Adventure 567: Cave Creek Regional Park/Post B

Hiker Babe.

Well, you know how it turned out. She skunked me last night. Clearly, I'm going to have to improve my burnt offerings to the cribbage gods. But no worries, I pulled a rabbit out of my hat this morning. She landed in the stink hole, and she counted first on the final hand. I was six pegs out. Normally, I would have conceded, but I decided to play it out. I dealt; she cut a jack. Two points for me. I played an Ace, which she didn't match with her eight. I matched her eight. Two more points for me. She played a nine for seventeen. I played a seven for a run of three and the win. Oh, so satisfying to hear the Wiley Cager scream, "Nooooo", like a lost and lonely coyote. Nothing like a win to inflate my ego. Buoyed by the wonderful, if temporary joy of winning, we headed out to meet our relatives for breakfast at the Egg & Joe restaurant in Scottsdale. In attendance were one quarter of the original O'brien children (More than a quarter if you count Judy as a replacement for Anne). At the table were Roger and Peggy Shute who live in Issaquah, but spend their winters in Scottsdale. Peggy is Anne's older sister. Also there was one of their children, son Chuck who lives in South Phoenix. Rita Valentine, Anne's younger sister and one of the triplets was there. She lives in Spokane, but spends her winters in Phoenix. And besides Judy and myself, Larry O'Brien who lives in Prosser, was in town on a golfing excursion. He, too, is Anne's younger sibling. In addition, he and I go way back when we coached basketball together at St. Thomas More. It was a nice morning, and a good way to catch up, since normally we only see each other at weddings or funerals. It was even better because Larry picked up the tab. After returning to the trailer, Judy and I walked the Clay Mine trail, one of several loops we will explore while we're here. We walked 11, 434 steps on the 4.4 mile hike. The air was fresh, the sky clear, and the breeze light. More than a few Saguaros competed for cactus of the day. We saw a few other hikers and one rabbit darting through the brush. Needless to say, life is good here in the desert, especially today.

 Notice the ribs on the dead Saguaro. The Apaches used these ribs to build their shelters.

 This guy wins as cactus of the day because he looks like he's waving hands like clouds.

 They're all so majestic.

 In the next few days, we'll take the Overton loop.

This interesting guy is sprouting arms right from the ground.