As hoped for, we began the day with a great hike in the park—the Scenic Trail---and scenic it was. This is a 4-mile loop through the desert and up on ridges overlooking the desert. The rain had cleansed everything, and the 60-degree weather was perfect.
Upon return to camp, we noticed that there were campsites on the fringe opening up. Despite our ‘nice’ campsite, there were ‘nicer’ ones, a bit more private, and the host advised that we now had ‘priority.’ Janice suggested that it would be ‘ugly American’ to move into one of these sites. I countered that ‘it was the American way” to ‘upgrade’.
Upon return to camp, we noticed that there were campsites on the fringe opening up. Despite our ‘nice’ campsite, there were ‘nicer’ ones, a bit more private, and the host advised that we now had ‘priority.’ Janice suggested that it would be ‘ugly American’ to move into one of these sites. I countered that ‘it was the American way” to ‘upgrade’.
Within 10 minutes, we were packed and on the move, to our new site about 100 yards away. Looking out the front window, we can see only desert-scape and mountains in the distance.
Took a drive to visit nearby Lake Saguaro, a once natural lake that has been dammed to increase its capacity. Beautiful setting, but no RV parks here. Opted not to take the paddle wheel sightseeing cruise, which was loaded to the gunwhales with geezers from a tourbus. Heading down the road, we took one wrong turn after another, winding up back in Mesa. Flummoxed, we headed to Scottsdale for an inspection and a visit to the AAA office to get a decent map of the area.Scottsdale is a city reeking with money. I could feel my mastercard throbbing in my wallet as we drove through. One could drop a lot of money fast here, with many nice restaurants and shops. Heading out of town, we pulled into a small shopping center so I could get a haircut. After 25 minutes with Bernie (from Brooklyn) the barber, I was shorn and inquired "what do they charge for haircuts in Scottsdale?” To my stunned surprise, the bill was $27—for my bald pate. I had declined the shampoo and moustache trim, which probably would have pushed the tab northward. Ridiculous! I’ve never paid more than $15. Indeed, one can drop money fast here.
On the road back towards ‘camp’ we passed homes on the outskirts of Fountain Hills that were palaces---many in the million$$-plus category, with sweeping views of the desert. Golf courses with deep-green fairways twisted through ritzy neighborhoods. Golf course in the area feature greens fees from $110 to $250 for out-of-staters. There would not be golf in the near future.
Stopping in Fountain Hills, we indulged ourselves in a gelato cone. We sought ice cream, but in this upscale locale, the offering was ‘gelato’. Very good at $3.49 for a single scoop cone. An amazing horse statue, made of discarded items, shone brightly in the parking lot. Click on the picture for a closer inspection.
In the evening, we joined a ranger-led moonlight hike through the desert. The moon finally appeared from behind a cloud bank, a huge goldish orb. It was so bright that we cast long shadows on the trail. The ranger pointed out various trees/bushes (which all looked the same in the semi-darkness) and educated us on how to distinguish javelina ‘scat’ (read “sh*t”) from coyote scat. (The former has seeds, the latter doesn’t). It really doesn’t matter if you step in it, though.
Back in our cozy rig, Janice administered a rare Scrabble thumping to me, winning by 60 points and using all 7 letters twice in the process. I was humbled, but I am looking forward to rebounding in a re-match.
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