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Mar 1-8 CAVE CREEK, AZ WWC
Randy picked a beautiful setting for the Cave Creek WIN
gathering. We were surrounded by mountains and numerous Saguaro
Cacti. The outing was in the center of this western town within
walking distance of many unusual stores, restaurants and bars with
humorous names like "Horny Toad" "Buffalo Chip"
"The Dump". Randy explained all the mountain ranges and
some local history. We had plenty of time to walk thru town and do
some shopping, dancing every evening, trip to Frank Lloyd Wright’s
Taliesin West, 4x4ing in Bloody Basin (a 120-mile round trip), hiking up
Spur Cross Ranch, discovering many petroglyphs, hiking the Sears-Kay
Ruin of the Hohokam Indians, kayaking Barlett Lake, visiting the local
Cave Creek Museum, and watching bull riding (real bulls not the
mechanical ones) in the back yard of the Buffalo Chip
restaurant. We had dinner and went dancing at many of the
western restaurants. Randy did a Lewis & Clark Trivia questions
game and gave "Bird Woman" dollars out to those that answered
the questions correctly… Adelle and Carolyn were the Big
winners. Adelle turned the tables on Randy and quizzed him.
It was an extremely beautiful, exciting and fun filled WIN
gathering. Thank you Randy… hope we can do it again.
Feb 22-Mar 1 CHANDLER, AZ WWC
When the Wild Horse Casino parking lot was closed at the old location,
we moved to this wonderful new casino and were welcomed with open arms.
Between happy hour discount priced snacks and dancing, daily, we felt
right at home. Trips to the Heard Museum, Organ Stop Pizza, The Arizona
Opry, the Elks
for Lost Dutchman days, the Savers thrift shops, and an open house at
Bertie’s Mesa home kept us all out of trouble.
Mar 8-15 TUCSON, AZ WWC
A large group streamed in to the Desert Diamond Casino, about 20
miles south of Tucson. Bob cleverly pawned off on Paul from Reno host
duties. Those that didn’t make it to Hugs on time each morning missed
Paul’s corny jokes. The group was kept very busy with a tour of a
copper mine, a trip to Nogales, Mexico (and no one got shot!), an outing
to Tubac’s arts and crafts center, a very long day at the Pima Air
Museum and a "Chuck hike" UP a mountain at Madera Canyon (he
maintains a hike downhill is for wimps!). Casino parking was free,
restaurants were good and inexpensive, but the beer was pricey, so we
had to settle for happy hour margaritas!
Mar 15-19 WILLCOX, AZ WWC
The wonderful weather had many WINers scurrying to hook-ups for heat
especially since electric/water was only $5/day more than boondocking.
Figured we’d spend more on propane than that! We walked the streets of
Willcox and visited its many museums. We ate corned-beef and cabbage at
the Elks Lodge on St Patty’s Day, ate apple pie w/cinnamon ice cream
at Stout’s Cider Mill and a bunch hiked the Cochise Stronghold Trail
led by Chuck. We are still wondering how Phil got away from that cougar!
One activity not seen in many years: this was a newsletter fold, staple,
address, stamp gathering. Thanks for the help WINers.
Mar 19-24 WILLCOX, AZ WWC
WINers continued to stay at the roomy Willcox Elks Lodge with choice of
electric/water or boondocking. It is a very friendly lodge with a train
rail (2 of) nearby. This track provided us with a variety of train
whistle blasts around the clock. We enjoyed enchilada dinner and karaoke
singing (our WINers were the best). The karaoke night included Arlene
being joined by a Tony Orlando look alike, who was local, during her
rendition of Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree! Several
danced to the singing. Later on in the week we joined members for a
steak dinner at the Lodge. We had a PM who joined during the gathering.
On Saturday we went to Chiricahua Nat’l Mon for an educational tour at
Faraway Ranch about Buffalo Soldiers stationed there in the 1800s. Then
on to tour by car or hike more of the Mon’s beautiful forests, rock
columns, pinnacles, and balancing rocks. The vista is fantastic from
Massai Point. Then a great steak dinner and dancing at a local saloon.
Sunday, Chuck led the Heart of the Rocks 8.9 mile hike through the most
challenging area of the Chiricahua Nat’l Mon. Monday we rested or
visited the Rex Allen Museum, the Marty Robbins Museum, shopped at the
oldest dry goods store in AZ, ate at the BBQ Railroad Dining Car, or did
our own thing. Then we had a wonderful Baked Potato potluck at circle in
70+ degree sunny weather. Since Tuesday was windy and cool, we prepared
our mobile households to move out on Wed. for new adventures.
