My How Times Have Changed

On the flight to San Antonio, TX Wednesday different thoughts were running through my head as I watched all the people around me reading/watching TV/playing games on laptops/tablets/phones—times have changed for sure in our lifetime!!   I’m here doing a consulting assignment for a medical supply company.  The cowboy and I married in the early 1990’s and in 1995 I went to work as a nurse consultant for the Kimberly-Clark Corporation.  For twelve years I traveled all over the country supporting the company’s sales force in various hospital operating rooms. 

In the early days of my traveling, I used a MCI calling card for making long distance calls.  Then cell phones came along but with limited minutes and data wasn’t even invented! 

Kimberly-Clark began using computers for crunching numbers and creating reports—BUT—they didn’t want to provide their independent consultants with a laptop so Michael and I made the leap purchasing our first laptop probably in about 2000 for a cost of approximately $1300!!!!!  The dang thing weighed a ton!! 

In January of 2003 Michael and I began traveling south and each year we spent longer and longer amounts of time in the warm sunshine of Arizona.  The world of internet was starting to change—Kimberly-Clark used a VPN and a security card with rapidly rotating PIN numbers.  This secure system would work on our then dial-up internet at home in Montana but it refused to work with the Hughes Satellite dish we lugged around for internet when traveling.   By this time Kimberly-Clark was issuing sales force refurbished computers to the nurse consultants. 

I can remember seeking out Hilton properties because as a member of their frequent stay program I could use their lobby internet—wired direct of course!!  We also frequented one particular Tucson public library as they had tons of computer terminals one could use to access the internet—Kimberly-Clark’s VPN worked there, too.

Mail was another issue when we were traveling—Nat (Michael’s Dad) was way younger at the time and he would journey from town to our house (22 miles) a couple times per week retrieving our mail and feeding the birds for me.  He would open my Kimberly-Clark checks and deposit them plus he would open our bills, reading the amounts to us over the phone.  We would then write and mail the checks.

LoraLee (our daughter-in-law) took over the mail job and we had our mail forwarded to her and even had her write checks for unexpected bills which would appear.  By then we had progressed to checking our credit card balances online and writing checks plus Kimberly-Clark was doing direct deposit for both my paychecks and expense reimbursements. 

WOW—have times ever changed!  We get so little paper mail and all our banking and bill payment is done online.  And even though we have an iPhone, we are still the odd couple--we have only one cellphone!  Yep, one!  So, when I travel the phone comes with me and Michael will use Skype to call me plus we communicate with email. 

It’s amazing how the communication world has changed isn’t it!?

San Antonio has been wet, wet.  Arizona temps are warm again and Ms. Emmi is definitely on the mend.  The cowboy is ready for me to come home!

Like A Lion

Whew—March has blown in like a lion dropping our temps back down to more seasonal levels which we like but the wind can blow on out of here! 

Monday was a day of sadness and leaving plus a day of meeting new folks.  Barry, Donna, Parker and Pacer left North Ranch meandering their way toward home in Arkansas—which made even Emmi sad!  Larry and Geri on a spur of the moment decided to load their RV and head down to Casa Grande for a few days of riding with Elmer and Henrietta.  So—it was kind of quiet around our neighborhood yesterday!

But, mid-afternoon we had the privilege of meeting John and Pam of Oh The Places They Go.  Pam let me know they were planning a North Ranch stop for a few days but unfortunately the RV park is very, very full—it’s Bead Week next week.  They were going to change their plans until I let them know Larry and Geri’s extra lot was available.   Later in the afternoon they strolled down for happy hour where we spent time doing what all RVers do—talking!!   Being John and Pam—they have lots of hikes planned!

Today was yoga and then a trip to Wickenburg—haircut and groceries.  Had to stock the freezer with ice cream—the cowboy’s food of choice when I take off on a business trip which I am doing Wednesday—heading to San Antonio, TX where it is raining buckets! 

I think we are glad we are not in Montana!  They’ve been having some great weather with little snow—guess that changed this afternoon!

Little Ms. Emmi is under the weather—periodically she will have some sort of back/muscle problem—she acts as if in pain unable to “shake her ears” as all dogs do, unable to jump on the couch plus unless we are extremely careful she will cringe and yelp when we pick her up/put her down.  It’s been a long, long time since the last episode but it sure hurts us too to see her in pain!

Fruit, La Fiesta And Cactus

Having never had citrus trees we are winging it--someone told us that if the tree shows signs of blooming--pick the fruit.  So, pick we did getting two five gallon buckets of lemons which we juiced then froze that juice.  We also picked almost two five gallon buckets of oranges and a total of nine grapefruit.

