Three days to piece of mind

   Last Sunday I took care of a potential travel problem with the trailer.  Remember the wheel bearing trouble we had coming down here?  Replacing the rear axle in Susanville eliminated that problem.  But the front axle still have not been touched.  A nagging problem that was in the back of my mind since we got here.
   So Sunday my neighbor, Mark, with me standing close by helping, jacked up front axle of the trailer and removed the two hubs.  Monday I took them to a shop in Gilbert to have new Neva-Lube bearings installed.  While I waited for a call from the shop, I took care of several other errands.  If you follow Family Circus in the funny papers you know the circuitous path that Billy takes when he goes on an adventure.  Well my path on Monday was just like that.  Computer shop. Ace Hardware, Costco, and  couple more.  At Noon I received a call from the shop.   The hubs were done and ready to go.   Time to head back to BTA.
   Tuesday morning, Mark came over and we reassembled the front axle.  We actually had time to hook the trailer electrical connection to the truck to check the brakes to see if they operated properly.  They did.  We finished in time for me to hurry over and help Randa with the 10am General Tour.

    It's such a comforting feeling to not have to worry about the wheel bearings and brakes for the trip back home.  Thank you to Mark Waterman for his mechanical abilities.
     

Plant sale

Boyce Thompson Arboretum  has a plant sale twice a year.  The spring sale is nearing the finish.  Lots of plants were sold.  There are still a good selection available.

Vultures Return

Saturday was "Return of the Vultures" to celebrate of the vultures to Boyce Thompson Arboretum.   A professor ( and birder) from ASU conducted a program at 7am while the black birds were sunning themselves on the ridges above the park.  Randa and I were entertained by the talk and learned  additional facts about these unique birds. 

A Cardinal made his appearance as well.

Alpen glow

Stopped at the grocery store in Superior tonight at sundown.  Looking east down Main St. toward Apache Leap.  The color on the rocks was amazing! 

New Friend

     Yesterday morning the boys and I were walking through the picnic area,  checking the area trash cans to see how many of them had been attacked by the local raccoons.  After finishing that chore we continued along toward no place special.  A crashing in the bushes caused us to move toward it.  As we got closer, the brush moved and a medium sized Javelina emerged and noticed us.   We stared at each other for a moment.  Hunter was on Full Alert.  Ears up, body tense.  Leash taut.  T
    Then he barked !  Barked 4 times !  Hunter has never barked that many times.  Ever !  One bark and it's over.  I am glad he was on the leash because I don't know what he would have done.  Javelinas attack dogs.  They view them as Coyotes which are their predators.   We turned and walked back the other way.  It was an interesting walk, indeed.

Sorry for the poor quality of the photo.  I did not have much time to take it before we retreated.

PP Buds

I found some new growth on a Prickly Pear.  Spring is so fun. !

Rock Art

The Tonto National Monument is located about 30 miles north of Globe, AZ.  

This is what we went there to see.  The Salado people lived here 700 years ago.  (The 13th, 14th and early 15th centuries.  They were farmers who supplemented their diet by hunting and gathering.  There are two cliff dwellings on the property.  This is the smaller lower one which is located up behind the visitor center.  The larger one is 1.5 miles up another canyon. 

The rock faces in the canyon offer many chances to view fine examples of stone texture.

Flowers

Spring is coming.  I tell myself that every day.  It is just not very evident when I look outside today.  clouds, showers, cool almost cold temps.  The forecast is for clearing and warmer days ahead and I am ready.  The plants here at the arboretum are ready as well.  Trees are starting to get leaves. The rose bushes have new leaves on them and a few flowers are venturing out.  When the weather cooperates I'm sure this place will explode with color.  Until then we enjoy the first blooms.  Here are a couple.

Evening Primrose

This succulent is 3 - 4 inches in diameter.

The Chinese Pistachio Trees are getting buds as well.

Barn Owl

As we were giving our tour last week, someone noticed fresh bird poop on the ground under a giant Eucalyptus tree.  This guy was the "producer". 

Poppies

Last week we drove unto the San Carlos Apache Reservation.  We had heard that the Poppies were in bloom.  So we bought a day permit and turned off highway 70 about 20 east of Globe.  As we slowly drove north on the bumpy dirt road we took in the beauty.

Mother Nature at her best

A great day

Picket Post Mountain

   Saturday morn dawned with clear and cool skies.  A great day to climb a mountain.  Picket Post Mountain to be exact.  We have had it just outside our door for us to enjoy for the last 2 months.  Today was the day that I would be climbing that piece of geology.
    The climb left the trail head at 8am with six people in the group.  We hiked the trail about a mile up to the foot of the mountain.  The climb then really began.  The "trail" is not very well marked.  Several times we stopped and looked around for the correct path.  After a considerable amount of effort and more than an hour I reached the summit.  4317 ft  doesn't sound like much but the route was mostly nearly vertical.  We gained about 2000 ft in that last mile.  It was 10 am when I sat down on a surprisingly comfortable rock next to the climb register that was stored in a well-used mailbox.        We spent a couple of hours enjoying the view and started the descent at Noon.  It was more difficult than the climb.  The descent is more dangerous because you are fighting gravity all the way.  You are fighting to keep your body weight from pulling you too rapidly toward the center of the earth.  Being tired doesn't help.  Having the weather cloud up and even sprinkle a little helped us get safely back to the parking lot just before 3pm.  Tired but happy.

We will go up that canyon straight ahead.

Looking down the canyon.  It is steeper than it looks.

Happy to be on the summit.  Notice the mailbox register to the left.

 A great day indeed !!!