Spring is colorful, March to May, 2023

It is true for Phoenix, Wickenburg, the Desert Botanical Garden, Flagstaff and Portland - spring time brings out all the colorful blossoms.  This is true for both carefully tended gardens and wildflowers growing in natural settings.

It is good to stop and smell the roses - even the lilacs, echinopsis, cacti and all the others.

Hassayampa River Preserve and Lake Pleasant, Saturday, March 12, 2023

After about a 70 minute drive, we arrived at the Hassayampa River Preserve, located a couple miles south of Wickenberg on US Route 60.  They definitely have lots of bird and animal sightings.

 

We hiked the Mesquite Meander trail.  As the name implies, there are lots of mesquite trees with branches over the trails.  That means there will be shade once those trees leaf out in a few weeks.

 We stopped at the pond and then followed the trail around the pond.  The river was flowing.

 After a couple of hours of pleasant, easy hiking, we had lunch in town and then made a quick visit to the Wickenberg Airport where we saw some nice planes and even saw someone doing touch and goes in spite of the approaching storm.

 On our drive back, we stopped at the Lake Pleasant Visitor center.  As with much of our drive, there were many Mexican poppies, lupens, brittlebrush, globe mallow and other plants in bloom.  I learned that they are now pumping water into the lake for storage to be released later in the year when needed in Phoenix and Tucson.

 We also got to see their desert tortoise outside and Diego the gila monster inside.

 

 A very pleasant day was had and I recommend it as a day trip for later in the spring.

A Couple of Weeks in Arizona, March 1 - 13, 2023

While the weather has been nice here in Phoenix, Flagstaff has received more than twice the normal amount of snow.  We had plenty of snow in our backyard.  And ere is our across the street neighbor unable to get into his garage. 

As we walked the neighborhood, we saw evidence of storm damage - I am glad our HOA took preventive action and had several trees cut down.  I am sure this avoided many problems.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On one of the days when leaving the Desert Botanical Garden, I saw this egret in a very dry location.  I used the zoom on my camera, so it is not the best photo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We continue to take Piper to Granada park for walks - both she and we enjoy walking there. 

 

 

One day, a whole batch of turtles were sunning themselves on the side of the upper pond.  I was surprised that Piper and I were able to get so close before that started jumping back into the pond.

 

There are also lots of Mexican poppies, desert marigolds, brittlebush and creosote bushes that are in bloom at the park.

 

 

One day, Patty and I went to the Beatitudes for lunch.  The Hong Kong orchid trees were in bloom and we ate outside in the shade of those trees.

 

I organized a trip for the Tuesday DBG Docents.  We met at Cave Creek Regional Park visitor center, then drop to the trailhead for the Slate Trail and hiked out to the Michelin Mad saguaro.  After our hike, we drove to the Grotto Cafe in Cave Creek for a wonderful lunch.