Our friends, Gerry and Dia TerHaar have arrived in Mesa after spending 3 weeks in Florida volunteering for Wycliffe Bible Translators. It has been wonderful weather here with clear days and temperatures in the mid 80'sF. The pool has been a relaxing place to stay cool.
Our son Greg celebrated his birthday this week. He went on a 120km bike ride in Clearwater where he and his wife Tara are on a holiday from winter. We are very proud of him and miss he and Tara and Derek a lot.
We are preparing for our trip to Hawaii with the TerHaars. They leave on Friday, Feb 27 for San Diego and will fly from there to Honalulu on Sunday March 1. We will do the same from Phoenix with all of us arriving about the same time. We will share condos and car rentals as we explore Oahau and Maui for 2 weeks. Jack and I are celebrating our 40th anniversery in March and this is the reason for this special trip. I will blog when I can - we may not be able to do so until we return on March 15.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
St Anthony's Monastery in the desert
This week we drove with Dan and Barb Bloem to Florence, about 60 miles south of Mesa. St Anthony's Greek Orthodox Monastery is hidden off the main road with only a small sign pointing the way. In 1995, several monks from Greece came here and began to build a retreat in the desert. They have transformed the land into an oasis of orange, lemon and olive trees. They have also built a main church and several ornate chapels. It is a lovely shady area with flourishing trees and just a wonderful peaceful atmosphere. Many people come for a retreat of quiet contemplation with the monks and a time of spiritual renewal. One of the pilgrims (from busy New York City) told us she had come for a week and when we walked around the monastery to look not with our eyes but with our hearts and feel God calming out souls. All tourists must dress modestly so I had to put a long skirt over my capris, a scarf over my hair that also covered my neck, long sleeves and socks with my sandals. The monks dress in long black cassocks and spend 5 hours a day in prayer - from 1-4am and from 3-5pm.
Did you know that the Greek cross has 3 cross members? the top short one represents the paper nailed on the cross above Christ's head - "The King of the Jews", the second cross piece was where Christ's hands were nailed and the third lower piece which is tilted represents the two thieves crucified next to Christ - on his right side the one who was saved because he believed and went to heaven so it points up and the thief on the left went to hell so the cross piece points down.
Did you know that the Greek cross has 3 cross members? the top short one represents the paper nailed on the cross above Christ's head - "The King of the Jews", the second cross piece was where Christ's hands were nailed and the third lower piece which is tilted represents the two thieves crucified next to Christ - on his right side the one who was saved because he believed and went to heaven so it points up and the thief on the left went to hell so the cross piece points down.
Hiking in the Desert
One of the things we like about Arizona in general and the Phoenix area in particular is that there are lots of interesting areas where we can hike. We drove north through Fountain Hills to get to McDowell Mountain Regional Park. The fountain in the middle of a man-made lake in Fountain Hills goes off every hour and it is one of the highest in the country. When we saw it, there was a lovely rainbow through the spray. The North Trail goes through an area that was devastated by the Rio fire in 1995. There has been a lot of new growth in the interveening years but there are still spines of some giant saguarros pointing up to the sky.
In the park where we have been for the past month, groups go out regularly for hikes in the nearby city and state parks. This week we joined the group of 18 people who hiked to Massacre Point in the Superstition Mountains. It was a 7.8km trail with an elevation of 1000'. Sometime in the past, the Apache Indians cornered Spanish soldiers against this high cliff wall and killed them all. We hiked up to the top of the cliff where we had lunch before descending again. It was a great workout for us especially considering that the leader was a 78 year old retired farmer from Iowa who kept up quite a pace. Who says "old guys" don't rock!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Chihuly Glass Exhibit
We saw the most fantastic things today!! Our friends Dan and Barb Bloem took us to the Desert Botanical Gardens here in Phoenix. They have a temporary exhibit of the blown glass of Dale Chihuly. Set in the midst of the plants of the Sonoran desert are the most wonderful glass shapes. They come in all colours, shapes and sizes - some blending in with the cacti and palo verde trees and others just standng up and making you say WOW! Some hang from ramadas over the succulent garden and some are multihued balls tumbling out of a boat. And some even look like ice cubes floating in the water of a desert oasis. These pictures will give you an idea of what we saw and I have many more that I'd love to show you when we get home. It was a wonderful day of interesting desert flora and the sun glinting and reflecting its rays on the glass creations of a master.
A change in the weather
On Sunday night, February 8, a weather system rolled through bringing 1.2" of rain overnight and much cooler temperatures. Daytime highs this week have been in the low 60s and at night we have had 40F - that means we have to have the furnace on in the morning. But after the rain, each day has had brilliant sunshine so we are still outside staying active. When it rains here in the Phoenix valley, the mountains have snow on their peaks. That will melt to fill the reservoirs and very soon the desert wildflowers will burst into bloom.
