Riparian Preserve and the Thousand $ Question?

On Thursday the Photography Club visited the Riparian Preserve in Gilbert which promised to provide some great shots of a wide variety birds and other wild life.  The Preserve is a rather unique combination of water resource management and a wildlife habitat.  The following excerpt is taken  from the Preserve's website and explains what it is all about.

"The Town of Gilbert made a commitment to reuse 100% of its effluent water... Of the 110 acres, 70 acres make up the 7 water recharge basins that are filled on a rotating basis with treated effluent and allowed to percolate into the aquifer...An additional lake is filled with reclaimed water and is designated as an urban fishing resource...Approximately 298 species of birds have been identified on the site and many insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles and mammals have found homes there as well. "

We spent the afternoon walking the trails between the recharge basins, snapping pictures in a natural setting which is basically located in the middle of the city.  I used my maximum zoom setting of 200mm and when I got the pictures up on the laptop I cropped them for a full screen view of my subject.  Its then that I realized what just a little camera shake does to a picture. Next time I'm bringing my tripod.

These are the best of the bunch.

Here is a shot of the Gila Woodpecker.  Evidence of their handiwork can be seen everywhere.  They frequently drill holes in the Saguaro Cactus which they then use for nesting.

A domestic goose which has escaped and made a home in the Preserve

Mr and Mrs Mallard.  Mr Mallard is demonstrating his balancing ability.

A bird condo complex built in a Palo Verde tree.

House finch.  Such a pretty bird.  If I was him I would lobby for a better name.

The Great Egret or White Herron. We're not sure.    They stand perfectly still and very slowly move closer to their prey, suddenly striking.  Was very interesting to watch.  Much like a cat stalking their prey.

One of those tree huggers I have heard so much about.

A Cooper Hawk.  

Curved Bill Thrasher

Great Blue Heron.  Watched him stalking his lunch for quite some time and then he flew off.

Least Sandpiper

Again not sure but we think its an Egret.

   A pair of Mallard's digging in the mud with their bills searching for food.

OK, so we weren't expecting this.
Desert Rats.  Running across the trails and under the bushes.  Freaked Lori out.

Ring Necked Duck

American Coot

Desert Cottontail.  Not sure whether there were more rats or bunnies but much preferred the bunnies.











Had a great time and at the end of the day I realized I need to start saving for a bigger lens.

Its been raining for the past 2 days.  Not the best weather for all the outdoor activities planned for the Super Bowl on Sunday but, if Superbowl fans are anything like Grey Cup fans, they are probably too drunk to notice.  There is also a PGA golf tournament here this weekend and apparently the course is a bit wet.  Don't think they build golf courses in Arizona with drainage being the main consideration.
Back to sunny and 70-80F tomorrow.

Now for the answer to the question I posed in my last post.
The total cost of my 3 hour visit to the ER.......  $15,348.00   Even with all the delays and wait times I think I am glad for universal medicare.
2 people tied for the closest estimate, both at $15,000.  Congratulations to Richard Insley and Joan Knowles.  Yours prize, keeping in mind that I am a pensioner on a fixed income, is a free subscription to my Blog.

Thats it for now.  Only 2 weeks left at Gold Canyon and we have to get out on some day trips and a few more hikes.  We still have a few things we want to see before we leave.
Later.

Hitch Itch

Its been a week or so since my last blog post and thought I should let you know that we are still here and all is A OK.  We have fallen into a bit of a routine or perhaps its a rut.  The difference is subtle but we are still enjoying ourselves so lets call it a routine.  A little Yoga, a little Pickle Ball,  a Photography Club meeting, a pancake breakfast and some trips to Silly mountain.  That plus some grocery shopping has been our past week.

We have also gone to a couple of movies, The Hobbit and Into The Woods.   Every year for the past 10 years or so we have gone to a movie on New Years day with our friend Lori A.  The movies have always been the current release of the saga of Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter or more recently, The Hobbit.  Sorry Lori, but this year we saw the most recent and, thankfully, the last episode of The Hobbit without you.  It would seem that they ran out of story line about 3/4 of the way through.    The other movie we saw was Into The Woods which is a musical and not my favourite genre.  Lori liked it but it dragged a bit, especially at the end.  We went to both shows at mid-day during the week and each show had only about 10 people in it.  It was interesting walking through the lobby and noting the age of the average movie goer.  Had to be about 70.  Snowbirds rule!  Walking around the local stores you realize how much the local economy depends on the snowbirds.  After trying to get around the grocery stores with my shopping card I can also understand how the locals can get a bit frustrated.  These Q Tips (white hair and white kneehigh socks)  slowly walk down the middle of the aisle pushing their shopping carts, stopping frequently cause they have forgot what they are looking for.  Hey, I can say this cause I am one, minus the white socks.

