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!

Chiricahua National Monument!

March 4, 2019March 4, 2019 / Ed Armstrong

I was captivated with the rock formations and all the different colors!

Very interesting rocks!

Amazing rocks!

Today was a wonderful step back in time. I have been to the Chiricahuas in the past, but it has to have been at least 15 years ago. I think the rock structures within the Chiricahua National Monument are awe inspiring and beautiful.

The green-yellow lichen on many rocks was striking!

Very interesting balanced rocks! It is amazing that a big gust of wind does not blow it over!

I was excited to see so many amazing rock formations!

Around every corner on the trail, there are new perspectives and new sites that seem to be even more beautiful.

I was amazed at the size of so many boulders!

These rock formations were quite unique and amazing!

These structures sort of reminded me of stacks of pancakes!

Hiking the trail was supposed to take about 2-3 hours, but it took me 4.5 hours because I kept stopping to take photos of new scenes.

This is the Echo Canyon Grotto! A unique series of arches in the rock formations.

The Echo Canyon Grotto was a unique series of arches. It was tricky to photograph because of the bright sunshine in a few spaces combined with dark shadows in most of the grotto. I combined a series of photos with different exposures using “high dynamic range.”

This seemed to be a sleepy rock formation that was resting against a close friend.

I loved all the shapes of rocks!

All these rock formations are simply glorious!

Very unique balanced shapes!

My mind was captivated with so many beautiful and amazing structures.

I thought this formation looked like a smiling person!

This formation made me think about organ pipes!

The rock formations are so unique and such a treasure!

Years ago, I remember camping in a tent with Charlene when Amy was a baby in the campground within the Chiricahua National Monument. I have many wonderful memories of this beautiful place.

What a beautiful day for a hike to such an awesome national monument!

It looks like someone simply stacked all these boulders all together!

Rodeo!

February 13, 2018February 13, 2018 / Ed Armstrong

I could not believe the intensity of riding a bucking horse!

Cowboys would fly off their horses!

There were many nice smiles too!

I joined 6 other people and enjoyed the National Senior Pro rodeo in Wickenburg, Arizona. It was a beautiful day and there was lots of activity. I enjoyed all the colors and pageantry of the rodeo.

There were many rough landings!

Hang on!!

The bucking broncos were very intense!

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Flagstaff, Arizona

June 26, 2017 / Ed Armstrong

I absolutely love the combination plates at La Fonda! It has always been my favorite restaurant in Flagstaff.

I love visiting Flagstaff! Normally cool, the high temperatures were in the 90s, while it was 115 to 119 in Phoenix! However, it still cooled down very nicely in the evening!

My favorite restaurant in Flagstaff is La Fonda. I absolutely love their combination plates. Yummy!

I miss my Mom. She truly was a fantastic wife, mother, and friend!

I miss talking with my father. I admired all of his common sense.

It always touches my heart to go to the Flagstaff cemetery and visit my parents’ graves. It is a time for reflection, thinking about the future, and being thankful for such wonderful memories of my parents. I know my parents would be so proud of Amy and John and the lives they have built!

I had fun visiting my old elementary school! I loved attending this school!

I had a chance to visit my old elementary school! I really enjoyed Sechrist School and still have fantastic memories of my teachers and classmates. I was quite fortunate to attend such an excellent school.

Finding the Flagstaff Folk Festival was an unexpected surprise. I loved all the guitars!

A special treat was attending the Flagstaff Folk Festival! There were four venues going with different groups playing for about 30 minutes each. I moved around between the different groups and heard all kinds of instruments and many different singers. It was wonderful. It started raining during the afternoon. It was fantastic to listen to people playing their guitars, with the sound of the rain on the roof and the wonderful smell of the rain coming in through the door. It was a fantastic time!

The Secret Handshake was the name of this group. They were fantastic and everyone loved listening to them play and sing!

The group Secret Handshake was my favorite. They play weekly in Flagstaff and seem to have quite a following. I loved their music.

Holbrook, Arizona

June 26, 2017June 26, 2017 / Ed Armstrong

I loved this beautiful Jeep!!

