.  Each table has a "sponser" who decorates the table and provides a sign-up sheet.  You sign up for a table and bring a supplemental dish while Apache Wells picks up the ham and turkey.  It's just nice to have a dinner to catch up with all your friends and meet new ones.  Of course we always over-eat at these things!

Molly's new bike

I did get an early Christmas present, a new flat-screen TV for the front room.  We had gotten an up-grade of the DIRECTV receiver to a DVR receiver and I thought a nice high-def TV should go with it (even though the receiver isn't high-def)!  This is the receiver we transfer into the RV when we travel, so that necessitated getting another cable from our RV dish to the receiver so we could record shows when we weren't present.  Molly got a new bike from Santa.  It is a 12-speed fold-up with 18" wheels.  Now she can get out and do some riding in the neighborhood and maybe even join the biking group in the park.  Two practical gifts we got each other were a knife sharpener for me and a Dutch Oven for Molly.  Now we have all sharp knives and a big pot of stew!

The New Years Eve dance featured April Walker with a mid-night dinner.  Happy New Year to everyone!!!

Brent



November 2010

View from our room of Montecatini Alto

The big news this month is that Molly has returned to Mesa from Italy.  I missed her so much!  We did correspond via SKYPE with video, so kept in touch that way, except the time difference here (-9 hrs) made it a little difficult, and she was kept pretty busy.  With sister Jo Ann, they had a 10 hour plane trip over and back.  The travel guides I made for them and a few others in their group apparently went over pretty well.  Molly finally gave hers to the the trip tour guide. 

Florence

During the 10 day trip to Tuscany they toured Lucca, San Gimignano and the San Donato Winery there, the towns of Riomaggoiore, Vernazza, Monterrosso and La Spezia of Cinque Terre, the IL Poggio Winery, Vinci, Pisa, Siena, and Florence, while coming back to their Tuscany Inn hotel in Monecatini Terme every night.


Although I've included a couple of her photos here, you can view some of Molly's selected shots (85 or 416) in a slide show below: 



 

She spent most of the next week adjusting to the time difference again and just recovering from all the touring and shopping.  Of course we kept busy the rest of the month by going to several Arts and Craft Festivals (Litchfield Park and Fountain Hills), two Broadway Palm Theatre performances (Sugar--adaptation of the movie Some Like It Hot, and Annie), and this season's premiere of the Arizona Opry.

Mogollon Rim

Driving the Rim



We also did an overnight mini-trip to Payson, AZ for a quilt show and a long-anticipated drive of the Mogollon (MOE-gee-on) Rim drive .  It is a spectacular 45 mile section along a 200 mile abrupt 2000 ft up-lift stretching from Ft. Apache near the New Mexico border to Ft. Whipple in Prescott.  It is also called the General Crook Trail because it follows the original military supply route between these forts constructed in 1872 by Crook during the Apache wars.  This up-lift, most of which is over 7000 ft. elevation, is the southern edge of the Colorado Plateau and affords many spectacular views.  On a clear day, they say you can see the Catalina Mountains near Tucson 150 miles away.

1st Day Finish

2nd Day Deluge

The other major activity this month was a 4-day, 3-night trip to San Diego to cheer-on and support daughter Carrie and her Mark in their 60 mile, 3-day Susan B. Komen Cancer walk. This is Carrie's 4th year walking and Mark's 8th year. Molly and I got to meet Marks family (Mom, Dad, Sisters and nieces and nephew), most of whom also walked in the walk and have been for many years. The weather was not the best this year with rain all three days, and the second day was a deluge. They were soaked. Most of the participants had to sleep in provided tents, but Carrie and Mark lucked out this year by staying in his sister's 5th wheel. Of course Molly and I got to sit in the car and wait at certain designated areas along the way to cheer them on when they passed. The closing ceremony was something with the 4,000+ participants and survivors gathering in an arena listening to the final comments and cheering. It was just great fun that raised over $10.6 million!  