We have been at Gold Canyon for 6 weeks which is the longest we have ever stayed in one place.  We are starting to get a little restless, or as they say in the RV world, we have a case of Hitch Itch.  Not sure how someone stays in the same resort for 5 months.  Too many great places to see and explore.

Today we made our final visit to the Premium Outlet Mall and gave our Visa another workout.  One good reason to stay in the RV park.  You don't spend much money.  Generally we have found that prices in the US, with a few exceptions, are not that much different from Canada.  When you add in the current exchange rate things are more expensive here.  The one big difference is that when Americans have a sale they don't fool around.  50-80% off is quite common, especially at the Outlet mall, so of course we found a couple of deals we couldn't pass up.  We have to pack lighter next time.  Out closets are getting full.

I have a bad habit of learning how to use something but never exploring the full extent of its capabilities.  My camera, Canon 60D, and my iPhone are no exceptions.  At the last Photography Club meeting we talked about using the camera on the IPhone to take great pictures.  One feature I had never tried is the Panorama feature.  The above is an example of what it can do.  Pretty cool.
On Thursday the Camera Club is going on a field trip to a bird sanctuary so I hope to have some good pictures to show you.  This trip has scratched my camera bug itch which could turn out to be quite costly.  Just ordered a Polarizer filter on Amazon for $100.  Guess a new lens will have to wait.  

 Here are a few shots, from my iPhone, of the Premium Outlet Mall here in Phoenix.  Much nicer layout than the sister mall in Minneapolis.  Our favourite store has got to be Izod.  Great casual/sports clothing and 70% off most items.    

Lori wanted to go to the Chandler Fashion Centre where I found the Starbucks at the B&N and, as you can see by the bag on the table, Lori found the Vera Bradley store.  I'm guarding her treasure while she is off looking for more gold at the end of the rainbow.










You may recall my blog of a few weeks ago where I recounted my trip to the ER.  I got a copy of the bill today, gulp.  The original has been sent to my Travel Medical Insurance Co. for payment, I hope.   As a Canadian I have no idea what this would have cost in Canada.  We never concern ourselves with the cost as its covered under our Medicare plan which of course is funded by the taxes I pay.  So its not free but when you need it, its there.    

The flip side is that I know that I never would have had the prompt service or the number of procedures and quick results if I was at home.  Of course, after running me through a number of procedures, they never did find the cause of the stomach cramping that I was experiencing.  Ironically by the time I left I was feeling much better and I really do believe that I was simply dehydrated and the IV that they put me on fixed me up.  Not once did they mention dehydration as a cause. (Note to prospective Az travellers.  Drink lots of water, then drink some more.  If your still not peeing like a horse you need to drink more water.  The sun, heat and lack of humidity just sucks you dry.)  While they did find a potential future problem with my Gallbladder, in retrospect, I think they were a little too quick in ordering the CT and Ultrasound.    Here's the skeptic in me, since it is a private hospital, it is very profitable to run these tests.  And since  I had insurance, why not pad the bottom line.  

So we're going to play a little game.  I'm going to tell you what they did to me and I'd like you to guess how much it is going to cost the Insurance Company.  Put it in your comments, whether in Google or Facebook.   In my next post I will let you know the  final bill for 3 hours in the ER.
Without all the medical jargon on the invoice here is what they did: One IV bag + Blood and Urine tests + CT scan + Ultrasound = $$$$
Here is an example: Specimen Collection - $32.00  Hey, I did all the work. They just had to pick up the little bottle and deliver it to the lab.

Thats it for today.  Hopefully some bird pictures in the next post.

Later.

Lost Gold Mine Trail from the correct trailhead

Here is an interesting fact regarding my Blog.  The most views are people from Canada.  The second most views are from the United States.  No surprise so far, right.  Well guess which country comes in third.  China, while quite some distance back, comes in 3rd, followed closely by France and the Ukraine.

