Remembering Rolling Mom's Transit Chair Up Piestewa Peak

A few days ago, Microsoft's OneDrive Memories from this Day had me Remembering Rolling Mom Over Tempe Town Lake & Up Piestewa Peak.

The OneDrive photos at that point in time were of rolling mom over Tempe Town Lake, which had me remembering other instances of rolling mom in scenic Arizona locations, including the trails at Piestewa Peak Park in North Phoenix.

And now, this morning's OneDrive Memories of this Day included several photos of rolling mom along those trails in Piestewa Peak Park.

Piestewa Peak was the most difficult place I found to roll mom. There were a couple steep up and down sections of trail.

It was way back in 2018, or was it 2017? I'm not sure. But, during a visit with mom I grew a tad tired of how limited the outings with mom were. Due to mom walking using a walker. In slow motion.

We were in a store, getting what? I don't remember. But, I saw the store had available something they called 'Transit Chairs". Not a classic wheelchair with big back wheels that the rider could use to roll the chair. A transit chair was more like a chair with what looked like small mountain bike wheels.

So, we got a transit chair, which quickly opened up all sorts of new possibilities. Such as easily rolling all over Costco, Sam's Club, Walmart and Target. And WinCo. And various malls. And the Maricopa Ah-Chin Casino. And the trails in various parks.

I got some flack from some for getting mom that transit chair, due to some thinking it was a bit of a bother, that and mom was supposed to do some walking every day. Doctor's orders.

But, I think the transit chair was a great quality of life enhancer. That and, selfishly, it made visiting mom way more fun for me than pre-transit chair...

Remembering Rolling Mom Over Tempe Town Lake & Up Piestewa Peak

Another Microsoft OneDrive Memory from this Day which I do remember, and which may have taken place on this exact October day, with the year being 2018, part of a month long stay in Arizona.

That is me, above, wheeling my mom across the Elmore Pedestrian Bridge over the Tempe Town Lake in Tempe, Arizona.

That month in Arizona saw taking mom on many rolling adventures. I remember at one point mom saying "I never thought I'd get to do something like this again."

That comment happened on the trail at Piestewa Peak Park, in north Phoenix, the second highest peak in the Phoenix Mountains.

Now, to be clear, we did not roll mom all the way to the top of Piestewa Peak, but we did roll up and down some steep trails in the park. 

Thinking back on it later, some of those steep downhill sections could have gone badly wrong. The wheeling device did have a braking mechanism. But, it was quickly obvious the braking mechanism needed some help when the trail got too steep.

I sort of miss going to Arizona several times a year. Have not done so since July of 2019...

Google Remembers Driving Miss Daisy To Monument Valley & State Fair Of Texas & More

Two days in a row, for the first time, Google has sent to my email, emails purporting to be memories from that day, in which I actually remember all the memories. 

At the upper left, that is me looking at my antique, long gone Casion digital camera, which had a feature which allowed you to rotate the camera lens towards oneself making for what, in this century, is known as a selfie.

In this particular 'selfie' we ae in Monument Valley, in Arizona, two days after getting off a Lake Powell houseboat. The day we exited the houseboat we stayed at the San Juan Inn, in Mexican Hat, Utah.

Below the selfie, on the lower left, that is the sky ride at the State Fair of Texas, in Dallas. 

The upper right is the lake in Veterans Oasis Park in Chandler, Arizona. Below the lake photo is Driving Miss Daisy Around Chandler Veterans Oasis With Snakes. 

The lower right is an arch in Arches National Park in Utah.

And now, on to today's Google memories...

The upper left is, once again, the State Fair of Texas.

The other four Google memories are all from Dreamy Draw Park at Piestewa Peak, in Phoenix. At that location we did Dreamy Draw Hiking Miss Daisy In & Out Up Piestewa Peak.

That was a memorable day. Mom had a lot of fun getting rolled on trails through the park. I remember at one point mom memorably saying, "I didn't think I'd ever get to do something like this again." 

I do not think mom realized how steep the trail was, a couple times. The transit chair had good brakes.

So, there you go, my Google memories from the past two days...

Dreamy Draw Hiking Miss Daisy In & Out Up Piestewa Peak

Today, on this final Thursday of this visit to Arizona, Miss Daisy wanted to do some mountain hiking in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve, specifically at the Dreamy Draw section of the Phoenix Mountain Preserve, located on the north side of Piestewa Peak, which was our mountain hiking destination.

