You Never Know What You Will Find In The Desert

After our early morning walk in the desert we decided to take a drive up Date Creek Road, just north of Congress—it’s a loop road which led us back through Kirkland and Yarnell.  We took some time to drive around the neighborhoods of Yarnell—it made my heart hurt—remembering those 19 young fire fighters who lost their lives this past summer while fighting the fire which came close to eliminating Yarnell.  The businesses along the main street were spared as were many, many of the homes.  The fire pattern was so strange, the houses are grouped tightly together in this quirky little neighborhood, many of the houses are built around the huge, giant rocks this area is known for—the fire destroyed one house and 30 feet away the next house would be spared.  Very sad.

We were out looking for property but didn’t find much of interest but it was a beautiful drive.  We did spot this bird in a nest—help us out Judy!

Back home I baked a cream cheese pound cake to take to the dance Ms. Pat wanted us to attend tonight.  The cake looked beautiful and tasted awful!!!  What the heck happened???  I’ve made this recipe at least 50 times and each time it turns out perfectly.  I think it probably had something to do with using my convection oven and a rack that put the cake too close to the top of the oven. 

The dance was fun, visiting and snacking on the appetizers we all brought, watching the many line dancing ladies and gentlemen (Ms. Pat is the line dancing teacher at North Ranch).  My cowboy even danced with me!  Here is a not very good photo of Mike and Pat—they looked so good out there on the dance floor!  So did Rollie and Gina but the stars were Larry and Geri.  Geri said Larry is one of seven children—his Dad did not dance so his Mom taught all her children to dance so she would always have a dance partner!! 

Rollie has been thinking he is still at work getting up in time to see the sunrise—he has taken some great photos:

Rollie leaves us tomorrow heading back offshore—it’s been so good to see he and Gina.  That’s about it for our day in the desert.  It did rain a touch tonight but back home in Montana they are getting clobbered with another powerful winter storm. 

Happy, Happy birthday Terry—you should be in the desert celebrating this momentous birthday with us!!!

Thirty One Miles

Wow, I think I’m feeling kind of old tonight and Gina says she is feeling the same.  We took the ATV’s out again today leaving about 10:15am and rode 31 miles—it might not have been so bad if it had been 31 smooth, flat miles but instead it was rocky, sandy and rough!  Plus when I got in the shower I swear I had rivulets of sand running off me! The scenery was spectacular and the weather just as great—we took a lunch, having our picnic at what is known as Box Canyon.  Several years ago our friends Jerry and Caryl took us on a jeeping trip to Box Canyon—the Hassayama River had lots of water at that point in time.  Today, the river was sad, barely a trickle.  You can see just puddles of water in the lower edge of both these photos.Taken March, 2011

We enjoyed another happy hour at Mike and Pat’s with Jerry and Caryl plus Larry and Geri joining us.  When we got back to the motorhome Emmi and I took off on a walk—while I was gone my cowboy did the dishes—he’s the best!!

Uh-oh, she’s got that look—she’s spotted a special rock—our Gina is quite the rock hound!

Uh-oh, someone is stuck but the cowboy came prepared!

Stretched across the road, we think this is an Arizona bull snake.

Another great day with great friends in the Arizona desert.

A Busy Day In The Desert

First on our agenda today was a nice 2.5 mile walk with Ms. Emmi—it felt good to get some exercise!  The desert is getting greener and greener.

Michael was then off to Rollie and Gina’s site to assist with fixing an ATV carburetor.  It took all three guys but they had the 4-wheeler going by noon.

Gina and Rollie joined us for a quick lunch of tacos before we all started getting ready to ride the ATV’s out in the desert for a while.  The weather is just perfect, high 70’s and sunny.

I took this photo of Gina and Rollie.  Rollie took the rest of these photos and I just forgot to remove my watermark before exporting the photos from Picasa. 

We usually haul Emmi in a milk crate on the back of Michael’s ATV.  Today I put her on a towel in my lap and she loved it—she sat up looking around until she got tired then laid down.

Four o’clock happy hour at Mike and Pat’s with Larry and Geri who arrived today joining us.  Larry and Geri used to own Broken Arrow campground in Custer, SD but now spend their time fulltiming in a toy hauler with a motorcycle and 2 ATV’s. 

And that’s it for our day in the warm Arizona desert. 

Time With Friends

We rolled out of John and Brenda’s driveway about 9:30 this morning after enjoying a week spent in the company of good friends.  We drove 122 miles today, a short travel day for us arriving at North Ranch in Congress about lunch time.  Rollie and Gina greeted us then left the two of us to get parked on the lot we have rented for a while.  It’s amazing the number of good friends we’ve gathered since starting this RVing business—and several of those friends are right here at North Ranch. 

