Pleasant Harbor RV Resort

the wandering chick

...Pleasant Harbor RV Resort

on Lake Pleasant, Peoria, AZ

I've added this page for my family and friends who have asked where I am spending the winter. Except for a trip home to see my brother and dad, this is where I'll be.

And my sister will be proud of me because I go everywhere in sandals and pedicured toes instead of my usual socks and hiking boots...well, almost everywhere.

Above: My own little spot in the world.

Left: Yep, it's a roadrunner. He's been spotted the last several days here in the park.

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This is a Verdin, a common bird for this area. He's a tiny thing, not much larger than a hummingbird. And evidently likes the sweetwater, too, as I find him mostly clinging to the feeder.

This is a Yellow-rumped Warbler. As you can see from the photo below, he likes the hummingbird's sweetwater, but is just a little too short to reach it.

Anna's Hummingbird is a regular around the feeder, suprising for being out here in the desert. Another photo of Anna's hummer is below, left.

A sudden February thunderstorm brought this rainbow.

Above: Prickly pear cactus in bloom

Below: Ocotillo in bloom

There are times when the snow reaches even to the mountains in the west valley. The above picture and the one to the right were taken at Lake Pleasant and the Lake Pleasant Regional Park in Maricopa County.

The Lake Pleasant marina from Vista Point

A hummingbird "waits in the wings" to get his rightful place at the feeder. A gila woodpecker obviously likes the sugarwater, too, and site #192 in the Rosette.

Pleasant Harbor got a few extra nice sunrises thanks to the dust storms that were passing through.

A blue heron is spotted near the north ramp.

Sunset on a clear day

This is a Gila Woodpecker, and he must be a little young, not yet mastering the hummingbird feeder. After landing underneath, he manages to move his feet to the rim, then he does a little chin-up to get his body up to where he can drink. And then he takes a slow, l -o-n-g drink!

There's a strip of land that can only be accessed when the lake level is at its lowest. In mid-October I was able to get over there, walking toward the north ramp and then past the Spring Canyon ramp in the direction of Honeymoon Cove. The next several pictures were taken from there.

Lake Pleasant marina in the far distance

Looking north across Honeymoon Cove

I can never resiist taking a picture of the marina when the water is so blue and so calm.

The next several pictures were also taken at the lake's lowest level, but in the area of the south ramp between the rv park's dry camp lot and the marina. As expected, lots of rock and tree stubs are exposed on the otherwise sandy barren lake bottom.

I've discovered a hummingbird nest on Vista Point with, at the last check, one little pink egg in it. I'll continue to monitor and will post pictured as I see changes. Hopefully, we'll be seeing some little baby hummers soon. Stay tuned! (An emergency trip to Minnesota in early March prevented me from seeing the progress of the baby hummingbirds. I heard from neighbors that the babes fledged. The nest, as of this writing in April, is intact and will hopefully be used again next year. )

This small herd of donkeys was spotted off Lake Pleasant Parkway on a dusty, windy spring day.

Ocotillos have the moniker Flaming Arrow.

hot-air balloons seen through the saguaros

the tall yellow stalks of an agave century plant

closeup of the red buds of an ocotillo plant

I've not seen many agave century plants at Pleasant Harbor, but these were found on a side street off Lake Pleasant Parkway. The next few shots were taken there, on Buckhorn Street.

Another non-cactus plant of the desert is the Ocotillo.

Sunrise at Pleasant Harbor from Site 196 in the Rosette

This peregrine falcon was sitting atop the telephone post just outside the PHRV gate on 87th St.

On an October day when the east valley was getting a hard rain, we got the rainbow and some ominous rain clouds....but we never got the rain.

Vista Point is an excellent place to go looking for blooming Brittle Bush.

It's pretty special when you can get a shot of a full moon and a colorful sunset on the same hike. These, from Vista Point.

Kayak rentals at the Pleasant Harbor marina

Visitors to the marina restaurant are welcomed by the sweet fragrance of jasmine blossoms.

A colorful collection of sailboats graces the waters of Lake Pleasant on a particulary sunny and warm winter Sunday.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Even though Lake Pleasant may not always be the cleanest and clearest, it can still be a bit pleasing to the eye.

Sunrise on a warm spring morning

Looking east, this is one of my favorite views from Site 196.

Pleasant Harbor must have been on the migrating route for this Vermillion Flycatcher. He left as quickly as he came in. Thanks for the visit!

It seems we never get tired of taking pictures of the burros that roam our grounds here at Pleasant Harbor.

Looking out over Pleasant Harbor from a walking path that started at the North Ramp when the water was low.

A continuation of pictures, more recent, of Pleasant Harbor and its surroundings can be viewed here.

A nice hike up the mountain....to see pix, click here.

A second hike up the same mountain with a different group...to see pix, click here.

A collection of pics of The Gang

March of 2017 had the best desert super-bloom I've seen in several years.

Feel free to visit my other Arizona pages by returning to the Arizona home page.

A baby hummingbird was spotted in the tree on site 197 in the Rosette.

We call it The Wash. Officially, it's the Maricopa Trail that we pick up on the West Dam Access Road on the south side of Pleasant Harbor RV Park. The trail leads southwesterly into a shallow canyon surrounded by such scenes as this and filled with various types and colors of rock that peak our happy spots and fill our pockets. It's roughly a three- to four-mile roundtrip hike. Good shoes are recommended.

There's been talk of a couple of roadrunners seen in our park this season. This one, to me, looks like a juvenile, though I'm not sure. Too bad I wasn't able to capture a good shot of its feet, which leave easily identifiable tracks, forming an X, since two toes face forward and two face backward.

The Budweiser Clydesdale horses made an appearance at the grand opening of the Fry's store on Lake Pleasant Parkway. Majestic, regal and dressed to the hilt, the horses' appearance was a fun event on this windy Friday morning. The Dalmation was a hit, too. A part of the Anhauser-Busch team since the 1950s, his purpose in life has been to guard the horses and wagon while the driver is making deliveries.