http-equiv='refresh'/> Tin TeePee/Log Cabin: October 2015

Friday, October 30, 2015

Beautiful Weather And Demolition

Yes, we are enjoying fantastic weather here at North Ranch—yesterday the clouds built, the wind blew and the rain bypassed us but the temperatures hovered right at seventy degrees all day.  The wind howled again early this morning rattling the window awnings and waking the cowboy. 

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Michael was on the move early—he was awake, might as well get to work—and began removing the old cabinets in the house.  After Emmi and I took a walk I too was in working mode.  As we were removing the tile black splash—that was hard!—we talked about design ideas.  We asked Larry and Geri to come over for design advice.  The kitchen is separated from the small room where we installed the big window by a wall with a pass through/serving small window.  That wall blocked any view you might have from the kitchen—you can see the little pass through window to the left of the doorway.  We removed all the cabinets on that wall and we removed the wall—WHEW—what a job!!!  Now we have this wide open kitchen/living/dining area with a view!

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[DSCN0697%255B3%255D.jpg]This photo was taken before we did anything—the wall to the right of the two dining chairs is gone as you can see in the first photo.

I had planned to take some photos this afternoon but time got away from us—we were going to dinner with Larry, Geri, Fred and Nancy—and by the time we cleaned up all the mess it was time to shower. 

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner in Wickenburg—it was good to be back with some of the gang again!  Emmi held the fort at home with the radio for company. Smile

Every night and sometimes even during the day the coyotes are serenading us—loudly—I would prefer they sing at some other time than 3am!!  We’ve always heard coyotes when staying here but this year they are exceptionally noisy! 

Hard to believe tomorrow is the last day of October—

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Craigslist Score

Tuesday we had a day off from our Craigslist shopping excursions but there is no rest for the weary or is that no rest for the wicked??  Winking smileWe made a run to Wickenburg, my hair was getting way too long and Michael needed some things at Tractor Supply.

Early today we left Emmi in the care of Geri and Larry heading to Wickenburg to pick up a U-Haul truck—we had purchased something for the house (which we thought would fill the U-Haul truck)—this something will remain a secret until the cowboy works his magic.  And, if possible, we were going to look at some leather couches Michael had spotted on Craigslist.

When the guy with the couches met us in the parking lot of his apartment he said, “do you need any other furniture other than couches?”  Well—maybe!  Seems he ordered new furniture which was delivered this morning and he didn’t do a good job of measuring.  He had a couch and loveseat, sofa table, coffee table, two end tables and three lamps—and he sold them to us for a bargain price!!  Score as Paulette would say!  With his help we managed to stuff the furniture into the truck on top of the to be revealed later surprise.

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DSCN1787The couch and loveseat are a deep forest green, the couch is in better condition than the loveseat which has some minor kitty cat damage.  The tables are solid oak, heavy and gorgeous! 

DSCN1788I am just tickled pink with our purchases.  Back at North Ranch poor Larry was elected to help us unload and Geri came too.  I then returned the U-Haul truck to Wickenburg and made a stop at the grocery store.

Our Wickenburg Safeway could give our mediocre IGA store in Montana some lessons in customer service.  While checking out I noticed a 25% off tag hanging over the iTunes gift cards—25% off the value you added to the card—Christmas presents I thought.  When the cashier rang up the gift cards the 25% was not deducted.  She called a manager over and the two of them investigated the 25% off sign—it expired on 10/20.  The cashier said, “well, it isn’t the customer’s fault the store didn’t remove the hanging tags.”  They gave me the 25% off—very nice!! 

DSCN1790Our motorhome Halloween decorations—remember the bread basket cloth Vicky??  Many, many years ago as a Christmas gift, my sister-in-law cross stitched bread basket cloths for major holidays—Easter, July 4, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas—a set for each of us.  I brought all my fall and winter ones with me to Arizona this year.  The two little pumpkins I’ve had for eons—one came from the gift shop located in the hospital where I went to nursing school and later worked. 

We just finished celebrating the new couches by sitting on them while enjoying bowls of ice cream with Larry and Geri.  Life is good!

Monday, October 26, 2015

First Furniture

As you all know, the cowboy is an avid Craigslist fan—buying and selling.  Well, in the Phoenix area it’s a little different than in Montana—a state with a population less than the city of Phoenix!  Michael has been cruising the West Valley and North Phoenix sections of Craigslist for all sorts of things—furniture for one thing—and finds probably 600!!! new listings per day.  It’s a little like looking for a needle in a haystack but he found the needle over the weekend--DSCN1778It’s perfect, almost new, perfect colors (photo doesn’t do it justice) and comfortable—of course we had to travel some distance to retrieve this perfect chair—not much different than when we are in Montana.  Smile

Sunday we spent the day recuperating from the demolition/restoration project.  Michael puttered a little, removing the rest of that ugly little porch, I baked brownies and made chicken fajitas for lunch.  We had happy hour with Larry and Geri—their new home has the best covered deck!

