November 2012:
 |
| Havasu Falls Trailhead w/ Lorraine and Dee Dee |
 |
| Havasu Falls |
 |
| Horseback Ride Out |
One
of the first activities back in Mesa, was to get ready for another hike into
the Grand Canyon. This one to Havasu
Falls on the Hualapai Indian Reservation.
It was an 8 mile hike to the Indian Village of Supai where we stayed in the “lodge”. The next day Molly hiked another two miles to Havasu Falls and I went on to Mooney
Falls another two miles. These hikes
were the result of Dee Dee and Lorraine (ladies I met on the Grand Canyon
crossing last spring) encouraging us to do the hike with them. I encouraged Molly by saying if she could
hike down, she could take the helicopter out.
But realized too late, the helicopter didn’t run the days we were there,
so we rode horses out instead. The
falls were beautiful; the azure color due to the minerals that the water flows
through on it’s way down the canyon.
Molly enjoyed the horseback ride out since she could look around at the
great scenery and didn’t have to keep an eye on the rocky trail.
December 2012:
During
December, friends Pat and Susan stopped for a few days on their way back from
Texas. And of course, Pat and I did a
little letterboxing. There was a
Christmas lighting contest this month in the park. We bought a bunch of lights and thought we looked pretty good,
especially being the only ones with luminaries, but didn’t even get an
honorable mention.
 |
| Molly at Molly Butler Lodge |
For Christmas, Molly and I went for on a trip to the White Nountains. We stayed at the Molly Butler Lodge in Greer, AZ. It is the oldest lodge in Arizona, dating back to 1910. Notables that have stayed there include John Wayne, novelists Zane Grey and James Willard Schultz, and PresidentsTeddy Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover. In fact, during his stay, President Hoover gifted Molly with the White House Cook Book from which she derived her now famous Prime Rib recipe which we had to try! Other than we were both getting colds, it was a great relaxing stay in the snow at 8700 ft.
 |
| The Sheriff and his girl |
The social
activities in the park picked up this month with block parties, potlucks, and
happy hours. We even went on a birding trip to one of the wetland preserves in Gilbert. I started a new activity;
shuffleboard. I’ve got a long way to go
to do well, but it’s fun socializing with the other players. During the Western Dance this month, Molly and I got all outfitted at Cal-Am's costume store.
I was asked to do the annual park
residential directory this year, so started collecting the slips handed in and
putting them in a formatted database.
This was, of course, in addition to putting out our weekly park
newsletter.
