The Vissers Visit

  Bob and MaryAnn Visser have been our friends for many years and we were especially pleased when they accepted our invitation to come and visit us in Mesa this winter. They arrived from Ontario late on Sunday evening, February 3.
They were great guests to have in  our RV - a smallish place for 4 adults but you would not hardly have realized it because the pull out couch was stowed away before Jack and I got out of bed each morning!

  On Monday morning, after a good sleep, we took them on a walking tour of our RV resort and all it's amenities. In the afternoon, we took a car drive to Red Mountain - in the background on this picture - and to Saguaro Lake.

    Because they had never been to the south west before, Jack and I had a good time explaining about the different types of cacti found here in the desert.
   The grandest cactus and the state symbol is the saguaro. This cactus grows only in the Sonoran desert - and this area is about it's most northerly reach. They grow slowly and do not develop "arms" until they reach 50 - 75 years old. This cactus has a rather "quirky" arm.

Saguaro Lake is the result of the damming of the Salt River and has a large marina and daily boat trips - though we were there just to take a look.

On Tuesday, we packed a lunch and took the Apache Trail. Named for the Indians that lived here in the 1800's, it is a scenic route that begins at Apache Junction and follows the Salt River  up to Roosevelt Dam. From there, we continued along Route 87 to Globe, Miami and Superior and back to Mesa. The trip is about 100 miles but 22 of them are on unpaved, but graded, roadway so it took all day. We stopped frequently because the views are spectacular!

   The first vista point was the overlook for Canyon Lake - another of those lakes formed by a dam on the Salt River.

Tortilla Flat is a unique place. It has been a mining and cowboy community since it began more than 150 years ago. Now it is a tourist stop with saddle seats at the bar, cowboy music with your burgers, and dollar bills that cover the walls with not an inch of open space. The road has a dip and the water is almost always flowing over the pavement. Today it is only a few inches deep but we have seen it 10 inches - and in December is was dry!

From here on the pavement stops and the road is graded gravel. But they do add guard rails on the down hill portions!

From the top, we look down into Fish Creek Canyon. If you look carefully, you can see in the foreground, how the road winds down and eventually becomes that windy road on the canyon floor.

 Eventually, we reach the bottom of the canyon and cross Fish Creek. Lots of shadows here because the canyon walls are high and not much sun reaches down here.

After passing Apache Lake - another result of damming - this time by Horse Mesa Dam, we arrive at Roosevelt Dam. Built in the 1920s it continues to be a source of hydroelectric power for the greater Phoenix area. When it was not high enough, it was rebuilt in the 1990s and  20' was added.
But this time, we found the river levels as low as we have seen them and the lake behind the dam very low as well.

Near Roosevelt Lake is Tonto National Monument. This is a cliff dwelling of the early Puebloan people. It was built about 1200 AD and occupied for only about 50 years by an extended family. No one knows why the cliff dwellers abandoned their carefully built home in large caves on hill sides - perhaps a drought or enemy invasion, or just deciding to move on. We had to climb a  pathway up 300' of elevation. We had to hurry as it was closing soon - so we panted our way up the hill. MaryAnn lead the way - Bob and Jack brought up the rear.

The following day, we invited Dan and Barb Bloem to join us in a trip to the Desert Botanical Gardens. The sun was bright and the temperatures were lovely, so we enjoyed meandering through the gardens and learning names of some to the desert flora. These are Organ Pipe Cacti - all stems growing from the common base.

 And these were interesting little guys named Mammileria 

   On our way to Sedona on Thursday morning, we stopped briefly at Montezuma's Castle - a name that is a complete misnomer. The Spanish came through the area in the 1500s and saw this cliff dwelling - empty and abandoned since 1300 and named it after the great Mexican king - Montezuma. But, again, it was the home of the Pueblo people. It was built in the cliff face near the edge of Beaver Creek as a source of water to raise their crops and later abandoned for no reason that we have been able to discern today.

   We leave I - 17 and take #189. After 10 miles the vista opens up to the gorgeous red rock territory around Sedona. The cliffs and hills are breathtaking as the red layers contrast with the blue sky and white fluffy clouds.

Bell Mountain

Hiking path

 

Chapel in the Rock

   


Blue birds against the red rock!

Coffee Pot Rock

 



Cathedral Mountain

   An interesting thing about Sedona is that it has attracted many different people with different views of who is in control of this creation and this world. Free thinkers and New Age believers have all come to Sedona and many have felt an energy "force" there. They are looking for something outside of themselves that they can put their trust in - and decided that vortices are in evidence in many places in the Sedona area. These little piles of stones indicate one of these vortex (or energy) sites. Too bad they cannot see the God of creation in the breathtaking beauty of the red rock canyon and cliff walls!

   Our last stop and look back at Sedona is at the Oak Creek Canyon bridge. From here we follow Oak Creek as we climb out of the canyon to the high mesa level at an elevation of 7000'. At the top, we find remnants of last week's snow (we are only about 10 miles south of Flagstaff). It has been a day of great beauty and we begin the two hour drive back to Phoenix giving our Creator the praise He so rightly deserves!!

On Saturday night, we take Bob and MaryAnn to the Rock'n R Ranch for a good cowboy supper and some cowboy songs and humor. Our dinner is served on tin plates - and we are told to be careful how we hold them - the applesauce goes first, then the BBQ beef and beans and chicken and biscuits are added. If we do not hold our plate under that cold applesauce, we may just burn our fingers and drop the plate!

After church at Phoenix Christian Reformed Church and a restful afternoon, Monday morning - dark and early, we take Bob and MaryAnn to Sky Harbor Airport for their return flight to Toronto. We had a great time and I think they saw some pretty interesting things here in Arizona.