Hello Dolly!

In case you couldn’t guess, we are once again out gallivanting!  This time, our travels take us to Phoenix to visit some very special people in our lives.

Since out trip is relatively short, I decided to splurge just a bit, and book a room at the Maricopa Manor B&B which is on the outskirts of center city Phoenix.  And that just might be one of the best decisions that i’ve made in my life.

 The pool wasn't open, as it isn't heated,  but the waterfall is certainly cool!

You must agree that this place is just awesome!

Not only are the accommodations roomy and quiet, as part of the service, breakfast is brought to our suite in a carefully packed picnic basket, left outside our door at our designated time of choice. We were up fairly early this morning, being on East Coast time, so we headed out for a brief walk and when we returned, the basket was waiting.

I carefully unpacked the items inside.

Let me just tell you, that little quiche was unbelievable, the fruits salad fresh and delightful.  The bread was equally fantastic.  I’m a baker myself, and I can’t say that I’ve ever tasted blueberry bread that was so tender and delicious.  We decided to pack up the muffins for a snack later in the day, and when we did choose to enjoy them, they were on par with everything we had eaten in the morning.

Marty and I decided that we would try to squeeze in an adventure or two on this trip, so we headed out today, out of the city, and along the road toward the Superstitious Mountains.

We popped into a National Park for another view of those same mountains.

And you can see just how large that cactus is with Marty standing next to it. 

Our travels took us along the winding serpentine curves of the Apache Trail, but we were fortunate that this end of the trail was paved, so the drive wasn't too taxing.

Our destination was Canyon Lake, for a cruise on the Dolly Steamboat. 

Luckily, I had booked our tickets yesterday before leaving home, because we arrived to find the cruise sold out.

We decided to brave the cold and sit out on the deck.  The sun was shining, and we had packed for cold weather, and heck, we are used to 40 degree weather where we come from.  And we weren’t alone.  Everyone sitting out on the deck was bundled up.

Finally, the ship was boarded, and the captain announced that we were on our way.  We pulled away from the dock, and as we started to move, music was sounding around us.

Suddenly, I realized that I was listening to Louie Armstrong pelting out "Hello Dolly"!   Took me quite by surprise, but really.....how funny was that? 

 Despite the cold and the wind, this trip was awesome!

We hadn't gone too far when the captain informed us that there was an Eagle's nest on that fingerlike projection on the very left of this photo.  

Marty was able to zoom in with my camera and capture this

Pretty amazing!

The trip was certainly beautiful and interesting.  Just when I thought that we were at the edge, somehow, we would turn a corner, and lo and behold, there was more water to cruise along.

At one point, we spotted big horn sheep clambering on the side of a cliff.

And I was able to zoom in to get a better shot of them and I'm fairly certain that one turned his head so that I could get a shot of his better side. 

The remainder of the trip featured lovely vistas.

Cacti on the cliffs

and a formation that was described as a petrified elephant.  Marty took this photo because I just couldn't see what was being described.  Actually, I told him that I was willing to bet that if they hadn't told him there was an elephant image there, he wouldn't have seen it himself. 

He laughed.  And that reaction pretty much proved my point.

We were heading back when the captain mentioned, once again, that there was a bald eagle in nearly the same spot as on the way out, so I zoomed in on what looked like a giant bird to me.

It was a cactus growing out of the cliff.  So much for that.

We soon departed the cruise and headed back to Phoenix, along the serpentine roads, but pulled off to take a shot of this beautiful view. 

Marty pointed out that same fingerlike projection, in the shadow in the middle of this photo, that held the nest of the eaglets. 

 I laughed and told him that I was fairly certain that the 35 mm zoom on the camera wouldn't be helping me this time.

I was wrong.  Much to my surprise, I was able to catch mama eagle, on the top of the pillar, feeding her babies!

Much better than a prickly cactus spurting out of the ground!

I think that it is fair to say that our gallivanting adventure today was certainly worth the trip.  

And let me add, that our visit with family was equally entertaining.

And, you just can't ask for much more than that!  

Hoping for an equally exciting day tomorrow!   I'll keep you posted!