11/23 Sunday, Cave Creek to Surprise

Smudge decided to greet Mama this morning..... Once the dogs were taken care of and we had our breakfast of muffins and a tiny bit of leftover fruit, we went out to say good by to all of our Lazy Daze friends.


The camp hosts were amazed at how nice and tidy we left the group camp area, and told us we would be welcome anytime!!


I gave Steve a jingle and he met us half-way home for a bite to eat at Paradise Bakery, then we poked our noses into Ross Dress for Less. Steve and Mama went home in the M-5, the dogs and I went up to Petsmart. Since there was a pet adoption stand out front with 4 dogs, I left my pups in the "Barking Motorhome". She had one 6-month-old Shepard/Mountain dog mix I would have adopted if I didn't already have my hands full!!


So, my guys got a special treat for being good watch dogs.....

11/22 Saturday, Cave Creek

Another beautiful day in Cave Creek, Arizona! We have a "pot-luck" breakfast planned, and I am making a fresh fruit mix... no melon, but apples, kiwi, banana, red seedless grapes, oranges and strawberries. Last time I made it, it was gone before I could get any!

After breakfast, Jane and I drove up to Bartlett Lake. I'd never been up there before. We passed a lot of cyclists out for a morning ride. I would guess this is where cyclists go to find "hills" in Phoenix!! Jane said the lake has been really drained down from the last time she was there.



I wondered what these boxes are for, turns out they are fish habitat when the lake is at a higher level. The dock we were walking on is on floats, to fluctuate with the lake levels.... a pretty steep climb back to the top!

Very pretty scenery here. One pictures Arizona as just flat desert and cacti.... but there is all kinds of beauty when you look around.

Jane and I stopped at the Diary Queen in Cave Creek for a treat, and then stopped at one of the galleries I went to yesterday. They had sold out of all of their small cactus luminarias, except for one that I snapped up.

Back at camp, my Mom and I relaxed in Blue, and managed to sleep through most of happy hour. We did rouse ourselves to go out for a liqueur tasting, and sat around the fire pit for a while visiting. Here are Jane and Denver having their evening "lap time" near the fire.

11/21 Friday, Cave Creek, AZ

Here is this mornings sunrise as seen from the "cave", which is the cab over bed. I took the pups out for a walk, then Mama and I had a leisurely breakfast before joining everyone beside Jacks' rig for our GTG photo. Some folks decided to drive up to Bartlett Lake and the surrounding areas, some relaxed at the campground.

Steve drove up around 10:30am and we went through the guide book and decided which studios we were going to visit. He took Mama and I around to some of the studios featured in the "Hidden in the Hills" tour and sale sponsored by the Sonoran Arts League. There were quite a few artists sharing space, some places were private homes, others studios. We got a great opportunity to visit with the various artists and learn about their particular art styles. Surprisingly for me, I didn't take many photographs, and I was careful to ask permission to photograph anything.

I did ask permission to take a photo of this little guy, I couldn't resist with his tongue sticking out. Steve had to assist to keep the pup pointed in the right direction. His "mom" was one of the artists (see http://www.bethzinkart.com/), and we got to have a good talk with her. My Mom and I bought notecards with her artwork on them.

We stopped at the Laughlin Glass Studio (http://www.laughingglass.com/) where they deal in various glass forms. My favorite is "Glass Tapestries", which look like strands of glass melted and crumpled up like a cloth napkin. The colors are so vibrant. They also make Ikebanas (flower holders) in irridescent colors.

Steve really liked the art of Steve Stento (http://www.stevestento.com/) and we both liked Virginia Brooks (http://www.virginiabrooks.com/).

My Mom and I liked the work of Sue Hunter (http://www.suehunter.net/). We bought a tile of a print called "These Boots are Made for Walking". It's one of those pieces where you do a double take, then bust up laughing!

We had picked out 9 studios to visit (out of 46 listed) and saw about 5 before we decided to break for lunch. We ended up at "The Horny Toad" in Cave Creek, where we had drinks and bar-b-que pork and beef sandwiches for lunch.

Here is Mama posing in front of the fireplace in the dining area. Kind of reminds me of the Stonehouse!! After lunch we drove on to a few more studios. On our last stop, we visited the studio of Fernando Villalobos, who was originally from Tarahumara (Copper Canyon, Mexico). We had a very interesting time visiting with his wife and Doberman!

We headed back to the campground just in time to follow the Lazy Daze gang to El Encanto Dos, where we had a table reserved for dinner.




Here we are, almost the entire group, ready for an evening of chatter and laughter.

Upon the end of our evening, Steve and Jack loaded up the scooter that Suzanne so kindly decided to give to my Mom. Unfortunately, Suzanne passed away before she could give the scooter personally, but Jack brought it with him.

11/20 Thursday, Cave Creek, AZ

Well, once we were all ready to go, we were going to be late for our "Welcome" happy hour. Unfortunately, with the problems with Blue in the past, folks were starting to worry a little. I will need to be sure to let someone know in the future that everything is okay!!

I didn't realize such a beautiful regional park was so close at hand. It took us just over an hour to get there, up in the hills north of Phoenix and Scottsdale.

It was good seeing our Lazy Daze friends all ready for happy hour as we pulled in.

I was "levelly" challenged when trying to get the rig semi-level... first I put the levels (2" and 4") backwards, so had to start over; still wasn't near semi-level, so I had to move west about 6'.... heard a "TWANG"!!! when I pulled forward, which I discovered was the attachment on the sewer hose carrier catching the parks' handicapped parking sign. No harm to the sign, but broke an edge off the attachment. And off course, since everyone was at the Ramada, they were watching all of this.

The only downside to our spot is the handicap RV area next to the Ramadas was not accessible to the restrooms without moving the rig or driving in a car.

I unloaded the wheelchair and Mama, and we went up to visit with all of our friends!

11/19 Wednesday, Surprise, AZ

OWWWW!!!! Mom gave me a headache!! I was freed from the RV storage yard yesterday, and mom has been putzing around getting me stocked up for our trip to Cave Creek Regional Park this weekend.

Well, Mom took me to Grandma's house to hook me up to the electricity, and even though she trimmed Grandma's big Mesquite tree, some of those remaining branches whacked my roof. Only damage was to the cover of the swamp cooler. But still, that smarts!!!

I'm excited to get out, but I'm jealous of my friend Ciao Baby, who is on a trip to Mexico and Central America. Looking forward to seeing my other Lazy Daze friends this weekend, though!