Even Emmi was glad to see her friend Zoey!!

After we were all set up and I had contacted the Arizona Power Company—that was a struggle, it’s been a long time since I had to deal with a utility company who wanted my first born child and my mother!! –we drove up the hill to Yarnell to look at a little house on what we thought was 10 acres—not, just a city lot—oh, well, you win some and you lose some!!

When we got back from Yarnell, the power was on and we were off to happy hour at Mike and Pat’s per protocol plus Rollie and Gina made crawfish etouffee for supper that was simply delicious!!  We got to meet Nancy and Paul—friends of Mike and Pat’s.  It was a great evening! 

Back home Michael struggled with getting our internet to work—if I don’t get a blog posted you will know we are struggling with the internet equipment!  I walked Emmi around some of the park streets while the cowboy wiggled wires!

 

Even Ms. Megabyte enjoyed happy hour!

Another Beautiful Day In Arizona

Our days in the sunshine all kind of run together, the days are all good.  Brenda made Philly cheesesteak sandwiches for lunch which were delicious!  Before lunch I made a run to Wal Mart to restock the pantry and refrigerator in anticipation of our move tomorrow.  We told John and Brenda, we’ve been here long enough, we are like fish, we are starting to stink!! 

It’s been a wonderful spot to hang out, John and Brenda’s place is entirely fenced behind an always closed gate so we can just open the door and let Ms. Emmi out.  Brenda has graciously allowed me full use of her washer/dryer.  Quite the nice campground I must say!!  Speaking of Ms. Emmi—she got the dreaded brushing/combing treatment this morning—she hates it so much her trembling was rocking the table on which she stood.

They have three horses, one of the horses, Blue is a little on the spoiled side!!  John has these blue plastic barrels with openings cut into them which he uses as feeders.  The barrels hang on the drill stem fencing.  When Blue is feeling a little on the hungry side you will hear this—thump, thump, thump.  Blue is grabbing his feed barrel, knocking it against the fence saying, “hey, I’m out here, feed me!!” 

Emmi has decided she likes John.

We are heading out tomorrow—the blog will be coming from a new location!

Cowboy Church

Last night John left me a Facebook message asking if we would like to join him at cowboy church today.  Off we three went this morning—I’ve never been to cowboy church, just regular church and I must say, it was wonderful!  The church is usually held in a small little church in Casa Grande but today was the last day of the yearly Casa Grande Cowboys and Indians Celebration—so church was held at the rodeo grounds before the rodeo started. 

The band which plays for cowboy church every Sunday morning was awesome!  Very good music and I enjoyed the minister too.  John directed us to the uppermost section of bleacher seating so we would have a back rest.  It was a little cool out there early but as the morning went on, the sun warmed us all.  Michael and I were both glad we went!

Back home I made the guys grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch—Brenda is feeling much better today.  It was my turn to make dinner—pork tenderloins, Pioneer Woman’s potatoes, fresh asparagus and apple crisp with ice cream for dessert. 

We whiled away the afternoon sitting in the sun and shade telling stories and visiting.  I took advantage of Brenda’s washer/dryer doing a couple loads of laundry. 

Sunset tonight was glorious—all my photos today were taken with my phone—not the greatest but they will do. 

Property Shopping Again

The cowboy and I have been coming to Arizona since January, 2003.  We’ve looked at property every year and in about 2004 or 2005 we bought some acreage near Benson, AZ in a development called Dragoon Mountain Ranch.  We were both working at the time, spending only about 2 months per year in AZ and eventually decided we didn’t have time to own property in Arizona—we sold our acreage and it’s something we’ve both always regretted doing. 

Dragoon Mountain Ranch is a unique place—it’s a huge development, remote (about 25 minutes from Benson), wild, rugged and so incredibly quiet it makes your ears hurt! There are probably about 50 houses built so far in Dragoon Mountain Ranch.  Some of the lots have electrical power but many do not.  Water is by well or hauled in—we drilled a well on the acreage we first owned hitting water at about 750 feet—expensive water!!  Most of the houses—and these are not dumpy houses, they are nice territorial and pueblo style houses—haul or have water hauled to huge storage tanks.  Many of the houses have decided not to pay the high price to have electricity brought to their lots, using large banks of solar panels for power. 

We drove down to Benson today specifically to drive out to Dragoon Mountain Ranch.  It is just as rugged, wild, beautiful and scenic as we remembered.  We had a list of available lots for sale from the realtor who sold our lot and she also gave us the gate code—it’s a gated community.  We spent the day walking several of the lots we liked—Emmi went along getting lots of exercise with us. 

