Old Caves Crater

We hiked to the top of a small volcanic crater in the Flagstaff area. There are caves caused by lava gurgling to the surface. There was a small Sinagua village built in the crater and caves. What is left now are piles of stones and pottery shards on the ground. I wished later that I'd taken a picture of some of them to show you. Most people may not have recognized them because they mostly just look like a flat stone. Mostly they were red on black, but a few had black on white designs painted on one side. It is so great to see them in situ, but of course they have to be left in place in case they ever decide to excavate. Also, I would feel too guilty taking any home.
One of the many caves
View from the top with another small volcano in the distance and Indian Paint Brush (red flowers) and Fairy Duster (pink)
Close up view of the Indian Paint brush flowers.
Prickly pear cactus flower
View of San Francisco Peaks (to right) and Mount Elden (to left). The view from our condo looks at Mount Elden. I love this view because it shows both mountains side by side. Usually you see only one or the other. I always imagine that Mount Eldon was formed from the top of San Francisco Peaks when it exploded, but I have no idea if that is true or not. Oh no, now I have to look it up! OMG I was wrong! San Francisco Peaks used to be up to 15,000 feet tall (classic Fujiyama shape). The tallest of 3 peaks (Humpreys, Agassiz and Fremont) is 12,600 feet. It collapsed into a partly emptied magma chamber formed after a Mt. St Helens-like explosion, then there were glaciers leaving the inner basin the smooth valley it is now. Elden is formed by lava flows and magma pushing sedimentary blocks of rock to the surface. I still like my idea!
This is a old, old alligator Juniper tree. The close up shows you why is is called Alligator. The newest branches look very red, much like the red of manzanita bush branches.
This is the flower and seed (looks like a duster) thus the name Fairy duster!
Close up of Fairy duster seeds
Another view of San Francisco Peaks. We had a great few days. Mum went with us to Flagstaff. We walked around downtown Flagstaff, enjoyed all the little shops and the old town streets. Trains go through town every 20 minutes or so. The trains are a big part of Flagstaff. It is great to fall asleep listening to the trains and feeling the cool air coming in the windows. We ate breakfast on the porch, walked around the golf course in the evenings greeting all our neighbors, both human and canine. Dogs are a big part of the evening walks and I always miss Kiwi at these times. She loved to go with us to Flagstaff. I was taking her for a walk one evening when we arrived. I had her on a leash, but all of a sudden she takes off chasing a skunk. She thought she had caught this furry creature and in fact she did, for half a second till it squirted her right in the mouth. Poor Kiwi, she was crying, foaming in the mouth and stunk to high heaven. I was told that either tomato sauce or vinegar takes skunk smell away. Well, believe you me I tried vinegar and it certainly didn't work. She had to spend the night in the garage. We took her to the groomers and they said that this happens a lot to Flagstaff dogs. They knew just exactly what to do and she came out smelling like a rose!

Colors Meet Sky

Each day I go outside and see the peach faced love birds and goldfinches on the sunflowers in my garden. I am surprised by joy anew when they suddenly fly all at once, their bright colors meeting the blue sky. The sky above the sunflower patch is filled with bright yellows, reds, greens, and blues for a couple seconds of awe and delight. I've tried to take pictures, but am not fast enough. You'll just have to imagine it in your minds eye.
These are some of the tiny Goldfinches. They love the tiny little seeds they get from the dried sunflowers. This picture even shows one of the seeds that they like so well. They are much smaller than the sunflower seeds we eat.
This little guy is really getting into it!
The Goldfinches almost are invisible among the bright yellow sunflowers.
The parrots are bigger. They bend and make the sunflowers dance as they hop from one part of the sunflowers to another.




