ATVing with the Christie's!

Our friends Rich and Pam from Port Coquitlam BC are now in Arizona for two months. They are staying in a condo in Mesa that they had us view before they decided to take it. Their daughter Sandra and her fiance Greg were just here for a week and wanted to go ATVing. Of course the week they came turned decidedly cool from the weather we had been experiencing so you'll see from the pictures we are all dressed warmly. The day Sandra arrived was the first cool day and it stayed that way for the whole week they were here! They flew home a week later and the day after they left, the temperature  went back up into the 70's with clear blue skies - go figure! Both Sandra and Greg said it was still warmer than being home in BC! Doug was able to find a rental place in Apache Junction that rented a 4 seater ATV and reserved it for them so they could all go for a ride with us. Since it was cool and we didn't want to head out till about 10am, we chose to ride right out back of the RV park where we leave our RV. We headed back into the mountains towards Superior and Montana Mountain. It was too cool to head all the way up Montana Mountain as the peak is over 6000 ft so we went part way and detoured to visit other sites we knew they would enjoy

 This was in front of our house the day before our ride. We had a beautiful rainbow but no rain! It is now 57 days of no rain!

 Sandra and Greg in our backyard by the only orange tree with any oranges left on it! We have eaten all the rest

 This was the 4 seater Polaris they rented for the day. Trent, Doug and Ann giving them last minute instructions before we head out on our ride.

 We got the dusty position for this ride, riding shotgun to make sure the Christie's didn't have any problems. This is them ahead of us in the 4 seater.

 As we headed out, we saw 4 planes circling around in the area we were heading to. Two were large planes and two smaller. You can see the plane as a small dot in the sky. We thought maybe someone was lost and they were searching for them

 As we got further into the ride, we realized 2 planes were water bombers and 2 were the spotter planes and they were practising dropping a load on a target. We could see the bright orange plastic laid out on the mountain side they were using as a target. You can see the water bomber and the spotter plane off to the right of it. The next picture is a video I took of the bomber practicing a drop. They just used smoke thankfully as they were skimming right over our heads! I had to delete the first video even though it was good because I forgot the video was on and when the bomber skimmed over the hill right above us, I used a few very explicit words not suitable for the general public as it startled me and looked like it was coming right into the ATV!!

It was fun watching the planes although we think they need this practice as it is going to be a very dry, hot summer since the winter rains just haven't come! It is so dry and dusty out in the desert and when we come in we look like zombies we have such a thick layer of dust all over our bodies and our ATV's.  My hair and Doug's mustache are usually a rusty red colour!

 Our friends from left: Rich, daughter Sandra, Pam and Sandra's fiance Greg. Rich is looking pretty spiffy with his goggles still on! He looks like he is ready to go swimming

 I couldn't resist this shot - Doug taking a picture of me as I took his and Trent's picture

 This was the hill side we explored to see if any of the marble had broken lose. It is a shelf of Christmas tree marble (green and red marble) that is absolutely gorgeous. We couldn't really get any samples as nothing had fallen away. With out the heavy winter rains, everything was holding firm

 Doug back at our ATV parked below the marble shelf

 We headed off to our next destination via a wash and it was fun to ride down at the bottom of the hill for a change

 As usual, the mountains were beautiful and each one unique in shape and colour

 A large windmill out in the middle of nowhere! It is used to pump water into a storage area for the cattle roaming out here in the desert

 Another neat mountain view, it continues to amaze us that everything is so green when there has hardly been any rain since we arrived in November - maybe 1/2 inch being generous!

 An old mining shaft the fellows just had to go in to have a look! I was happy to stay outside and take pictures. I could hear the bats chirping inside and see all the animal droppings on the wall rocks and floor!

 The guys went in quite aways

 Doug and Greg looking at who knows what!

 We set up for lunch right outside the mine. From left: Sandra with her head turned away, Pam, Rich, Doug and Ann 

 These are the better half of the group ! Ann, Sharon, Pam and Sandra

 The whole motley crew! From left: Trent, Ann, Sharon, Rich, Pam, Sandra, Greg and Doug

 As you can see, a cloudy dull day but still a fun ride

 Of course we have mountains, saguaros and red rock all around us

 Picket Post Mountain in the distance. It is just south of Superior AZ

The Christie's coming down the hill towards us. We had a terrific, fun day. A good ride and it gave Sandra and Greg just a small taste of the beautiful land we explore on a weekly basis! I figured I would end this blog with a short video Doug took as we were driving home. I was doing the driving and he was behind the camera. The Christies are in front of us.

We are heading out on a ride tomorrow for a full day with Ann and Trent. We are going on a new ride in the Salt River Canyon about 15 miles east of Globe AZ. It will be about an hours tow to the beginning of the trail so hopefully I'll get some good pictures for my next post