Sunday, March 1/2015 - Saturday, March 7/2015

The new month is upon us and our time here in Arizona is quickly slipping away. It will soon be time to start packing the camper and thinking about heading home.

The door handles were installed this week along with the final bathroom fixtures. We are almost done with this year's projects.

Lorne and  Marilyn arrived back from Mexico and we met them at the airport to escort them back to Wickenburg. We managed to hit rush hour traffic on Interstate 10 so the trip took an extra hour!! No problem for us as we had stocked the cooler with all necessary adult beverages and managed to get out of the Phoenix area unscathed!!

We were invited out for supper and drinks the night of their arrival back and enjoyed a great evening at the Wickenburg Feed Company hearing about their Mexican adventures. It was a taxi ride back to the park for us and we got to see our favourite driver Max (who also owns the company) so, we got to catch up on all his news. All in all, we spent a rather enjoyable evening!!

Lorne was commandeered to figure out what was wrong with the dryer and before the day was out, I had a fully functioning dryer. NOW.... the laundry room is complete (well, except for some shelving that needs to go in!!)  Lorne had to rearrange the breaker box a bit and both John and myself were very grateful for his knowledge. We told him that he had to hook up the "on demand" hot water heater next year as that too requires its own plug. Sooo, not my field of expertise!!

Kay and I managed to get a bit more done in our flower beds in the "North 40" this week and we now have the water system extended to all three areas. Now, our flowers will really love us!! We even planted seeds so hopefully they too will flourish. While we were out there mucking around, we found a huge horned toad. He was gorgeous. Hogan was not sure about him and as usual, was very wary of such a creature. Mr. Toad hung around in the garden with us for quite a while then we managed to catch him and let him go under Ray and Kay's porch so that he could find a home (hopefully) and catch lots of bugs!! He probably thought "Oh brother....", stayed under the porch until we were gone then buggered off to parts unknown!!

We managed to get another quad ride in this week. It is so nice to see the desert start to awaken. There are California Poppies everywhere and the cactus are all starting to "bud" so it won't be too long before they are in bloom adding even more beauty to the desert.
The weather has improved greatly and it is now staying in the high 70s and low 80s. Definitely time to start working on the tan for home, I am soooo going to make Kimmy jealous!!

Desert flora

The windmill in Monarch Wash

Another fantastic sunset

With all the recent rains, the Hassayamppa River was flowing like crazy.  It was a raging torrent and everyone was wise to steer clear of this area.  Our usual roads were under water and most definitely were not inviting!!

Wall to wall water in Box Canyon

Double rainbow caught near Box Canyon

Overview of the river

In the tunnel going to the airport

Mr. Horned Toad

Trail ride  

California poppies along the trail - near Wickenburg Mountain

Saguaro Forest on one of the hills on today's ride

Had to put two winches on this fool to get him unstuck!!
These folks were in a 2WD truck and came down into the wash
for a "photo" shoot!!  They should have taken a picture of us getting
them unstuck!!

Only took one winch for this dude!!  It amazes me how silly some
people are.  New quad,  no winch and riding alone in a very water
logged river bed.  He was stuck up to frame and was miles from no where!!

The China Wall - was weeping in several areas today

The one permanent water spout was flowing well

Headed home - night ride!!

Another week has come and gone and once again.......Life is good.  We have a busy week ahead of us as Lorne and Marilyn will return with Wayne and Teresa in tow.  More adventure awaits!!