Lots Of Stuff

It’s been busy around here—sometimes I wonder how in the world I had time to work???  Can’t remember if I discussed running for our HOA board on this blog or not—well, I ran for the board, the election was February 6 and I lost by one vote!!  There were four candidates and three positions.  I wasn’t disappointed in the least, I ran and was lucky enough not to be elected!! Well, so much for that thought!  The woman elected to the secretary position has had to resign due to health issues and the board president contacted me asking if I would serve.  So, I am now officially secretary of our North Ranch HOA. 

WHOA—there is a bit of a learning curve to say the least—I’m jumping in with both feet as the next meeting is March 7—the agenda and minutes need to be done and “shared”—I’m familiar with the computer programs used but “sharing”, etc. was not being used when I left the working force! 

Thursday was a whirlwind—yoga class, HOA learning session and then the grocery store.  I was spinning!! 

Friday was a spectacular day—we left North Ranch at 8am with seven rigs and twelve people heading for the Lake Pleasant area.  Here’s what Wikipedia had to say about Lake Pleasant:

The cornerstone of the park is the 10,000 acre (40 km² or 15.6 mi²), Lake Pleasant, one of the important artificial reservoirssurrounding the Phoenix metropolitan area. Created by the Waddell (Pleasant) Dam, which was finished in 1927, the lake originally had a surface area of 3,700 acres (15 km² or 5.8 mi²) and served as a private irrigation project. At 76 feet (23 m) high and 2,160 feet (658 m) long, the original Waddell Dam was, at its completion, the largest agricultural dam project in the world. The lake was filled by the Agua Fria River, capturing a large watershed throughout Yavapai County.

Construction of the Central Arizona Project Aqueduct, which began in 1973, soon diverted water from the Colorado River to the lake, converting the lake from an agricultural project into a storage reservoir for the project. Completed in 1994, the New Waddell Dam tripled the surface area of the lake, submerging the old dam beneath its waters. Shortly after the completion of the dam, the area experienced a prolonged drought, and while the lake grew considerably it would not reach full capacity until early 2005. Although still fed by the Agua Fria River, the CAP aqueduct is the primary source of water for the reservoir.

Lake Pleasant is used as a major water sports recreation center for the Phoenix metro area, as well as serving as an important storage reservoir for the rapidly growing region. A number of boat docks and beach access make the lake a popular destination for scuba diving, water skiing, jet skiing, sailing, windsurfing and other water sports.

We unloaded at the Bradshaw Mountain Foothills staging area and headed up the mountain—destination, Crown King—a mining town at 6000 feet in the Bradshaw mountains.  At we gained in elevation, we caught occasional glimpses of Lake Pleasant in the distance.

Sun was very bright so photos are kind of washed out looking.

The road was rough, dusty, rocky, bumpy, bone jarring and worth every minute of it!  At one point on the trail we came to a construction zone—a mining permit which had diverted the road into the creek and made quite the mess!

And they were kind of crabby about their security!

It took us about four hours of riding to reach Crown King—gold was discovered near here in 1875 and an estimated $2,000,000 in gold was mined.  The mines closed in the 1950’s and the small community depends on tourism as its only reliable source of income in spite of the fact all roads leading to Crown King are rough and tumble!  “Of the buildings still standing and in use in Crown King, the Crown King Saloon has maintained its place as the center of activity in town. The Saloon was originally constructed and operated in the nearby mining town of Oro Belle (now also a ghost town). In 1910, It was disassembled and brought to Crown King piece by piece after the mine at Oro Belle had played out. The building was home to a brothel and bar in both towns and now serves the public as a hotel, cafe, and bar. “  Wikipedia

After enjoying lunch at the saloon we pointed the rigs downhill and arrived home close to 7pm.  A long but spectacular day spent enjoying life!

As you can see the landscape changes—saguaros, huge rock formations until we gained elevation—

then it’s deciduous and pine trees plus rocky, running creeks—another world from the desert!  

On the way back we could see hot air balloons above Lake Pleasant—look closely!

Thanks for traveling along with us! 

PS:  I took some GoPro video and will insert short clips in coming blogs after I have some more schooling from the movie master—Geri!