Distancing

Like many other folks, we are not getting out much.  Our daughter is an ER doc at two area hospitals so we are unable to see her, our new grandson, and son in law for a while because of the risk.  I've had a couple of days when, other than my daily 3 or 4 mile walk up and down our local hills, I haven't left our property.

Yesterday, we decided to take a drive out to Bartlett Lake.  There are only two natural lakes in the state, and Bartlett is not one of them, being formed by a dam on the Verde River.  Though it is only a 35 minute drive it feels like another world.  Fifteen minutes north of us the Phoenix metro area ends and beyond it's just mountains, hills and washes along the edge of the Sonoran Desert.

Not a lot of traffic and few people at the lake, so it was easy to keep our distance from people.  And we made sure not to pick up hitchhikers!  We've had a lot of rain this winter, so in a week or two the wild flowers along the road on the way to the lake will be spectacular.

The first photo below is on the road to the lake, about 8 miles away, the second from an overlook close to the lake.