Prayers have been answered

and we are headed back to College Station. As many of you know, Captain’s brother, Rex, has been on the kidney transplant list for over a year. Many of you have joined us in praying for a donor to appear. What we didn’t know, God apparently had another idea; the donor was already among us. Rex’s 29-year old son, Matt, has completed the extensive testing and evaluation and has been found to be a very close match. The transplant team found this to be most remarkable as Matt is adopted; never have they seen such a close match from non-blood related donors. We ask those of you that are inclined to continue to pray for a successful transplant and a speedy recovery for Rex and Matt.

The Wanderer is pointed toward Texas; we plan to be in San Antonio for the surgeries on February 27^th. We will stay in College Station for as long as we are needed.

The Wanderer has been parked at the base of Superstition Mountain in Lost Dutchman State Park.   

The weather remains unseasonably cool and windy here in Arizona but we did have a few days of sunshine and were able to do a bit of hiking.

Siphon Draw Trail in Lost Dutchman State Park; this is where ABN turned around, knowing she would have to slide back down on her backside. 

Captain continued on the trail up to the basin.

The Basin

We have had a good visit with ABN’s sister, Mary and husband Steve. They introduced us to Barleen’s Dinner Theater

and Queen Creek Olive Mill. After about a 45 min. lecture on olive oil, we “drank the olive oil” and came away with both dark chocolate and bacon flavors. What are we going to do with all this olive oil??? Tipsy Tuesday friends, be warned; there may be some interesting appetizers appearing on the porch this spring!

One thing of which we never tire is the beautiful sunsets in the west

Adios, Arizona!

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You have heard us say, “We are on an adventure.” And that we were, thanks to Ms. Garmin. Following her directions, we found ourselves doing a little “off road” RVing as we made our way to Lost Dutchman State Park in Apache Junction, AZ, just west of Phoenix. We knew we were in trouble when the pavement turned to obvious “off road” terrain.

At this point, it was too late to turn around, so we gingerly proceeded over the rocks and down the slopes until we reached pavement. The Wanderer and Roger made it without any injuries and our heart rates returned to normal. (Lesson learned, stop, assess, disconnect toad and turn around.)

Lost Dutchman State Park at the base of the Superstition Mountains was the home base for The Wanderer last week.

Finally we could have a campfire! (We found in a number of Arizona state parks, fires were not allowed due the potential for wild fires) It was quite nice to sit by the fire on a cool evening

to watch the sun set.

Around the campgrounds we had noticed several hummingbird feeders, considered getting one and thought, nah, just something else to maintain. Shortly after setting up camp at Lost Dutchman, a hummingbird discovered the butterfly magnets on our screen door and kept returning to check for nectar.

A couple of days later while visiting some folks we were entertained by hummingbirds at a feeder attached to their RV window. Yep, Captain went in search for a hummingbird feeder.

The Superstition Mountains are great for hiking, so we did.

A fairly moderate trail to Prospector’s View of about 2 miles

and the more challenging Siphon Draw Trail. No, we didn’t attempt to hike to Flat Iron, but we did make it to the Basin.

Several folks suggested we bike the Indian Bend Wash Multipurpose Trail from Tempe to Scottsdale. Again, we encountered an adventure. Just getting to the trail head we had to negotiate an obstacle course through major construction in Mesa. Finally we reached the parking lot for the trail but couldn’t find the trail; it was closed due to construction. So we did a little off road cycling.

Finally we found the trail and proceeded through a Pro Disc Golf tournament, made note of the signs stray golf ball area, (We were lucky to be missed by both golf balls and discs.) and enjoyed a nice bike ride.

One of the highlights of the week was sister time.

at the home of ABN's sister, Mary and husband Steve.

 Happy to report they are happy and healthy, playing golf and hiking most days.

Another highlight was getting to know Adele and Steve from Colorado.

We connected with them at Patagonia State Park a few weeks earlier. The draw was their 1999 Lazy Daze;

except for the color, it was almost identical to The Wanderer. Captain and Steve had a great time discussing modifications and upgrades. We departed with sincere intent to connect again down the road.

Arriving today at Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood, AZ, we are looking forward to exploring Cottonwood, Sedona and Jerome. The bicycling looks promising!

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