Hylo Scrapbooking Weekend Retreat

Friday, November 14, from 7:00 p.m. to midnight, Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to midnight and Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. saw a few scrapbooking enthusiasts at Hylo hall for a few days of fun, non-stop scrapbooking, card making and idea exchanging. Some of us re-newed techniques we had forgotton (that was my case at least!), and we all learned some new techniques that we can use to make greeting cards. There were also supplies that we could purchase, or place orders for future delivery. It was a very refreshing weekend, and I want to thank Connie, Tanya, Debbie for organizing the event!

These ladies were only a few of the group who attended. On Saturday afternoon, some had to leave for awhile to attend other functions, but they returned!

As well as scrapbooking, we were well-fed. After all if you are going to scrapbook from 9:00 to midnight, you need energy! We were very well look after!

Everyone felt we should do it again after Christmas!

Riding in the Desert from the San Tan Trail Head

Taffy is watching me, but is aware of someone else coming into the parking lot. My friend left us at the trail head about 6:00 a.m. and went to pick up her daughter and their horses, and returned by 6:30. The sun is coming up and shining golden on Taffy, bringing out the gold in her coat.

We were on the San Tan Trail by 7:00 a.m. Those are water packs that MM and her daughter are wearing on their backs. There is a plastic tube that comes over a shoulder so they can take a drink of water whenever they need one.

A cactus known as a jumping cactus because when you get close to it, a part of it breaks off and sticks into your clothes, or worse tries to stick into your skin! MM carries a small pair of pliers with her on a ride in case she has to pull out prickles.

A view of the San Tan hills and cactus in the foreground. When I first saw the desert, I was amazed at how much green growth is sustained in what is such arid ground.

We were climbing some of those hills, and when we came to the top, this is what was spread out in front of us.

It was somewhere along here, about 1 hour on the trail that we passed a rattlesnake. I was third in line of the three of us, and MM called out to me, "Stop, no don't stop!". I pushed Taffy faster, then looked down because while MM was calling to me I realized that I had heard a rattle! Yes, a smallish rattlesnake was slowly waking up beside the trail. Fortunately it was still cool and he was moving slowly. Taffy had never heard a rattlesnake, so she was unaware of the danger.

MM stopped a few feet up the trail and asked me if my heart was slowly down yet. I told her it was, slowly, and then she asked me if I wanted to go back and take a picture. I told her that no, I didn't need to as the picture was firmly embedded in my brain. I'm wishing now that I had! But that one sight of a rattlesnake was enough! MM says she averages seeing one per ride.

A sandy wash that we rode along. It was harder going in here for the horses as it is deeper than the regular desert trail.

A saguaro cactus and Taffy's head! (Just to prove that we were there!)

We stopped for a moment in the shade and I made it a photo op! MM took this picture of us. The saguaro in this picture is an old-timer... they are a hundred years old before they sprout their arms. They are also protected and you must have permission to move them, or purchase one.

This is the trail we are on, and where we are headed.... the picture below shows where we came from... the trail is in that depression that goes off the right of the picture. You can see that they are marked trails, so it is hard to get lost!

This is my idea of riding. I really enjoy getting out into the country like this rather than riding around and around in a ring. I do ringwork because it improves our riding and I enjoy learning, but my ultimate goal is to be out in the country, even just along back country roads. The roads are good for driving a horse in a buggy, too!

Another view from the top of the trail. I had a fantastic ride, but because I had not ridden for so long, I was a wee bit tender. It was a few days before I could face sitting in the saddle again, but Taffy and I had another ride before I had to leave to come home.

Taffy, Other Horses and Riding in the Neighbourhood

ZA Star Zapphire (Taffy) - a picture I have been trying to capture for years!

Taffy having fun and letting off some steam!


Taffy free lungeing in the round pen.


Baby EmmaLea running off some energy after the horses were kept in their pens because irrigation made the ground too wet. If they are let out on the wet grass, they tear it up.




