Monday, March 5, 2018

On the hunt, rude ranger, and a lazy afternoon.....



Our Location: 
Superstition Mountain BLM, Apache Junction, AZ 

(all pictures taken with my phone)
(All scenic pictures taken at the trail head to Medicine Wheel)

 Didn't open my eyes until almost 7 am, then I didn't roll out until 7:30 am. A red tinge to the sky had my attention but not enough to get my dragging out any faster. Sounds windy out there today and the air felt coolish so I just stayed under the warm covers for a while longer. A text message from my sister had me thinking I should be up but well, that just didn't happen. 


Riley and I met in the kitchen around 7:40 am, hot drinks, chattering about a few things and that's how the early morning went. Nothing too exciting, just some emails and things. 




We had a quick sandwich for breakfast and headed out in the Dogsled with Doug & Yuma to see if we could find the trail Doug and I had noticed yesterday. It took us a few tries before we found it. We did find an interesting place to hike at the end of Meridian Road/Tomahawk Road, it's called the Medicine Wheel Trail. Maybe we'll try that some time we're in the area again. 

 
We eventually found the one we were looking for at the end of Tomahawk (different one than before, this is a different county) and McDowell Street, it's known as Bulldog Canyon. We found a couple there that couldn't get the gate unlocked as the lock wouldn't open. They were stuck on the inside, another fellow was stuck on the outside. We chatted with them a few minutes, learned a few things, and I gave it a try at the gate and managed to get the lock to open but I couldn't get it out of the hole. Eventually they did get it out as I could see in my rear view mirror but we were heading out in search of the Mesa Ranger Station to get a free permit to use the National Forest area. 

 
We drove the 20 minutes into Mesa to the Ranger station, just coming on to noon, about 10 minutes before the wonder hour. Popped into the Ranger Station, found ourselves a very unfriendly ranger behind the desk. Long story short, it took us two tries before we got permits into the park, signed this, read these, and get out it's lunch time. We left with paper work in hand and hopeful of what we'd find. We stopped at a roadside fruit vendor on the way home to pick up some grapefruit and oranges. Thanks for the grapefruit Doug.


 We headed back home and went our separate ways. After lunch I had a nap and read my book. I didn't do anything else all day except dishes. I am just feeling a bit washed out for some reason. Riley played her game, chatted on Facebook and put in her time. 

 
I headed outside to read in the sun/shade around 3 pm and before long Doug & Yuma came tooling along in their little silver jeep. Wasn't long before I heard the pounding feet of a canine as he raced my way to greet me and say hello. He wags that tail so hard I'm surprised he doesn't throw something out of gear. Doug also sauntered up and had a sit down. We chatted about his afternoon adventure and parted about 5:30 pm as the sun was heading down, the air cooling off. We made no plans for tomorrow and will just see how it goes in the morning. 


So that was our day. Nothing exciting but it was interesting. Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed our lazy day. Feel free to drop a comment. 
 
 


Seen these two horse riders on the way home. One horse was a bit more anxiety ridden than the other and wasn't too steady. Took a firm hand to keep in under control. 








Until next time.... take care, be safe, 


A bit windy today and you really can't see the mountains in the back ground but they are there...
 

Deb




12 comments:

  1. You guys are sure getting your 'moneys' worth from the area! Too bad about the grumpy ranger.
    Those high cirrus clouds make for nice pictures.

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    Replies
    1. We have been busy. Seeing some really nice things. Although I recall you were also quite busy in this area.

      Oh well, into every life a grumpy gus must come.

      They do indeed, although it's hard to take a bad picture here...everywhere you look is something spectacular.

      Take care, be safe,
      Deb

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  2. Glad you had a nice and relaxing afternoon. I got in a very short Jeep run and a moderate hike and then it was rest time for me too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We are getting better at that relaxing stuff. Riley's pretty good at it, I need some work though.

      Rest isn't the enemy, we just have to keep that in mind.

      Take care, be safe,
      Deb

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  3. Sounds like a very good day and your phone takes some nice pictures. Great picture of you and Riley.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Deb. It was a good day, a little of this, a little of that and a whole lot of nothing.

      The phone does pretty good. Not one of our better pictures but it was fun.

      Take care, be safe,
      Deb

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  4. Another interesting day and a nice relaxing afternoon. loving your pictures.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks George. Relaxing is a lesson I need to learn to do more. I'm working at it though.

      Take care, be safe,
      Deb

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  5. Isn't it nice that we aren't governed by time anymore? I do remember what it was like trying to get out of a busy office for my lunch but I know I was never rude about it if I had a customer.
    Good day to have some down time, although i think yours was warmer than ours. It didn't get above 60F here with a cool wind until after supper.

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    Replies
    1. I understand we were cutting it close to lunch but truly it took less than 5 minutes to give us the permit we wanted, instead he tried to give us the 30 second ," I don't know anything about that, but you use this, place your card here and put it on the mirror." Turned to the next guy. Ironically it was that next guy that had me coming back because he asked for exactly what we wanted and the ranger knew immediately what it was. We were all out of the door by 11:55 with 5 minutes to spare until lunch time official close. So I'm not really sure what the issue was. Anyway, it was a blimp in the day and I truly don't care, but I'll know for next time not to leave without what I want.

      It was good for down time, and I think we needed it. We aren't used to going at such a hectic pace. It was a bit warmer here but Riley and I wore long pants all day. Today is windier than yesterday and less sunny so I'm not sure how much we'll enjoy being outside.

      Take care, be safe,
      Deb

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  6. Cute pic of you and Riley :) Too bad about the ranger, most of them are really nice and know how to treat people. I told Doug that maybe he was really hungry (our oldest son gets grumpy when he's hungry). Glad you had an easy going day.

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    1. Thanks Shirley.

      I guess he was having a bad day, we popped in 10 minutes before lunch, he needed 5 minutes to take care of all the business in front of him. However I've met tons of Rangers and they've all be wonderful, super nice folks. We all have bad days. In the over all picture of the day, it was a blip on the graph and I hope he had a better second half of the day.

      Love these easy days.

      Take care, be safe,
      Deb

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