Cycling a Mountain Road to Gisela

Today we did something different with our Rads.  On our way back to Leisure World from Pine Vicky found a five mile road that went from the highway to a town called Gisela.  Gisela sounded like such a pretty name that we just had to stop along the way home to see it.

Besides being the prettiest name we had ever heard of for a town, it looked like it could be a very nice ride in the mountains. 

It turned out to be an even nicer ride than we had anticipated.

The road was a narrow, shoulder-less, winding, 800 foot ascent and 800 foot descent beauty. 

The photos tell it all. 

Here we are at the summit, looking over the valley where Gisela is.  Gisela is a small community of about 500 people.

Gisela in the distance.  This little town is nestled in a valley surrounded by mountains. Tonto Creek runs through it.  There is an abundance of large green trees growing on the banks of the creek.  It is an absolutely beautiful setting!

The sign says 5 MPH. 

We didn't take photos in the town of Gisela because we were shocked at how much of an economically depressed area it was.  It was sad to see the level of poverty in one of the most beautiful spots in our country. 

FINALLY…..a rest day!

We have been at our mountain cabin for over a week, and every day we’ve either hiked or cycled.  We decided that it was time to slow down and take a “rest day.”  "Rest day" means that we don’t hike, swim, or cycle.

So we moved the furniture in the living room, rolled up the rug, and played ping pong.

Then Dan put together a wonderful dance list….and held me in his arms as we danced.

Home Depot delivered my new chest freezer, so we carried it in from the street and installed it in Dan’s  “Man Cave” next to my new washer and dryer.  OK, I know that I’m taking over his “Man Cave” (AKA, his tool shed), but I promise that he can have all the rest of the shed.

Now I know what it means when you buy a “manual” defrosting chest freezer.  They included a tiny plastic ice scraper, just for me—how thoughtful.

Since we were taking a rest day, we had time for me to give Dan a haircut….

And time to put up a rare vintage publicity poster of The Searchers.

In the afternoon, Dan worked on his Avanti.  I gave him this model car for his birthday, since it is identical to the vintage car that he had refurbished and drove for many years before he retired.  He has told me many times about how he loved his 1972 Avanti, and how it was a joy to drive this special car.  

I worked on the blanket that I’m knitting for a birthday gift.

At the end of our “rest day,” we were both exhausted.  But we sure did have a fun day!

Maybe we should go hiking tomorrow.  It might feel more like a real rest day.

Addendum:

Yes, our hiking day turned out to be more of a rest day than our official “rest day.” 

Abbey Road, or rather Abbey Trail…..

We see so much beauty and feel such peace hiking and cycling together in our deserts and forests, but nothing compares to the glory of dancing with my love….

Apache totem poles???

Yesterday we headed up an obscure dirt road on Roadrunner and Wile E (our electric bikes).  All we knew was that this road led to something called “Camp Geronimo."  On our maps it looked like there might be a campground nestled at the base of the Mogollon Rim in the Tonto National Forest.  

Cool!  We thought it might be a great place to take grandchildren camping, since this “campground” was in the mountains with forests, meadows, bubbling streams, and near the Arizona Trail—with lots of spectacular hiking.

This is what we found….. 

Yes, two magnificent totem poles!  Very strange, since totem poles were only made by indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest coast.  And here we were 1,400 miles away in forests in the southwest.  Why are there two beautifully carved and painted totem poles hidden deep in the Tonto National Forest?

At first we assumed the totem poles were there just for us to discover something beautiful and unusual….but no, Camp Geronimo is a Boy Scouts Camp.  

So as soon as we got home we immediately emailed Sean and Emily and asked them to “pretty please” send our Boy Scout grandsons, Soren and Sebastian, to Camp Geronimo next summer!  It’s only five miles from our cabin.  Do you think grandparents are allowed to be camp counselors?

 

The question still remains—why totem poles in the middle of the Tonto National Forest? And why would Geronimo be associated with the Tonto National Forest or totem poles? 

