Those are the actual names of the road, valley and lake. Not sure if someone intended the connection among the names but we found it perfectly apt.
Kayaking on Lake Pleasant in February! 75 degrees and sunny but no more New Zealand sun to sting your skin. There seem to be more boats in the desert than anywhere else we have been. There is even a yacht club on Lake Pleasant.
Of course the Happy Valley area is home to the cactus league for MLB spring training. We went to a few games and got a kick out of the mascot here at the stadium where the World Series champ Texas Rangers were playing.
Now that I am over 60 I get to do the “Senior Stroll” around the bases after the game ends. Laurie did not have her fake ID to get onto the field. Maybe sometime soon. It was actually fairly fun to walk around the bases with all the other geezers.
On our almost daily hike we found this beauty. It is a crested saguaro cactus. No one really knows what makes this phenomenon happen to only a few of these cacti but it is really cool.
When the saguaro cactus dies it leaves behind a wooden skeleton. Did not know this. Not all cacti have this anatomy. Some just slump over into a heap like the barrel cacti dotting this desert.
This cute little guy is called the Teddy Bear Cholla. They are about as abundant as the Saguaro. Don’t let the fluffiness of the tops fool you. They hurt like hell when you bump into them.
Made it to the top of Dixie Summit and watched the military planes doing their exercises. Boy the desert has a big sky!
Rule number one in photography: Do not point your camera directly into the sun. Fun to break the rules sometimes. I think the sun adds something to the scenery here.