You may have noticed that I made a few changes to the format of my Blog and added some Gadgets to the side of the blog.  Gadget is Googles terminology for some of the features that you can add to your blog, like Pictures, a Search feature, E-mail link (put in your e-mail address and you will never miss any of the adventures of the Wiebe's), Blogs I Follow and numerous others.   Hopefully these will be of benefit to some of the readers.  The Blogs I Follow section consists of various travel blogs I have come across while surfing the net and have found them to be very educational as I tried to increase my knowledge of RVing and Snowbirding.  After reading some of these blogs for a year, or more in some cases, I feel like I know these people yet I have never met them and in all likelihood never will.  Ahh, the world of the Internet.  A great way to bring people together and share ideas and experiences.  Gotta love it.  (turns out that "Six Saturdays and a Sunday" is in the RV Park next door so maybe I will run into them on one our hikes.

Friday Lori did some laundry while I played Pickleball and then we walked Charli around the Park a couple of times.  The rest of the day we relaxed as Saturday we were planning a 4 hour hike to finish off the other end of the Lost Gold Mine Trail that we had first tried before Christmas.

Saturday morning came and we were planning to hop out of bed at 6:30 and be out on the trail by 8:00 to beat the heat.  For those that know me, hopping out of bed before 8:00 just isn't my thing.  Its usually pretty chilly in the trailer first thing in the morning and we finally managed to get out from under the covers at 7:30.  We made the trailhead by 9:00 and it was already starting to warm up so shorts, t-shirt, a hat and lots of water was all that was required. We set out on what was a fairly level trail with the main challenge being keeping Charli clear of the deadly Cholla Cactus needles.

The trail is 5.85 miles one way and we figured we must have done at least half of the trail on Dec 24th so we set a goal of 2 hours out and 2 hours back which should have taken us to at least the halfway point.  We aren't the fastest ones on the trail, due mainly to my stopping to snap pictures at every turn.  We didn't encounter too many other people but were passed by a couple of joggers and mountain bikers.  By the end of the 4 hours we wished that we had set out an hour earlier as the heat was taking its toll.  

My hiking companions, full of vim and vigour.  None of us were looking quite as chipper after 4 hours in the desert sun.  Not much shade out there.

A 1000 feet or so of solid rock and then a little cactus oasis.

 So I got something in the foreground, a big boulder in the mid ground and that mountain in the background.  Even got a fence line for the eye to follow.  Cropped it so I had as little blue sky as possible.

Apparently the fence is to keep the longhorn cattle from ranging too far.  For the life of me I can't figure out what they would eat.  No grass and most everything has thorns.

 The skeletons of these long dead Saguaro cactus always remind me of  a cowboy with his "hands-up"  Just need a cowboy hat plopped on top.

 At the photography class we attended a few days earlier they were giving tips about Landscape Photography.  Mainly the proper composition so you have points of interest in the foreground, mid ground and the background.  Also to try not to centre the main subject of the picture and to not have to much boring blue sky.  I tried to be more conscious of these things as I composed my pictures.  I think I was somewhat successful but I will let you be the judge.

Charli at the 1/2 way point.  Still lots of energy and always out front pulling on the leash.  Thus the Gentle Leader around her muzzle to keep her from dragging me down the trail.

s

We found a nice flat rock which served as a picnic table for our lunch.













After 4 hours out in the desert sun (and it was only about 72F) and almost 23,000 steps on Lori's Fitbit we had one very tired dog.  By the end I had to nudge her with my walking stick to keep her going.  We got back to the truck and Charli lay down on the cool cement patio outside our trailer, I grabbed a beer and Lori made a call to the hairdresser across the highway to get an appt to have her haircut.  We all have our priorities.  She got her appointment and since the lessons to drive my truck haven't happened yet, I drove her over and then came back to enjoy a cold one.  I must have dozed off as it seemed like no time had passed before I had to go back and pick her up.

She decided to go short and I think they did a good job.

Lori, with her new Do, enjoying her retirement gift.  No mosquitoes to swat down here.











