February...and it's getting warmer!

There's so much to do here, but you can be as busy or as retired as you want.  I tried my hand at Rock Painting... 

I'm calling them "doorstop and paperweight"

Beading... 

First project - a tennis bracelet

and Swedish Weaving...

Working on 4 Placemats

Keith is enjoying his ATV rides through the desert.  He's getting excited for the beginning of the Nascar season at Daytona in two weeks.

Friday's hike was to Harquahala Mine.  Gold was discovered here by Spanish explorers in the 1760's.  But, mining the gold didn't begin till the 1860's and ended in 1907.  At its height, there were about 500 people living in the town that supported the miners and their families.

Harquahala Mine

 

The remains of the town

Ellen, Donna and I went to Bouce, a nearby town, for their annual Fashion Show.  The models were dressed as famous  local characters.  One was dressed as Salome', whom some say the town of Salome was named for.  Salome' was the stepdaughter of Herod. She danced before Herod and her mother Herodias at the occasion of his birthday, and in doing so gave her mother the opportunity to obtain the head of John the Baptist. According to Mark's gospel Herodias bore a grudge against John for stating that Herod's marriage to her was unlawful; she encouraged Salome' to demand that John be executed. The other story is that in 1904, speculating that the railroad would lay tracks through the area, Charles Pratt with the help of Ernest and Dick Wick Hall laid out a town here.  Dick Hall, a noted humorist, said the town was named because Mrs. Grace Salome Pratt took off her shoes and the hot sand burned her feet, hence the slogan, "Salome, where she danced."  

And, they've told us that the hikes will end when it warms up cause that's when the snakes come out...that could be soon!