Geocaching Adventure #1

Team photo at find #2

We have found a new family activity and it is called Geocaching. Go here to learn more about it. Geocaching is basically a treasure hunt with a GPS. People hide containers (geocaches) and enter the coordinates, basic driving directions and other hints. You browse the website to find caches in the area you want to hunt, load it into your GPS and go on your treasure hunt. We decided to give it a try and had a blast searching for the caches. We headed to the Miami/Globe area and our first find was very easy and fun to get us started. It was what they call a cache and dash.

Team mascot "Frizzle" at find #1

Frizzle at find #2, he is a great hunter!

At the ranch where we found our 2nd cache.

Who says a minivan can't handle off-road driving?

Yes, we are way up near the clouds and that road down there is the only way out!

Our second find was a little more involved and turned out to be a 30 minute ride each way on that windy dirt road that led to a cattle round up. It was between 4,000 and 5,000 elevation and the views were gorgeous. We were totally secluded, didn't see another car until we were almost out, a truck was coming in. The land was a ranch and near our destination were corrals, an old shed and water trough for the cows. It was a lot of fun, and we will be planning another hunt soon.

Margaret's visit

A hummingbird was hanging about.
Margaret arrived on Saturday March 14th to visit for a week. First stop was the Desert Botanical Gardens to see the Chihuly exhibit and also to enjoy the garden. The wildflowers were in full bloom and may I just say we saw more here than we did in our "Wildflower trip" last year. Not quite sure how I managed not to take any pictures of them, must have been enjoying their beauty. Margaret, Pat and I had a lovely day walking around and then we stopped for my favorite margaritas and appetizers at Z tejas.

Most of Margaret's visit was spent relaxing outside reading books and magazines and just enjoying a little warm weather. Mike and William were on spring break that week so she got to spend some time with the two of them. One early morning Margaret and I went to the Riparian Water Ranch in Gilbert to take a walk around and look for some wildlife. The cactus were in bloom and it was a very pleasant early morning walk before the heat of the day set in.

Mike, Grandma and William

Planning their escape, I think.

Zane Grey's cabin or at least a replica

On Friday all of us took a drive to Payson to see what there was to see. In a couple words - not too much - but it was a beautiful drive in the mountains, and we did go to the Rim Country Museum. Apparently Payson's claim to fame is that Zane Grey had a cabin there where he did a lot of his writing. They have a replica of his cabin and some other interesting artifacts. It was a beautiful day and a nice drive and somewhere we had never been, so it was worth the trip. The Rim is in that area somewhere, but I am not sure how soon I will be making that drive again as I was quite nauseated by the time we got there. I am not even sure what the Rim is but apparently it is something you should see if out that way and it looked to me like it involved more mountain roads and not headed towards home, so not this time.

Koopmanns' visit

Bob, Laura, Frank and Lyla came to Arizona the first week of March for a spring baseball league that Rockford College was playing in. Bob had Wednesday off and William and I went with them to the zoo. It was a beautiful day to walk around. It didn't get too hot out, the sun was shining and we were all exhausted by the end of the day. While they were here we went to some of the baseball games and I couldn't even tell you how many they won or lost all I know is it was so nice to have them here visiting. We were able to have dinner together a couple nights and I really enjoyed them being here and was sad to see them go. I hope that they keep Arizona as their permanent spring league destination!!!

MIA

Wow, looks like I have been busy being out of my mind somewhere else lately. I apologize to the two or three of you that check in regularly to see what we are up to and promise to put some new posts up this weekend with pictures of our winter visitors and more.

NBA All-Star Jam

William and Larry Nance

William's hand on Chris Paul's imprint
The All-Star game was hosted by the Phoenix Suns this year and on Sunday we went to the Convention Center for the NBA All-Star Jam. There were tons of different places to shoot the basketball, which was all William could ever ask for. Areas for slam dunking at all levels, 3 point shooting, games of knock-out and more. William got a chance to play in Center Court with NBA Legend, first ever slam dunk contest winner - Larry Nance. All the participants got to play in a short game with him, they played knock out and then had time for photos and autographs. Even though there was not much of a sighting of All Stars, William had a great time. He had fun doing the different clinics and just shooting the basketball in every hoop he could find. Shaq walked through the area for a short appearance at one time and all you could see was him towering above the rest of the crowd. I think William had hoped to get more autographs, but they only had NBA legends and coaches about to get fired and people I never heard of on the autograph stage. It was a long and tiring day, but tons of fun.

Happy Valentines Day

William is very proud of the Valentine Box he made for school this year. His class was having a contest, the categories were Creativity and Hard Work. William's won the Creativity category. Being the Basketball fan that he is, it was only natural that his valentine box would reflect that. The cookies were for William's class party. They were my attempt at making chocolate chip cookies into hearts. They kind of spread out when baked, but I think the icing heart helped convey the message and they were yummy, so there was no problem with consumption.

Chocolate Fest 2009

We went to the Chocolate Festival in Glendale again this year. There was plenty of chocolate and other treats available as well as a beer garden, live music and abundant sunshine. William once again made a chocolate pizza at Ceretta's Candy Shop booth. There were tours being done at Ceretta's Candy Shop but since I was the only one even mildly interested in doing that, we didn't. We spent some time walking around downtown Glendale, enjoying the music, people watching and just being glad to finally be outside in the fresh air that smelled of all things chocolate.