Lost Dutchman State Park, Apache Junction, Arizona

In the middle of February, we stayed at the Lost Dutchman State Park while we visited with friends, Jean and Joe. The first 4 pictures were taken on a ride to Tortilla Flats along the Salt River in the Tonto National Forest. What a glorious day.

Larry patiently waits while Claudia takes pictures.

Our campsite with Superstition Mountain in the background.

Jumping cholla cactus

Great place to take a walk

Cactus Wren, Ouch!

Another view of our campsite

Sunset in the desert

Early morning sun on Superstition Mountain

On the Road Again

One of the projects we worked on at our lot at the Lone Star Corral was the paining of our storage shed.

Before - two tone green

After - Bryce canyon, rice paper and teal

On the 12th of February we finally hit the road again. Our first night was at a picnic area near Alpine, Texas. We had stayed here before and it was quiet and dark.

An interesting cactus growing from a live oak tree. Looks like Mickey Mouse.

Our next stop was Dreamcatcher RV park in Deming, New Mexico. Many people had told us of the wonderful museum in town, so we decided to have a look. The displays were very well done and we were amazed at the variety of items covered, from minerals to whiskey bottles, dolls to archeological artifacts.

Handcrafted German Fret Works Clock

Nice collection of antique fire engines

King Family Reunion 2011

This January was made extra special by a small reunion with our 4 children. They came from New York, California and North Dakota and we spent the better part of a week together. The weather did not cooperate, so we found ourselves enjoying mostly indoor activities.

On our lot in Hondo.

At the Salt Lick BBQ near Austin with the Howards.

The mug shot.

Fantastic Texas Barbecue!!

At the Admiral Nimitz State Historic Park and the National Museum of the Pacific War.

Great displays both outdoors and inside.

The last day we were all together we braved the cold and rain to visit the Alamo.

Christmas and New Years 2010

We enjoyed Christmas dinner in our clubhouse. Thanks to the many volunteers who did the cooking. What a delicious meal!

Dessert!!!

Some of the hard working kitchen crew.

Getting ready to eat.

Some of the friends at our table.

Faye, the dinner organizer, doing some clean up.

Mena and Fran visit on New Year's Day. A super way to start the new year.

Christmas in D'Hanis School

What a joy to be part of this community at Christmas time. The Lone Star Corral, the SKP park where we are, does something special for the local elementary school children each year. It's a poor, rural area. Usually we arrive after it's all over, but this year we are fortunate to be able to take part. Last Monday the children came to the club house and performed A Bug's Christmas for us. What a wonderful group of well behaved children. For the last few weeks, the collection of gifts for the 154 children has been growing. The members here baked large quantities of cookies, bought candy, made crayon boxes, jewelry boxes, and pencil boxes and donated small toys and much needed school supplies. Thursday we packaged the gift bags and stockings and made the delivery on Friday.

The children who came to the park for the concert.

Bagging cookies

Candy

Goodies ready for our Kindergarten class.

Filling bags for the older grades.

Stuffing stockings for the Kindergarten classes.

The 12 stockings ready to go for our class.

Some of our fellow elves, with our head elf in the center. Thanks Shari!

Making the delivery was the best. It was awesome to be representing the many wonderful people in our park. Thanks Kay for sharing your pictures.

Veterans Day 2010

We had a wonderful celebration on Veterans Day this year. There are many veterans in our park and others were invited from the local community. The D'Hanis High School Band played for us, and the local Ford dealership provided lunch for all those in attendance.

A small group of the many veterans here for the ceremony.

Some of the park residents and visitors, dressed in their red, white and blue, preparing for the singing of the patriotic songs.

The high school band volunteered to perform for us on a day off from school.

The band members had very colorful shirts.

These three army reserves were on hand for the raising of the flag.

The flag burning ceremony

The local Commemorative Air Force did a fly by for us with some of their vintage planes.

America, home of the free, because of the brave.