Final Ceremony

Walkers and Support Group

More photos at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/bmforsberg/SanDiegoCancerWalk2010

And then a major accomplishment!  I finished the back patio.  I started it when Molly was in Italy and gradually leveled, laid down a sand base, place blocks, and cut some into smaller spaces to fit.  To take the patio to the raised street, I made a step with building blocks and put the square concrete slab blocks on top of them.  It seems to work ok and it is much nicer now to go out back without getting your feet all dirty.  Then, feeling energetic, I put new shelves in the storage shed.  I now have much more room and it's all organized.  I can now find things I want.  It was usually easier to go buy what I needed rather than go out in the shed and dig through the stuff to find it!

October 2010

After we got back to Mesa on the 2nd, we spent several days unpacking and cleaning up the house a bit.  Then Molly and I had a few days to recuperate. But two days later, we had tickets to the road show of America’s Got Talent here in Phoenix. We had front row seats in the first balcony, which were just great. There were several of the finalists, however, that were absent because, they said, it was a weekday and they needed to stay home and be in school. They included Anna and Patryk the ballroom dancers, and Jackie Evancho the opera singer. Jeremy VanSchoonhoven, the stunt bike rider, had just broken his arm in practice and was unable to perform also. But the other performers were just wonderful. The winner, of course, was the singer Michael Grimm, who put on a great show. The only thing that wasn’t great, was the MC, Jerry Springer. His jokes were old and lame. The audience didn’t even laugh at most of them. They need another MC for next year’s tour.



Mark Mulligan and fans

The next week we went to a back yard concert by Mark Mulligan. He is a singer Molly and I followed in San Carlos, Mexico. As we arrived he greeted us with Hi Brent & Molly. That guy has one fantastic memory. It has been several years since we’ve seen him in San Carlos. He has a nice easy Caribbean Soul type delivery (Jimmy Buffett style) about life in Mexico and on the beach. Every now and then he comes back to the States and Phoenix to do some private shows. The evening was clear and warm. We brought our lawn chairs, some food and drink and wished we were back on the beach in Mexico.

Jacket at Cave Creek Art Festival

After that is was get Molly ready her two week trip to Italy. She had to buy a few new things.  At an arts and craft festival in Cave Creek, she picked up a nice jacket since it was going to ge a little chilly there.  And I got her a very small camcorder about the size of a cell phone. She studied the manual and made several practice videos so she could take some panoramic shots of the countryside in Tuscany. So on the 19th she flew to Portland, spend the night with daughter Jeanette, then to Salem the next night with sister JoAnn. On Thursday they both boarded a bus to Seattle with a group from their quilting shop for their flight to Paris and then on to Florence and Montecatini Terme in Tuscany. Of course, I had to stay home with a long “To Do” list. But we did communicate via email and Skype video.


Superstition Mountains



After getting most of my list completed, however, I decided it was time for a little break and went for a few short hikes in the area.  The first was up into the base of the Superstition Mountains out of the Lost Dutchman State Park in Apache Junction for about 2.7 miles.  It was a hot day (90 degrees) and a little bit of a climb, but quite a view. 



White Tank Mountain



The other hike was into the White Tank Mountain Reginal Park west of Phoenix.  Again, it was a short hike, but in a nice area.  I just hiked up to a periodic waterfall when it rains.  There was only a pool of water at the time.  And then I toured the park and the camping area

Summer 2010

The following post is how we spent our summer of 2010 back in Oregon and on our way back to Mesa, Arizona in the fall.  The post is arranged by month.  Thanks for caring enough to read it and remember to click on any picture for a larger view.

May/June

We arrived back at the Salem Elks on May 17th after a quick trip in the car from Mesa. Since we took the “new” car to Mesa just after purchasing it last September, we didn’t have time to get tow bar attachments put on before we left. So that was one of the first things we did after coming home. Since I kept the tow bar from the old Rav 4, all I needed was the attachment and I thought that would be fairly inexpensive…..it wasn’t! But now it’s ready to go.

