Still here at McDowell Mountain Regional Park...near Fountain Hills, AZ.  The weather has been nice...mostly...Saturday Feb 1st and Sunday the 2nd the temps rose to the upper 70s.  But Monday the 3rd it only got up to 60...Tuesday and Wednesday mornings got down to 28, with highs only in the 40s!

In our previous trips here we found an old car that had been abandoned many years ago and burned in a desert wash...it was in tough shape but it seemed to be good enough to restore...

1960 Chevy Impala Convertible

I took a lot of pictures...and a close friend back home tried contacting the county to determine if he could drive up the wash and recover it.  The County Parks Department were not at all cooperative and refused all requests to drive off road and remove it.  Then I and posted the pix on a Facebook page about 1959 and 1960 Chevrolets....It was like kicking a hornets nest!  Dozens of guys wanting to know where it was and if anyone owned it.  Finally I posted the coordinates of the location and advised them of the County refusal.  So it turns out some adventurous person drove up the wash and extracted the car! 

Bare spot where the car was

It must have been quite a project.  We talked to the folks in the visitor center about it...They are quite upset about it being gone it seems.  I told them I posted the photos and coordinates and that I thought it was cool that someone was going to restore it....They were NOT impressed!

Last year when we were here we saw a Motorhome we really liked parked in an adjacent site....

Renegade Ikon

They were very nice folks!  This year they are our neighbors again.  We asked what a rig like that cost....He told us $750,000.00!  That's a wee bit above our budget!  

When we got back from visiting those folks the Boys didn't greet us at the door like they usually do...they were busy looking out the back window...

They were busy watching a Road Runner and some Quail that we had put out food for!

It's supposed to warm gradually to the mid 70s by the weekend!  Till next time!

Today, Jan 31, we went into Fountain Hills for lunch and stopped to watch the Fountain Hills Fountain!

(Click the arrow to watch the video)

This is one of the world's tallest man-made fountains. It serves as a focal point for the community and attracts thousands of visitors each year.

The fountain was built in 1970 by Robert McCulloch the year before reconstruction of the London Bridge in Lake Havasu City, another of McCulloch's projects. If you ever get a chance to visit the bridge you should go!  

The fountain sprays water for about fifteen minutes every hour at the top of the hour. The plume rises from a concrete water lily sculpture in the center of a large man-made lake.

The fountain, driven by three 600 horsepower turbine pumps, sprays water at a rate of 7,000 gallons per minute though an 18-inch nozzle. With all three pumps and under ideal conditions, the fountain reaches 560 feet in height, though in normal operation only two of the pumps are used, with a fountain height of around 300 feet. When built, it was the world's tallest fountain and held that record for over a decade.

The fountain is a tourist attraction that lots of people come to see.

On Tuesday, Jan 28, we moved from Cave Creek Regional Park, AZ to McDowell Mountain Regional Park, AZ.   The park is about 5 miles north of Fountain Hills, AZ.....A distance of about 38 miles.  Sunny, about 65 with light winds...

We got our camp set up...

Really a nice area!  Great views...You can see for miles!

Looking towards the McDowell Mountains....

And a great sunset on the McDowells....

This is a beautiful place!...We are here for 14 days!

Tomorrow we leave our campsite here at Cave Creek Regional Park .....

Cave Creek Campsite - Sunset

This evening was warm and we enjoyed the evening sitting around the campfire.

The Boys were keeping watch with their glowing eyes!

 

Tomorrow we head over to McDowell Mountain Regional Park...a distance of about 38 miles.  The weather is expected to be sunny and about 70.  By Sunday they are calling for sunny and 77.  The weather here in the winter is absolutely perfect!...Summer...not so sure😎😎

Another beautiful day here in Cave Creek Regional Park, near Cave Creek/Carefree, AZ!  Sunny and about 70 with no wind.  Hiked up the trail to the old "Clay Mine" here in the park.  The Clay Mine is located on the Overton Trail here in the Park.

This mine made Lelaia Pearl Irish (pronounced La-lee-a) a wealthy woman. Lelaia’s initial search for gold in the early 1930s proved fruitless, but the ancient clay found in the mine proved to be white-gold on her 160-acre claim. The clay was ingeniously sold in a powder-form for $5 a pound. 

The “Perfect Mineral Drink” was endorsed by several physicians. It was called “Nature’s Own” and the name was copyrighted in 1937. Per Lelaia, the powder (made from kaolin clay) did “treat with startling results” the following: anemia, stomach troubles, ulcers, gastric conditions, kidney and blood disorders, rheumatism, arthritis, high blood pressure, dysentery, diabetes, and was very good for teeth. The prescription states, ”take a teaspoon of powder in a glass of water 4 times daily.” By the early 1960s Lelaia’s health failed, she abandoned her mine, and unfortunately, died soon after.

Saw this balloon and it landed nearby so went over to check it out...Note the size of the Basket!

Had 12 passengers plus the pilot...Like riding a bus!