Here’s the view from our new window in the house--

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and our view of sunset--

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I want to take a little poll—if you live in a “stick” house are your kitchen cabinets painted (with color)or natural wood with a clear finish or stained?  My upper kitchen cabinets in Montana are stained a deep green—you can still see the wood grain, the lower cabinets are natural wood with a dark stain—and again, you can still see the wood grain. 

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Demolition and Restoration

While I was in California, Michael removed all the inside sheetrock, yesterday he started on the outside—removing the stucco, porch roof, etc.  We won’t have a door on this end of the house so there will be no need for that ugly little porch.DSCN0744-001

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DSCN1767WOW—that’s quite the opening—Larry and Geri came over this afternoon to lend a hand (thank you so much guys!)—that huge window is very heavy!  It is actually four individual windows that raise and lower independently—Michael had removed all the windows but the frame still weighed a bunch and it was good to have some more man muscles!! 

DSCN1769Quite the difference!  We love the view we now have and the windows are low enough Ms. Emmi can see out. 

While Michael was demolishing a wall, I washed one side of the motorhome—the side in the shade!  I then washed all the inside windows and mirrors—we are squeaky clean! 

It’s very quiet here at North Ranch—many of the residents haven’t returned yet—our temps have been very pleasant, we can only hope fall has arrived in Arizona and the triple digit temps are gone.

Thursday, October 22, 2015

It’s Good To Be Back At North Ranch

Last spring we purchased this lot and house right before heading back to Montana for the summer.  We were quite pleased with our purchase but looked forward to getting back this fall to start the remodel.  The house is oddly built with some real quirks—we are removing some of those quirks and working around others.  For some strange reason, the house has very small windows set high into the walls—if you are sitting in a chair, you can’t see out and we have a lovely view. 

So, the cowboy was a one man demolition crew while I was in California—we are removing a whole wall of those tiny windows and replacing it with a bank of huge windows so we can see out over the desert to the mountains. 

Ms. Emmi was very glad to see me when I rolled in this morning—getting home from the airport was a whole lot easier than getting to the airport on Monday—holy smokes, Phoenix has some nasty traffic!!!  I managed to find the jeep in the parking garage without any problems and the trip back to North Ranch was without incident!

Rollie and Gina along with Larry and Geri took a trip out into the desert today—with all the rain we’ve had (over two inches probably) their rigs were a touch muddy as were the people! 

Nothing much going on here today—we made a dump run and went to the post office to make sure our mailbox was still active.  Larry and Geri joined us for a quick happy hour and now we are relaxing—I feel my bed calling me—I had some late hours in California!

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20151019_132737This is the dry wash behind Jim and Ellie’s home—it was a raging torrent on Monday after the monsoon roared through.

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

I Guess We Were Lonesome

After all the riding we did in Moab area with the gang you would have thought we would be tired!  After taking the day (Wednesday last week) off for a jeep drive, we left Moab at O dark thirty on Thursday morning heading to Blanding to meet up with the gang once again. 

Our tanks needing dumping and in the dark we found a RV dump in Moab—it’s a dang good thing my husband has excellent trailer backing skills and that I’m an excellent director with a flashlight!!!  That spot was just a little tight!!! 

We found a beautiful and quiet boondocking spot on the road leading to the ATV trails just north of Blanding at Devils Canyon in the Abajo Mountains.  Shortly after we had unloaded the jeep and CanAm the gang were all present and off we went.

Absolutely some of the most beautiful country with trails/roads for miles and miles and miles.  Once again the fall colors were outstanding!

IMG_3549IMG_3551IMG_3568IMG_3574That hat has to go!!

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IMG_3602IMG_3603At times we were at an elevation of almost 10,000 feet and it was much cooler.  The cowboy and I slept the “sleep of the dead” after all the noise of our previous nights’ boondocking spot. 

On Friday we headed to North Ranch arriving in a rainstorm—somehow we managed to sneak in to North Ranch being seen by no one.  Not wanting to go out for dinner, we decided to celebrate our wedding anniversary with a pizza from the Congress Depot—perfect! 

Saturday we scooted over to Wickenburg for a garage sale and stopped by the Habitat for Humanity Restore scoring a used dryer.  Our house came with a washer but no dryer—the laundry room is tiny in this house and eventually we will purchase a stackable washer/dryer unit to save space—so for the time being, this dryer is working well!  The rest of the day we unpacked, and unpacked. 

Michael and the rest of the gang at North Ranch have been deluged with monsoon storms—the streets and washes were running with water after the storm yesterday morning and it’s raining again today.  Should make for a beautiful blooming desert this coming spring! 

