Polaris RZR 900 XC

After three years, 6700 miles and countless smiles, I traded my RZR 800 in for a 2015 RZR 900 XC which comes standard with power steering, Fox shocks, engine braking, 27 inch tires, LED lights, GPS and the new 75hp ProStar engine. I added a hard top, half-windshield, HDMW skid plate, rock sliders and a winch.

Naturally, the day I pick it up, a storm front moves into the valley bringing with it over 24 hours of rain. It will probably be Wednesday before the desert dries out enough that I can take it for a long ride. On the bright side, future drought-ridden states will only have to buy me a new machine and have me pick it up there.

This is what I have had to look at for the past two days

Geocaching2

Most of our group have been through Box Canyon numerous times never realizing there are four geocaches hidden along the route. Once again, our crack team of treasure hunters found all of the caches we were looking for (ten for ten). They may make us turn professional if we keep this up.

Our first cache was in a cemetery
(fortunately, we did not have to dig anyone up)

View from the top of the mountain

Our fearless leader

Geocaching

I joined a select team of expert trackers, guides and explorers for my first geocaching ride (if you are not familiar with geocaching, click here for more info). It pays to go with the best as we found all five of the caches we were looking for including some which were very well hidden.

Here's our group at the first cache...

The most difficult cache to find was a small, camouflaged, waterproof match container which required Terry to climb a twenty foot wall of rock...

The most difficult cache to reach was a bat cave which required a quarter mile hike down a wash and then a near vertical climb over loose rock...

All in all, it was a fun way to explore the desert with friends and get some much needed exercise (next time I'm taking a defibrillator).

Nikon D7100

As you may have guessed from my blog, photography is a big part of my retirement lifestyle. Although my Nikon D80 digital SLR has been a great camera, it is eight years old and in the world of technology that is ancient history. So, I have upgraded to the Nikon D7100 which includes high definition video.

The camera arrived yesterday and I have been playing with it ever since. It is definitely an improvement over the older D80. I will probably never use all of the camera's features but have already discovered some items that I really like. Here's a photo taken in the "effects" mode using the "selective color" setting where all colors other than the selected colors are recorded in black and white...

Guess which color I chose as the primary
(click on photo to enlarge)

It should be noted that I am still using the Nikkor 18-200mm zoom lens which in my opinion is one of the best multi-purpose lens available.

Sunday Drive

Today, I took a leisurely drive in the desert via the Florence-Kelvin Highway which as the name implies links the towns of Florence and Kelvin. It starts out relatively flat and then winds its way up through the mountains.

Not too far out of Florence I came upon a rare crested saguaro cactus...

Next was an incongruous field of large boulders most of which had been "tagged" with spray paint by teenage mutant vandals...

Lastly, on Highway 177 heading to Superior, I stopped at the viewing area of a huge open-pit mine...

Click on photo to enlarge

A person standing beside one of these trucks would only reach about half way up the tires...

First Photos of 2015

This is not how you want to start out the new year when in southern Arizona for the winter...

Where's global warming when you want it

The Superstition Mountains...