Mar 24-31 ROOSEVELT LAKE, AZ WWC
What a great place to spend a week (too short). The weather was good
for a variety of activities that included a campfire nearly every night.
The first was a kayak paddle to the Tonto Creek end of the lake where we
paddled among the trees and viewed nesting birds including cormorants, a
heron and a pair of eagles. A small group that didn’t want to kayak,
took a jeep trip to Young for a burger. The burger place burned down but
a song was created along the way (see page 1). With wind predicted for
the following day, it was decided a road trip over the Apache Trail to
Tortilla Flat was in order. A burger, a beer and a dance to the music of
the Tortilla Flat band was enjoyable. Of course, browsing the shops was
a given. That evening was a birthday potluck for our very own Nancy with
her furnishing the main courses and the cake! (See page 1.) The next
morning noted bag-tender Doug hosted a "breakfast in a bag"
event. We walked that off on a 4.5 mi hike. Sunday featured a Chili
Cook-off potluck. Monday six kayakers left for an overnight trip on
Apache Lake. They enjoyed a full-moon night and absolutely gorgeous
days. Our group of devoted motorcyclists took several rides using
everything from dirt bikes to Harleys.
Mar 31-Apr 7 ROOSEVELT LAKE, AZ
(Part 2)
A small group of us decided to stay at Roosevelt Lake and hold our own
gathering. In addition to volunteering his site, with its million dollar
view, as gathering headquarters, Harlan graciously assumed the role as
host. Have you ever experienced a sushi chef’s "cutting"
entertainment with his fast moving hands creating art work with his
knives? Well, Harlan could easily compete with those guys! Richard, Rick
and Harlan scouted for wood on their motorcycles; then Rick returned to
the wood site with his pickup to haul some of the largest pieces of wood
you’ve ever seen to camp. We had enough wood for fires to
support smoke signals to Phoenix, no kidding! Did I mention food!! All
of us shared breakfasts cooked on a campstove with Randy using his
creative flair to prepare the absolutely best fried potatoes with red
peppers. Likewise, dinners were shared by all, with everyone
contributing tasty ingredients. We ate "healthy" the whole
time, REALLY, with the exception of some chocolate cakes and ice cream
sneaked into camp (do you think anyone complained?). Remember the
earthquake... during that moment, Randy was driving (herding) his
Wrangler Jeep over a mountainous washboard road, bouncing Duaine and
Deannie all over the jeep. Because the ground was moving so erratically,
we didn’t even feel the earthquake. And what about those two daring
dirt bike riders, Harlan and Richard?? Well, they were performing some
kind of wild jump in the air so they didn’t feel the earthquake
either! Only Rick, who had stayed in camp, knew an earthquake had
occurred. The bikers, on both motorcycles and dirt bikes, explored the
surrounding scenic mountains. (Don’t you imagine they had some
"sore" posteriors!). Not to be out done, the rest of us used
Randy’s Wrangler. We celebrated Easter dinner in style... The star of
the dinner was the ham cooked by Chef Randy (we enjoyed the delicious
leftovers for days). An even more important celebration was a Mexican
dinner, at a restaurant, to celebrate Rick’s special day, his
birthday!! Then, later that evening around the campfire, we shared
cake and ice cream. Rick had a fun day; we ALL did! The weather was
perfect, the surroundings were beautiful, and there were many fun-filled
activities, but the most enjoyable part of this SPECIAL gathering was
the fantastic camaraderie shared by ALL!!!
Mar 31-Apr 7 SEDONA, AZ WWC
How lucky we were to be able to spend some time in
beautiful Sedona! Almost everyone took advantage of the hike at Doe
Mountain where we lunched overlooking the Red Rock Country. The Easter
Bunny was able to find all of the WINers plus a couple camped in a tent
and a couple from France. Plastic eggs filled with chocolate and jelly
beans were an unexpected treat. Easter dinner was ham and all the
traditional fixings served under blue skies. After breakfast at the
Coffee Pot Restaurant, a trip was made to Boynton Canyon where Shirley
educated everyone about vortexes. Some felt the energy, some did not. A
planned hike up the West Fork of Oak Creek was foiled by high runoff
which made the river crossings more of a challenge than the hikers were
willing to attempt. Oh, well, a stop at Dairy Queen kept spirits high.
The alternate plan was hiking in the Bell Rock area. Several WINers made
trips to ruins, others hiked in the Coffee Pot Trail area, and some even
ventured up Schnebly Hill.
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