Jeep Trip to Charouleau Gap 2/24/09

4 Rigs w/ passengers took off on 2/24/09 for the Montana Mtns. This run is rated a "hard" 4 and proved to be accurate! They were in and out of a wet river (somewhat unusual in AZ in the wintertime).Third photo shows Roger's passenger, Lyle standing beside the river at one point.
First photo is of an old adobe cabin, pretty much a ruin. It has a cement floor, but the bricks appear to be hand made adobe mud.
The second photo gives a good idea of what the 'road' looked like, river and rock. At one point, passengers were climbing out of rigs in the river, clambering over rocks, tring to keep their feet dry, while the driver tried to get out of 'holes,' and keep the jeeps from flooding out. The fourth photo is of the Jeeps all lined up and ready to roll. Of course, a great time was had by all, and they went out again 2 days later to a somewhat less adverturous trip.
Happy trails,

Chihuly glass at Botanical Gardens, Phoenix AZ

2/14/09 we went to the Botanical Gardens in Phoenix AZ to the Chihuly glass display. It was amazing! These are only some of the glass on display. Set among the all the plants
they were unbelievable! Weather was beautiful and sun shining through the glass made it sparkle. The floating 'ice' in the pond among the cattails was great; they drifted in the breeze, like icebergs.

Happy trails.....

Walnut Canyon Jeep Trip 2/1/09

5 Jeep buddies got together on 2/13/09 to travel the Walnut Canyon trail just south of Surprise, AZ. The trails wasn't so difficult, rock crawling wise, but rated "moderate" in the guide books. Once on the trail, we travelled about 20 miles and it took about 4 hours including a lunch break to make the trip.
We drove through a couple of 'wet'washes, where rain runoff was flowing.
Roger is 'airing down' in the photo of his back and the lil Jeep. They do this to make crawling over the rough rock easier.

Weather was perfect and we all had a great time.

Happy Trails.....

Jeeping 101

Saturday, Feb. 7, Roger joined members of the Arizona Virtual Jeep Club for a workshop on driving offroad, general safety measures, and TOO MUCH FUN!! These photos were taken by one of the attendees, and give a pretty good idea of what the terrain looked like.

Roger says there were some 60 or more folks who attended this workshop, which was divided into 3 working groups, Jeep 101, 202, and 303. I understand the comments after the finish of 101 were, "good grief what was 303 like?"

Volunteers provided a hearty breakfast before the torture, I mean instruction began. After the run was over, members cleaned up with a litter patrol of the area they were in. This program was run by all volunteers of the Virtual Group.
If you are interested in more photos and movies of this event, go to the pictures forum at http://virtualjeepclub.com/ The movies are something else. Roger had a great time, learned a lot and brought home a "certificate" so he even graduated! He bought new wheels to give himself a little more clearance coming out of those ditches. I can see this fun hobby is a lot like golf, always something new to improve the 'game'...lol I spent the day painting so I had a good time too!



have fun

happy trails.....

Bluegrass festival,Casa Grande AZ

Last weekend we went to the Casa Grande Bluegrass Festival at the Pinal County fairgrounds. There are vendors with all kinds of 'stuff', from food, to tee shirts and jewlery, to metal sculptures etc. The groups sign up and play in the main building both Saturday and Sunday.

Outside the main building are more vendors and various other goings-on. One of the events was a woman with several beautiful parrots, photos below. I love painting birds so took several shots, hoping for the best. It was a warm afternoon and I got lucky. This is an annual event at the fairgrounds and also includes a big car show, with lots of rock and roll music to go with the muscle cars.

Happy trails....

Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch visit

No, this isn't an ostrich but a fun parrot. He/she had lots of friends who got up close and personal at the feeding site.

The second photo shows Roger feeding the big birds. They were practically coming over the top of the rail and Roger had to move fast to keep his fingers.

The third photo is a clutch of ostrich eggs in the 'family' location. Our guide said the big birds lay from 20 to 30 eggs, one at a time every other day during a egg laying period. They weigh about 4 lbs. each!

Our final shot is an over shot of the birds coming to the feeding area. They knew why we were there and were ready to do their part. This ranch is very near the foot of Picacho Peak near Casa Grande, AZ. The day was perfect, temps in the the low 70's. Just another fun day in the sun....

Happy trails....

Barry Goldwater training grounds Jeep trip

This is the entrance to the Barry M. Goldwater Range/training grounds/natural area. We had to watch a 22 minute movie warning of all the hazards in the area, and all the rules and regulations before we were given a 6 months permit to enter the offroad area. There were 4 Jeeps and 14 people on this trip.

Here I am at one of the stops. We were travelling with a group of rock hounds, not our usual Jeep tour group. Some were from our park and most from the Sundance Rv park in Casa Grande, AZ.

As mentione above, the B. Goldwater site is used for training for air force personnel. We saw various airplanes flying over and we were warned that some areas of the grounds were used for ammunition training. The 3rd photo shows an unexploded shell. We were warned to leave these things ALONE!

4th photo is one of many photos I took of the group travelling along the rutted roads and through the various washes, river beds etc. It was a beautiful day and no one had any trouble making the ride. While the rock hounds were hacking away at rocks, and carrying bag loads of same, I took photos, walked around and did some sketching. I even had a camp chair with me, so I got some second looks as those folks were working hard - but having a great time. By the load of rocks each Jeep carried out of there, I would say it was a very successfu trip! We sure had a good time.

A sunny, l0w 70's day in AZ in the winter time, what a life!

Happy trails....