In April, I traveled to Arizona to see Karen Lauer, who used to work here at The Courier in the 1990s. She and I are like sisters. April is a good time to go – 99 degrees.
At Salty Senoritas, our favorite watering hole in Mesa, Ariz., we celebrated Karen’s birthday. Good margaritas, good Mexican food, good times.
The Lost Dutchman Mine near Superstition Mountain east of Phoenix is one of the oldest gold mines in Arizona. The gold from this mine has never been found, and there’s a big ghost story about. There are expeditions even to this day trying to find the gold from this mine. There’s a saloon here where you can literally ride your horse right up to the bar. Tie up, belly up and drink up. Lots of fun!
At the Lost Dutchman, there is a huge saguaro cactus – the largest in the state. It takes at least 100 years for saguaro cacti to even begin to branch out, so this guy is really old.
I loved to see the wrens nesting in the saguaros. I bought Karen a bird book and got her hooked on bird watching. We would sit on the patio and listen/watch for the birds and then mark them down in the book when we identified them.
I couldn't leave Arizona without visiting Sun Devil Stadium, where Ohio State captured the 2002 National Football Championship. Go Buckeyes!
By Susan Hite, Courier ad rep
Cool pictures, Susan! Arizona be awesome. But are you really just hugging that cactus?
Anyway, looks like you had a good time. Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: Joy | July 16, 2007 at 12:32 PM