WE ARE BACK TO OUR CONGRESS HOME BASE AGAIN FOR SOME R & R:))

PHEEBS WAS ANXIOUS TO GET ON THE ROAD THIS MORNING

I had a long last look across Arizona’s darkened Verde Valley early this morning.  Jerome’s twinkling diamond studded treasure chest sparkled against the blackness of Mingus Mountain.  Thanks for that Jerome & next time we’re here we are planning to come over to see you again.  It’s been awhile…………………

Well I sure got spoiled this morning.  I drove a brand spanking new Honda CRV & it floated over the bumpy roads like a Cadillac.  Make me wonder now if maybe our Jeep could use some new shocks.  No I didn’t have the Honda out for a test drive, I was actually moving it from one campsite to another campsite for someone.  Annie decided a couple days ago she would still like the site we were vacating so we were able to help her with that move this morning.  Her own Honda was in for servicing so she had a new one for a couple days.  She drove over to our site, picked me up & we went back to her site.  She fired up the big Bounder & drove it over to our site a couple miles to the north.  I followed in the smoooooth Honda CRV.   Pheebs & Jake got to race around again for a bit.  It was a few minutes before 9 when we said goodbye to Annie, wished her the best & pulled out headed for home.

ANNIE HEADS FOR HER NEW SITE

PULLING IN

   

JAKE & PHEEBS KIBBITZING

One stop for gas & coffee at McDonalds at the #17 & 260 interchange & we were on our way.  Traffic was lite.  Little bit of construction on southbound 17 & we were soon on 169 heading west through the Prescott Valley.  Nice scenic & relaxing drive around the Prescott by-pass soon had us on Iron Springs Road southbound for Skull Valley, Kirkland Junction, Peeples Valley, Yarnell, & down the Hill to our home base in Congress.  We rolled into our yard as the bell tolled high noon.

89A HEADING TOWARDS COTTONWOOD AZ

Nice to be back to our sticks & bricks & holy ker-smokes was it ever warm.  Reminded me of a nice pleasant Summer’s day back in Ontario.  As always we hit the ground running & had the rig completely emptied & everything put away in under an hour.  Couple loads of laundry, bird feeders filled, a long hot shower, & I even managed to catch my favorite Canadian half hour sit-com ‘Corner Gas’ at 2.  A bonus day & hey, no complaining from me for a change:))

 

DEFLATING THE BIG BALLOON MONDAY MORNING

We noticed right away how well our Aloe Vera plants are already growing.  Found them in a ditch a few weeks ago.  About a dozen or so.  Tall stocks with flower pods.  Hope all my Cactus plants will soon start showing signs of Spring growth as well. 

 

Saw a package leaning against the fence inside our gate.  UPS had left it there whenever & it was my new PJ’s.  I’m happy for that because my old ‘jammies’ were well beyond wearable.  But wear them anyway I did.  One set of new ‘jams’ are blue with gold teddy bears on them.  Second set are camouflage colors which I could wear to Walmart & people would think I was one of the local hunters.

 

I’LL WEAR MY ‘CAMO JAMS’ FOR STEALTHY NIGHT MANEUVERS

I usually dump the black & gray tanks soon as we get home along with checking the Jeep, Winnie’s, & generator’s oil but will do all that in the morning.  Just a little too warm for me outside today. 

SHARING A BEDTIME STORY WITH MY LITTLE PAL

Had a little chuckle at NAN'S comment on my Tuesday post when she said, “Three years ago, we were climbing up to a vista in Death Valley. A tour bus came in and a gaggle of oriental tourists got off, rapidly walked past us to the vista, snapped their photos and left without appreciating the beauty. They just wanted their photos”.  If you go back to my ‘bus photo’ in Tuesday’s post & look closely at the people you will indeed see that was an Oriental tour bus as well with folks doing just as Nan said……:))

THERE IS MORE THAN JUST ONE JEEP COMPANY DOING TOURS IN SEDONA

Slight correction to Tuesday night’s post.  Ranger at Montezuma Well said that big Sycamore Tree was the oldest tree in Arizona not the largest.  Kelly thought he said 150 years old & I thought he said 300 years old.  When we have a difference of hearing like that I have learned to defer to Kelly’s audio.  And about that green pepper Pheebs had……just about the time I snapped the photo of her laying down to eat it I thought ‘oh-oh’ could be a HOT pepper so walked over & took it away from her.  And no after effects for Pheebs after eating those 8 chocolate chip cookies a few days ago.  We kept an eye on her & she was fine.  Thanks for your concern Chinle.

And as much as we both enjoy getting away on our little adventures every 3 weeks or so we also enjoy returning to our sticks & bricks home base each time as well.  It’s almost like we have to come home for a rest & a re-charge.  When on the road we go at our day trips pretty hard sometimes & it is not unusual for me to take a couple hundred photos a day.  Soon as we get back to the rig I start right away writing my nightly post.  Then comes the editing of all my photos.  Each & every photo has to be looked at, assessed, & edited accordingly.  I enjoy this process but it takes time & it can be very tiring.  Once the post is written & the photos edited I have to put it all together in some semblance of reasonable readability.  Usually by this stage I am so tired some times the printing gets blurry, I make time wasting mistakes, & what little patience I have with myself just drains out through the bottom of my feet.  Final proof reading of the post is a chore.  By the time I hit the ‘Publish’ button it could be around 10 p.m.  Publishing times on the road can very from maybe 20 minutes to over an hour sometimes.  I have to stay awake for this because sometimes it times out & I have to re-start the post by hitting the Publish button again.  Not unusual for me to finally turn the lights out sometime after 11 & crawl up my bunk ladder to bed.  Add to this the fact I do not have a comfortable work station in the rig & you can begin to see why I sometimes look forward to coming home after just a week on the road.  I need that comfortable home time to get rested up for a few weeks before we hit the road again.  Am I complaining?  No Sireeeeee, despite the obvious & occasional difficulties I do love sharing my hobbies with everyone.  Thanks again for stopping by & making this Blog possible folks………………….:))  

GROANER’S CORNER:(( An Asian fellow has moved in next door. He has travelled the world, tried swimming with sharks, wrestled bears and climbed the highest mountains. It came as no surprise to learn his name was Bindair Dundat.

- An auto club tow truck stopped beside me at a street light today and the driver was sobbing uncontrollably. I thought to myself, "that guy's headed for a breakdown!"

- My dad worked repairing roads for the city for twenty years before he got fired for stealing! At first I didn't believe it...but when I got home all the signs were there!

- What do you call a Pope who has already resigned?
Ex-Benedict!