One of the fun things about visiting small towns is the unexpected discoveries along the way. I was talking with the lady in the office of the RV park enjoying their coffee and muffins. She told me there was a car show going on and that the whole town would turn out to attend. I had fun seeing the awesome Jeep and other vehicles.

This Holbrook dinosaur stole my hat and ate my arm!

I drove all the way from Amarillo the previous day.

One of the most fun aspects was the live bands over the course of the afternoon. They keep everyone entertained and all the feet were tapping. It was very fun and quite unexpected experience!

These cute girls were dressed up from the 1950s and received several awards.

Final Four!

April 21, 2017 / Ed Armstrong

I loved being at the location of the college basketball championship games!

I have always enjoyed watching college basketball. One of the fun discoveries of being in Phoenix, Arizona was that the Final Four was held there this year. It was fun timing. The Friday before the first two games there were open practices to watch all four teams (South Carolina, Oregon, Gonzaga, and North Carolina).

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It was fun to be in the midst of so much excitement for college basketball and see the fans that were supporting their favorite team. There were also many people like me, not a fan of a specific team, but wanting to enjoy the Final Four experience.

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This was as close as I have ever been to the Final Four, so I had to buy a commemorative t-shirt. It was very fun. I looked into buying an actual ticket for the games, but they were over $1,000 per ticket. Oh well, maybe next year I can get a ticket for the Final Four in San Antonio.

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Lake Pleasant

January 29, 2017January 29, 2017 / Ed Armstrong

A gorgeous day to enjoy a cruise!

I had a fun day. I joined an outing with our RV park and went to Lake Pleasant and we rode a Cruise boat around the lake. It has been cold and rainy for a number of days, so it was a wonderful day to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather. The high temperature was 72 degrees; quite amazing for January 29^th!

From the top of the boat, it was breezy and there were beautiful views!

Right on the water it was quite breezy and the wind gusts were cold. However, we initially sat downstairs within a glass area so we were toasty warm. As the day warmed up, we went up to the top of the boat and enjoyed the open air. We went around a desert island on the north side of the lake. I was amazed with the size of some of the boats in the marina and on the lake. It was a very fun time!

We rode around this island.

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Oak Creek Canyon

November 15, 2016November 15, 2016 / Ed Armstrong

I love the sound of the water flowing over the rocks in Oak Creek Canyon!

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For my last side trip in Arizona, I went up to Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon. It is such a beautiful area of the country and it has been years since I have visited. Although the red rocks are gorgeous, I especially enjoy Oak Creek Canyon. I spent most of the day enjoying the peace and quiet of the canyon. It was nice to hear the water pouring over the rocks. I found a picnic area that was deserted and enjoyed a sandwich, listening the water, seeing the leaves changing, and relaxing in the quiet sounds of nature. It was beautiful and I did not want to leave!

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I decided to drive through Cottonwood and I remembered there was a La Fonda Café nearby. I love the Mexican food here and the owner’s father’s La Fonda restaurant in Flagstaff!

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Beautiful Desert Ride!

September 18, 2016September 18, 2016 / Ed Armstrong

Weaving through the boulders was fun!

It is fun to visit the desert and discover new mountain bike trails. I looked on the Internet to find some options that were not too difficult. I started on one ride recommended on a mountain biking website, but could not figure out a place to park as there were no parking signs in the pullout areas. I ended up parking next to the road and started up a powerline trail. A ways down the path, I saw a single track trail go to the left, so I took it. It was a nice trail, but quite rugged. Going down one gulley I ended up going over my handlebars, but landed on my feet. I enjoyed the trail, but I would not have considered it a beginner trail, so I questioned the website summary.

The trail was rough and not for beginners, but I still had quite a bit of fun riding on the trail!

After riding for almost an hour I came to a fork in the road with another trail. Looking back where I had just come from was a sign stating that it was not a maintained trail. No wonder it was so difficult!

I met a couple going on a hike and they directed me to some other trails. These trails were fantastic and definitely beginner oriented trails. As I rode on these new trails, I discovered there was an entire parking lot with more than 100 cars of mountain bikers and hikers. I am so glad I discovered these other trail options. They are not too difficult and wind all through the desert. I loved these trails and will definitely be back!