Winter Escape to Arizona

A couple weeks ago, Sarah and I visited my mom and Larry in Mesa, Arizona. It was so nice to escape the cold and enjoy some 70 degree weather. This is their cute house.

Larry did some work to it and reconfigured the inside a bit. It is nice and open when you walk in.

Sarah and I enjoyed a drink on the back patio. 

Then we headed over to the bocce courts for a party with Peg and Larry's friends. They invited their friends to come visit with us since we were in town.

They reserved a few tables (not all those people in the back are with us!). 

And everyone brought a dish. It was great! 

Then we finished up with a game of bocce. Unfortunately, I was on the losing team. 

The next morning, we headed over to the clubhouse to get ready to go ATVing. I had to get my usual cactus photo.

This is Jerry, a good friend of Peg and Larry's. He drove us in his ATV. 

Parts were definitely dusty so it is a good idea to shield your eyes, nose and mouth, when you can.

There was a caravan of 5 ATVs with the retirees! We were the leaders because Jerry organized this one.

We climbed up that mountain behind us.

And saw some old ruins at one point.

With an old mine that someone dug! So cool! 

Up, up, up we go!

It was neat to see the greenery change too from saguaros to juniper trees at some points.

 Yes, that's the trail we road on and we got up very high! We did 35 miles total and after stopping for a quick picnic lunch (where we all ate standing up because our behinds hurt!), it took about 4 hours riding time.

 Back at the house, we enjoyed another beautiful sunset from the front porch.

 The next day, Larry and I went for a hike in Usery Park. We passed this cool sign painted onto the mountainside. It was used years ago to direct planes to Phoenix. After the paint had faded over the years, a young man chose to paint it again as his Eagle Scout project. Pretty cool! 

 This is where the hiking trail began and we hiked up the side of this mountain... Pass Mountain.

 Yes, I look like I have cactus coming out of my head.

 The hike was so beautiful! I absolutely loved it. It was my one request this trip...to go for a hike out west and Larry delivered with a hike to Wind Cave.

 The sun stayed behind the mountain the entire hike up which kept us cool.

 And we made it. The colors on the hike were beautiful! 

 This is wind cave. 

 We were greeted by oh too friendly ground squirrels.

 And you can now see the Phoenix sign on the other mountain from up high. 

 This is one of my favorite photos. 

 And I like this shadow photo too. 

 Once we got home, we were hungry and we went out for a nice Thai meal. 

The next morning, we had a 6 a.m. flight and it was back to Maryland we went! So grateful to have a nice visit and see the beauty of this country.