Wednesday, November 18/2015

Well, we were both up early to find ourselves still stuck in the mud.  There was no overnight miracle and the tow truck has been called.   Thank Heavens for Good Sam Roadside Assistance cause I sure don't want to know what a tow truck would cost for coming to save us from the evil clutches of Mother Nature!!
We called Good Sam at 7:30 and the truck arrived at 9:10.  The ground was still frozen so after some winching and some repositioning, we were out of the mud and almost on our way.  We had a chatty tow truck operator and thankfully he was quite familiar with the area as he was a hunter so when he got the call, knew exactly where we were.  It took him about and hour and 15 to get us out but a lot of that time was him chatting with us!!
Once out, we parked down near the entrance to the camping area, showered and cleaned up all the mud and headed off, down the highway.
We will be in Wickenburg later today and actually, we are getting a head start on the time as we usually are not on the

Getting hooked up

We were out in no time

Hooking back up to the trailer

Heading out

Getting back into the cactus

First fire in AZ

First dead scorpion!

 road this early!!
We stopped at Chilleen's on 17 for a late lunch.  Now Chilleen's was featured on that TV show Bar Rescue and it was awesome.  It boasts award winning BBQ and both John and I had the smoked bbq beef brisket and it was simply mouthwatering.  As we waited for the meal to come, we read up on the whole Bar Rescue experience and that was quite interesting.  Apparently the bar (formerly Kid Chilleens) had applied 2 years prior to the show before actually being accepted for filming.  They said that the "rescue" did not cost them anything except their pride as they had to totally expose themselves on national TV.  Today, the bar continues to be a success and they have nothing but the highest of praise for John Taffer and his crew.
We arrived in Wickenburg shortly there after and it was awesome.  Ray was available to welcome us back and we quickly got some of the jobs done so that we could just sit and relax for the evening.
The side by side was unloaded and the trailer parked and John got the camper parked and the satellite system up and operating with the TV in the house working as well.
I checked out all the flowers that Kay and I planted in the Spring and they are all doing very well. Ray has tended them well throughout the summer.  The bougainvillea has climbed the mesquite tree and is at least 20 feet in the air.  It is beautiful!!
We chatted with Ray for a bit then, he had to scoot off to a meeting in town.  Hogan checked out the yard and the "north" 40 and once that was done, settled on the step where he usually laid.
John got a fire going and we sat around it for the rest of the evening.  Ray joined us again once his meeting was done and it was awesome to hear all his news.  He had a good summer but there was so much unsettled weather.  He said it was something to see at times.
We had an awesome fire and it was a great way to start our Arizona winter although we did have to deal with one HUGE black spider today and a scorpion!!  Good Grief, let the fun begin!!
Tomorrow the temperature is going to be in the high 60s so that will be great.
There is a lot to do tomorrow with the usual "settling in" that is required but we have no real time limit as to when everything has to be done so,  do a little every day and things will get done.
Life is Good!!