Gypsy & The Navigator

Wrapping Up 2015

2015 is coming to a close and our days in Arizona are short as well.  We have had a good time for the last few months with our family.  Brooke and Kristi came for a sleepover in Gypsy.  Close quarters for active little girls but we had fun complete with empty plates after several pancakes for breakfast. 

We enjoyed another day at Turf Paradise at the horse races.  Walt was sure that with his hat he would be mistaken for one of the trainers and would be pulled right into the action.  

This time we chose seats in the grandstands close to the winners circle so we got to have really good views of the horses.

This beauty is named Sour Girl.  Just to prove that you can't tell a horse by its name Walt picked her to win and she WON.  

There were several races on the turf this day.  They are my favorites.  The horses look so pretty running on the grass.  

This young lady was pretty put out when her date let her know that they were not at the Kentucky Derby.  And she had gone to such trouble to wear her hat. 

Horse races are pretty fun.  We will have to find some tracks as we travel the south in 2016.  

We spent a morning at the Gilbert Holiday Parade.

Sheriff Joe (Arapaio) didn't bring his tank to this parade.  

 Happy to see that the Grinch made a friendly appearance.

The Gilbert Marathon runners ran the last portion along the parade route.  Lots of cheers of encouragement from the crowd.

Cynthia's family gave me this pretty little miniature rose for my birthday.  I transplanted it into a larger pot and it broke out in a new profusion of blossoms.

All that beauty proved too much of a temptation for the little bunny that we have enjoyed watching hop around Gypsy.  He did leave enough that there is already new growth starting.  Note to self............do not leave it where bunny can reach. 

Not having a place to decorate has its perks.  More time to enjoy all the efforts of others.

The blues and greens of this display took my breath away.  They glowed so softly on a perfect street.  No competing street lights. 

Strings and strings of lights.  So pretty and how generous of the people who live there to share their Christmas spirit with us all. 

The white lights seem to have an inner glow.  

The RV Park where we are staying (Val Vista Village) has a parade every year.

Plenty of festive costumes even on the furry friends.

Lots of state loyalties.  And country loyalty too.   There is an abundance of our neighbors to the north, Canadians, in this park. 

Lots of yummy candy being thrown.................good things like kisses, tootsie rolls and peanut butter cups.   The elves know what these old folks like. 

I love it when the Grinch smiles. 

 

It wouldn't be a parade without a marching band.

And every parade needs its beauty queens.

The real crowd pleaser was the Lawn Chair Drill Team.

 

I am sure that hours and hours of practice went into these precision moves. 

They brought smiles to all of our faces.

 

Santa and Mrs. Claus came by Corvette.   What a great parade with a lot of fun loving people.  (You know you are getting old when Santa Claus doesn't look so old anymore.)

Since Cynthia and her family were going to be in California for Christmas we had our Christmas with everyone early.   Sammie was happy with her new sweater.

Walt was glad to get a new BYU hat.

Logan modeled his new sweater.

Isaac celebrated his 16th birthday.  His choice was a pie instead of a cake.  

We watched the Boise State Broncos win the Poinsettia Bowl against Northern Illinois 55-7.   Good job Broncos.

 

When we had a house we usually had Christmas Eve dinner at our house.  But that is not possible now so we go out for Italian at Buca di Beppo.  No shortage of food there.

This year it was just Kevin's family with us.  We had more than our share of Italian food with plenty to take home.  A take out dinner for Bailey because her plane was hours late and she wouldn't be in Phoenix until 10 p.m.

Christmas morning Kim fixed a most delicious breakfast of biscuits and gravy.  Whoops, I better give credit where credit is due.  Isaac made the biscuits.  Bailey made sure her Dad was fitted out with beard ornaments.

I had seen these adult coloring books in Barnes and Noble and thought "I would like one".  Yay!  Kevin's family had one for me under the tree.  

It has been an amazing year for us. We have been blessed with seeing so many beautiful places, meeting new people and spending time with old friends. In just a few days we will be again en route on a journey to new places and new experiences.  I am very excited and can't wait to see what lies around the next bend.  Our travels for the next few months are definitely set in jello with lots of wiggles. We will see where it leads us. 

May everyone have an amazing New Year filled with health and prosperity.  