The paved trail leading from the parking lot was just a little steep. I was a slightly concerned about the going back downhill part of this hike.

But, Miss Daisy's new wheels have sturdy handbrakes which made for a safe descent.

For the most part.

Sand on the cement made for some slipping issues, both in uphill and downhill mode, but nothing too tragic.

I think Miss Daisy enjoyed her mountain outing a lot. Even more than the Walmart racing we did yesterday.

After hiking Miss Daisy directed the driver to continue on the 51 freeway, eventually exiting at Shea Boulevard, to Scottsdale Boulevard, and eventually Loop 202, where Miss Daisy directed the driver to go west on 202, but the driver rebelled and went east on 202, to 101, telling Miss Daisy he misunderstood her directions, that and the 101 is a straight shot south to Chandler Boulevard and the In & Out burger joint Miss Daisy wanted to go to.

When In & Out opened in Fort Worth I went with Big Ed to its West Seventh Street location for a Double Double Combo. I had been saying since 2004 that In & Out makes the best burger ever, having had two in Tempe in February of that year.

So, we had the Fort Worth In & Out Double Double, with fries. And it was not good. Not good at all. I did not concede to Big Ed that I also thought the Fort Worth version was bad, told him he had poorly developed tastebuds.

And now today Big Ed finally had an Arizona In & Out Double Double. And it was as bad as the Fort Worth experience. Super messy, and the fries seemed of the frozen sort we had had in Fort Worth. Barely edible, and so we ate few. And poor ol' Miss Daisy. She gave up trying to consume her Double Double in the conventional way and instead opted to deconstruct it for piece by piece consumption.

Last February Miss Daisy and I Double Doubled and Fried at this same In & Out and it was good, real good. So, I am thinking there is something wrong with Big Ed which causes problems with In & Out when he is in those burger's vicinity.

We are taking Miss Daisy swimming this afternoon. She has already been asking what we get to do tomorrow. I'm exhausted. Am looking forward to being back in Texas where I can relax.

And below is a short video I YouTubed of today's hike with Miss Daisy. In the video I can not remember the Dreamy Draw name of the location...

Final Wichita Falls Bike Ride Before Arizona Mountain Climbing

On this first Saturday of the 2018 version of October the outer world at my current location is a bit dark and cloudy.

With about an hour to go before noon I opted to exit my abode so as to roll my bike wheels one more time before exiting Texas tomorrow.

In the photo documentation we are on the Circle Trail looking south over my handlebars.

Rain and thunderstorms are in today's forecast. So far I have felt no drippage, nor heard any booms.

Last night I came to my final decision as to the route for the roadtrip to Arizona. A short distance on 287 to 70, then 60 all the way to the Phoenix zone.

When I was younger I greatly enjoyed long roadtrips. Thousands of miles never vexed me. I remember the first time I saw Texas was part of a month long multi-thousand mile roadtrip. That was the summer the whole world was worried regarding who shot J.R. I did not visit Southfork at that point in time.

Now that I am semi-elderly I am not as fond of the roadtrip concept. I am sort of looking forward to doing some actual mountain type hiking in Arizona. Maybe Camelback Mountain. Maybe Piestewa Peak. Maybe South Mountain.

Or it may be too HOT with a lot of pool time being more appealing than mountain hiking.

Nurse Canecracker, aka Lil' Miss Linda, will be arriving on the 16th.

We ordered a new transport chair for my mom. Nurse Canecracker is not yet fully recovered from getting badly injured from an encounter with a car on the streets of Mount Vernon. Big Ed may come in handy if Nurse Canecracker wants to avail herself of using one of the transport chairs.

If I remember right the trail up Piestewa Peak is paved. Maybe we will be able to push both mom and Nurse Canecracker to the Piestewa Peak summit....

Is Hippie Spencer Jack Climbing Camelback Mountain With Me?

What you see here I found whilst checking email this morning, on this, my last day in Texas, for about a month.

A photo and a message from Spencer Jack's dad, my Favorite Nephew Jason, aka FNJ.

FUD-

Spencer Jack fashioned 1960s progressive America at school today.  

Thought you would enjoy seeing the soon to be 11 year old liberal Jones nephew’s cute photo.