One of the things we always want to do as soon as possible when we get back to Oregon is to see friends and family. Of course we had to just kick back and rest up for awhile. But we had lunch with sister Jodene, which was also a lunch with daughter Carrie too. She was having a donation lunch to raise money for her yearly cancer walk in San Diego. Good lunch, and had fun meeting some of her friends.

We also had a planning lunch with Dick and Colleen Bonney, another captain on the Desert Belle, to talk about our planned trip to the San Juan Islands next month. Dick had arranged the 40 foot power boat, so I did most of trip planning since Molly and I had cruised the San Juan’s many times.

Eagle Cap Excursion Train

Molly had two desires this summer. One was to go on a train trip. So I Googled “train trips Oregon” and found several. But we had already done many of them. The one out of Elgin, down the Grande Ronde River, however, seemed like a good one. So we made reservations for the train and a motel. The trip was an all day trip that included lunch and took us along the river about 40 miles and then up the Wallowa River a short way.

We boarded the train in Elgin and got a table seat next to the window. It was very relaxing and scenic. And we also met some nice people along the way.

Molly with Bella Rose and the Sheriff

This trip was going to be a special event, because there was to be a train robbery. The outlaw “Bella Rose”, was lead onto the train by the sheriff, bound by ropes and made the rounds through each of the cars. During the trip, some masked train robbers on horseback stopped the train, boarded it, broke Rose loose, and road off. A lot of fun!

Open door seating!

Lunch was prepared aboard and served at our table. Since they didn’t have enough tables for all the passengers, we ate and then moved to another car. Since I had walked the train earlier, I saw that the last car was a baggage car with open observation doors. So we quickly moved back there after lunch and had a great open door ride back. The weather was just perfect and the trip was a memorable one.

Wallowa Lake

After the trip, we decided to go up to Wallowa Lake and ride the tram to the top of the adjacent mountain. Because of a phone call about the RV that we had to return, we got to the tram 10 minutes too late for the last trip. This was the second time we misted the tram on a trip up there. But the lake was beautiful anyway!

On the way back to Salem, we decided to spend the night in Hood River and visit brother Dick. We didn’t get to see him last summer, so we thought we better check in early this year. We had dinner with him (Bonnie was busy) and caught up on the latest goings-on.

July

The crew at Sucia Island, San Juan Islands

The major activity for July included the week long San Juan Cruise. We picked up the 40’ power boat in Anacortes and was able to spend the night before take-off on the boat. Our itinerary included Sucia Island, Friday Harbor (2 nights with cruising to Garrison Bay on the day trip), Butchart Gardens, B. C., and Rosario Resort on Orcas Island (2 nights).

With Ray and Carol Rogers at Butchart Garden's Cove

At Butchart, we were surprised to get one of the four buoys available in their private cove [our boat is over Carol's head]. We contacted Apache Wells friends Ray and Carol, that live very close, and they met us for a walk-through of the gardens and lunch. After walking through the gardens during the day, and a BBQ on the boat for dinner, we went back after dark for the evening experience.

Pool day at Rosario Resort, Orcas Island

During our stay at Rosario Resort, Molly and I spent a day at the pool while the others went to East Sound on a shuttle bus. Dick stepped off a curve and severely twisted his knee. He had to have help moving about from then on and will be getting it operated on later this summer or fall.

We had a little problem with the boat. It would not come up to cruising speed and was throwing considerable black smoke out the back. The charter company made a small consideration in the final charter fee because of the inconvenience. But all in all, it was a fine trip and nice to get back on the water in the Pacific Northwest.

Lisa Root ejoying the sun on their deck

And of course, on the way back from the San Juan’s we stopped to visit long time friends Bud and Lisa for a few days at their place on Whidbey Island over-looking Admiralty Inlet and Port Townsend. Always a good time!

