February 4, 2019, Monday

Today would have been my Uncle Dan's birthday.  He was one of my favorite Uncles.

Today is Anastasia Elizabeth's first day in pre-K.  She is so excited.  Grandma and I are praying for a great experience for her.

I know I have been falling down on my blog for awhile, but there wasn't much to report. Lela has been fighting the head cold, so we haven't done much of any interest. She did contact her doctor this morning so I am waiting to get a call from the pharmacy for her. Z-pack in her future.


Saturday was also the anniversary of my brother Michael's death.  I miss him greatly.

My golf has taken a turn for the worse. I shot the two worst rounds in four years, in my league. But, hope springs eternal.  I'll do better this week because I can't be any worse.

Back on Friday the 18th we went to Mesa market/swap meet.  We purchased two sconces, one for the front door and one for the back. I installed them last week.  They wouldn't fit over the existing fixtures, so I needed to buy new ones that would fit inside.  Mission accomplished.

Saturday I met with three of my friends from church to hike in the Superstition mountains again. We had planned to hike The Siphon Trail, but because we had a chance for rain and that trail involved climbing, we changed to The Peralta Trail.  It was pretty difficult.  The reward at the saddle is the view of Weaver's Needle, another landmark in the Superstitions.
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/arizona/peralta-trail-to-fremont-saddle

I can see I need to do something aerobic to get into better shape.  The trail rises almost 1700 feet in altitude and 5 miles in length. I was huffing and puffing for part of it. I'll post a few pics at the end. When I got home, I stood in a hot shower to ease some pain in my lower back and plopped down on the couch for a couple hours. I was pooped.

Lela spent the day preparing food for a pot luck meal at Desert Sands Church of Christ on Sunday.  She fixed a ham and multiple layer salad.

For supper Saturday, we had already planned to go to Outback steak house in Gilbert, AZ for our annual Groundhog Day Celebration.  Those who know us know that we celebrate Groundhog Day instead of Valentine Day as the restaurants aren't nearly as crowded. They advertised Steak and Lobster on special. The wait was lengthy as was the service.

Sunday we went to church and enjoyed the pot luck lunch. then it was home to watch Ricky Fowler nearly blow an unsurmountable lead in the Phoenix Open Golf Tournament.  He won with a three over par performance.
We peeked in on the Super bowl as well.  I was interesting to watch the two teams I hate the most put on a pretty lackluster performance.  It was a shame that both of them couldn't loose.

Here are some pics from the Peralta trail.

At the trailhead

Pretty rough climbing

Bill in the foreground and Andy in Background

Wilderness

Ross

Called Geronimo's Lookout (2 caves)

Andy on the trail

When we finished that round boulder in the background was below us.

 

Can you see the "ant?"

Looking back to where we started

Round rock

Can you find the saddle formation

 

Caption this!

G'pa at the Fremont Saddle

Weaver's Needle in background

Looking back

Ross

 

 G'pa, Ross, Andy and Bill climbed Peralta trail to Fremont Saddle, 2-2-2019.
The pictures in no way can show the grandeur of God's beautiful creation.