I have been enjoying summer and time off work. May was very busy. We enjoyed Kirs, Rob and the kids visit and had a great time with Max and Maxine from Oz. I will get back to both of those visits in future blogs. Then came the end of school which was very stressful this year because our AZ schools have had major cuts in funding. I decided to come back another year even though I will have 2 schools. We nurses fought the good fight, but too much had to be cut. It was a very sad and depressing time. We had our grandsons Niko and Maceo (Faye and Javier's 2 youngest) for 3 days in early June so they could have a get-away in San Diego. We rode bikes, played in the ditch, went to see the movie "UP" with the boys. The last week or so I've got to spend quality time with Ryan. That is a whole long story in and of itself. First of all he was in a car accident. The wheel from another car came off and hit the wheel of his car. Of course the driver, had no license and prob no insurance. The driver fled the scene on foot and the police are allowed to take up to a month to make the report. However, as bad as that was, he wasn't hurt and it got him to finally realize that he was in financial crisis and could no longer support his girlfriend who chooses not to work (or is always going to but never does). He told his girlfriend to move out and she broke all his vinyl record collection before the police arrived. He decided to move from his apartment due to bad karma, a gas leak, no hot water because the hot water heater was venting in the kitchen (the gas company shut it down) and a landlord who never follows through with promises to fix stuff. So we started looking for a new apartment. He wants to live downtown to be in walking distance to his 2nd job at the Dodge Theater in downtown Phoenix. He found a studio he likes and can afford. It has wood floors, a tiny kitchen, but is actually large for a studio. He will save about $100 per month. It looks south into downtown and is a couple blocks from the Dodge Theater. Next week we will help him move into his new place. Things are looking up!

Fun with "My cousins, the boys"

We had several get togethers with Faye, Javier and "the boys". It is always great fun. Here Dilly and Rowan (you see only her hand) are up in the boys tree house.
Nathan takes the kids on a wheelbarrow ride, almost as fun as Disneyland!
A treehouse and wheelbarrow ride, what more could you ask for?
This was our first gathering
Niko, Maceo, Rowan and Dilly playing with the Fisher Price toys I saved many years for my grandchildren. I also have Leggos and a several boxes of blocks. I love getting them out when the kids are here.

Wearing Nana's Hat

For the love of Trains!

Dilly loves trains and anything else that has wheels. He especially loves Thomas the Train which he actually got to ride on later when they were in Utah. We rode a number of trains while they were in Phoenix. Dylan's eyes would get big and his mouth would open like an "O" in excitement and adoration. We rode the light rail in Phoenix to go downtown and see the sights. Actually the guys, including our friend Chris, were going to go to the NRA convention and see the exhibits but there was a 2 hour wait just to get in. They ended up joining Kirs, Rowan and I for lunch instead. The light rail has always been crowded every time we ride it, but I'm not sure how many are paying customers because no one ever asks to see your tickets. They are going to raise the rates in July and are thinking of selling the naming rights!
I set up the train at home when everyone else was at the store. We really had a fun, exciting time. Rowan was the engineer and Dilly the tunnel (he stood over the track) and conductor. At first Rowan would speed up so fast or reverse directions without stopping that the train went off the tracks about 40 or more times. All in all she was a great engineer. I had steel wool in the box for cleaning the tracks (the kids asked me what it was for and I told them). At one point when I was talking on the phone, I looked over and there was Dilly rubbing the steel wool on the tracks and sparks were flying 6 or 8 inches in the air! I dropped the phone and ran over and turned off the electricity to the tracks. We had our own little train fireworks compliment of Dilly.
We also rode the train at Encanto Park Kiddie Land. After riding this train Rowan and Dylan pose in front of the engine. Being at Encanto Park reminded me of fond memories. Encanto Park with its lagoons used to be the only place with water (except the canals) in Phoenix. We went there a lot when we were kids so Mum could sit by the lagoon because she was homesick for water, any water. Encanto park is very large and is a great place to explore as a kid. There are many bridges going over the lagoon, you can rent a boat or just explore the park. My favorite place in the park (other than Kiddie Land) was a large area where there were tall reeds. There were tunnels and paths through the reeds like a maze. It was really fun like finding your way in a jungle and trying to find the way out. We played chase games, pirate games and I had my favorite route. I know that area is no longer there, I suppose for safety reasons, but we really had great times in that maze! Kiddie Land has been revamped, but much is the same as when I was a kid and our kids were kids. We've had many a birthday party there over the years. The carousel is exactly the same, the train has a new engine, but most of the track and train is the same, the roller coster has the same track, but has been changed into a dragoon roller cooster instead of the plain one we had.
This is Kirs, Rob and the kids riding in the train at the Scottsdale train park.
This is the train at the Scottsdale train park.