Emma and EmmaLea - I love the spread of Emma's wee long legs!


Taffy and me the day we arrived, August 8th. She wasn't going to let me get away from her, but she didn't care to have her picture taken.... again! That's so boring!

The day after we arrived in Gilbert, Mary and I took Kandi (Taffy's daughter) and Taffy on a ride to the "Riparian Preserve". The picture above is of Kandi (Bold's Karmel Kandi) with Mary riding, on the canal trail on the way to the preserve.

(These pictures show 2006, but my camera was set incorrectly and I didn't notice it until much later.)

Taffy and me on the canal trail.

A picture of the canal trail. The roadway on this side of the canal was paved for cyclists, but the other side was left the natural dirt. In between is the canal, which cannot really be seen - there is a depression between the pavement and the dirt on the far side - that is where the canal is.

A prickly pear cactus surrounded by sage

The Preserve is an area of land that was taken from being agricultural corn and cotton, and planted with natural shrubs around 5 holding ponds which recirculates grey water for irrigation. There is an abundance of birds, water fowl and other small wildlife in the area. With trails winding through the preserve, some of which horses are allowed to use, it is a popular place for walking and birdwatching.

A bridge over a creek between a couple of the holding ponds.

A crane in one of the 5 holding ponds of the preserve. Usually we have seen them in pairs, but this one was a solitary soul.

This is a desert spoon plant. We discovered that because we read the label stuck in the ground at its base! Taffy's ears are in the corner. She remembered one other time I was taking pictures, and I had stopped her until the picture was taken, and when I lifted the camera to my eye, she would stop until she heard the camera click!

Goldfield AZ 2008

We went to Goldfield, an abandoned goldmining town, which was bought and restored so that visitors would have an idea of what an old gold mining town was like. There is a narrow-gauge train that takes you around the area outside of town to see the abandoned mines. Ths saguaro cactus in the centre of the picture is a very slow grower, and does not sprout its arms until it is 100 years old. The house on an angle could have been a bordello...

The mountains in the background are the Superstition Mountains, where the famed Lost Dutchman's mine, supposedly the richest gold mine in the world is located. The Dutchman, Jacob Waltz, took the secret to his grave in 1891 and no one has ever found it since, although many have tried!

If you follow a path between this shack and the water tower, you will find a shed where you can pan for gold in a trough of water, which is the way it was done when there was no running water handy. Don brought hom a small vial of gold flakes and some garnets!

I was trying to show how uphill this town is, but it doesn't show the hill very well. It was interesting wandering through the museum which has old mining artifacts, and information about the various miners who tried to find the Lost Dutchman mine, as well as about the Dutchman, himself, Jacob Waltz.

Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, trip to Gilbert 2008

We left LLB on August 2nd on a Greyhound bus to Edmonton. Then in the evening, we boarded another Greyhound bus and headed out. We went through Vancouver, Seattle, Sacramento and Los Angeles, then on to Las Vegas. We can now say we've been to California!

We arrived in Las Vegas about 5:30 a.m. on August 5th, and checked into the Golden Nugget hotel about 6:00 a.m. and slept until about 11:00 a.m. We then had breakfast - the first proper meal in about 3 days, and set out to explore a bit and watch other people spend their money!

Just a note - I had changed the time on my camera when we changed time zones, but did not notice that the year changed, so all these pictures show 2006, but this trip really happened in 2008!

This is the hotel we stayed at in Las Vegas, the Golden Nugget. It is on Fremont Street, and as you can see about 5 blocks of Fremont Street are covered. At night there is a fantastic light and sound show projected onto the ceiling...

This is one of the views from our bedroom in the Golden Nugget, 22 floors up...

... and here's another one...

Driving down the Strip, I took photos of various hotels. We would like to go back and stay longer - not to gamble, but just to do some shopping, as I have heard you can find great bargains in the outlet malls, also just to see more of the sights.

