Sunday, November 12/2017 - Saturday, November 18/2017

Sunday found us out on the new trails.   Wow, it was pretty incredible and the desert vegetation is a bit different than what we are used to.  There is not nearly as many saguaro cactus in this part of the the desert as the trails in which we are used to traveling around Wickenburg.  There are many larger boulders around but then again, we are surrounded by the Weaver Mountains.

The Weaver Mountains are a much smaller mountain range to the Southeast of the Bradshaw Mountains.  The town of Yarnell is considered the summit to the range and highway 89 cuts through the range.

John and Kay rode in Kermit and Jace and I were in Henrietta and Jace was quite impressed with the climbing ability of "old" Henrietta!!  He laughed all the way to the top of many a hill today.

He kept taking pictures and "snapchatting" and kept saying "Kim is hating on me"!!  This particular fact did not deter him in rubbing it in to Kimmy who was back at home in all the snow and cold!!

This trail and all the rest of them today, lay just outside our back yard

Huge boulders

boulders and cacti

Refreshment break

A saguaro and a boulder!!

miles of trails to check out

a tipped over crane

It makes one wonder how on earth it managed to get here

Kay, in the driver's seat

We got home in plenty of time to start a fire and enjoy the warmth of the evening while John got supper on the BBQ.  Of course, being Saturday, it was steak night and we were all hungry enough after our adventures on the trails.  It was a very good day.

It is not a "good" ride unless we are getting home in the dark!!

Monday, found Jace headed out to pick up another load and head back to Canada.  He totally enjoyed his brief stay with us and loves the new house.  He is thrilled with the prospect of checking out  more trails when him and Kimmy come for a visit hopefully in February.
We also headed back into Wickenburg and hauled another load of stuff from the trailer and finished out the day sitting around the fire and chuckling that we still had our shorts and flipflops on!!
The cats are slowly getting used to the new place and are checking out all the new nooks and crannies.  Booko is busy following them around!!
Tuesday found Kay and I watching our first morning movie of the winter season!!  It was awesome and I truly hope that we can get some organization into our lives and make this a habit.
The house was in a pretty good state of chaos and we did make an attempt to clean up and reorganize!!  Things are starting to look up!!
Wednesday, John started working on getting the laundry room ready for the washer and dryer as running back and forth to our washer and dryer in Wickenburg is a bit of a pain in the neck.
Thursday found me dealing with the giant pumpkin that Kay brought from Utah.  I cleaned it out, split it in half and tossed it into the oven to cook.  With that being done, Kay and I headed back into Wickenburg and stopped at the lumber yard where we bought some wood that John needed to complete his laundry room renos.
We have been having issues with the plumbing -  the toilets are very sluggish and the tub and shower do not want to drain properly.  Today, we decided to call a plumber and have him come out and snake the line.  Something is obviously blocking the line!   Shit, Oh Dear.......and the gong show begins!! Again, we ended the evening sitting around the campfire and simply enjoying the new "digs" hoping that whatever the plumber finds is not going to cost an arm and a leg to repair.
Friday heralded in the arrival of the plumber and 3 1/2 hours later, our drains were clear and things were certainly looking up.
There was a bit of a rain storm Friday but it cleared and the day turned out actually quite nice.  It is really cold back home right now so we are very grateful to be sitting here in Arizona and enjoying the weather.  It is even better now that our toilets flush properly!!
Saturday found us back in Wickenburg moving more stuff and stopping at the grocery store to stock up on food and other necessities.  John was busy again in the laundry room and planning the "new and improved" mancave!!  I think it is going to be awesome when we get it all done.
The cats seem much more settled and have been coming when called and avoiding the many coyotes that are quite vocal in the evening.  Hopefully, they continue to do so!!  Booko is not impressed with them and stays pretty close to home.  He is equally not impressed with the two neighbour dogs.  They are barkers and he initially was scared of them but he has come around and  now him and the german shepherd run down the fence line like a couple of idiots!!  The only time they stop is when they need to get a drink of water!!
All in all though, with the animals settled in and the house slowly getting into shape, it has been a really busy week.  A good week, but a busy one and I am sure there are several more busy weeks ahead of us!!  Life is Good!!

View from the top Casita

Kay letting her hair down