Dec. 18 through 23:  We took advantage of Sunday's rather rainy cool day to return to the Mesa  Market Place Swap Meet near the Superstition Mountains in the beautiful desert area of Mesa, Arizona.   The Mesa Market Place Swap Meet is a 55 acre facility filled with 1600 booths under one covered breezeway!  If you walk by every booth in the market place, you'll have walked almost one and a half miles!  We didn't check out every booth--there's just so much "as seen on TV" stuff that one needs!


Monday was our laundry day--turns out it was laundry day for most of Mesa.  The laundromat was so packed that we delayed our chore and opted to check out a few more retail shops.  Stopped at Kohl's and Best Buy.  No big purchases but by the time we finished our browsing, the crowd at the laundromat had diminished and we were able to take care of business.


Barely out of the suburbs, the Usery Mountain Regional Park where we are staying seems quite remote.  One afternoon while riding my new bicycle through the park I witnessed two coyotes crossing the road only about 50 feet in front of me!  During the wee hours of the previous night,  both Corky and I had been awakened by the incessant howling of a pack of coyotes gathering together.  It seemed as though they were right outside the coach!  The camp hosts told us that coyotes roam the Park all the time!  Oh, no more walking the dogs too far from the coach at night!


A little history on the Usery Mountain area:  It's named after King Usery (King was his name, not his title) a cattleman who was running stock in the area in the late 1800's.  Evidently, the cattle business was not his forte and he turned to thievery as a new career.  He and his buddy, Bill Blevins, robbed a stage in 1891, reaping silver bullion, jewelery and cash.  For the crime, a jury sentenced Usery  to 7 years in the Yuma Prison; they weren't sure about Blevins.  His lawyers appealed the conviction, but while he was awaiting a new trial, Usery & Blevins continued their shady dealings.  They paid their lawyers in cattle, but stole the cattle back from the lawyers later.  Needless to say, their lawyers weren't pleased.  Welcome to the Yuma Territorial Prison!  Anyway, as the story goes, Usery spent much of the rest of his life in and out of jail until one day he just simply disappeared.  


The site where I researched Usery History lists a disclaimer clause that reminds the reader that most of these colorful stories have been passed down through re-telling and have probably been embellished and exaggerated.  So take it with a grain of salt.  I thought it was rather interesting.  


I spent a couple of hours on Wednesday volunteering at Jenna's kindergarten with Kimm & Steve.  We helped prepare the special "Chocolat" that they had while watching the Polar Express film.  My goodness, teachers DO NOT get enough credit for their accomplishments, especially kindergarten teachers--bless them everyone!

We have been exploring the area, by foot and by auto.  I've posted a few photos of our hike through this park and some of the scenery on the nearby Tonto National Forest.  

Usery Mountain

Hiking in the desert

Woody's thirsty!

We are leaving Usery Park on Christmas Eve to spend 2 nights in Chandler in front of Steve & Kimm's house.  We'll try to post our holiday pics some time later this week.  Until then, Corky & I wish you all a very safe and merry Christmas.   Be sure to check out our other photos and Corky's website at  http://www.sites.google.com/site/ccrodine/

MERRY CHRISTMAS!