Fremont Street by day.

The Excaliber Hotel and Casino.

Looking towards the Luxor Hotel. We think we might like to stay here next time we go to Las Vegas!

Some of the palm trees outside of a hotel. What we noticed was how clean this part of the city is.

We made a point of breaking our trip to Arizona in Las Vegas to visit Don's aunt who turned 101 this year, and it was wonderful to see her again. We then went on to Williams AZ to take the old steam train trip to the Grand Canyon.

Finally, we are on our way to Arizona...
We crossed over the Hoover Dam, which dams the water of the Colorado River, the river running through the Grand Canyon.

Here's the Welcome to Arizona, the Grand Canyon State, sign. We are now almost where we are headed!

Next stop: Williams AZ where we take the old steam train to the Grand Canyon.

These are the badlands of Arizona. We drove through these hills for miles and kept driving up and up. Then we would descend, but not as far as we had climbed, and then we would climb some more. The final height was 7000 ft above sea level. I was going to take a picture of the sign announcing this height, but I missed it. Finally, we started going down, and the terrain changed.

The terrain is now becoming more desert like with some scrubby bushes.

At the Grand Canyon station in Williams, there is an old steam engine....

This old steam engine, Number 1861, was patented in 1880.

Don posing as engineer!

We are leaving the Williams station. Everyone waved at the train as we passed. I wonder if they were wishing they could be on it too!

We are passing through ranch land here. We were told that on this land it takes 80 - 100 acres to sustain one head of cattle, and each ranch is about 150,000 acres. The elevation here is about 3400 ft.

After about a 2 hour train trip, we reach the awesome, majestic Grand Canyon....


We are viewing the Canyon from the South Rim. We walked along the Bright Angel Trail which follows the rim of the Canyon. We only had about 2-1/2 hours on this trip, so we decided we should go back again and spend a night or two in one of the hotels at the Canyon. The sight of the sun setting and rising on the canyon walls is said to be spectacular.

This is the Bright Angel Trail that we walked along, which follows the South Rim of the Canyon.



Oh, my goodness!! A train robber - this one is one of three who "attacked" the train. One held the horses and the other two boarded the train and went through all the cars demanding our valuables. Most people did not give them anything, but a couple of children gave up some nickels! Of course we all knew this would happen as it is part of the advertising, but we did not know when!

Here comes the law...!!

Here is the sheriff who came through after the train robbers, on the trail of the train robbers, asking if everyone was alright and if anything had been stolen!

Here we are travelling through Coconino Canyon where the track switch backs onto itself a couple of times. I was able to get a picture of the steam engine after it had gone around a bend ahead of our car.

We were told that the old Grand Canyon railroad depot was 15 miles from the Canyon itself, and visitors would get off the train and then travel by buggy to the Canyon. I didn't realize that the ruined building we passed was the old depot until after we had passed it going home, so I was unable to take a picture of it.



Above and below are two pictures of the steam engine which pulled our train. We rode in one of the old Pullman cars dated 1923, and were told that each car weighs 60 tons, empty. The fans had been replaced, but they still looked old, and we were told that if we opened the windows, not to let any body parts extend out of the windows as they had a mind of their own and would close without warning. A lot of people immediately pulled their elbows inside - including me!



After we visited the Canyon, we left for the next part of our visit to Arizona - a week with our friends in Gilbert, AZ, a part of metro Phoenix.


The terrain changes quite drastically as we travelled from Williams southward to Phoenix, as can be seen by this picture and the following ones...

We finally arrive in the City, but there is still an hour of driving before we reach our destination!


When we reached Scottsdale, northeast of Phoenix, I took pictures of the decorated walls of the overpasses and on-ramps. I have always been fascinated and impressed by this work. It makes the city attractive, and the city in general is very clean and well kept.

This is an example of the plantings on the banks of the ramps leading onto the freeways, and below is slightly different landscaping.