Spring Has Sprung!
And it is amazing!  I have not had allergies like this for a long time but it is worth it to see all the fruit trees starting to blossom.  The desert floor is alive with green and some of the cactus are starting to bloom (I did not see any yet).  The trees that drop their leaves naturally, as opposed to the ones that lost them due to freezing in the 2 cold spells, are starting to leaf out.
Yesterday I went out birdwatching with the group from our park and had the best time.  I did some practising with my camera.  Don stayed home and did laundry and cooked supper.  Win Win!

I think I see the man in the moon??
Today Don and I drove out to Queen Creek to visit the Schnepf Farm. This is the most amazing farm.  It is organic and very interactive.  They have many things to do and see and is a great place for a family outing.

We started with the Peach Blossom Walking trail.

 They say they have the earliest peaches in the country, which are ready in April.  Their most popular variety is ready in May.  I DO NOT want to go home until I eat one of these peaches.

 It takes 3 years from planting a small bare tree until they start producing fruit.

 These peach orchards were so beautiful.  Very fragrant and that was with a totally stuffed up head!  There were a lot of pretty pink petals on the ground and I was wishing we would have come a week earlier.

Irrigation water travels in these concrete ditches and the water is syphoned out to flood the fields.

Some people just do not appreciate the finer things in life!

Can you believe all this and a great back drop to boot?

There were also a herd of deer that they had fenced in an area.  Not sure why? But it was nice to look at anyway, they also had a train ride that you could take all around the farm.

They just make the farm so nice and have picnic areas and flowers and plants and trees everywhere. 

You can walk along the farm where they grow different vegetables in different seasons.  You just walk out and pick what you want and pay by the pound.  Aren't the artichoke bushes interesting?

I have no idea what kind of tree this is but it is amazing!

Inside, you can order lunch, or have one of these amazing treats or

get some of the best salsa you have ever tasted!  We then drove down the road to the Queen Creek Olive Mill.  We shopped with the camera only today.

 mmmm Gelato

 that is fresh mozza cheese. tomatoes and artichokes.  These little appetizers looked so amazing but . . .

 Wonder how many people took them up on this - hilarious.

I promised we would have lunch at Hooters after "we" enjoyed our trip to the farm.  Don has been wanting to go there for weeks.  Honestly, I would have preferred the appetizers but I did like those tot things with the cheese sauce and bacon!

 Karen and Syd - check out this link - now that's extreme running    https://runtodeath.com/

This is just a shot I got of the crazy roads/freeways around the area. It is however, very easy to get around, the off and on ramps are very well organized.  That being said, I am scared to death to drive here.  The speeds are 75 MPH on the freeways and highways.  Even the school zone is 35 MPH which is 56 km.   I was reading today that every passenger in the front seat must wear a seat belt and that children under 5 must be properly secured.  They also do not have "no texting or phoning" laws while driving.  Kinda scary!

This finch was having a good visit with the mockingbird. How the birds sit on all these prickly things I do not know.  This picture and the next few are just in our park from today as it seems like spring arrived today.

Look at these pretty Mexican gold poppies. I hear they will be popping up all over the desert shortly.

 Orange tree blossoms

 Lemon tree buds.

 This tree is only about 3 feet tall but has a lot of blooms and buds.

This grapefruit tree had a lot of new growth and a ton of buds. The scent is so wonderful.  Luckily the people that own the house this was in front of did not mind me taking pictures.  They said they did not get any fruit this year so have been watering and fertilizing.  I think they will be rewarded next year!  We stopped and talked to them and we were talking about taking pictures and what not.  He mentioned that he was taking pictures of the snow on  the Superstition Mountains as well.  Apparently a lot of people who live here have never seen snow on that mountain either.
We are in this park until March 4th so we are in the process of planning our next stop.