Friday, February 1, 2013

Now in Gold Canyon, AZ....

We arrived in Gold Canyon, AZ., this early afternoon.  For the uninitiated, this area - at the foot of Superstition Mountain - is about 15 minutes east from Mesa and 30 minutes east from Phoenix.
Just off the 101 loop overpass heading onto I-60 east towards Gold Canyon - in Mesa, AZ
With our overnight only 90 minutes from here - at Lake Pleasant Regional Park - it was a quick drive to get to Canyon Vista - our home for the next 14 days.
Driving in to Canyon Vista.
Having arrived at 1:30 pm, we beat the afternoon rush and had the ability to park and set ourselves up within 70 minutes.  We then walked to the central office to officially register and pay our fees.  Jeanette and I also took the time to walk the entire perimeter of this park and acquaint ourselves with the great facilities here.  Canyon Vista is a very modern RV facility.  It's quite large too!  That is not our usual preference but, with golfing friends flying in next week, our daughter, son in law and grandson too, it was a good place to be for the next while.
Lake Pleasant Regional Park, AZ.
Yesterday was a completely different experience.  On the advice of new RV friends, we headed for the Regional Park at Lake Pleasant - north and west from Phoenix.  What a treat that was.  The photos tell the story well.
Jeanette examines this saguaro cactus - only a few steps from our front door.
We had an unobstructed view of the entire south desert valley.  What a sight.
Noise in the air saw several of the motorized gliders fly by in the late afternoon.  They were taking advantage of good currents....and awesome +70 degree heat.
 It was not long before the sun settled over the mountains to the southwest.  It was picture postcard views for us....seated just outside our 5th wheel.



When the sun did hide on the other side of the mountains, the skies were painted the colour above.  Stunning!
Lake Pleasant Regional Park is a gem of an RV park.  The sights are spectacular - either backing on to the huge lake or facing the desert.  Our pull through site faced the desert and we felt blessed to have the afternoon heat and stunning nightfall in view.  The lake sites are stunning too.  We will be back here - guaranteed!
Early morning photo of our site.  The park was 50% occupied.  Level, paved and well serviced sites.  No sewer service though,  other than at the dump sites near the exit.
A barrel cactus - one of the several species found on the hiking trail
Early this morning - knowing full well that our drive only required 90 minutes or so to arrive at Gold Canyon - Jeanette and I opted to hike the Roadrunner trail.  One way is .8 of a mile.  Meandering below near the water, we likely hiked a total of 3 miles before dropping into the visitor centre to learn a thing or two about this area.
Hard at work....well, not too hard!
Before leaving Moabi Regional Park (San Bernardino County, CA) for Lake Pleasant, Jeanette and I busied ourselves with packing up, washing the truck and doing several loads of laundry.
David in the yellow kayak and me in our Sea Eagle kayak.
I did find the time to kayak the river, one last time, with fellow RVer David. It was stunning at best to be on the river for all of that time.
We met up with another kayaker, en route.  He was headed upstream and David and I were going downstream.
Awesome time on the Colorado River. 
One last evening look at our RV spot before heading to points further east.
There was plenty of activity on the river, our last day, other than kayaking.  The locally based Pirate Cove Beachcraft float plane was busy with 'take off and landing' drills....and, I got the feeling the pilot was being checked out to retain his flying license.  It was fun to see.
Taxiing along the Colorado River.
On step and about to take off.
Some back and forth - take offs and landings......
This old plane is loud on take off......!
That distracted us a wee bit from the clean up and packing work but who would fire us for being lazy?  We completed our tasks and by morning, yesterday, we were hitched, had attached the swivel wheel and the motorcycle was loaded and strapped down.

With very weak....or non existent WiFi... and our Virgin Mobile Internet card not able to access the internet, we've been without the world wide web for an entire 48 hours.  We have a fair bit of blog reading to catch up too.....and maybe that will happen later this evening or even tomorrow.

Thanks for dropping in.

6 comments:

  1. Neat old Beachcraft! I have spent many hours in one like that, flying around the fishing lodges near Campbell River back when I worked for BC Tel. We spent part of one winter in Gold Canyon. Nice area.

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  2. planes, boats,trucks and motorcyles..you had the full meal deal when it came to transportation pictures!

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  3. We've stayed at a private park on Lake Pleasant but it looks as if that regional park would be nicer. Have fun!

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  4. Looks like you and Jeanette have found another nice area for your stay and the weather looked pretty good too.

    Sure liked those cactus sunset photos - great job!

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  5. Lake Pleasant looked like a nice place to relax for a few days along with some nice scenery to enjoy. Sounds like a busy fun time coming up with your visitors. Enjoyed seeing all your beautiful pictures. Have a great Saturday.

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  6. That is a beautiful area you are in now... we really enjoyed it last year. Great mountains, and great hiking in that area. You have been busy... good to see!

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