 

Geronimo was a Native American leader and respected medicine man of the Chiricahua Apache tribe.  He was born in the area of New Mexico in 1829.  Geronimo fought to keep his people on their tribal lands for almost thirty years.  He was the last American Indian warrior to formally surrender to the United States.  On September 4, 1886, the great Apache warrior, Geronimo, surrendered in Skeleton Canyon, Arizona. 

Even though Skeleton Canyon is in the middle of the desert 300 miles southwest of Camp Geronimo, this brave warrior, Geronimo, deserves to have a Boy Scouts Camp named after him in Arizona!  

But still…..totem poles?  

We’re very glad that these two totem poles have been misplaced deep in our mountain forest.  We love them, and plan to visit them often—hopefully with lots of grandchildren!

Cycling and Hiking in the mountains....Road signs for God.....building a ditch....and a Zebra?

This is our third stay this year at our mountain log cabin in Pine. 

Our first trip, toward the end of March, was our first time at the cabin in over three months.  We thought we might be able to occasionally get up here over the winter, but found that the weather was not right for us--too cold, too much snow, and..... too cold.

This first trip was to start to get settled for the summer--we did a number of small repairs and improvements to the yard.  We also got in some nice walks and hikes. 

Our second trip to cabin was the 4 days we were at the cabin with Soren and Sebastian. 

Now, for our third trip, our current one.

This trip was to move a lot of our things to the cabin that we would need over the summer.  This included furniture, electronics, hobbies, and the bikes.  We also brought the Turtle (our camper) up because we are planning on taking camping trips from the cabin over the summer.  It was also useful because there was plenty of room in it for transporting our possessions.

In Mesa we purchased a knotty pine bench, which we moved here on this trip.  It looks so natural and so much better than the camping chairs we had been using.  We can also sit closer to each other.  :)

 

 

In the first week here we took some fun hikes.  On one of them we spotted something in a meadow that looked at first like snow.  Snow?  So we went to explore, and found the most unusual thing.

Someone, sometime, for some reason, had spray painted rocks and then laid them out in this field.  It took us awhile to figure out what the rocks said...until we looked at them from the correct angle.

 

 

 

 

PHX-->75.  

On one end of this large meadow were three additional letters created from painted rocks.

PPA?  What is that?  Who did this, and why?  No pilot would need this kind of information. 

God might, is all we can surmise.  In case he was headed to Phoenix for a Sun's game.

We later found a sign indicating the meadow was called Dickenson Flat.  We did google searches but found nothing. 

Vicky’s brother, Doug, said to check Google Earth next time.  Look what he found….this is what the sign looks like from up in heaven.

Thank you, Doug!

Every day that we didn’t hike, we got out into the mountains on our bikes. 

One day we cycled around Strawberry, AZ, and on old roads outside of Strawberry.  We spotted this:

 Yes, you are correct.  Someone in this strange community has a zebra.  Why?  Who?  Are we safe here?  

Another hike:

Now, something I need to tell you about Vicky......she is building a ditch.  So when we go to National Forest lands we collect a few rocks.  It's following the rules of National Forests--you can gather a few rocks but not for re-sale.  

So here she is on our most recent hike....collecting rocks.

She wanted this one, but it was only about 300 pounds too heavy for her.  "C'mon Vicky.....TRY HARDER!"

Now, you may ask, why is she collecting large rocks?  Or, if you aren't asking that question, it merely means you know Vicky is always doing something out of the ordinary.  

The answer is that we have a small drainage ditch below our front deck.  The previous owners had lined the ditch with old pieces of concrete--looked ugly.  So, Vicky is redoing it all.  

Here she is tossing one of the rocks she collected today into the ditch.  Good arm, huh?

 

 And then she spends some time every day arranging her little stream.  It's coming along! 

I want to ask you.  How can you not love a woman who finds road signs for God, who cycles past a zebra, and who is building a ditch?  

I'm certainly smitten.  I'll tell you that!