Hope all is well,
FNJ

P.S. - Perhaps we can connect sometime soon in AZ. Perhaps we can hike Camelback Mountain together?

__________________

The 1960s? A time of rapid change, riots, assassinations, raging wars in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, Beatles, Beach Boys, Rolling Stones.

And Hippies.

I wonder if Spencer Jack's grandma Cindy, she being my favorite ex-sister-in-law, helped turn Spencer into a Hippie.

Spencer Jack and his dad are probably not aware of what a Flower Child their grandma and mom was back in those long ago days of peace, love and freedom.

Peace, love and freedom? Am I remembering right? That that was/is the Hippie Credo?

Am I to insinuate from Spencer Jack's dad's message that the boys will be in Arizona at some point in time this month?

I don't know about hiking up Camelback Mountain. That is in Scottsdale, where Spencer Jack's dad, my little brother, Jake, lives. There is a Camelback Mountain website devoted to climbing this mountain.

Wikipedia's description of hiking Camelback Mountain...

Two hiking trails ascend 1,280 feet (390 m) to the peak of Camelback Mountain. The Echo Canyon Trail is 1.14 miles (1900 m) and the Cholla Trail is 1.4 mi (2300 m). Both trails are considered strenuous with steep grades. The hiking path has dirt, gravel, boulders, and some handrail-assisted sections. The average hike requires a round trip time of 1.5 to 3 hours.

Closer to Jake than Camelback Mountain is Papago Park. There are a lot of fun things to hike to in Papago Park. Such as the Hole in the Rock.

The second highest mountain in the Phoenix mountain range is known as Piestewa Peak, formerly Squaw Peak. Spencer Jack's aunt Jackie, she being my sister, and I hiked Piestewa Peak back in March of 2012. We did not make it to the summit.

We could also go hiking on South Mountain. South Mountain Park is the biggest city park in America and one of the biggest urban parks in the world. A Republican president of the decent sort, who helped make parks, not destroy them, or open them to drilling, Calvin Coolidge, helped Phoenix acquire the South Mountain parkland.

The first time I drove the road to the top of South Mountain I saw bikers mountain biking on trails which I would not be comfortable riding. Treacherous.

A bike has been delivered to where I will be staying in Arizona. It is not a mountain bike, and so its wheels will not be seeing mountain bike trails. Those wheels will likely be seeing a lot of miles of paved trails trailing all over this location with multiple lakes, appropriately called Sun Lakes.

This is likely going to be my last blog posting for awhile. I am not bring a laptop with me. My only internet connection will be via my phone. Or when I am at my sister's in Chandler. I may be using this break from the Internet World, and my computer, to break my blogging addiction.

It is said it takes 21 days to break a bad habit, or start a new good habit...

My Final Friday In Arizona With An Extra Exhausting Schedule Plus Sweet Tomatoes

Lounging Pool-Side With The Esther Williams Wannabes

Today is my last full day in Arizona. It is only 3 in the afternoon and I've already had me a day.

I was going to break today, so far, up in to separate bloggings, but, I decided, instead, to just write one long-winded blogging, of today, so far.

With pictures.

My sister was scheduled to pick me up at 9. So, at 8 I decided to go swimming, again, with the well-seasoned ladies of Sun Lakes.

The swimming and early morning pool lounging went well with the warm temperature, which has now risen to 82 degrees by mid-afternoon.

Palm Tree Surveillance

I was enjoying lounging in the sun when I looked up at the palm trees to see one that did not look right.

Can you spot the odd palm tree in the picture?

Near as I can tell, Sun Lakes security feels the need to keep an eye on the well-seasoned ladies in the pool and so they've mounted high-tech security devices, disguised as a palm tree.

Sneaky.

As I walked back to my mom and dad's I saw my sister had already arrived. We all discussed the later today plan to go to Sweet Tomatoes, and then my sister and I were on our way to Piestewa Peak, among other things.

Piestewa Peak used to be called Squaw Peak. Squaw Peak was renamed to honor Spc. Lori Ann Piestewa, who was the first American Indian woman killed in combat and the first female soldier killed in action, in the Iraq War, way back in 2003.

Piestewa Peak aka Squaw Mountain In The Distance

Piestewa Peak, at 2,608 feet, is the second tallest peak in the Camelback Mountains.

Since around 1910 the name Squaw was used to reference this peak. It was also called Squaw Tit Mountain. Some considered the name Squaw to be derogatory.