Most of Sunday we recouped from our hike and in the evening I joined Lori at her Yoga class.  I thoroughly enjoyed the stretching and the various poses (I have no flexibility so I need this) but I just don't get the bit about letting your mind focus on your breathing and nothing else.  My mind immediately goes to things I need to do when we get back to the trailer and then I start looking at the clock.  Guess I'll have to work on letting my mind go blank. Seems to be an easier task for women.  (I'll pay for that comment later)

Monday another Pickleball session in the morning and a quick visit to the Gym.  We went for a bike ride in the afternoon and after going up and down all of the streets in our Park we decided to go to the neighbouring Parks and take a look at their facilities.  On one side of us is Canyon Vistas RV park which is very similar to our Park but larger and they seem to have a higher percentage of RVs vs Park Model homes.  They also seem to have the RVers grouped together where our park has many of the RVs mixed in with Park Models.  We are the only RV on our street and I would rather be grouped with other RVers as we tend to have more in common and RVers also tend to be outside more, thus easier to meet people.

We also toured the development on the other side of us which is called Montesto.  It is also a 55 Plus Gated community but instead of RVs and Park Model homes it consists entirely of modular homes.  One owner was having an open house so we dropped in for a tour.  They are very nice and this particular unit was about 1200 sq.ft. with a double garage, two bedrooms and and 2 baths.  She was asking about 125,000 but then you have to add on rent (you don't own the land), maintenance and utilities so that could run you another $700-$1000 p/m.  The park models in our park can be had for $20-50k plus rent, etc which can be around $400. p/m.  Perhaps one day we may consider this but for now there are too many places we want to see.  There is no shortage of places for sale and given that the average age of the residents is probably in the 70's health issues ensure a fresh supply of units for sale every year.  As one other RVer pointed out to us, as a Canadian, one major health issue means no health insurance and thus no trip south.  At least an RV and still be used at home, even if the season is more limited.

Monday night we went to a concert here in the Park.  The performer, Mario Carboni, was very good and put on a one man show, singing and for some of his songs playing both the piano and trumpet at the same time.  When we left I had to chuckle as residents piled into their golf carts to drive home.  There was even a bit of a traffic jam as the Golf carts weaved their way between cyclists and pedestrians.  I think everyone made it home safely.

Later

Hieroglyphics Trail Revisited

The past week we have stayed pretty close to home.  I wanted to ensure my stomach and digestive track were back to normal before we ventured out on any major hikes or participated in any Pickle Ball games.  We did attend the Pancake breakfast on Jan 10 and we met some interesting people at our table.  The Parks Kickoff Party was that night and we had purchased tickets.  In my experience when a party is thrown people usually show up fashionably late.  Here everybody lines up early and things shut down about 9:00.  We got there about 4:40 for the 5:00 dinner and the place was packed and dinner was already being served.  They had obviously oversold the event as we couldn't find a place to sit.  We decided to head back home, a little disappointed, but only out $4.00 for our 2 tickets.  That included the dance which was to follow from 6:00 - 9:00.  When we got back to the trailer we realized that we had nothing out for supper so we headed across the highway to the local Chinese restaurant and ordered takeout.

Later Saturday night Lori made her usual daily call home and found out that her mother had been taken to the local hospital with some digestive problems (seems to be running in the family).   On Sunday her mom was transferred to Dauphin and after a number of tests it was determined that she had Ischemic Bowel disease.  Monday she was sent by ambulance to Winnipegs' Health Science Centre and had surgery late Monday night.

The good news is the surgery went well and the damage wasn't as serious as first thought.  She seems to be doing well and hopefully she can be transferred back to Swan River in the next few days so she can be closer to family and friends.  Lori debated flying back to Winnipeg however one of the reasons we decided to get back into RVing was her aversion to flying.  After much soul searching she decided to follow her mothers progress from afar and keep her feet firmly planted on the ground.

On Monday I brought my truck into the Ford dealership to have the radiator replaced.  It had sprung a leak and thankfully the repair was covered by the Extended Service Plan on the truck.  The ESP also covered a rental car and Hertz provide me with a 2014 Toyota Yaris.  After driving an F350 the Yaris was a totally different driving experience.  I'm sure I could fit it in the box of the truck.  Wednesday the truck repairs were completed and I can once again enjoy the spacious interior of the King Ranch and feel the authoritative rumble of the diesel.  Of course instead of getting 50mpg I am back to 17mpg.  Life is about trade offs.

