At the crack of dawn Wednesday morning we were leaving the green space at North Ranch heading east into the rising sun—destination:  Black Canyon Creek, Cleator and Crown King.
Nine rigs and fifteen people enjoyed some challenging riding and fabulous scenery—it was a pleasure to see water and fall color in the desert.

At one stop the guys located a “treasure”—an old basketball hoop which someone dumped in the desert or it washed down the gulch during a monsoon.  Seems the metal attaching the hoop to the wood frame was valuable to certain members of our party—it was hilarious watching all these guys dragging tools out of their rigs—I think we had enough tools to take apart and reassemble an automobile!!! 

As I said above, the riding was challenging at times and we crossed Black Canyon Creek many times.  The fall colors were beautiful and we even saw two crested saguaros.

Massive, strange rock formations rising up out of a forest of saguaros:

The folks calling Cleator and Crown King home are a hardy bunch—miles and miles of bumpy, dusty gravel road must be endured before reaching either settlement—Cleator is a collection of eclectic dwellings but it does have a bar and general store inhabited by friendly, knowledgeable folks:

The cowboy and I took a jeep ride to Crown King a couple years ago coming in from the west—this time we came in from the east and I must say—the ATV made for easier transportation than the jeep.  The elevation at Crown King is about 5700 feet—it was chilly up there!  Crown King is a mining/summer home type community and has a saloon, store, and a couple restaurants.

It was a glorious, beautiful day spent with the best of friends—thanks Tom for suggesting this one!

Yoga, Christmas Decorations

It sure seems as if North Ranch was ready for yoga—today was our third class and we again had about fifteen participants.  Most of the class has never done yoga but they are eager to learn and it is a joy to lead them—I am loving it!

We took the golf cart out again last night just at dusk and I was able to get a photo of this cute blow up Christmas decoration—the door closes then in a few seconds opens again and there is Santa—adorable!  Seems my newer Canon Powershot SX700 HS has a problem—we purchased this camera in August of 2014 for our Alaska trip and it’s the camera we take along on the ATV trips.  The flash has decided to not work—bummer!  When we get back to Arizona from our trip home for Christmas I will package it up and send it back to Canon.

It’s been a long, long time since I frequented a laundromat—I had to use the one in Congress as the North Ranch laundromats do not have one of the larger machines which would hold my king size down comforter.  We purchased this comforter since we’ve been here in Arizona and today washed it for the first time—I specifically purchased a light weight down comforter which was machine wash/dry.  Well, I followed the wash/dry directions to a “T” and the dang thing shrunk probably 12 inches!!!!  I am not a happy camper!

Emmi and I usually head out for an evening walk just before dusk—a couple nights ago sunset was awesome!

The cowboy did some welding for a friend this morning then spent some time washing both the CanAm and the jeep. 

I think she likes ice cream!

Lora is on vacation with her Mom and Dad.

Visitors On Their Way To Mexico

In the winter of 2007—2008 we traveled to Alamos, Sonora, Mexico in our 5th wheel for the winter.  Alamos is a very small town about nine hours from the Arizona border.  In the RV park we met a couple from Coos Bay, Oregon—a retired geologist and his very English wife.  We enjoyed getting to know Ainslie and Beryl—they’ve visited us in Montana and a couple years ago we visited with them in Coos Bay. 

Each year Ainslie and Beryl travel deep into Mexico with their RV to Veracruz and on their way this year stopped in with us for a couple nights.  Friday night we enjoyed a fabulous dinner at Nichols West and last night we grilled steaks.  The cowboy took Ainslie out into the desert in the CanAm; Beryl and I toured the town of Congress which didn’t take long!

Monday morning they will be on their way—we wish them safe travels—they plan to stop back by in the spring, Ainslie spent his childhood in Prescott, AZ and would like to do some touring. 

The cowboy caught some kind of cold type bug but recovered quickly—he donated it to me!  It’s a short lived bug—I started feeling crummy Friday, Saturday all I wanted to do was go to bed and today I feel much better—who knows! 

North Ranch residents are getting into the holiday spirit—lots of lights and decorations.  There is one of those blow up type decorations—it is in the shape of a small Casita type RV, the door opens and Santa leans out—it was too dark tonight when we took the golf cart out for a tour and my photos didn’t turn out. 

Today I finished moving us from the motorhome into the house, finished lining all the shelves and drawers with contact paper and put everything away.  It’s starting to feel like home!

More Crested Saguaros and New Scenery

Out near Stanton, an old mining town, is a cluster of crested saguaros, perhaps the largest concentration in the world we’ve been told.  The ATV gang set off to see if we could find the beauties Thursday afternoon.  We didn’t find all of them but we did spot about five I think—getting up close and personal to one of them!

Geri took all the above photos as I left my camera at home—I’ve not got the from the house loading routine down pat yet—loading the ATV from the motorhome was habit and rarely did we forget anything, the house is a different matter!

