Final Day In Scottsdale, Alas

Saquaro Cactus

View from Pinnacle Peak

Pinnacle Peak

2889 Feet Above Sea Level

Ravine at Pinnacle Peak

Saguaro Lake

Evie and Claire

Up early again, at 5:30, though I have awakened at 3:30 each of the last two mornings, then struggled to go back to sleep til 5:30.  The sun has not risen yet though it's light, the mountains shrouded still in shadows.  There's a bit of a chill (56 degrees) in the air and already a couple of people have walked or run by the back yard. Also six quails, their head feathers bobbing, are scratching in the stone, looking for food, making their inimitable call.  I did not realize it but the sun rises earlier here in Scottdale than Chautauqua, 38 minutes difference, rising at 5:52 and it sets earlier as a result.  I was also curious about the elevation of Scottsdale from our hike yesterday on Pinnacle Peak where the highest elevation of the hike was 2888 feet.  Well, Scottsdale is at an even lower elevation than Chautauqua, coming in a 1254 elevation compared to lake's 1310 elevation.  The sun just peaked out over the hills to the east, blinding me as I take my picture.

6:08 PST

My brother in law, Henry, came over this morning again at 8:00 as were walking another famous hike, the Pinnacle Peak, about a half hour ride from our house.  It was another beautiful day and by the time we got there, about 8:30, the parking lot will full so we ended up parking on the street. Again, an architecturally interesting building greets us, with lots of shade, tables for eating, and rest rooms.  The hike is more like a climb, up this huge mountain of rocks, basically, a series of switch backs, as you head up the mountain.  There are amazing views as you walk, of all sides, mostly of wealthy gated communities with their green, immaculate golf courses, and homes that blend into rocky moutainous landscape.  As we walked, signs identified many types of plants which covered the side of the hills though few were yet in bloom, as it was not yet peak season.  We went about half way, about 35 to 40 minutes up, the same coming down.  It was also much more crowded than yesterday's hike because it's more spectacular.  All sorts were on the trails, mother's with kids, retirees, lots of younger guys and gals running, the gamut of the intrepid though it was a safe walk, with fences and rails where it could have been dangerous.  We took our time, read most of signs and it ended up being an enjoyable walk, with little difficulty if you didn't try to push it.  We didn't!

Dot making Potica with Evie and Laura

We were back by 10:00, to help Dot begin making her speciality, potica, a Slovenian nut roll that we all love.  She made the dough,  Evie and Laura ground the nuts, and we had to wait till late afternoon for the dough to rise, to begin assembling the rolls and baking them.  Claire stopped over, to see if we wanted to take a drive to Saguaro Lake, about a half hour away.  Evie and I decided to go, as we had to wait for the dough to rise.  It was an interesting ride out, through Fountain Hills, a large suburb to the east and north of Phoenix.  The ride skirted rocky mountains and desert scrub until we began to hit these huge rock formations, took a right, drove down the road a mile in to the Tanto National Park, and suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, was this blue lake, surrounded by huge mountains of rock.  As drove down to the lake road, we could see the Salt River Dam, off to the right, a restaurant and marina at the bottom of the road.  The lake was about two or three miles across, sort of the body, with a tail that went an extra six or seven miles, for a total of 10 miles in length.  Henry took us to a couple of other parking areas, where campers or hikes can access either the river, to swim or tube, or the trails, for hiking.  Again, it's an amazing natural area for those who love the outdoors.  It took us a couple of hours to get there and back.  We went to Claire and Henry's for a swim, some relaxation, before returning home to help with the making of the potica.  When we walked in, we could smell the first batch baking and Evie ended up helping with the rolling and putting together of the eight nut rolls, three prune rolls and two poppy seed rolls.

Dinner at George's Chinese Restaurant in Scottsdale

For dinner, we decided to go out to the local Chinese restaurant called George's, a fun place which we have been too a couple of other times.  We shared our meals, all  good, as Ed told George his jokes.  We headed back to the house around 8:00. watched the last hour of American Idol with Claire and Henry and Laura, then most of us went to be  around 10:00.