Nooooo!

To answer those of you who asked, Ron and I have no plans to get off the road at this time. After Ron finishes his dental work in April, we'll be off to Kentucky and Tennessee - both are states we haven't spent a lot of time in. Our little Mesa house is just a winter place for us for now, although who knows what will happen in the future.

Almost as shocking as buying a house, we have checked into an RV park for a month. We wanted to face east or south for the morning sun on these cold winter mornings. After looking at the park's few available sites, we took the only one we could fit into. Ron's parking abilities were well tested backing into this spot. I would never have attempted it.

We do face south, but the neighbor's carport shades us in the morning - humm, didn't think about that.

The park has a hiking club and yesterday we joined them for a hike in South Mountain Park. This is a city park right in the middle of the Phoenix metropolis. The mountain rises about 1000 feet above the city and, when the pollution isn't too bad, you can see forever. We drove up to the lookout and were pretty impressed.


With our 'over 55' crowd (some way over), a visit to the restroom is critical before a hike. This was only a 'one-holer' so it took awhile.


Then we were off, but the leader made sure we stopped often to admire the scenery (at least that's why he said we were stopping.)


The most famous landmark on this trail is Fat Man's Pass where you squeeze through these fallen boulders.


This is harder for some people than others. Poor Joe is 6'6" and just a big guy. He ended up backing out and having to find a way around.


Ron, however, made it look easy.


Once through, the hike takes you though lovely Hidden Valley with some additional challenges along the way.


We were so excited to spot these exotic animals along the trail!

It was really a lovely hike and, at about four miles, just long enough and challenging enough to suit us.

Today was our friend Bertie's birthday. She invited us to her gorgeous house where we laughed and carried on with other WIN friends. After all, that is what the WINs do best. It was a very special evening - Happy Birthday, Bertie.