A lake 15 miles from our house. Our guest took this photo on her bike ride.
When we have guests, we like to take them to the lake. It’s a beautiful drive through Tonto National Forest and so surprising to see water in the middle of the desert. The lake was created by a dam and thankfully the lake was as full as I’ve seen it thanks to a ton of rain. Also I heard that Arizona is building up the dam to hold more water.
My friend who is visiting is an avid cyclist and Saturdays are her days for a major ride. I told her about the lake and that I’ve seen lots of cyclists make the trek with huge hills. It was a 40-mile bike ride. We followed by car with her husband and puppy, to make sure she was safe.
Here are more photos:
This is where we like to go in the summer to cool off with a dip in the lake.
There were people camping and fishing.
A photo taken by my cycling guest during her ride to the lake.
Our friend’s four-month old puppy Karenina.
We also managed to get in a hike.
How do you like to entertain your guests? Where do you take them in your area?
Because of space limitations we don’t have house guests. But when friends are in the city I try to tailor to their interests
That makes sense. Plus you have so much to see and do.
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A beautiful place very near to your home. I’m glad you all enjoyed the hike and the ride. Awesome pictures. Love the blue.
Thank you. It’s been a nice visit and the weather was perfect.
I’m glad that you had a good time.
I’m exhausted but we did have fun.
That’s cool.
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I love the photos – and the fact that your friend had a caravan of cheerleaders following her. Good for encouragement AND for safety. Forty miles? Wow.
In our neck of the woods, there’s so much to do. Like LA, we focus on what guests are interested in — city life (just a train ride away) or exploring countryside and the gardens in the burbs. No saguaros, tho! 😜
I was impressed with the bike ride. There isn’t a bike lane and there are lots of sharp curves and hills. In other words blind spots. But it’s a popular bike ride because of the beauty and it’s challenging. That’s nice you have city and countryside to share.
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Glad you all had a good time!
Thanks. I think I need several days to recover!
I get that EA! My oldest and the grands are coming in March for a week. I’ll be in recovery mode for a time after they leave 😉
Exactly. I love my friends, but they are the type who don’t enjoy down time, but are on the go from dawn until bedtime. I realize I lead a quieter, slower life and need my alone time.
Beautiful! We go up to Lake Pleasant with friends on occasion. It’s a nice area. I often take visitors to hike Spur Cross Dragonfly Loop, which is one of my favorite hikes because there’s rarely anyone there.
We went to Lake Pleasant when we first moved here. It’s nice, too. I’ll have to look up Spur Cross Dragonfly Loop. Since we’re on the north end of the preserve we rarely see anyone. It’s really busy though at the main entrance.
Beautiful lake. Looks wonderful for a ride. The puppy is cute – but how did Olive feel about her?
Olive stayed away. Olive ran and hid when she saw her through the window. The ride is beautiful, but very challenging with hills and sharp curves — and no bike lane.
Oh what great pictures Elizabeth. Sounds like you had a great time. Happy for you guys.
We did. But I hiked over five miles yesterday and I’m tired.
Oh, sounds exhausting! Ha ha ha
I just looked at my steps. It was close to eight miles!
I’m proud of myself but our friends never stop. I need some relaxation 😂
I spent a field season observing bald eagles at Saguaro Lake. My partner and I had to go everywhere by boat and camped for 10-day stretches out on the lake. It was incredible!
We like to encourage guests to ride the narrow gauge train to Silverton where we pick them up and do more exploring in the mountains. You don’t want to ride the train both ways, trust me.🙂
I haven’t heard of Saguaro lake before. I looked it up and it’s a little over a mile from us. I love camping. When I was a child, we camped at Ross Lake in Washington state. We started by car to a tugboat, then the back of a flat back truck on fire roads, to a small marina to rent a small motor boat to the campsite. Now there’s a highway right there.
Given the proximity that’s a surprise it’s new to you. How about that?! I like the sound of the old way of getting to that camp. Who wants to listen to highway noise when you’re camping?
We’ve lived here since December 2020 and there’s much we haven’t explored yet. I’m surprised I never heard about it though! That was such an adventure as a kid to get to our campsite. So beautiful, too.
Beautiful lake photo, inviting and relaxing. How do you like to entertain your guests? Where do you take them in your area? People who come here want to go out to eat, many local restaurants from which to choose. Plus the zoo. That seems to be a big draw.
Thank you! We didn’t go out to eat once with our guests. I’d like to, but my friend loves to cook and wanted to make a dinner for us. She even baked a cake. That was after her 40-mile bike ride to the lake and back. 😅
What a lovely area you live in! We usually take any guests we have to either the old gold rush town or maybe the train museum. I also love to take them on day trips to see the ocean.
I went to both of those places as a chaperone for my son’s 6th grade class. I love it.
Beautiful photos.
Thanks!