More happenings at Esperantza Estates Feb 12-15

Valentine's Day Dessert Social
The Association hosted a dessert night at the Ramada ( lovely outdoor covered meeting area with cushioned metal lawn chairs and tables, swimming pool off to the side.)  Of course, I made jello hearts, palm trees and cacti.  I attached a sign in case people could not figure out what they were.  We had a great time, met a couple from Green Bay, WI, shared the jello recipe, and got a few more tips on favorite Mexican restaurants and golf courses.  Now we have 2 bags of jello scraps and no grandchildren to eat them up. We'll just have to suffer through.

About 2pm everyday, a very strong gust of wind kicks up and rattles the palm tree fonds in the neighborhood.  I tease that it is our part of the Pineapple Express sinking down from California. ( that is the weather front from Hawaii that brings rain to California.)  We usually have a nice breeze that makes sitting outside very comfortable.  We rotate around the patio to find the sunny and shaded spots.

We've had some wonderful reading days here( lest you think we are hard at work hiking all over Arizona).  I've finished Maeve Binchey's last novel, "A Week in Winter." which was a complete joy to appreciate how she weaves diverse character studies into the plot.  I also finished up "A Winter Garden," by Kristin Hannah which dealt with a Russian refugee's buried memories of WWII.  We found the next to latest mystery from Louise Penny, "How the Light Gets In." That one kept Jim reading non stop to see how it turned out.  The local library also had the latest Masie Dobbs mystery by Jacqueline Winspear, "Leaving Everything Most Loved."  I try to keep up with Winspear and  Penny, but I was behind.  This is my time to catch up.
The EE book club will meet this Thursday.  I managed to finish "Devil's Highway,"  Luis Urrea  and "The Death of Jossilene, Immigration Tales, buy Margaret Regan in time.  We Midwesterners hear about the Border wall and the attempts to prevent illegal crossing.  These 2 books detail the horror of failed attempts, our governments misguided solutions which trashed the environment, and funneled illegal crossings into the worst parts of the desert.  Drug trafficking aside,(they deserve the severe military approach) the dishonest guides who abandon desperately poor people in the desert have resulted in many volunteers who place gallon jugs of water on the trails and assist in rescues.    It will be interesting to hear what the EE residents have to say about this.  A local opinion may defend the current approach.  It will be a very interesting discussion.  I plan to begin ordering Free trade Coffee ( Cafe Justo) which was set up to keep Mexican coffee growers on their own land giving them a market to sell coffee online.  That means they can make a living without trying to cross over the border; an example of solving the problem of finding work to support a family.    

Santa Rita Mountains at sunset.

Wish this picture could show the beautiful shades of rose pink and dusty purple that happen at sunset.  You'll all just have to come and see for yourselves.

An old favorite Tohono Chul Park in Tucson Feb 13, 2014

We met friends Bonnie and Ray from Vancover for lunch at Tohono Chul's lovely restaurant.  It was a great visit.  They recommended a cruise to the Panama Canal which they completed in November. Add to the Bucket List.  They are very active travelers although, they are about 15 years older than us.  (We met them in 2011 when we stayed at OroValley.)

Then we were off to see what had changed in the park since we were here last year.

My favorite flower patch.  Wild flowers are blooming early because it has been so warm.

Cactus Garden plot.  Not much to love now, but wait for those incredilbe blooms.


Not too early for lizards.  Nice place to catch the warm sunshine.



There are many sculptures in the park.  These pictures are the new metal art scupltures featured this month.  This one is entitled Big Bang

.
"In the Beginning"


"Empty Nest

Madera Canyon Feb 8, 2014

Madera Canyon is located in the Coronado National Forest, 12 miles east of Green Valley.    We’ve been gazing at those beautiful mountains for days.  So, off we went to check out Madera Canyon.   It is a short drive and our Senior Park Passes got us in without paying the $10.00 entrance fee.   ( Forest Service funding ended in 1987.  This is the second wildlife area (Coronado State Park, north of Tucson is the first) that a group of “friends” have organized to keep it open.  The entrance fee keeps the roads accessible.  The Friends of Madera Canyon contribute 5000 to 6000 volunteer hours annually.

