Hiking around Mesa Arizona

Greg and I arrived in Mesa Dec. 14 and have been able to be outside and walking and hiking without our winter parkas!
Mesa(Spanish for tabletop)is in the center of the Salt River Valley on a plateau.  The area has long been inhabited by Native Americans, including the Hohokam Ancestral Desert People who dug some 125 miles of canals around 700 B.C.  Some of these irrigation ditches can still be seen.
Late in 1863 the Mormons discovered the ancient irrigation canals and used it to irrigate the farmlands.
Some of the areas we have hiked are Superstition Mountains, and Usury Park.  The Superstition Mounts were named for the many legends surrounding them  The fabled Lost Dutchman Gold Mine lies somewhere in these mountains.  There are petrogylphs on the walls of the mountains.  And walks near Tortilla Flats, once a staging area for the continental Stagecoach and Pony Express, with great views and lots of cactus.

Greg, Jim, Sheila, Dennis and Kate at Superstition Mtn.

Sheila stepped off the path and was attacked by a cactus.  Fortunately Jim carries a tool for cactus removal!

Superstition Mt and Saguaro cactus.

Jim, Eileen , Kate and Nicholas resting while hiking Meridian Trail.

Beginning our hike, Dennis, Gina, Kate, Eileen and Jim.

Petroglyphs

Off Tortilla Flats road.  Water a result of dams.

At the end of the hikes, we got to spend time in the hot tubs at Dennis and Gina's resort.  Not a bad way to spend December.

Santa Fe, New Mexico

We reached Santa Fe just as it was getting dark.  The roads were dark and winding and very narrow.  After several false starts, we arrived at our condo.  We were too tired and not sure of where we were that we ate Christmas cookies, fudge, carrots and apples for supper.  I highly recommend it!  After a slow start to our morning, we headed out to Tia Sophia's for a New Mexico breakfast of beans, quesadillos, and hot salsa and make your hair stand up coffee.  Then off to the Georgia O'Keeffe museum, the Palace of the Governors', San Miguel Mission, St. Lorrette Church, St. Francis of Assisi church, and the Plaza all in walking distance of each other. Santa Fe town counsel decided they wanted to keep the adobe theme to the town as it grew.  It makes for a beautiful town but very hard to recognize where you are.

Georgia O'Keeffe

Georgia Totto O'Keeffe was an American artist. Born near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, O'Keeffe first came to the attention of the New York art community in 1916

Palace of the Governors established 1609: locals set out their jewellery for sale even on cold days like the day we were there.


St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral 1889.  The only non-pueblo building in Santa Fe.

Blessed Kateri

Kateri Tekakwitha (1656–1680) is the first North American Indian to be beatified, and was canonized in October 2012.^[1] She was an Algonquian-Mohawk woman of New York State.

San Miguel Mission, also known as San Miguel Chapel, is a Spanish colonialmission church in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Built between approximately 1610 and 1626, it is claimed to be the oldest church in the United States. The church was damaged during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 but was rebuilt in 1710 following the Spanish reconquest and served for a time as a chapel for the Spanish soldiers. The wooden reredos, which includes a wooden statue of Saint Michael dating back to at least 1709, was added in 1798. Though the church has been repaired and rebuilt numerous times over the years, its original adobe walls are still largely intact despite having been hidden by later additions.

Oldest house in Santa Fe

Museum of Contemporary Native Arts

Santa Fe had snow and ice when we arrived.  It was slippery to walk around and a little too cold to sit outside.  The town does not have snow plows and they just wait for the snow to melt.  We had wanted to stay and travel up to Taos to visit the oldest living Pueblo but a snow storm was blowing in.  We'll have to return in June when the days are warmer and all the outside activities are in full swing.

Blizzard in South Dakota!!

We got a little derailed the first day of our trip south.  They closed the roads on us early in the afternoon, so we had to find a hotel to settle in for the night.  The next morning the Highway was still partially closed so we got a late start and a slow one.  We stopped for coffee along the way, a typical northern Manitoba driving day but warmer, and everyone in the coffee shops were discussing the cold and the school and work closures.

Churchill

In Oct., Greg and I had an opportunity to take a charter flight to Churchill, Manitoba and see Polar Bears from a Tundra Buggy!  We had been to Churchill several times in the summer but never in the fall so we were very excited.  It was a wonderful trip.  We shared our Tundra Buggy with biologists and photographers from all over the world who had come to Thompson for a Wolf Conference.  We left on Calm Air at 7:30 in the morning and returned later that evening.  We saw 6 different bears, all male.  The females and cubs were at James Bay in Ontario.  They will make the trip to Churchill by the end of November when the Hudson Bay freezes.  We also toured the Churchill Research Centre, a wonderful ecological structure with residents for scientist from all walks of study.