On the trail at Silver Creek Falls State Park

Later that month Molly and I took a little trip to Silver Creek Falls State Park and did one of the small loops around the waterfalls. Molly has been walking several miles nearly every morning at the Salem Elks to get in shape for her Italy trip this fall. So we thought this would be another good exercise, and a beautiful day to view the waterfalls.

Then we went to an all school reunion at Scappoose High School. Reunions are always fun. I saw several classmates and teachers, and my Scappoose next door neighbor that was very close when we were in school. When he found out we were going to Redmond for an RV Rally next month, he suggested we meet at Crooked River Ranch (where we were staying before the rally), since he has a place there, and we could have dinner. We had a great dinner in Terrebonne and met his wife, Pam, who came over from Portland just for this event. We agreed we should get together again before heading south. We did, but the circumstances were not as happy. His mother, Hazel who I considered my surrogate mom, had just pasted away and we made arrangements to go to her service.

August

The second thing Molly really wanted to do this summer was go to Crater Lake. It had been a long time since we had been there…..I think it was when I ran the marathon around the lake…..so you know it had to be a loooong time ago!

Debbie Reynolds at RV Rally, Redmond

So in August we went to the FMCA RV Rally in Redmond where the entertainment included Debbie Reynolds and the Texas Tenors. We didn’t buy much this year, probably because we had just purchased a new couch and had new carpet put in the RV. That was probably enough!

Talking to the Captian

Crater Lake

After the Rally we had reservations at Diamond Lake RV Park for several days so we could do Crater Lake. We decided to take the boat tour of the lake and in the parking lot before heading down, I met one of the captains who encouraged me to contact the boat manager and put in an application. When we took the cruise around the lake, the captain of our boat also said the same thing. All the captain has to do is DRIVE! They have a Ranger aboard that does the narration. So that may be a new summertime activity next year that could be fun and help keep my license current.

And that may be a real possibility, now that I am no longer captain of the Desert Belle on Saguaro Lake. I had always said when it wasn’t fun anymore, I would be out of there. Enough said!!!   And four years was probably enough anyway.  Now we have all winter in the sun without anything scheduled and can explore the sites of Arizona and ……

Fireside chats at the Cruiser's Rendezsvous, Cathlamet

In late August we again attended the Cruisers Rendezvous in Cathlamet, Washington. We took the RV down and met up with lots of our Northwest cruising friends from Mexico. The reunion, pot luck, and catching up on activities was a wonderful time.

September

Bumpus Hell, Lassen Park

Driving through Lassen Park

We left for Mesa on September 18th. Since we didn’t have anything to rush back for, we decided to take our time and see some of the California National Parks that we never had a chance to visit before. We started our two week trip by spending a couple nights in Redding at their Elks and then up into the Lassen Volcanic National Park for a few days. We parked the RV in a campground and drove the car through the park and took a lot of pictures. We also took a few little hikes, one around the lake near our campground and another to the second biggest volcanic sulfur springs and mud pots in the U.S., second only to the ones at Yellowstone N. P. The weather was perfect.

East entrance, Yosemite N.P., Tioga Pass @ 9945'

Hetch Hetchy Valley and Reservoir, Yosemite N.P.

From there we crossed over the hill to Reno/Carson City, NV and spent the night in a nice little park in that valley. I had scoped out Yosemite National Park for road conditions and elevation gain for the RV by using Google Earth’s on-road cameras. The trip of from the East side was not as bad as I had thought, even though there were some 8 or 9% grades up to the 9945 foot elevation at Tioga Pass, the park entrance. The road was a little rough and curvy on the west side, however. We camped at Hodgdon Meadows Campground and drove the car up the Hetch Hetchy Canyon and viewed the reservoir that John Muir fought to prevent. It was a beautiful valley and we wished he had succeeded. We did walk across the dam and through a railroad tunnel on the far side.



