Montana Mountain with Pam & Dick

Our group was going on a day trip to Montana Mountain last Wednesday so we were able to borrow our friends' Molly and Dale's ATV and take Pam and Dick along for the ride. it was a gorgeous warm day and we had a wonderful trip. We have been 3 months with no rain so it was so dusty out there. We all had to leave large distances between ourselves so we didn't choke on each others' dust. It was a wonderful day and a great ride though. We hadn't been to Montana Mountain since early January so it was so neat to see how much has changed since then with wild flowers blooming and trees with leaves now.

 Our first stop on the trip. We haven't started up the mountain yet. I didn't get to take too many pictures as I was driving our ATV with Pam as my passenger and Doug had Dick. Hard to take a picture when you are driving!

 Doug had the camera here and took the picture of Pam and I up ahead of him

 Doug was following along behind us taking our picture

 A bit dusty as you can see!

 This was about half way up the mountain and the view is spectacular

 Trent is first in line, then Craig and then me. Doug is behind taking the picture

 As usual, we are leaving Doug in the dust

 Wild Verbena was flowering every where and was so pretty. Amazing how it can grow when we haven't had any rain for 3 months!

 The group stopping for our lunch break right at the top of Montana Mountain, we are at 5300 ft above sea level. From the left: Craig, Bill, Doug, Sharon, Pam, Dick & Trent

 Wild Verbena with a Scotch Thistle behind it

 Not sure what this wild flower is but it was so pretty! Actually, I just found out. It is called: a Caliche Globe Mallow

 The view from the top of Montana Mountain

 We look like a pretty rough group!

 Beautiful desert lilies!

Everywhere we looked we could see different wild flowers. This was a bank covered in desert poppies and lupines

Fountain Hills and Saguaro Lake Cruise

We took Pam and Dick for a drive to the little community of Fountain Hills. It is just east of Scottsdale and is well know for having the highest fountain spray in North America. We then went on to Saguaro Lake to have lunch and then take the boat cruise.

 The fountain goes off on the hour for 12 minutes. It is quite a site to see. The lake is right in the center of the town with a beautiful park all around it

 Doug, Pam and Dick watching the fountain

We then went on to Saguaro Lake expecting to have lunch at the Lakeside restaurant before our ride. We got their just at noon and our ride wasn't until 1:45. We ended up having to wait 45 minutes for a table and then once we got inside, we had to wait over an hour for our food. I never got to eat my lunch as I had to leave to get our tickets. the others got about 2 mouthfuls before they had to come and we ended up being last on the boat. Luckily, we had our cooler with us were able to put our food in the cooler for when we got back. We were not happy campers at this point let me tell you!

 I am standing at the back of the boat looking behind us

 There was a boat coming up behind us as we traveled along.

 The view was spectacular and irt was such a lovely day to be out on the boat.

 Doug and I at the back of the boat

 Doug, Sharon, Dick & Pam on Saguaro Lake

 There we water skiers, seadoos and lots of boats on the water as it is spring break here

 Pam & Dick standing beside the Desert Belle at Saguaro Lake after our cruise was over

 This was the boat from the parking lot, such a beautiful lake and spectacular scenery

 We are in our backyard again and my orange and lemon trees are in full blossom. The scent is gorgeous as are the blossoms! This is an orange tree blossoming

This is my lemon tree blossoming

Our friends Pam & Dick arrive for a visit

Catherine left on Saturday March 10 and friends from Port Coquitlam, Pam and Dick flew in Monday March 12th. The Dixon hotel is just hopping! The weather is absolutely gorgeous, with the days in the high 20's often at least 28 degrees.

 I got tired of my poinsettia in the house as it just didn't want to die so I put it outside and it is growing better than ever!! I think I will have to put it in a pot and see if it survives the summer.

 Pam and I looking at our orange trees. We need to pick the last of the oranges off the tree as the blossoms are coming out and it isn't good for the tree to have both the blossoms and fruit on the tree at the same time.

 Pam and Dick among the fruit trees

 Dick enjoying a fresh orange off the tree

 Sitting out on our back patio having a campfire in the fire pit Theresa and Dan bought us as a gift for staying at our place. It was such a beautiful warm evening.

 We took Pam and Dick for an ATV trip into the desert

 Not sure what this wild flower bush is but it was so pretty I had to take a picture

 Pam, Dick & Doug having a chat while we took a break from ATVing, it was hot out there that day. We have to wear pants to protect our legs but it sure makes it warm!

 The first of the cactus starting to bloom. This is a hedgehog cactus

 This is another hedgehog cactus wit a different shade of flower

 Pam and Dick look like they are lost and looking for us!

 I saw this nest in the saguaro and it has an owl in it. Doug and Dick took off so fast and so far ahead of us I couldn't signal them to stop and have a look so they didn't get a chance to see it. We will have to go back in a few weeks and see if their are any little owls in the nest!

 This was the guys' idea of taking us out to lunch! It was so warm we had to really search to find just a bit of shade to sit under while we relaxed and ate lunch

 This is a side picture of our ATV's canvas top that is ripped to shreds along with our whip flag. This is a result of our darling daughter taking her Dad through a wash that had low hanging trees and she didn't slow down! Little did she know that every tree, shrub and cacti in the desert has long sharp thorns and will shred anything it comes in contact with. I guess that will be an investment for nextt winter to replace the canvas top! The flag will only fly at half mast now and I think that is very appropriate given the condition of my roof canvas!

 Pam and Dick standing in front of a large saguaro

 Pam and Sharon - do I need to say anything more?

 We took Pam and Dick to the old Indian site to show them the grinding holes

 Sharon, Dick and Pam in the pool once we got home from our ride. We were so hot that the pool felt wonderful!

We had a great day in the desert and a better time in the pool!

March Full Moon Campfire

Catherine was still visiting for the full Moon March 08th so she came with our group out into the desert for our campfire. It was a beautiful evening and we went early enough to watch the sunset and then the moon rise. As usual, as soon as the sun starts to set it cools off rapidly so Doug's excellent campfire kept us all nice and toasty.

 This was actually the night before the full moon. We had taken Catherine to McDowell County park to visit friends that were camping there and when we were getting ready to go home, the moon came up and was such a beautiful sight

 We just arrived at our campfire site and were getting ready for our fire while it was still light, Bruce, Connie, Sharon, Catherine, Trent, Craig, Sharon & Ann. Doug was behind the camera!

 Sitting around visiting before the sunsets

 Group picture and Doug is now in the picture

 The sun is starting to set

 More sunset pictures

 Hard not to take so many pictures when the sunset is so spectacular

 Sun setting with the saguaros in the desert

 Fire burning brightly as the sky darkens

 Moon just coming up over the mountains

 As usual, it hard not to take a million pictures when it is so beautiful!

 Sitting around the campfire with the moon in the back ground

This was our last major outing with Catherine before she had to head home. Her visit went way too quickly and I would have loved if she could have stayed longer. It was hard to leave here with the temperatures in the high 20's and return to Yellowknife where the temperatures were still in the -30's. Oh well that's the way it has to be! We'll head up there in June to have a good visit with her when it is warmer and the sun is shining 20 hours a day!