Happy New Year!

It's hard to believe 2015 has come and gone and we're into a new year.  Here's to another wonderful year of adventures and special time with family and friends (old friends, new friends and those we haven't even met yet).  

After our Texas friends went home we moved down to Apache Junction (just east of Phoenix) for 2 weeks.  We were right next to the Superstition Mountains so spent lots of time enjoying the views and of course hiking in the midst of the area.  

Our annual tradition is taking a Christmas day hike.  The 9 mile Miner's Needle Loop was a good one!

Merry Christmas!

Miner's Needle - see the little eye of the needle on the right?

A sleepover with my little nephew, Jax.  He's 4 1/2 years old and decided he wanted to stay with us by himself (he told his parents and brother they could not come!).  What a fun time we had!

getting his bed ready for the night

Moxie watched over him

of course we had to take a little hike the next day

Dear friends, Jay & Joan, are in Yuma for the winter so we took a quick day trip down to Mexico with them.  Always a day of laughs and adventure!  We had a nice surprise to meet up with Opal and her friends.  We have not seen Opal (and sorry Joe couldn't make it) since our first winter RVing (2011).

lunch in Mexico!

Time with the Paradises (unfortunately, we had so much fun we forget to take many pictures)!  We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas dinner at their house with friends Harvey & Eric.

Moxie and the Jax enjoying play time in the back yard

hiking with my nephew, Taite

Route 88/Apache Trail Scenic Drive - 6 hours of nature's beauty!

cactus by a lake - seems a little out of place to us!

famous STEEP hill which they used to test drive cars on and now photographers and film makers use the area

Roosevelt Dam

Boyce Thompson Arboretum

Siphon Draw/Flatiron hike - 6 miles, 5.5 hours, 2,900 feet elevation gain. YIKES!  What a challenge but so well worth it.  

yes, we climbed to the very top of that thing!

And a few more special treats.

birthday dinner at St. Francis - highly recommend this restaurant in Phoenix! 

Tempe street fun

Tom's friends from his hometown, Maria and Tommy, live in the Phoenix area so we were fortunate to catch up for dinner

my nephew, Timmy, and his daughter, Rylee

my sister, Jo Ann, and her son, Timmy

We are now at Voyager in Tucson until the end of March.  We've already met up with several RV friends we have not seen in a while and several more will be arriving in the next few weeks.  This place has any and every activity you can imagine:  woodworking,  stained glass, Spanish classes, hiking and biking clubs, a golf course (not for us non-golfers), 3 pools, a hotel, etc. etc. etc.  We certainly won't be bored here.  Come visit!

Til next time...Happy Trails!