On Tuesday,Jack and I went hiking in the Lost Dutchman State Park - so named after a prospector in the 1860s who went looking for gold in the Superstition Mountains. He did find some gold and told others about it in a saloon in the mining town of Goldfields. But after spending time with the whiskey bottle, his mine could not be found again. We hiked 3.5 miles up into the mountains, up behind Green Boulder where we sat on a flat rock for lunch and were serenaded by a beautiful bird from the top of a higher rock. God's beautiful creation! After our hike to drove part of the Apache Trail to Tortilla Flat and had an ice cream - the normally dry creek there was running strongly right over the road - another evidence of the recent rains.
On Tuesday,Jack and I went hiking in the Lost Dutchman State Park - so named after a prospector in the 1860s who went looking for gold in the Superstition Mountains. He did find some gold and told others about it in a saloon in the mining town of Goldfields. But after spending time with the whiskey bottle, his mine could not be found again. We hiked 3.5 miles up into the mountains, up behind Green Boulder where we sat on a flat rock for lunch and were serenaded by a beautiful bird from the top of a higher rock. God's beautiful creation! After our hike to drove part of the Apache Trail to Tortilla Flat and had an ice cream - the normally dry creek there was running strongly right over the road - another evidence of the recent rains.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
The RV is parked for a month!
We have done a lot of driving since we left home on November 8, 2008 and now we will stay in one place for 5 weeks. We have been to Mesa, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix, several times before, and found that Sun Life RV Resort is a nice place to stay. It is a moderate size with 700 spaces, and has a mix of permanent "park model" homes and also rent-by-day, week, or month, RV spaces. The majority of residents are winter visitors, several from Canada. They have a full range of activities such as ice cream socials, dances, pool and shuffleboard tournements, etc, etc ,etc. We can be as busy as we want and the people are very friendly. We had just arrived and our neighbor walked over to introduce himself and give a a bag of freshly picked navel oranges - yum!
I have not blogged for a couple of weeks because the wifi and computer room here are problamatic - good signal but too many people on at the same time and it slows down. I can only update the blog from my own computer because that is where the pictures are located. Right now, it is almost midnight and the service is great because most people have gone to bed!
Very good friends of ours, Dan and Barb Bloem, from Michigan are here for the winter. They have a condo in Jenison and a condo here in Mesa. We have had a good time with them since we have been here - hiking, day trips, coffee time and trips to that special frozen yoghurt store.
We have had wonderful weather the past 2 weeks - clear blue skies, low humidity (like 7%) and temps in the low 80sF. We really appreciate it whenwe know it is cold and snowy back home.
I have not blogged for a couple of weeks because the wifi and computer room here are problamatic - good signal but too many people on at the same time and it slows down. I can only update the blog from my own computer because that is where the pictures are located. Right now, it is almost midnight and the service is great because most people have gone to bed!
Very good friends of ours, Dan and Barb Bloem, from Michigan are here for the winter. They have a condo in Jenison and a condo here in Mesa. We have had a good time with them since we have been here - hiking, day trips, coffee time and trips to that special frozen yoghurt store.
We have had wonderful weather the past 2 weeks - clear blue skies, low humidity (like 7%) and temps in the low 80sF. We really appreciate it whenwe know it is cold and snowy back home.
Hiking in Phoenix
We like to hike - and to explore. We have found that both of these interests can be well satisfied in the Phoenix area. Phoenix is located in a valley (the "Valley of the Sun" as promoters refer to it) with mountains all around. The city and region have created many public parks with walking, hiking, biking and horse trails through them. Because of the terrain, the trails vary from flat and level to very strenuous hikes up mountain sides. Couple that with interesting desert flora and fauna and you can see why we like to get out and about.
On Thursday, January 29, fortified with a good bacon and egg breakfast, Jack and I drove to South Mountain Park. After driving up to Buena Vista Overlook and taking in the city of Phoenix laid out at our feet, we began a 3.5 mile hike to "Fat Man Pass". Not sure what this was, we certainly figured out what they meant when we came to a VERY narrow cleft or split in a massive rock that was only about 12 inches wide. The trail led right through so we sucked in our breath and wiggled our way through - the rock was shiny and slippery from many bodies rubbing as they went through. There was also a naturel tunnel to creep through and another spot to slide on our behinds down a large rock face. It was a fun day!
On Thursday, January 29, fortified with a good bacon and egg breakfast, Jack and I drove to South Mountain Park. After driving up to Buena Vista Overlook and taking in the city of Phoenix laid out at our feet, we began a 3.5 mile hike to "Fat Man Pass". Not sure what this was, we certainly figured out what they meant when we came to a VERY narrow cleft or split in a massive rock that was only about 12 inches wide. The trail led right through so we sucked in our breath and wiggled our way through - the rock was shiny and slippery from many bodies rubbing as they went through. There was also a naturel tunnel to creep through and another spot to slide on our behinds down a large rock face. It was a fun day!
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