Las Vegas Highland Games!

April 14, 2019April 14, 2019 / Ed Armstrong

It was fun to see so many people dressed up for the Celtic Festival!! They enjoyed my asking to have my photo taken with them.

I absolutely love listening to the bagpipes and the drums!! It is such beautiful music!

I have absolutely no idea who this group is, but I watched them having their picture taken under the Celtic Society banner. I asked if I could have my picture taken with them and they enthusiastically agreed!! What a great group of people!!

Sometimes when traveling you discover fun, unexpected pleasures. Today, this happened to me as I discovered that the Las Vegas Highland Games were going on. I have been to other Celtic Festivals in Tucson and Phoenix and loved them!

There was a booth dedicated to Diana Gabaldon and the Outlander series!! They were quite excited when I told them i grew up in Flagstaff and had read all of her books!

This was a wonderful group of people!

It was nice to see so many different people dress up for the Celtic Festival!

It was very nice listening to the bands!!

For me, one of my favorites in a Celtic festival of the bagpipes and the drums! I cannot get enough of listening to live bands play the bagpipes and the drums. The beat resonates inside me and I find myself captivated watching them play. It is fun when bands from different areas are together in one festival. I loved it!

It was impressive to hear the different bands play!!

These guys had a wonderful time posing for photos! I asked a woman from the UK to take the photos and she was roaring with laughter!!

It was also fun to see people dressed up for the Highland Games! I asked several people if I could have my photo taken with them. It was fun for them to be acknowledged for their colorful outfit and fun for me to be with them!

This was a fun group! I listed to some of their induction ceremony!

Everyone was having fun! I enjoyed seeing new people, listening to the music, and seeing people dressed in Celtic outfits!

Late Night Trailhead – Las Vegas

April 14, 2019April 14, 2019 / Ed Armstrong

One the road toward Blue Diamond is a superb network of trails!!

This sculpture notes the beginning of the trailhead.

The views of the cactus and gorgeous mountains are spectacular!!

The trails are well marked and fun to ride!!

A good friend told me about some excellent mountain bike trails outside of Las Vegas. I had a wonderful time riding on these trails and enjoying different type of cactus from Phoenix and Tucson as well as the incredible colors in the mountains! The ride was fun and I thoroughly enjoyed myself! Well, maybe not riding up out of the town of Blue Diamond! It was steep riding out of Blue Diamond and I almost melted into a grease spot on the trail while I was pedaling uphill!

I enjoyed seeing different types of cactus from what I am familiar with in Tucson and Phoenix!

The mountain views are incredible. I loved the rich colors!

I loved the contrasts in texture and colors all around me as I was riding!

It was a beautiful day! No clouds in the sky, a high temperature in the low 70s, gorgeous views, and nice trails!!

I loved the colors in the mountains!

The colors of the rocks and the intensity of the cactus was amazing! I kept seeing amazing sites over and over. I loved this network of trails! Some people rode horses, some people hiked, but most people were riding mountain bikes. I loved riding here!!

The trails just kept going for miles. Someone put great effort into making such a nice network of trails!!

This is the famous Red Rock Canyon outside of Las Vegas! The colors are spectacular!! A wedding had just finished when I arrived where this view was the backdrop for the wedding ceremony!

Disneyland!

April 9, 2019April 9, 2019 / Ed Armstrong

It was wonderful to be with Charlene! We had a fantastic time being with our family in such a fun place!!

Melissa was well prepared and brought ponchos for everyone for the river ride in California Adventure! We rode it three times!!

Matt, Ben, and I wore snazzy glasses to better hit targets in a shooting ride! Matt is the champion and earned way more points than anyone else in our group and was one of the highest scores for the day!!

I had an absolutely fantastic time visiting Disneyland and California Adventure. It was wonderful because Charlene joined Matt and Melissa in Phoenix and they all drove together to Anaheim. John, Michelle, and David were able to join us our first evening together and the second day when we visited Disneyland! It was wonderful to have everyone all together at such a fun place!

What a wonderful group of family that loved being together!!

Ben and I had a great time riding the carousel together!!

The Soaring ride in California Adventure was beautiful and one of my favorite rides!! It was inspiring to see video of so many gorgeous places around the world!

It is difficult to summarize all the fun activities, laughter, and rides. I used my phone to take photos, so the quality was not as nice as my regular camera, but it allows for more spontaneous moments to capture fun images!

Ben and I had fun seeing all the fish caught in the nearby water!

Melissa laughed at me getting ready to be drowned in the river ride!!

The Disney parade was awesome!! I loved all the songs!

Since Disney now owns Star Wars, one of the highlights of the time was to meet Star Wars characters and have our photos taken with them. Darth Vader was very tall and absolutely as intimidating in person as I remember him in the movies. Chewbacca was wonderful to meet too!

One of the amazing highlights of our time in Disneyland was meeting Darth Vader! His voice is every bit as scary as I remember from the movies. Melissa had inside connections that enables us to meet him!!

It was amazing to meet fun loving Chewbacca!! He is huge!

I never expected to meet Star Wars characters! This was an unexpected discovery for Matt, Ben, and me!!

It was wonderful to be together with Charlene! I have been on this RV trip for about 6 weeks and it was great to be together. Although we talk on the phone daily, it is not the same as face to face communication. We had a wonderful time together. It was especially wonderful to have so many family members together in one place!

Apache Wash!

March 30, 2019March 30, 2019 / Ed Armstrong

I absolutely love riding my mountain bike on the Apache Trail! It is so much fun!!

The Phoenix Sonoran Preserve is spectacular!

Spring time in the desert is so beautiful!!