Lemons

Oranges and Grapefruits

Friday and Saturday was the annual North Ranch La Fiesta celebration--a dance, parade, craft fair, bean bag toss tournament, lunch, scavenger hunt and silent auction.  The parade was fun as usual--

Veterans from North Ranch

The guys and Emmi watching the parade in comfort!

Emmi all dressed up in Madi Gras beads Geri gave her--she looks as thrilled with those as she is with her ATV goggles!

Mike was Emmi's babysitter while the cowboy and I visited the craft fair.

 Saturday evening the gang joined us here at the house for pizza to bid farewell to Barry and Donna who are making their way back to Arkansas.  We will miss them greatly.  Emmi says she won't miss that Parker dog!

Today has been a quiet Sunday, Michael has been painting and I've been working on our curtains and sprucing up the Emmi dog.   Our temps are cooler and the wind is howling creating one heck of a dust storm!

Saturday we spotted the first blooming cactus of the year here in North Ranch--

Reserve Bank Mine

Thursday we were rolling out of North Ranch, one of 26 ATVs, heading for a spot called Reserve Bank Mine on the northwest side of Vulture Peak.  We aren’t fans of rides with big groups but wanted to find our way to this hard scrabble copper mine—so off we went in a big trail of dust!

Don’t look at me Mom, I don’t want to wear these stupid goggles and I don’t want my photo taken!!!

It took us a little over two hours to make the trip.  This copper mine was discovered in about 1900 but the claim hadn’t been active for years and years until the current owners came across the abandoned mine in the late 1990’s.  And hard scrabble it is—all the digging is done by hand, the tunnels are accessed by a series of ladders.  The sorting is done by hand—all this work is done by the couple who now own the mining claim—no employees, no electricity except by generator, no water except what is hauled in.  They have a tiny little smelter and make copper and bead jewelry—very reasonably priced jewelry—and when a gang as large as the one Thursday shows up, they do make some money. 

The mine owner gave tours down the ladders into the mine—several of the group went—Michael and I stayed above ground!  After lunch the large group split into two groups for the return trip and it was much more manageable going home.

Today is Larry’s birthday and we had a wonderful dinner here at our house—prime rib, garlic mashed potatoes and green beans.  The rest of our gang joined us for ice cream and chocolate cupcakes—we are stuffed but it’s a good stuffed!!  Happy Birthday Larry!!

Life is good!

Extreme Rock Crawling

Several of the gang have attended one of these We Rock Live events—we had not so this was the year.  We headed out just northeast of Congress where an organization called We Rock creates an event that defies logic!  Guys and girls spend thousands upon thousands of dollars to outfit these rigs with things such as front and rear steering.  Then these rigs are taken “crawling” over huge boulders and back down sheer drops.  It was loud, very dusty, hot and crowded—but a kick to watch these guys navigate over rocks the size of cars!

The ride depicted in this video was a bonus run—if you were successful, points were added to your total score.  This very short video depicts one unsuccessful guy and two who made the 20 foot drop down the sheer face of a rock look easy! 

We’ve been busy, two yoga classes in two days as we have an ATV ride planned, happy hours with friends, grocery store runs, etc.  We sold a refrigerator today and helped the lady load it into her truck. 

Other than that, we’ve been doing our usual early morning hikes in the desert and watching the desert become vivid green.  There’s rain in our forecast for early next week—that would be nice!

Talented Guys!!

Saturday was a day of chores—bathe the dog, laundry, vacuuming, etc.  In the evening we joined the rest of the ATV gang for potluck and bean bag tossing.  Emmi thought those bean bags made great chew toys—she was absolutely certain everyone was tossing those for her!  The food was awesome as usual!  Several of our gang are missing in action—Fred and Nancy are back in Oregon dealing with a very ill family member, Joe and Kathy are playing in California and Cathy has left Mike home alone at North Ranch while she is back home in Washington for a while.  We miss them all!!

While I dealt with North Ranch HOA business this morning, the cowboy started a painting.  By late afternoon he had created this:

The colors are much more vivid on the actual painting—I love it!!  Geri told Michael about this artist, Jerry Yarnell who does a Saturday morning TV program.  We accessed his website and purchased a couple of his CD’s and the cowboy has been learning!   Yarnell has a wealth of information on his website and when we are back in Montana on unlimited GB’s Michael can watch more videos.