Half Dome from Glacier Point



Ahwahnee Resort in Yosemite Valley

The next day we spent driving driving the car into the Yosemite Valley, taking the obligatory photos, doing some touristy shopping, and having lunch at The Ahwahnee Resort. We have cruising friends Tom and Cathy Edwards, who named their boat Ahwahnee, so we had to get them a souvenir or two. The next day I drove the RV (Molly drove the car) from our campground on the north edge of the park, through the valley (and its four tunnels), and out the southern entrance. The road was very curvy, narrow, up, down, and under construction. Entering some of the shadowy curves, from the sun, was almost blinding. I hit the newly constructed curbs a couple times and was glad Molly was driving the car behind me. At the south entrance, we stopped at the Wawona Hotel, one of the oldest hotels in California, and had lunch.

Wawona Hotel, south entrance to Yosemite N.P.

Reason for the smoke!



Smokey Kings Canyon N.P.



Then it was on to the Elks in Oakhurst, a small little mountain community. We paid for two lights, but didn’t like the neighbors’ three dogs wondering around unattended and crapping anywhere they wanted without it being picked up. We left early the next morning and went ddown the road to the Fresno Elks, a real nice place with grassy sites overlooking a small lake, and lots of nearby amenities. It was so nice, we decided to keep the RV there and make the one hour drive into the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks with the car…..much better idea! We drove up into Kings Canyon first. There was a contained forest fire in the canyon that had been burning for two months that made it a little smoky for good picture taking. We had lunch at a small little hole-in-the-wall place and then on into Sequoia National Park. I was a little disappointed in the park. We just drove through big trees without many scenic views . We did make our obligatory stop at the visitor center and watched one of their videos. And of course, we made it to the General Sherman Tree, the largest living thing in the world. However, that is not Molly in the picture below.  It was a steep walk down to the tree and she choose not to climb down there considering the heat and altitude.



General Sherman Tree, Sequoia N.P.



We stayed in Fresno for four nights and just relaxed from the heat in the air conditioned RV. The next stops were Newberry Springs, east of Barstow, and Blythe. And finally arrived early on Saturday, October 2, at Apache Wells. We parked the RV in the space next to our Park Model for two days to do our unloading in the 103-degree heat, and then stored it just down the road at another Cal-Am Park where it will be handy for any short trips.



Winter in Mesa, 2009-2010

Just after spending our 35th wedding anniversary in Las Vegas with Tom & Sue Stose at the new Trump International Hotel in early November, we flew back to Mesa.

We didn’t do anything special for Thanksgiving, since we had to work the next four days on the Desert Belle. On November 28th, however, was Wyatt Earp’s second performance on the Desert Belle. Molly & I had talked to him in Prescott, AZ last spring and encouraged him to do his one man show "Life on the Frontier" on the new Desert Belle. The show presents of an older Wyatt Earp talking to an off stage reporter asking Wyatt about his life. During the performance, then, you get a well-researched history of Wyatt Earp, by Wyatt Earp, the great grand nephew of the original Wyatt Earp. His first performance on the Belle was Oct 17th, and then he returned for a total of five shows this season.

On December 5th the traditional Parade of Lights on Saguaro Lake was lead by the Desert Belle, this time with the "new" Belle. I was captain once again, but I was training another of our newer captain’s for a future opportunity. It’s obviously a nighttime charter with no lights to follow. You just have to know where you’re going. It’s a fun trip for all, except the captain can’t partake in all of the onboard fun!

On December 26th we picked up our new "Brent & Molly Forsberg" sandstone sign to display outside our park model. It has an outline of Arizona and Oregon on it, each depicting our residential cities (Gresham and Mesa), and a Saguaro Cactus in the center. We had just gotten it when Jeanette informed us that that is what they got us for a Christmas present, but didn’t want to ship it because of the weight. We will use theirs to display outside the RV when traveling.
　
This winter we enjoyed several performances at the Broadway Palms Theater nearby. We went to a total of six different shows including:
Oct. 8: Smoky Joe’s Café; we took sister Jodene when she was visiting,
Dec 17: Meet Me In St. Louis,
Feb 4: Molly Brown,
March 14: George M; sister JoAnn was our guest for this performance,
May 8: Nunsense, and
May 11: AZ Diamond (a performer tribute to Neil Diamond).
Every seat was an excellent front row seat. We went to so many this winter and also went to quite a few in the past, that we decided to get season tickets for next year.