I have been in Phoenix for the past week and have been loving the spring weather. For the past six days I have driven to the Phoenix Sonoran Preserve and ridden my mountain bike on the Apache trail. It is a wonderful series of trails that are excellent for beginner and intermediate riders. I have loved riding on these trails! Many people hike, ride horses, or ride mountain bikes.

I had so much fun stopping to see so many different cacti!

The saguaro cacti are so magnificent!!

The yellow flowers, green plants, and blue sky were amazing!!

The weather has been spectacular this week and the desert plants are starting to bloom. I have really enjoyed riding along between all the cacti and the spring flowers.

It is absolutely amazing to see the number of arms this saguaro has!!

I love riding along such nice trails!!

This is the saguaro where I hit the cactus arm with my handlebars and caused me to wipeout!! I am glad I wear gloves when I ride!

One saguaro cactus is large and has an arm that has grown into the edge of the trail. Usually I have no problem avoiding the rocks and riding next to the cactus. However, two days ago, I rode a little too close to the cactus arm and my handlebars hit the cactus! It was like hitting a steel bar. There was absolutely no give at all to the cactus. Needless to say, my handlebars turned and I wiped out hands first in the dirt! I am glad I wear gloves when ridding! I only slightly hurt my hand and my bike was fine. When I looked closer at the cactus arm, I could see that I was not the only person that had hit the sneaky cactus arm!

This saguaro is growing in all sorts of different directions!

I absolutely love all the colors of the blooming desert!

There are blooming flowers farther than my eyes could see!

I am sad that this is the last time to ride the Apache trail. Now I need to move the motorhome to get have the yearly oil change and other maintenance items checked. After that, I continue my route west on interstate 10.

I really have to “gear down” my bike to make it up this hill!! My heart is beating fast by the time I get to the top!!

The scenary is spectacular all along the Apache trail!!

I love riding my mountain bike through the blooming desert!

Picacho Peak!

March 22, 2019March 22, 2019 / Ed Armstrong

I absolutely loved visiting Picacho Peak State Park! It was beautiful and weather was perfect!

I loved seeing so many huge cacti!

The California poppies are so beautiful! They blooming in so many places!

After the end of the Escapade RV rally at the Pima County Fairgrounds, I went on a day trip to Picacho Peak State Park. It was a gorgeous day and an absolutely fabulous time to visit Picacho Peak! I was hoping to see more spring poppies as well as a range of beautiful cacti.

I love to see the patterns in the cactus spines!

I adore the orange color of the California poppies!

There is an amazing contrast with the prickly cactus right next to the delicate beauty of the blooming flowers!

There are so many beautiful scenes in Picacho Peak state park!

The high temperature was 71 degrees, so it was wonderful weather to visit Picacho Peak! I went to a couple different sections of the park and walked randomly along a range of trails with my camera and tripod.

I love the different colors of blooming flowers!

Blooming poppies are everywhere!

I love the colors and ruggedness of the rock formations!

I had a wonderful time seeing so many beautiful scenes!

It is refreshing to simply look at all the different colors and shapes!

It is wonderful to see the enormous saguaro cacti!!

Dressage Horses!

March 17, 2019March 17, 2019 / Ed Armstrong

The horses work intently! I was surprised to see the foam frothing from the horses mouth.

The horses are trained to take very precise steps!

I came in early to the Pima County Fairgrounds to attend the Escapade. Dressage horses were in competition next to where I am parked in my motorhome. I spent quite a while watching them practice. I was trying to follow the different procedures they followed.

I thought it was interesting to see how the horses were trained to tip their heads down.

The appearance of both the horses and riders were meticulously refined.

I anticipated that most of the participants would be people in their teens and twenties; however, most of the participants were women at least my age.

I liked the contrast of the pink with the beautiful color of the horse.

There was incredible focus and determination as the riders guided their horses through the routines. Quite interesting!

I thought this lady’s pink outfit was priceless!!

Catalina State Park!

March 9, 2019March 9, 2019 / Ed Armstrong

I love the California poppies in Catalina State Park!

The mighty saguaro cactus are so impressive!

It was a wonderful day to visit Catalina State Park! I was fun to drive through Tucson and Oro Valley on the way to the state park. I have many wonderful memories from living in Oro Valley!

The poppies are everywhere! They are a wonderful way to welcome spring in Catalina State Park!

I especially love the orange poppies!

The flowers are so delicate and beautiful!

Beautiful!!

I also have many excellent memories of previous visits to Catalina State Park! I have hiked, camped, and ridden a horse in the state park. March is a fantastic month to visit! The flowers are blooming everywhere, and it is a very comfortable temperature.

I love the orange center and yellow outside colors of the poppies!!

The poppies began to close up as the temperatures started to cool off.

I like the contrast between the orange poppies and the while flowers!

These are gorgeous flowers!

I was especially enthralled with the blooming California poppies! I love the yellow and orange colors! I took many photos of all the blooming poppies!

I love the color of the poppies!

Awesome colors!

I also love the mighty saguaro cactus! Since I have been away from Tucson, it was very exciting to again see much massive and mighty cactus!

The saguaro cactus are so impressive!

There were many people in the park and all kinds of activities with different groups of people! Everyone was enjoying the wonderful weather and the beauty of the park.

These are very heavy limbs!!

I walked on the nature walk and loved taking pictures of such beauty. It was so wonderful to visit the park again after several years having moved away from Oro Valley.

I was mesmerized by the design of the spines on the saguaro cactus!

When I first arrived at the park, there was a display of different animals that lived in the area. A teenage girl asked me if I wanted to hold a gopher snake. At first I declined, but then I thought it would be a unique experience to hold it. She took a picture of me and laughed at my nervousness.

I do not like snakes, so I was amazed to find myself holding a gopher snake!