Billy Wardle Happenings

 Since I first heard of the Christmas Tree on Radar Hill I had been waiting to see it.  We first saw it Thanksgiving night on our way home from visiting the Allreds for Thanksgiving pie.  It was lit on the hill.   To me this tree brings hope.  Hope of a better tomorrow.  It is a shining light on the hill.  You can see it from almost every place in Kingman, (unless blocked by a hill or building) or if you can't see it where you are you just have to go a short distance to be able to see it.  

 When we toured the Mesa Temple first part of November, we took a night to check out the Lost Dutchman Mine State Park.  The superstition Mountains are said to be the place of many alien sightings as well as a lost gold mine.  We didn't see any of that but the mountains are pretty with many hiking trails.  Where we camped was a newer area, and it was a good walk to the restroom.  However the restroom had free showers and was very elegant.  There was a dog walking park across the street from the restroom.  This campground was fun.

 I couldn't get very good pictures with my phone.  I could see the eclipse great through my monocular, which was really cool.  At its height only a drop of light was peaking through; but I could see the shadow of the moon with the monocular.  It was quite the show.  I tried to zoom in with my camera, but there was not enough light so it got grainy.  The eclipse was at its peak at about 2 a.m. and lasted for almost an hour before is started to come back.  This was early in the morning 11/19/2021.  This is the view I recorded.

 Out side of Chloride, about  mile and a half past Chloride, up a pretty rough dirt road, are the Chloride murals.  The are also known as the Roy Purcell murals as he is the artist who painted them.  They were painted in 1966.  Roy Purcell took time off to work in the mines in the Cerbat Mountains from his graduate studies in fine arts at Utah State University.  While in the area he completed the murals.  They have worn well, but I understand Purcell and his family recently visited the area to touch up the murals.   I took my car up about a third of the way and then thought the road was too rough to pass so walked the rest of the way.  However others did take their cars all the way.  The hike has some gain in elevation so was a bit difficult. View of mine on stone Not a mural but quartzite vein in I think granite Art in the rocks

 Canyon Shadows is a park on the west side of Kingman.  It is off of Crestwood, just north of Gordon.  The park is long and narrow and follows a wash.  In fact after the park, on the west side across the street, the wash continues up the hill and makes a nice hike.  In meanders between the back yards of the houses, as does the park itself.   This park has many amenities: horse shoe pits, picnic areas, playground and sidewalks for walking from one end of the park to the other.  Going beyond the park, hiking up the wash is a bit rough with rocks, but it does present with some nice views.

 We finally made our first venture to Great Wold Lodge.  This was the first week in October.  It was an experience.  We went with Caleb and Annie and their family.  The slides were fun; even though the lazy river wasn't running.  There were a couple of slides that were not running as well.  Todd had a great time going down the slides.  There were a couple slides that required group tubes.  Sheri and I went on this.  I was going backwards and it seems we went down a deep drop which caught me unawares.  There was a small slide place for Hadley to play.  The wave maker was fun.  There were also lots of water play toys for squirting water.  They gave us ears for each of us.  The hotel was very maculate.  The nicest I have stayed in for some time.  It was a suite with two different bedrooms and then a pull down bed in the living area.  It also had a small kitchen.  There were also facilities in the...