Today we left North Ranch at the early hour of 8am heading out Vulture Peak Mine Road to the Belmont Mountains—it’s quite the caravan to get all of us and our rigs gathered in one place!

And then there is the style show:

It was another chilly morning and somehow Geri ended up attired in Larry’s rain gear pants.

Beautiful scenery, lots of old mining operations, saguaros and red rocks with arches and openings.

That’s our Nancy!

Can you spot the pig, aka a javelina??

Another great day out in the desert with good friends!  Tonight we are anticipating the arrival of our Coos Bay, Oregon friends—Ainslie and Beryl. 

Boring Blog

Warning—this will be a boring blog—better ones to come as we have some great rides planned! 

Tuesday was exciting, I taught the first yoga class and had sixteen people attend!!!!!  Fifteen women and one man—I was so excited, I didn’t expect that kind of turn out!

After returning from yoga I made a quick lunch and was then informed by the cowboy that he was installing the laundry room cabinet—if I wanted to paint above it, I better get moving!!  So, move I did!

Michael has exhausted his supply of cabinet remodeling oak wood and needed more—off to Peoria and Home Depot we went.  The little lumber yard in Wickenburg does not carry oak plywood or oak trim boards—that stuff is made of gold, $50 for a sheet of oak plywood!  We enjoyed an awesome lunch at a locally owned restaurant, Haymaker—great food and service!

Tonight we all gathered at Geri and Larry’s in the Biltmore for dinner and ride discussion—we have some great ones planned so stay tuned!

It warmed up—today was a beautiful day! 

Cold In The Desert

We are usually still in Montana this time of year—one year we headed to Mexico right after Thanksgiving but that’s the earliest we’ve ever headed south.  We’ve been told December is the coldest month of the year in Arizona and if the last few days of November were any indication, December could be cold!  It was 32 degrees this morning and we were very thankful for our warm, snug house!  Sunday a bitter, cold north wind blew all day—when walking Emmi I was bundled up as if I were still in Montana!

We are still puttering—I’m getting ready to teach my first yoga class on Tuesday—loading music onto my iPod and for once iTunes cooperated—amazing!  I’ve also been working on sequences for the class—to say I’m a touch nervous would be an understatement!

Michael is making steady progress with the cabinets—each cabinet must be taken apart, cut to fit the space, re-glued and then hung.  It’s very, very time consuming but so worth it when you consider the cost of new cabinets. 

When I graduated from high school, Mom and Dad gave me a beautiful watch—I’ve worn one since then.  When working as a nurse, of course I wore a watch.  So many people these days depend on their phones for telling time but I still prefer my watch and Thanksgiving Day the battery in it died.  I just wasn’t in the mood to travel to Wickenburg until today—who knew there was a little jewelry store in Wickenburg—they fixed me right up!

At Safeway I gathered a few groceries before stopping at Donna and Barry’s to drop off some mail for them.  Back home I opened the latest Walmart box which contained two huge rolls of contact paper—it’s been a long, long time since I used contact paper.  The shelving in these cabinets has seen some wear and I thought contact paper would make the shelves not only look better but make them easier to keep clean.  Well—by the time I had three shelves lined I had wrapped contact paper around my head, said a few choice words and wondered why in the world I thought this was a good idea! Geez!

Sunset puts a glow on our mountains.

The lemon tree is loaded, as is the orange tree.  The dwarf grapefruit tree only has 3-5 fruits. 

Progressing

Well, we have gone from decorated for Thanksgiving to decorated for Christmas with a few Christmas things we brought from Montana and my bargain Christmas tree.  The tree is tall and skinny which fits into our space nicely and all the lights worked—pretty good for a $20 yard sale tree!!

The previous owners of this house left two early American style dining tables and six chairs—the tables are in tough shape and need refinishing but are structurally good. 

Friday I puttered inside and Michael puttered outside in the garage.  No black Friday shopping for us—it’s probably been 25 years since I’ve been black Friday shopping and that’s a good thing!

Today we were puttering again when Joe called and suggested an ATV ride.  Friends Sandy and Tom have a new RZR and were anxious to get out for a ride—of course, off we went!

As you can see by our attire, it was a little nippy out there today.  I have to keep reminding myself—it is winter, even in Arizona but at least it isn’t minus 7 as its been in Montana!  In that respect, we are really enjoying our house—as all you RVers know, it can be hard to keep one of our “tin tee pees” warm when the temperatures drop—our heat pump keeps us toasty warm in the house and it is very quiet!

Back home some of the ATV gang joined us for leftover pie and ice cream before heading for their respective homes.  Michael had a burst of energy and decided to hang a set of upper cabinets he had finished earlier—the kitchen is really looking great!!!

I will leave you with some photos of the cutest great-grandbaby!