Enjoying the Arizona Sunshine

We've been having fun in the Apache Junction area of Arizona, northeast of Phoenix, at Lost Dutchman State Park. The weather has been steady at eighty during the day and low fifties at night.
Tom and Evey have been with us and we have explored the area by foot, by convertible mustang, and by truck.
Lots of coyotes and wildlife here, quail, rabbits and birds. We are in the Sonoran Desert and it's a cactus garden!
We visited Goldfeild Ghost town and Canyon Lake. Tom and Evey took in the Natural Science Museum at Mesa, and today we shopped and had lunch in Gilbert. We have a couple more days with the kids, and tomorrow we go horseback riding.

Hope everyone is well back in Michigan and enjoying winter break!!

Goldfeild Ghost town. Gramma and Evey

Tom and Evey at the ghost town.

Ultra modern facilities here!

Evey meets the Sugaro Cactus.

What??!!

Canyon Lake near the campground.

Hiking up the Superstition Mountains.

Cactus garden at camp.

Another hike in the hills.

Tom and Evey in their hot rod.

Another beautiful day.

Back on the Mainland

We landed at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix on Wednesday night just before 10pm local time after a long travel day. We called for our shuttle and were re-united with our truck. It's a bit different than driving the Hyundai rental we had, but I slowly got used to it. This morning we will pick up the fifth wheel and get back into camping mode with the full "Big Rig".
Tom and Evey are joining us later today so we have to get set up and ready for them by about three this afternoon.
At least we have good weather, sunny and going up to 87 in town!

Last day in Maui

We spent the last day on the Island exploring the coast to the south of us. We drove south of Kihei to Kanahena Beach. The road past this point was through a dumping grounds for rock debris from excavation of the roadways. It was a rubble field that was totally uninhabitable.
We swam and sunned at the beach until after lunch. While there we saw whales purposing off shore and sea turtles swimming along the coast. This was a beautiful sunny day with little wind. The water was crystal clear and we had a great morning and afternoon.
In the evening back at the condo we took a walk along our beach and watched the sunset. Tomorrow will be a travel day with us going to catch a plane back to Honolulu and then catching a connecting flight to get us back to Phoenix and the sunny southwest. We had a marvelous time in Maui and I could see us returning here for another vacation sometime in the future. Then again, there are other Hawaiian Islands that we could also explore. So many places, so little time!
Oh well, we still have two and a half months for new adventures before we come home to Michigan.
Aloha!!

The beach at Kanahena.

The mountains in the high country of Maui to the east.

Outrigger canoes on the beach north of our condo.

Sunset at Sugar Beach.

Aloha from Maui. See you back at Phoenix, Arizona!

Maui's Northwest Shore

Yesterday we took a drive along the western end of the Island. Here is the town of Lahaina and the rugged Napali coast. Beautiful resorts and golf courses can be found here in Kapalua and the road narrows down and disqualifies rental agreements for cars for about ten miles.
We drove to the end of the pavement and parked the car. We were cli9mbing around on the lava rocks along the seashore and watching the huge waves crash against the cliffs. Further along we came upon a blow hole that would spout foam whenever a big wave would hit the shore. Further yet we got to the mother of all blow holes. There was a crowd of people coming down the hillside to get near this mammoth geyser. It would spout forty feet in the air and sent a spray of rain downwind each time it erupted.
Back toward Lahaina we found a beach and sat in the sun watching the big waves smash against each other coming into the bank. Some people were wakeboarding in the foam, but they had a hard time getting past the crashing waves.  What a spectacular day!

On Maui's north shore.

We saw whales playing in the ocean along the coast.

The waves were crashing against the rugged shore.

We came across this maze that had people trying to find their way through.

Lava rock along the trail.

Some places here looked like walking on the moon.

I'm standing in the middle of a lava rock wall.

The smaller of the blow holes we found.

This was the big one. It reminded me of Old Faithful, shooting water forty feet into the air. But this one erupted with each big wave.

Here were some cars that didn't make it around the curves.

Lunch was back in Kapalua at the Maui Brewing Company.

Next, off to the beach. The waves here were crashing into the beach and colliding with each other . What a show!

Pull up a chair and sit down!

 

Maui Monday

The weather remains beautiful. Warm sunny days and comfortable nights. This kind of climate could get boring if given 365 days a year. Yeah, RIGHT!!
Yesterday we visited Maui Tropical Plantation, just up the road from where we are staying. They have gardens, orchards, a restaurant, and tropical gardens. A very picturesque place at the foot of the mountains. We wandered around the acreage and visited their gift shop.
On the way back we strolled along the boardwalk at the Kealia Pond Wildlife Refuge and watched the birds in the ponds and walked the beach back to the car.
Later it was the Super bowl which started at 1:30 our time. Then the pool and later yet, grilled Ahi tuna for dinner.
What a life!

Our first spot exploring on Sunday.

A gorgeous property with gardens and orchards of Hawaiian plants and trees.

Lots of exotic plants and flowers.

These gears where once a part of a sugar cane processing facility. Now they decorate the fountain here.

The fruit of a palm tree and gardens of young pineapple plants.

Folks were zip lining on the property.

Bananas in the banana grove. These are apple bananas and only get about six inches long.

Java Sparrows in the trees.

Strawberry Passion fruit trees.

On to the boardwalk at the Wildlife refuge.

Black necked stilts in the pond.

Night Heron in the grass.

The boardwalk.

A view across the ponds at the refuge.

Looking south towards our condo.

A piping plover. These are endangered in Michigan.

Sunset from our condo.

The sky turned golden as the sun sank into the sea.

Good night from paradise, Jon Boy!