“Would you please tell me, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the cat.
“I don’t much care where … ” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the cat.”
— Lewis Carroll
 

A Lake Is A Lake..........Unless It Is The Wrong One

Being my thrifty self I cut a coupon out of the paper for a discount on a Boat Tour.

We love boat tours.  It was a blue sky, bluer water day.  Perfect day for a spin on a lake.

There she is!  The Dolly Steamboat on Canyon Lake.  Nobody around.  No one in the ticket booth.  The coupon says the tour is at this time. 

Hmmmm, let's look more closely at this coupon.

That's what I get for assuming!  The coupon is for the Desert Belle on Saguaro Lake.  We are on Highway 88 at Canyon Lake.  Saguaro Lake is on the Bush Highway over 50 miles away by road.

But, but, but it is only a hop, skip and a jump by water.  Walt is good natured at my mistake.  Said it was a great day for a drive.  

He's right.  Look at that sunshine glitter on the water.   (Ignore those power lines, they keep photo bombing my pictures.)

"In the empire of desert, water is the king and shadow is the queen." ~Mehmet Murat ildan   It is a majestic scene to see the water right against the desert shore. 

  

This is the picture perfect desert.  The land goes on and on to the distant mountains and the intense deep blue sky. 

My mistake gave us the opportunity to enjoy another wonderful day out in the splendid Arizona desert.

A nice day.  Let's try to go to the right lake tomorrow.

The next morning rolled in cloudy, gloomy, trying to spit rain.

No matter.  Rainy days in Arizona are special days.  We arrived at the right lake.....Saguaro Lake.

 The Desert Belle is the blue one.  The brown one is the original boat that did the cruises.  When they got the new one it was sold.  Years later the person who bought the original one offered it back to them and they are using it as a gift store and snack shop.

 Looks like those cloudy skies were making this guy grouchy but we were still happy.

Another grouchy but they can't rain on our boat tour.  All aboard.

We settled in to a spot beneath the upper decks canopy for great views and no danger of rain drops. 

 

Immediately we were enjoying views of the rust colored cliffs.

Saguaro Lake is nestled in Arizona’s Tonto National Forest.  The Captain said that Tonto translates to stupid or crazy.   Lone Rangers friend Tonto was not stupid or crazy..........some kind of mistranslation going on.  

Saguaro Lake is named after the saguaro cacti that surround the 22 miles of the shoreline. 

The captain gives a narration about the geology, the geography, the history and the wildlife in the area.

 In one direction blue sky is gaining ground.

 

In the other direction the soaring canyons beauty was not diminished by the clouds above.

More and more sunlight is lighting up the rocks.

Saguaro Lake was formed by the Stewart Mountain Dam, which was completed in 1930.

The saguaro cacti look so majestic standing guard on the shoreline. 

Rainbow Trout, Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Yellow Bass, Crappie, Sunfish, Channel Catfish and Walleye are in the lake for those fishermen out there.

A tufa column.  One of my favorite rock formations.

There are campgrounds for overnight stays that can only be reached by boat.

 

The rock formations are amazing.  Looks like a little kissing going on here. 

As usual I couldn't stop taking pictures.  

The ever changing landscape was a continual feast for the eyes.

The bird soaring above is a condor. Nice to see that the preservation of the condors seems to be working. Exciting to see them out in the wild.

We have reached the turn around point.  Can't we just go on and on?

 

 The water was deep and calm  with not too many ripples.  The captain said the maximum depth of the lake is 118 feet.  He said that the water level does not vary much over the years and that the Phoenix Valley is lucky to not have water problems.  

We spied a crested saguaro.  Not many of those and it is always exciting to see one. 

As I recall this is Richard's Rock and is home to a Bighorn Sheep herd but we didn't see any on this trip. 

Wouldn't it be fun to explore that opening in the rock? I wonder what we would find.  

Views like this make me appreciate and understand why I love the desert. 

The day never fully cleared of clouds but frequently the sun broke through to illuminate the cliffs.  

Too soon we were back to the Marina and the trip was over.  It was a thoroughly enjoyable day.  

A last look over the water before we made our way back to Gypsy. 

"A lake is the landscape’s most beautiful and expressive feature. It is earth’s eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature." ~Henry David Thoreau