Saturday, December 10/2016

Up early again today and Ray was busy transplanting cactus into one of the rock gardens he is creating.  It actually looks pretty good.  I asked him to move that miserable cactus that sits by the front of the trailer and he agreed so it too was transplanted into the rock gardens.  That sucker will no longer be poking me when I'm not looking!!
We did a walk about yesterday and he told me some of his ideas and I think that eventually we will be living in a pretty ideal setting.  Actually, we are living in it now but we still need some landscaping.
The gardens in the North 40 are looking pretty good too and the bougainvillea are still in bloom and have once again climbed to the top of the mesquite tree.  I see that one of the agave that I planted three years ago has died and that sucks but I still have one huge one sitting on the other side of the fence.
The birdbath was in dire need of a good cleaning so I did that and I am sure that the birds more than appreciate that!!
There were a few limbs that needed to be trimmed off the mesquite trees so I did that and hauled all the trimmings over to the brush pile without actually making myself bleed!!  Thank heavens for the fire gloves as they are so thick that none of the pokers can get through.
John got the TVs up and running so that we can now watch football tomorrow.
Ray had been collecting firewood for us throughout the summer so John and I headed down to the former site 3 and collected that for tonight's fire.
It was soon time to slow our day's pace down, sit and have an adult beverage.
The fire was started and Ray, Kay, John and I sat around it and enjoyed the heat and the conversation.  Larry (the property owner) stopped by for a quick hello and a welcome back and it was nice to see him again.
John cooked supper and it was awesome.  The cats have settled nicely and are busy visiting us in the trailer .  They think they have two homes now!!  Well, three if you include the RV!!
Anyway......life is good!!

Friday, December 9/2016

I was up early this morning and ready to tackle the house.  It has been closed up for 7 months and the amount of dust is nasty.
So.....Kay and I had breakfast, then she headed into the mancave to get it whipped into shape and I staying in the house to get it whipped into shape.  It was time to get out of the RV and into the bed in the house.  John had taken the jeep out of the mancave yesterday so that was one thing we didn't have to deal with today.  In the matter of two or three hours, things were looking much better and it was time for us to stop working and enjoy the sunshine.
The laundry was nearly done and the bed in the trailer was ready so it was time for a beer.....wasn't it!!  Yessss......it was.
We had a quiet afternoon, enjoyed the campfire and had a pretty early night.  John cooked ribs tonight and tomorrow is Saturday so that means steak!!
At bit more work to be done tomorrow but I have lots of days to get things done.  After all, Rome wasn't built in a day!!

Thursday, December 8/2016

Headed out

We are bound for Wickenburg today and I just can't keep the smile off my face.  I have been "camping" now since November 1st and that means showers only.  Tonight,  you will find me soaking in my bath tub.  Holy Buckets, I can hardly wait!!
The cats seem to have an innate ability to know that it is a travel day so we have to be on alert so that Moglie doesn't get out and decide to hide on the fuel tank of the truck and not come out until he damn well wants!!  Corrina is happy to just slip under the couch and stay there.

Headed down Eagle Eye Road

Well we tried to keep Mogs in the trailer but he did manage to slip out the door and bugger off.  It took Kay some clever maneuvers to finally catch him.  It is a good thing that he is a curious cat and tends to follow Kay everywhere she goes.  It wasn't long before she nabbed him (which he was none too happy about) and put him into the cat carrier until we were actually ready to drive out of the campsite.
We packed up the trailer and cleaned up our site, loaded the quads and headed down the road.  We were on the final leg of our journey to Wickenburg.

An arch way up high

We arrived in Wickenburg in the early afternoon and the changes in the park were awesome.  We were greeted by a stone lined driveway.  All the trailers are gone now but for ours and Kay and Ray's and the stone pathways are almost finished although there is still work to be done in that area.
We settled in without too much ado and were soon greeted by Ray (who had been downtown) and Howard (who had arrived from Wyoming a few weeks ago).  It was good to finally be at our winter home.
The cats were brought into the trailer and they too got busy familiarizing themselves with their new surroundings.  They too have finally ended their journey home!!