Now we have to think and plot for a while—we will see what all pans out.

Ms. Brenda is still under the weather—she may even have the flu—sure hope she feels better soon! 

From the ranch you can see four mountain ranges and the lights of Benson. 

Look Who We Found

You just never know who you will meet in Wal Mart—I needed a couple things this morning and John told me how to get to Wal Mart.  We have friends from Big Timber who own a home here in Maricopa and we had made arrangements to have dinner with them tonight.  But, as I was cruising the aisles of Wal Mart—I ran into Jane.  We chatted for a while and kind of firmed up our evening plans. 

Back home I made some ham sandwiches for Michael, John and me.  John and Michael spent the rest of the afternoon discussing those world problems again—actually, they usually only discuss Canadian and American problems! Our Brenda is feeling under the weather today—let’s hope she is better soon! 

This afternoon we headed into Maricopa meeting Jane and Doug at their home—a beautiful spot on a large, open lot.  I don’t know why I have no photos of Jane and me—just the guys.

Doug is showing Michael how much snow we are getting back at home!

And Jeane, this is for you—look at Jane’s beautiful flowers--

We were off to dinner with two other Big Timber folks joining us—Gary and Jim—Gary and his wife Susie just bought a home here in the last couple weeks.  A lot of the land surrounding Maricopa is owned by the Ak Chin Native American tribe—a rather prosperous tribe.  There is the typical casino but next door to the casino is a spectacular entertainment complex—12 movie theaters, two restaurants, a bowling alley and video arcade.  The movie theaters have the option of dinner seating—you can order dinner or just a drink and enjoy it at a table while watching the movie.  We had dinner in the Grill 347—our food was good, slow getting to us, but good.  We had a great evening visiting with our Big Timber friends.

Back home we released the little black dog from captivity.  Yesterday while we were gone to the grocery store, Emmi decided to howl while we were gone—to our knowledge she doesn’t usually do this—we’ve never had anyone complain in a RV park.  This isn’t a habit we wish to encourage—remember Jim and Ellie how she would do this as a puppy???  Brenda rescued Emmi yesterday, taking the brat into the house with her.  Tonight we turned the radio on, gave her a treat and hope she behaved!!

A good day in Arizona!

Spectacular Weather

Simply spectacular!!  Warm and sunny with just the slightest breeze.  John came over early this morning asking if we were up for meeting a fellow blogger for lunch over in Mesa, we were but the plans didn’t work out.  So, we spent the entire day being bums!  Of course those of you who know Brenda realize she isn’t included in the “we were bums” comment!! And we aren’t complaining, it feels great to just sit outside and enjoy the sunshine! 

Brenda made lunch and we visited a while before Michael and I took off for Fry’s, the grocery store.  The little house on two acres we saw yesterday had sold and was to close today—too late for that one, oh well.  None of the other properties we saw seem to be working out, either.  Some realtors have not returned our phone calls—we are still looking to say the least. 

John and Brenda have gone off this evening to respective appointments leaving their squatters and the horses to their own devices.  One of the horses is out there banging his food trough—I think he’s hungry but will have to wait until his owners return, sorry dude!

And that’s it for our Thursday in AZ—I will try to do something photography/blog worthy tomorrow! 

Property Looking And A Visitor

Yesterday afternoon while we were all sitting outside John asked if we thought Rollie could be convinced to stop by on his way to Mike and Pat’s lot in Congress, AZ.  Rollie left Louisiana early, early Tuesday morning, driving and driving.  So, I called him and yep, he would love to stop by.  At some point over in the night Rollie stopped to get some sleep.  John got a text message this morning at 6am saying, “are you up?”  Well, John was up and going meeting Rollie and his rig at the gate with a flashlight.

We all gathered at Brenda’s dining room table to drink coffee and catch up.  Later in the morning Brenda made us a wonderful breakfast of fancy scrambled eggs and toast.  The guys continued to gab, Brenda was off to get her hair done and I cleaned the rig and did laundry using Brenda’s washer and dryer. 

Just before lunchtime, Rollie headed out for Congress and John agreed to be the tour guide for some property searching.  We found two properties that have promise, actually three properties.  We’ve placed phone calls to realtors and owners but it was late in the day when we did so maybe we will hear back tomorrow.

 

Brenda outdid herself as usual preparing us a dinner of steaks, oven potatoes, salad and garlic toast—delicious!!!  We are all now being couch potatoes—relaxing after such a wonderful meal.  The weather today was just perfect—can’t be beat!!  It was so good to visit with Rollie—wish you were here too Gina!!!

Brenda’s selfie—pretty good Brenda!