December 4, 2012

Desert Sky

We didn’t get up until 9:30 and were too tired to go on a hike today.   We lounged around, had a very late breakfast and then took a ride to the Apache Junction Chamber of Commerce to get some maps and brochures for local attractions including good hiking trails.  It turns out we couldn’t have selected a better place to stay as we are surrounded by places to hike.

After leaving the Chamber we stopped at the Post Office to mail out a letter and then drove on Apache Trail past Goldfield Ghost Town.  We didn’t stop there because we have already toured there in the past.  We continued on until reaching Lost Dutchman State Park.  I had read on-line that there was a guided hike scheduled for Wednesday morning and we wanted to see where the park was and how long it would take us to get there. 

There is a $7 per car day use fee that was waived when we explained at the entrance booth that we just wanted to take a quick drive through.  We found the parking lot where the group is going to meet and figured out that we would only have to allow a half hour in the morning.

On the way back from the park we saw a sign advertising The Dutchman’s Hide Out.  It looked interesting so we decided to check it out.  We went up and down hills, passing beautiful adobe homes until finally coming upon the restaurant.  We continued on the road until it dead-ended and we made a u-turn and retraced our route. 

After a quick stop at Walgreens to return the DVD we had rented (and picking up another one entitled Hope Springs) we returned home where I spend an hour or so looking over all the brochures we had picked up at the chamber. 

I was feeling a little lazy so I made BLT’s for dinner.  We watched the movie we rented that was billed as a romantic comedy, but aside from some funny lines and moments I found the story behind Hope Springs to be sad.  It is the story of a middle aged couple who attend a week of counseling sessions (with Steve Carell playing a serious part) in an attempt to reconnect because, after 30 years of marriage, they have drifted apart.  Meryl Streep as the wife was awesome and Tommy Lee Jones was good as well as the grumpy husband.