Coming into the park

We got busy opening up the trailer and the mancave and soon had the campfire stoked for tonight's fire.  The cats came out of the house and started checking out their winter home.  We sat in the sunshine for the rest of the afternoon and caught up on all of Ray's news then headed over to the fireplace and settled in for the evening.  It was good to be finally seated in the yard and no travel in our near future!!
Life is good and will be even better tonight as I soak in the bath tub!!

Wednesday, December 7/2016

Crazy Shower Cats

Today, we are headed "up the mountain" so that should be interesting but first, we had to finish up with breakfast and the cats had to entertain themselves in the shower this morning.  Today, they are crazy shower cats!!

The campsite

Clean and neat and homey

We left the campsite and stopped at the information kiosks and this is where we were told that the upcoming trail was rough, rocky and very steep.  Oh dear......this can not be good.   Already my stress levels were going up and we hadn't even left the staging area!!
Off we went and our trail immediately started to climb which I guess stands to reason since the summit was sitting at roughly 5600 feet!!

Information plaques at the staging area

The trail itself was wide and actually was pretty good,  As far as roughness goes, it was pretty smooth considering the wickedly rough trail we did over the mountain at Alamo Lake.  This trail was a piece of cake compared to that one!!
We slowly wound our way around the various hills and our ascent up the mountain to the summit was fairly gradual.  I was waiting for the "very steep" part and was actually glad that I didn't really come across anything that I would consider "very steep" or scary.  Sure, it was steep, especially as we got closer to the summit but "very steep" never really came into my vocabulary.  The trail was wide and there was plenty of room if one came upon oncoming traffic.  There was a fair amount of shelf trail but much of it had a significant "bank" on it from grading.  I really can't imagine being the grader operator on this particular mountain trail.
We did pull over on the trail at one point to let three other side by sides pass us.  We were not in any hurry so let them pass and they could carry on at their much faster pace.

headed up the trail

starting our ascent

There were several areas where we could look back and see where we had travelled and that was kind of cool.  It was a "we are here and that is where we came from" moment!!  Apparently, there is supposed to be mountain goats in the area but we never seen any.  Eventually all the burro poop fizzled out cause even they didn't see the point of being up this high!!

lots of saguaro on the mountain

Once again - a harsh ecosystem

more trail - more saguaro

We eventually reached the summit and the folks we had allowed to pass earlier were ready for their descent.  Maybe they waited for us to reach the top before heading back down.

Close to the top and looking at the smog

Follow your arrow!!

One small piece of cement on the way to the top

Kermit and the trail

At the summit, there were several plaques telling of the hardships of the scientists that chose to live on the summit over the five years that the observatory was in operation.  Man, I can not imagine living on the top of a mountain now let alone in the 1920s!!   The history of the area was pretty darn cool though and the fact that some of the original buildings still stand is really quite incredible.

the other folks at the summit

Wilderness Area behind this sign.......no doubt there

summit buildings left over from the 1920s

farmland down below

two rows of solar panels power the towers

Today, the summit is still used for telecommunications and is powered by solar panels and a generator.  There are also two huge propane tanks up there and I wonder how on earth they are refilled.  There is no way a propane truck would be able to traverse this mountain trail!!  Perhaps helicopter??

The summit parking lot

We stayed on the summit for probably an hour and thankfully weather wise, it was quite pleasant.  There was a bit of a wind but it certainly was not chilly.
Our descent was unremarkable and we got to enjoy the sights the other way around as they are often different.  It is said that if you want a different view, just turn around!!

Numerous plaques on the summit  - telling of the harsh
realities of living on the summit is the 1920s

Wooden "H" signifying the helipad

The trail switchbacks

miles and miles of harsh, unforgiving environment

Marie, Kay and Henrietta
She climbed to the top like a champ!!

Sunset

We got back to camp in time to head out for another "wood" run for tonight's campfire.  With that being a successful mission, we were able to enjoy the fire, eat supper and take in another incredible sunset.
Tomorrow, we are FINALLY headed to Wickenburg so it is another travel day and the cats will be home for the winter and I will be soaking in the bathtub!!  Life is Good!!

Incredible sunsets

every minute leds to a different sunset