And then the “cowboy” arrived.  Our friend Tom is a woodcarver, a very talented woodcarver.  At the end of last season I asked him if he would carve a “cowboy” for me.  Today the finished product arrived—Michael was delighted as was I.  It looks so much like my cowboy and the detail is amazing!

Right down to our brand on the chaps and his whiskers!

Thank you so much Tom!!!

Life is good!

Lots Of Stuff

It’s been busy around here—sometimes I wonder how in the world I had time to work???  Can’t remember if I discussed running for our HOA board on this blog or not—well, I ran for the board, the election was February 6 and I lost by one vote!!  There were four candidates and three positions.  I wasn’t disappointed in the least, I ran and was lucky enough not to be elected!! Well, so much for that thought!  The woman elected to the secretary position has had to resign due to health issues and the board president contacted me asking if I would serve.  So, I am now officially secretary of our North Ranch HOA. 

WHOA—there is a bit of a learning curve to say the least—I’m jumping in with both feet as the next meeting is March 7—the agenda and minutes need to be done and “shared”—I’m familiar with the computer programs used but “sharing”, etc. was not being used when I left the working force! 

Thursday was a whirlwind—yoga class, HOA learning session and then the grocery store.  I was spinning!! 

Friday was a spectacular day—we left North Ranch at 8am with seven rigs and twelve people heading for the Lake Pleasant area.  Here’s what Wikipedia had to say about Lake Pleasant:

The cornerstone of the park is the 10,000 acre (40 km² or 15.6 mi²), Lake Pleasant, one of the important artificial reservoirssurrounding the Phoenix metropolitan area. Created by the Waddell (Pleasant) Dam, which was finished in 1927, the lake originally had a surface area of 3,700 acres (15 km² or 5.8 mi²) and served as a private irrigation project. At 76 feet (23 m) high and 2,160 feet (658 m) long, the original Waddell Dam was, at its completion, the largest agricultural dam project in the world. The lake was filled by the Agua Fria River, capturing a large watershed throughout Yavapai County.

Construction of the Central Arizona Project Aqueduct, which began in 1973, soon diverted water from the Colorado River to the lake, converting the lake from an agricultural project into a storage reservoir for the project. Completed in 1994, the New Waddell Dam tripled the surface area of the lake, submerging the old dam beneath its waters. Shortly after the completion of the dam, the area experienced a prolonged drought, and while the lake grew considerably it would not reach full capacity until early 2005. Although still fed by the Agua Fria River, the CAP aqueduct is the primary source of water for the reservoir.

Lake Pleasant is used as a major water sports recreation center for the Phoenix metro area, as well as serving as an important storage reservoir for the rapidly growing region. A number of boat docks and beach access make the lake a popular destination for scuba diving, water skiing, jet skiing, sailing, windsurfing and other water sports.

We unloaded at the Bradshaw Mountain Foothills staging area and headed up the mountain—destination, Crown King—a mining town at 6000 feet in the Bradshaw mountains.  At we gained in elevation, we caught occasional glimpses of Lake Pleasant in the distance.

Sun was very bright so photos are kind of washed out looking.

The road was rough, dusty, rocky, bumpy, bone jarring and worth every minute of it!  At one point on the trail we came to a construction zone—a mining permit which had diverted the road into the creek and made quite the mess!

And they were kind of crabby about their security!

It took us about four hours of riding to reach Crown King—gold was discovered near here in 1875 and an estimated $2,000,000 in gold was mined.  The mines closed in the 1950’s and the small community depends on tourism as its only reliable source of income in spite of the fact all roads leading to Crown King are rough and tumble!  “Of the buildings still standing and in use in Crown King, the Crown King Saloon has maintained its place as the center of activity in town. The Saloon was originally constructed and operated in the nearby mining town of Oro Belle (now also a ghost town). In 1910, It was disassembled and brought to Crown King piece by piece after the mine at Oro Belle had played out. The building was home to a brothel and bar in both towns and now serves the public as a hotel, cafe, and bar. “  Wikipedia

After enjoying lunch at the saloon we pointed the rigs downhill and arrived home close to 7pm.  A long but spectacular day spent enjoying life!

As you can see the landscape changes—saguaros, huge rock formations until we gained elevation—

then it’s deciduous and pine trees plus rocky, running creeks—another world from the desert!  

On the way back we could see hot air balloons above Lake Pleasant—look closely!

Thanks for traveling along with us! 

PS:  I took some GoPro video and will insert short clips in coming blogs after I have some more schooling from the movie master—Geri!