Prickly Pear. Blossom's aren't easy to see in the pic so arrows to help. No, that's not a snake on the far left although that fooled me too for a sec.
Ocotillo.
Cholla.
More Cholla I think. There are a bunch of different variations, none of which you want to get your fingers or toes close to.
What! A bloomin' Jeep? Wait, it fits right in...
Passed a few abandoned mines. Funny how married people start to think alike... both Wendy and I commented on how it would be a great place to hide a body...
Monday March 14 I had an appointment with the surgeon, at 7:30 AM. It's about a 2 1/2 hour drive in from Bouse so we figured we may as well get a hotel and drive in Sunday. We figured we'd relax in the pool, and one of us was looking forward to trying to run the hotel out of shower water. I won't say who, to protect her identity.
Well, about a week before I got a reminder that the Good Sam 500 was taking place in Phoenix on the very Sunday we would be there! So, tickets were bought and arrangements were made to leave early enough to get to PIR well before the 12:30 start. March 13 was time change spring forward day so we got up extra early.
We got there in plenty of time, especially since the race didn't start until 1:30 for some strange reason. Well not so strange I guess when you learn that, like Saskatchewan, Arizona doesn't subscribe to the spring forward/fall back lunacy that the rest of us do. Oh well. at least we were far from late.
This is about half way from where we parked. The structure in the distance is the grandstand at the near end of the track. Our seats were at the FAR end of the track. At least you could shop for motorhomes along the way (Good Sam = Camping World).
This was the unreserved camping area. Staging started on Feb 27th so if you're camping there be prepared to commit some time.
We got our first exposure to real "tailgating"... the walk through the parking areas was full of the smell of charcoal and cooking meat, and lots of gazebos, lawn chairs, and beverages being partaken of. Why I didn't take a better picture I don't know.
I thought these guys had run their course but apparently not. I don't even know what they'd be selling that would interest NASCAR fans. I guess I should have checked.
AHA! There I am finally! Oh btw, I'm not THAT big a geek... the tablet is because that's where the tickets were...
Yup, we were there plenty early.
Between turn 4 and the finish line, half way up. $55/seat, not bad.
Lotsa people there.
Next time I think we'll do the hillside between turns 3 and 4. Bring your lawn chairs, umbrellas, and a cooler.
Gad, I suck at selfies. Sorry. I should have taken one with no sunglasses; the person on the right was looking very racoonish.
We never even made it into the pool... by the time we got to the motel and had some supper it was lights out. Somebody had too much sun.
Oh, yeah, the reason we were in Phoenix... the eye exam went well, but the gas bubble's only down to about 35% so I'm here for another two weeks. Vision is recovering nicely though: now 20/80 and improving. All restrictions are now off except for the elevation ban, so at least I can load and unload the boat again. Temps are forecast in the 90s this weekend so will need to get close to the water.
You can never see too many sunsets. Ta ta for now!
