Wins arrived

The Wins and the wind arrived today. There are about a dozen of us gathered so far. The winds were blowing all day. Some gusts were in the 35-40 mph range. Our wind generator was doing a fabulous job. We watched the meter Bob installed hit the 30 amp marker several times. Most times we were pulling in 8-12 amps which Bob says is what 2 solar panel would be bringing in. He had the TV on most of the day catching up on news and testing the system.

More and more arrive and there are around 30 at circle now. One day we led a drive around the back side of the lake. Again the scenery was pretty. At the north end we stopped for a ranger talk at the site of an ancient Indian ruin. The place is only open once every two years so we hit it right. Another day we took all the kayak's up to a launch area and all who wanted to tried out the various kayak's. There will be some purchases made. All the newbie's were hooked. Back at the ranch so to speak we had a chili cookoff. 4 or 5 pots of chili along with salads, cornbread and dessert. Hmmm. Bob started an installation of yet another TV. I think this is his 6th.

The wind was bad one day so it was a sort of stay at home day. Some went on hikes. Bob finished the tv install. I went for a long walk. The next day the wind quit and we got another kayak trip in.
Gone for about 4 hours around the island we see out our windshield and down a long cove. Watched a flock of swallows get mud from the embankment and build their nests on the cliff.

Mid-week and another day of wind. We drove the Apache Trail to Tortilla Flats. It is mostly on dirt road along the Salt River. It is not only historic (the machinery and materials for the dam where brought over this road in the early 1900's) but is a smaller version of the Grand Canyon for scenery. It is very hilly and twisty. We saw a herd of mountain sheep along side the road. At the flats we sat outside at picnic tables, had hamburger's and listened and danced to the band before heading home.

The next day we took a 3 mile hike up Campaign Trail. It follows a small stream and was very enjoyable. The flowers were great but guess who forgot their camera.

We went geocaching up toward 4 Peaks. It is a very steep, windy, narrow road. We started out with 4 car loads but 2 turned back as the road got too scary for them. We found 4 caches, saw a herd of wild horses and snow on the mountain top. We had horrific winds while up there. Thought I was going to be blown off the mountain. Guess it's good I haven't lost all my weight yet. We went out to dinner at Ma's Kitchen and when we returned had this beautiful sunset. God's way of telling us we would be safe thru the high winds and thunderstorm we had in the evening. But we were tucked in and playing pegs & jokers with Chuck and Karen.