During Christmas break we had hiked the Hieroglyphics trail however it was so packed with people we didn't stay long.  Wednesday we decided to try again.  This time the trail had fewer people on it and we had time to explore the drawings and the pools of water created by the recent rains.

  
Some shots of the rock drawings thought to be made by the Hohokam people about 1500 years ago.  They are actually petroglyphs which are etchings in the rocks which is why they are still visible today.

 The porous rocks are evidence of the volcanic origins of the mountains in the area.



Recent rainfall filled up these holes which Charli found to be the perfect size for lapping up the rain water.

The recent rains left pools of water and a little stream fed through the rocks from above.

Lots of pretty colours and if you look closely at the pool of water below it is teeming with wildlife.

Some of the wildlife was a little more exotic 

This poor schmuck has to get up every morning and look at this view outside his bedroom balcony.

Lori decided to wait with Charli as I scrambled around on the boulders looking for that perfect picture.  After all that climbing up and down the rocks I looked back and the perfect picture was right here.  

Thursday we attended a meeting of the Photo Club and I think I will make this a weekly event.  I consider myself more of a snapshot taker rather than a photographer however I would like to improve my knowledge and skills.  This group has some very experienced photographers as well as some real newbies so it should make for an interesting and educational Thursday afternoon. 

Friday is Morning Buzz, perhaps some Pickle Ball, a haircut for Lori, some laundry and the highlight of our day will be the highly anticipated visit from the UPS truck with our Amazon order.  

Later.

Jets and a Timmies

Thursday we headed off to see our boys in blue at the Gila River Arena.  We left about 3:30 for a 7:00 game figuring that with an hours drive we would still have lots of time to browse the shops and restaurants around the arena.  Unfortunately we didn't account for Phoenix's rush hour traffic.  It ground the freeway down to a crawl and the drive took just over 90 minutes.  Still time for a quick walk around and find a restaurant to have dinner.

A selfie from our table on the restaurant patio.  We were on the second level and had a great view of the huge courtyard and fountains (a mini version of the Belagio in Vegas).







Surprise Lori.  I'm snapping your picture.

Note the burger on my plate.  Lori said it looked undercooked.  I really should listen to her more often.

We expected to see some other Snowbird Jets fans but we weren't quite prepared for what we saw.  The restaurants, bars and courtyards were packed with fans of all ages wearing Jets jerseys.  Obviously, in addition to those spending the winter here, many fans make the flight down to see the game and have a fun filled weekend in the sun.

 The area around the arena is filled with restaurants, bars, movie theatres and shops with a huge courtyard and street lined with fountains.  Really quite lovely.

I can see why the Glendale City Council kept throwing money at the Coyotes to keep this all running.  Although from the crowd at the game, only about 1/2 full and 1/2 of those were Jets fans, I hope the new owners of the Coyotes have lots of money.  We got 2 tickets and vouchers for 2 beer for just under $100.  We were 13 rows up at the face-off dots in the Coyotes home end.  Pretty good seats.  One ticket in the nosebleed section in Winnipeg would be more than that, if you can get a ticket.  Should have known that Az still hasn't embraced hockey when I pulled into the parking lot and joked with the attendant that we beat the crowds.  She replied, there are never any crowds to Coyotes games.

The game itself was a bust as the Jets put on one of their least inspired performances of the season.  The above picture was the best they looked all night.  Opening warmups.


We did however find the only Tim Hortons outlet in Az so at least the whole evening wasn't a loss.






On Friday we headed to the Mesa Market Place Swap Meet.  It is a huge flea market with a few hundred vendors selling a variety of products.

I took this from the middle of one of the rows.  There are 4 rows.

Lori is never happier than when she is shopping.











We made our way around about 20% of the vendors when the effects of an undercooked hamburger from last night started to turn my digestive track into a bubbling cauldron.  After a few quick visits to the bathroom we decided that it would be safest to head home where the bathroom is never more than a few feet away.  Lately I'm not having much luck with health issues.  Feeling better tonight and hopefully we can put this all behind us, pun intended.

Tomorrow we have a pancake breakfast, the Season Kick-off Party and hopefully a long walk with Charli to burn off some of her energy.

Later