I can't imagine why.

Over the years efforts were made to change the name from something other than Squaw or Squaw Tit. A Native Navajo State Representative, Jack Jackson, in 1992, began submitting bills to change the name.

Changing the name of Squaw Mountain generated a lot of squawking. Eventually the American Indian Movement got involved, wanting to change the name to Iron Mountain. Finally, on April 17, 2003, within a month of Lori Piestewa's death, the name was changed.

Busy Parking Lot With A Lot Of People
With The Air Let Out Of Them

I am drawing a blank as to how it was we left the freeway and were suddenly at a parking lot at the base of Piestewa Peak. I was surprised at the large number of cars parked.

I am used to going to parking lots for hikes in Texas and finding few cars.

My sister has hiked on Piestewa Peak previously, with my other sisters, and others. My sister indicated she'd never made it to the summit. The summit is reached with an elevation gain of 1,190 feet in 1.2 miles, so it was easy to believe my sister had never made it to the summit.

My Sister Way Ahead Of Me On Way
 To Piestewa Peak Summit

But, just like how my sister tricked me into a bad bet regarding Susan Lucci and Dancing With The Stars, I was suckered into a bad bet again, betting my sister she could not make it to the summit.

In the picture can you find my sister way ahead of me, past the Saguaro?

My sister hiking at such a fast pace should have clued me to the fact that she is in way better shape than I was led to believe.

We ran into many bikers, hikers and joggers on the Piestewa Peak Trail who looked like they'd had the air let out of them. Everywhere I go in Arizona I see people who appear to have been deflated.

The Piestewa Peak Summit Trail sees thousands of hikers a week. Quite a few of those hikers do not make it all the way to the summit. But, even though the trail is much more difficult than it looks, many hikers do make it to the summit.

Heading Toward Camelback Mountain

Including my sister and me.

Unfortunately without photo documentation due to my camera battery going dead, with the backup battery back in the vehicle.

From the top of Piestewa Peak we could see the McDowell Mountains, the Superstition Mountains, Tabletop Mountain, the Harquahala Mountains, the Papago Mountains, Pinnacle Peak and Four Peaks. Plus other Peaks and Mountains the names of which I have forgotten.

The hike down Piestewa Peak was much easier than the hike up. This is often the case with these type things.

Soon we were back on the road again, with my sister taking me on a driving tour of Old Phoenix, north of downtown. Very cool mansions. Then it was on to the Arizona Biltmore where we wanted to have lunch. But we could not find the Biltmore In-N-Out Burger.

We left the Biltmore and drove on to the Phoenician in Scottsdale. Still no In-N-Out Burger.

Camelback Mansions

Eventually we reached the base of Camelback Mountain. Some call this Sugarloaf. I have no idea why because the mountain clearly looks like a camel with a hump.

We drove up towards the top of the hump, towards huge mansions built into the side of the mountain. The only thing I've ever seen remotely like this is on the Hollywood Hills.

We left Camelback Mountain to drive through downtown Scottsdale. It was a hopping busy place on a Friday afternoon. I was impressed with all the restaurants, galleries, patios and the over all look of downtown Scottsdale.

I forgot to mention that before we drove through downtown Scottsdale we drove by my step-niece's house, which is very close to downtown Scottsdale.

We did not go into my step-niece's house, because my sister has no key, unlike the situation which got us into trouble with my nephew and our unscheduled inspection of his house.

In The Picture I Am Not Feeding The In-N-Out Birds

We left Scottsdale and headed to Tempe where we finally found an In-N-Out. It was very busy, but there was no line to order my Combo #1, which is a Double-Double with fries and a drink.

We found outdoor seating where I was warned not to feed the birds.

Tempe is a college town and this In-N-Out is near ASU. So, the place was packed with college kids. Most of whom appeared to have had the air let out of them.

Post-burgers we headed south, passing wrecked giant windmills and watched a dustdevil do a tornado like spin above the desert. Eventually we made it back to my mom and dad's, where mom brought me celery stuffed with something made with jalapenos and asked me if I could find the nearest Midas Muffler location.

I found the nearest Midas Muffler. Mom and dad have been gone well over an hour, to get their oil changed at Midas Muffler.

Tonight we are off to Sweet Tomatoes. I think I already mentioned that. Have I also mentioned I usually don't eat dinner? I guess not....