Jan 16-17: This year we decided to once again go to the Blythe Blue Grass Festival in Blythe, CA. We met friends Bud and Lisa Root there and enjoyed another great concert. We even picked up a couple more CD’s. Bud and Lisa later visited us in Mesa and took a ride on the new Belle.

Jan 19-28: Since one of the other captain’s normally takes the month of December off to go home and visit family for the holiday’s, I decided, with his and the owners blessing, that Molly and I would take most of the month of January off. I substituted for him and now he can reciprocate.

And it worked out great because Molly’s sister, JoAnn and husband Jim, had rented a condominium for a month in Hawaii (big island at Puako) and asked us to join them for some of that time. We jumped at the chance. The only problem was getting there. There are no direct flights from Phoenix, so on January 19th we had to fly to Seattle, spend the night, and then fly to Kona, Hawaii the next day.

It was one of the best trips we’ve made. Since we spent two weeks on the big island several years ago and "saw everything", we didn’t have to do any of that this time. We just laid around on the beach sunning ourselves, read our books, did some shopping, and ate! Of course we had to take Jim to the doctor after he fell while he and I were walking along the lava rock "beach" below their place watching sea turtles. He had to have several deep stitches in his knee. He still says I pushed him!

After another two flights back to Phoenix, we arrived just in time to go to the Phoenix Quilt Show on January 28th. It’s a big show, but we didn’t see anything there we couldn’t live without.

Since we are spending more time in Mesa now than in Oregon, we decided to locate a local Dentist and Doctor. Finding a doctor was out of necessity since I came down with something that reminded me of the Valley Fever I had several years ago. I had achy joints, headaches, coughing, and couldn’t breathe while laying on my left side at night. Apparently it was "just" walking pneumonia or bronchitis. I didn’t miss any work, but it was difficult narrating for both hour-and-a-half trips a day, sometimes three trips. The dentist we chose was very close, on the same mile-square block that we live on, and very good. We liked him a lot.

On February 21, Molly was again flying off to Las Vegas for the "Hen Party" with the other cruising girls. This has become an annual event, and this year they decided to have their get together in Vegas and see some shows. They couldn’t get the same great deal we had at the Trump in November, but after a little surfing, found a great deal at the Rio Hotel and Casino with adjoining rooms and a car. They decided to see the "Jersey Boys". That makes the third time for Molly, but it’s such a great show she didn’t mind seeing it again. They also spent a day at the Spa and shopping till they dropped!

Once again daughter Jeanette came for a weeklong visit (March 2-9). Since we had done so much with her on previous trips, we let her just take it easy and get some pool time. We did, however, take to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum near Superior, a trip that Molly and I have always wanted to make. We enjoy her visits and wish that Terry could break free one of these years to join her, although we know that’s his busy time of year. On the day Jeanette flew out of the Phoenix Sky Harbor

Airport on the 9th, Molly’s sister JoAnn arrived. She stayed a little over a week (March 9-17th). Again, we had a relaxing week, but did take her for a tour of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West, his western living quarters and studio. Molly and I have done the tour before, but the guide this time made the place come alive. You could tell it was his life love. The best tour we’ve had.

On March 21-23 we drove to Yuma to visit Jim & Linda Newton. He and I used to work together at the Department of Fish and Wildlife. Back on February 12 they came through Mesa for a visit and went for a ride on the Desert Belle with her sister and brother-in-law. They have a great place in Yuma and were very good hosts and guides. They took us to the Yuma Territorial Prison and up the Colorado River to visit a wildlife refuge and another tour boat that I had a chance to operate several years ago…..glad I didn’t get that job! They also treated us to the infamous date-shake.