We drove the paved road up the mountain to the end, as close as we could get without hiking to Mt Wrightson.  It would take 10.8 mile hike one way to get there.  Instead we walked a short portion of the 9 mile Old Baldy Trail. (Although our Esperanza walking path is a good start, we are not ready for anything vigorous.)The views of the mountains that tower over us are so amazing to this Midwestern.  Our prairie lands have their own specialness, but these mountains are forever changing in color and definition.  You can see rock bluffs as the dirt has been worn away by wind and rain and probably snow at this height.

Madera Canyon experienced a fire in 2005 which was described as burning in a "mosaic pattern" meaning that the fire skipped around the mountain side.   The charred bark on this tree indicates it was in the fire but not totally damaged.  So, I guess this is how a forest repairs itself.  I was wondering about that after seeing the totally burned out mountains in the Gila Range in New Mexico (- see Jan 28-41 blog) 

Looking up

Looking down at valley

Grateful for the handrails on the path down!!

The park maintains teaching areas for school children and adult field trips.


We did not see any. ( Thank you Lord!!)

We stopped at Bog Springs Trail head to have our picnic lunch.  As you can tell this is a forested area.  Not many cacti.  The temperature was an invigorating 60 degrees, so we thought we’d try some of the Bog Springs trail.  After all, I could not imagine any swamp like areas up here on this mountain.  

No matter how close we get, there's always more mountain.

 We thought .4 mile didn’t sound too bad.  However, it proved to be quite rocky and quite an incline, so we came back down.  There is a road that leads to the Bog Springs camp Ground.  We’ll try that next time just to see if there why the trail is named Bog Spring.

Leaving the easiest to last, we walked some of the paved wheelchair accessible path.  

We found this very old grave site off to the side of the path, but there is no printed information about it.  The inscription said,"Sister" and "Brother" and we could not read the rest.  It was very weather worn.  We’ll have to ask one of the docents about it.

 This large rock formation is called Elephant Head.  There is a hiking path to it, but not for us today

Even though we are at the lowest trail in Madera Canyon, the valley below is still very far away.  We agree to come back once a week.  This is a beautiful, quiet place.  And, they have a gift shop!

Time to go home and check for sun burn.     

Esperanza Estates Walking Trail

Here are some pictures of the walking trail that encircles this complex.  It was developed by the association here and has some lovely views of desert plants and Santa Rita Mountains.

Desert landscaping... cactus and rocks and pottery.

Nice little bridge.  I can't really see how water will get to this path, but then I've never been here in rainy season.

Mesquite Park

Santa Rita Mountains

Most paths are level, but this one angles down toward the wash.  The mountains are so beautiful.

This is the second half of the 1 and 1/2 mile trail.

Wishing Well Park

 

The path that went down, must of course, go back up.  It's not too hard, we just have to slow down till we get our huffing and puffing under control. 

Bridge Park

Whigham Wash

Back home in the side patio.  It has been in the 70s, but we have a nice breeze here. Long sleeves are needed in the shade.  And everyone needs a serious sun hat! 

By now, you have a good understanding of the desert landscape.  Remember, this is Arizona's winter view.  The desert wild flowers will really add a different view.  It has snowed the last 3 years we've been here, but this year it looks like all the snow storms went way north ( Polar Vortex, you know).  So we'll have to see what moisture happened and if the wild flowers have a chance.    

Feb 1, 2014    941 Calle del Regalo, Esperanza Estates, Green Valley, AZ 85614
We unloaded our winter to summer clothes and groceries and are settling in.  Here are a few pictures of the outside.  We chose this unit because the patios extend from the front, side and back which will give us access to sunshine anytime of the day.

Front

Screen enclosed side porch on the side

Back patio

Back patio 

Side 

Living room

Finally, time to relax!!