Sunday, October 18, 2015

La Sal Mountain Trip

Wednesday morning the ATV gang (without us) left the Moab area and headed to the Monticello/Blanding area for more riding.  Michael and I decided to remain in Moab for one more night so we could take a trip around the La Sal Mountain—good decision!!

We didn’t expect a paved road—bonus!!  It’s been a long time since I’ve seen oak trees with fall color—oaks don’t grow in Montana. 

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DSCN1748Views for miles and miles from atop the mountain—and it was brisk—while sitting on rocks in the sun eating our picnic lunch I was wishing I had brought a jacket!DSCN1751

We’ve been boondocked in a BLM parking lot off Mill Canyon Road north of Moab—not our usual kind of spot but OK for a few days.  We had neighbors come and go during our stay but when we came back from our mountain jeep ride the place was packed—a group of people in various types of RVs had circled the wagons in the middle of the gravel lot.  There were RVs parked on the perimeter and RVs kept coming all the way until midnight!!  The midnight folks were those kind of people who don’t realize how far their voices carry or how bright their lights are.  So, we didn’t feel too bad when we started the big diesel motor at 6am the next morning for our departure!! Winking smileSounding the air horn crossed our minds but we decided the whole group didn’t need punishing!

More adventures to come—we are now at North Ranch, arrived Friday afternoon.  I am flying to California Monday morning leaving the cowboy a long list of honey do’s! 

Friday, October 16, 2015

Our Twenty-First

Today the cowboy and I celebrate our twenty-first wedding anniversary.  We met later in life after two failed marriages each—there was much doubt among friends and family regarding the longevity of this marriage—we’ve proved them wrong I would say!  We are very, very happy together, we spend almost 24/7 together and still life couldn’t be better.  Do we fight—rarely—do we fuss/snip—sometimes—still life couldn’t be better.  I give thanks every day for this man who found me—life is good!

Our wedding photo

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Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Balcony and Picture Frame Arches

Tuesday we headed off to find some arches—another great ride—a little less challenging which was great!

IMG_3497First up was Balcony Arch—along the way we found some sand dunes--

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Just around the corner from Balcony Arch was Picture Frame Arch—two of the guys, I won’t name names (Michael & Mark) decided they could climb up to the base of the arch—they didn’t get far before deciding that wasn’t a very smart idea!

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IMG_3514See the upside down face??

IMG_3521IMG_3524A certain someone (Rollie) asked if the cowboy had a new hat—yes, unfortunately!  Back home in Montana I saw a used Stetson hat on the local Facebook online garage sale site for $5—that’s a bargain—until I saw the hat.  He was only going to wear the hat for ATVing and Michael said he could make it work—well, it’s not working—his wife dislikes it intensely but it’s been great entertainment for everyone! Smile

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We were almost back to the truck and trailer Tuesday afternoon when a fellow stepped out into the road and flagged us down--

IMG_3532This guy was from Australia—rented this strange van in California, drove to Utah and decided to go off roading in a vehicle with no 4WD.  Doyle and RE hooked their RZRs to the van and pulled him out—the guy was intensely grateful—that would have been an expensive tow job!

Last night we enjoyed a delicious meal with all the gang, high above Moab at the Sunset Grill.  More adventures to come! 

Monday, October 12, 2015

We’ve Been ATVing—Surprise!

Wow—have we ever been ATVing!  Friends of Larry and Geri who have homes in Casa Grande, AZ arrived on Sunday.  There are four couples all with side by side RZR ATVs—Henrietta & Elmer, Doyle and Karen, RE and Sue plus Mark and Barb.  They spent Saturday night in Grand Junction, CO and were privileged to see the  USAF Thunderbird show.  They arrived here at our boondocking spot about 10am and we were off!

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We wandered in the Moab desert for several hours--IMG_3402Notice the white strip on the slick rock in front of our yellow CanAm—those are trail makers.

IMG_3384Some steep climbing!

IMG_3394Elmer needed to heed the call of nature, wandering off out into the desert—look what he found—dinosaur tracks!

IMG_3417Determination TowersIMG_3424It looks as if that vapor trail originated from the towers.IMG_3425Today we woke at “O dark thirty” and we were off again, trailing the ATVs back up the River Road heading for three destinations, Pole Canyon Ridge, Top of the World and Dolores River Overlook. Again, the word of the day was, “WOW!!”

IMG_3446IMG_3449The Colorado River.

IMG_3454We are really enjoying our side by side CanAm—there were many places on the trails yesterday and today where I would not have felt comfortable or safe riding my 4-wheeler.  The CanAm just crawls up and over the rocks—not to say we didn’t rock and roll at times but we didn’t feel unsafe—I did close my eyes at times!  Today’s trails were probably the most rugged we’ve ridden.

IMG_3459IMG_3472Larry and Geri out there on that skinny outcropping.  The photos don’t do justice to the height—we were WAY up on Top of the World looking down on Fisher Towers.

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WOW—what a fantastic two days with more to come!