Then the next week (March 28-30) we took a bus trip to Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point), Mexico. We have been looking at some of the World Span Travel Trips on the board in the Rec. Room at Apache Wells for a long time, and finally decided to take this trip. We had never been to Rocky Point and decided this was the best way to get there after driving all the way to Yuma the week before. We stayed in the largest and finest hotel in town (Penasco del Sol), right on the beach and were very well taken care of. We had plenty of time to wonder around and shop, just lay in the beach cabanas, or by the pool. The tour guide was knowledgeable and very friendly. Another great time!


On April 5-6, we made another minor trip to Winslow, Arizona. We stayed at the La Posada Hotel, one of the last great railroad hotels build by Fred Harvey. We were originally given a small un-level room, but asked about an upgrade and moved to a large room with a Jacuzzi tub, large poster bed, and a library. In fact there was a good book about a couple sailing to Antarctica to spend the winter there. I borrowed it to read later, then sent it back. The lounge treated us like special guests, and the meal in the large dinning room was wonderful.

Oh, the original reason for going to Winslow in the first place was just to get a replacement T-shirt. The original one I bought during our Route 66 trip had an awful stain on it. The shirt had the Route 66 logo on it with "Standing on the Corner in Winslow Arizona", from the Eagles song. It got an awful stain on it so I had to replace it! It turned out to be an expensive T-shirt, but well worth the relaxed great mini-vacation.

On April 7 we went to the Arizona Opry with the Dick and Colleen Bonney, the other Desert Belle captain. Dick invited us because we had given them a couple tickets to an Oak Ridge Boys concert that we couldn’t make earlier this year. While we were there, Dick and I saw an advertisement for the Dolly Steamboat, a tour boat on Canyon Lake, on their large stage screens. We asked George Staerkel, the music director and star, what it would cost to get a picture of the Desert Belle on the screen and he said just send him a picture with any info we wanted. So we did, but by the time we left Mesa, it wasn’t up yet. He did give us several music CD’s, however, to play on the Desert Belle for the type of music we liked. We went back to the Opry on April 20 again with the Bonney’s and cruising friends Pat and Susan Canniff during their visit.

By far the best trip we took this season was on April 11 to the Four Peaks Amethyst Mine. We briefly talk about the mine during our Desert Belle narration as being the 2nd largest and highest quality amethyst mine in the world. As part of their appreciation to their captains, David Smith and Jeff Kitchen
gave us a helicopter trip to the mine. We met at the Sami’s Jewelry store in Fountain Hills, were driven to a ranch outside of town, boarded a special high altitude helicopter and flew to the mine at about 7,000 feet elevation. The helipad is almost big enough to land…..the tail still hangs out over the cliff! We met the owner and miners, donned our hard hats, and entered the mine with hammer and chisel to chip away. We got to keep all the amethyst we collected unless it was gem quality. We kept the best we could find and put the rocks in a small bowl with a candle in it to show off the purple color. As the helicopter leaves, it lifts off slightly, turns, and then falls straight down the cliff….an E-ticket ride! Even though the trip was a free gift from management, it cost me about $800. When we got back to the jewelry shop, I asked if they had a pair of earrings that would match Molly’s ring that I got her last Christmas with Four Peaks Amethyst and Arizona Peridot. Of course they did!!! It even had a third stone of Arizona Ruby (Anthill Carnet), also mined in Arizona, but by ants!

Our last day on the Desert Belle was May 14th. And we left the next day. Since we didn’t have the RV down this year, we planned a quick trip and made it to Barstow, CA that first day. Then on to Medford on the 16th and back to the Salem Elks on May 17th. We got the RV out of storage and started it with the generator and a little battery booster and drove it about 50 yards to our spot for the rest of the summer.