COOKIE CLUTTER OF THE TUMMY NUTTER

WE ALWAYS KEEP A CLOSE EYE OUT FOR COYOTES ON OUR MORNING WALKS

I don’t know who is in charge of the big wind machine in these parts this year but they can turn it off any time!!  Had to hang onto our front door this morning as I stepped outside.  Mats off the porch again & our wind sock was straight out indicating the gusting winds were coming from the North.  Back it off will ya Canada we’re trying to enjoy our great Arizona weather down here!!

<<< PHEEBS KNOWS KELLY IS HIDING A TREAT FOR DALLY UNDER HER COAT THIS MORNING

Started my day off with a big scoop of Cookie Butter.  Not too darn smart I’d say.  Figure I should have listened to a fellow shopper Monday at Trader Joes.  I was standing in the aisle looking over the Peanut Butter & Cookie Butter selection.  A lady beside me casually mentioned she liked the Almond Butter far better than the Peanut Butter.  I replied I had been looking at the Cookie Butter.  She reached over to the shelf lifting off a jar & started reading the ingredients label.  With a loud audible ‘AWK’ she quickly returned the Cookie Butter jar to the shelf saying, “I would never eat that”.  With that resounding endorsement I quickly dropped a jar right into our cart.  Oh Dear………

 

HEY THAT’S NOT A HUMMINGBIRD ON THE FEEDER….IT’S A GILA WOODPECKER

First order of business this morning was moving furniture & re-arranging things in preparation for our loveseat & recliner arriving Wednesday.  Trying out some different table & chair combinations.  I always enjoy re-arranging things from time to time.  Nice to change things up & keep one’s perspective on the move.

PEERING OUT OF A SAGUARO CACTUS IN OUR FRONT YARD

Kelly sure had the house smelling great this afternoon with all her chocolate chip cookie baking.  If I ate one cookie I ate 500.  I am so doomed to never see my shoes again.

IT IS THE EYES ON THESE CURVE BILL THRASHERS THAT ARE SO INTRIGUING >>>

Just remembered Donna from TRAVELS IN THERAPY had a few photo questions in which she asks, “ Just wondering what ISO and shutter speed you use to get the stop action on the birds? Are you shooting through a window or outdoors”? ……… I generally use an ISO of 1000 or 1600 & my shutter speeds vary but are often around 1/2000th of a second.  And the majority of my birdshots here in Congress are taken from outside & not through glass.  In Bayfield it is the opposite as many of my bird photos are taken through glass from inside our sunroom.

THIS PHOTO TAKEN AT 300mm TODAY IS ISO 1600 F 5.6 AT 1/2000

Humorously enlightening & right on the money for me is Debra Argosy’s latest post over at FIND AN OUTLET.  I went right down my mental checklist ticking off & agreeing with absolutely everything she had to say about smart phones.  We do not have a smart phone for the very simple reason we do not need a smart phone.  I have never sent a text message to anyone & it is unlikely I ever will.  Wouldn’t know how for starters & I have no interest in learning how.  But rather than me telling you my opinions on smart phones I’ll just let you go read Debra’s post.  She’s got it nailed………….

  

I SUSPECT THIS MAY BE A COOPERS HAWK…IT CRUISED THROUGH OUR BIRD FEEDERS RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME & I WAS ABLE TO GET A COUPLE QUICK SHOTS OFF AS IT LANDED IN A MESQUITE TREE FOR A FEW SECONDS  

A post by klbexplores entitled ‘STRADDLING TWO WORLDS’ caught my eye this morning as well.  Not all RV’ers who are able to travel….are able to travel.  Could be medical, could be financial, could be family obligations, etc.  How would we feel about that if we had to change plans & remain home.  I know how I would feel about that!!  But check out how klbexplores feels about that.

WE HAVE LOTS OF GAMBLES QUAIL SKITTERING THROUGH OUR YARD EVERY DAY

Some days are just lazier than others.  Some days start out that way & other days just seem to get that way.  Today I had one of those day’s that just sorta got that way.  But I guess I kinda got it that way myself.  No doubt about it, my tummy today was suffering from dough overload also commonly known in the medical profession as……Cookie Clutter of the Tummy Nutter:((

HERE’S PHEEBS ENJOYING ONE OF HER TRADER JOE’S TREATS TODAY

GROANER’S CORNER:((  And here is an extremely important tip which applies to absolutely everyone regardless of who you are….'Don't believe everything you think!!' 

-------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.

SURPRISE SURPRISE WE WENT TO SURPRISE, AND TRADER JOES AND 5 GUYS, AND……….

An unusually strong & unsuspected north wind in the night blew our mats off the front porch, knocked an ornament off an outside wall & tipped over a couple campfire chairs.  Kelly had trouble sleeping when one of our aluminum shed doors had a habit of flapping & banging.

OF COURSE PHEEBS SLEPT RIGHT THROUGH ALL THE WIND NOISE
We have had our second hand Mission Recliners for over a year now but despite the chairs solid quality in their day we just came to the conclusion they were not as comfortable as we had hoped they would be.  A bit of internet research, a few phone calls, a consultation with her husband, & Kelly made the decision we needed a furniture change.

BOTH OUR MISSION RECLINERS CAN BE SEEN IN THIS LAST YEAR PHOTO…PHEEBS TOO:))
She found a neat-o used furniture store in Surprise Arizona called, Design With Cents – High End Resale.  With address in hand & instructions saying it was a block south of Trader Joes we hit the road at 11 a.m. arriving at the store 40 minutes later.  I liked this store right away.  It was jam packed with just the kind of furniture & décor we like.  And it’s all good stuff.  Not junky.  We also found the staff to be on our level & easy to talk to & deal with.  We settled on one recliner, one loveseat, & one painting.  While Kelly did the dealing I went & lost myself behind a sofa somewhere.  I am not a wheeler dealer & do not like all that haggling baloney.  They will deliver our stuff Wednesday afternoon.  And they are taking our 2 Mission Recliners as trade-ins as well.  A good deal all way round.

THE ‘DESIGN WITH CENTS’ STORE IN SURPRISE ARIZONA
 
LOOKING & LOOKING & LOOKING

FINALLY DECIDED ON THAT LOVESEAT IN THE CENTER & THAT PAINTING WAY UP HIGH ON TOP OF A HUTCH AT THE RIGHT…THE LARGE PAINTING WILL GO ON THE WALL OVER MY BED
 
I LIKE THESE KINDS OF STORES FOR THEIR COLORS, DÉCOR, & COZINESS

WE WEREN’T CRAZY ABOUT THE LIGHT COLOR OF THIS RECLINER BUT THE PRICE WAS RIGHT & IT WAS COMFORTABLE FOR ME & I’M THE GUY WHO WILL BE SITTING IN IT…WE’LL COVER IT WITH A BIG COLORFUL MEXICAN BLANKET
Having been to Surprise half a dozen times before we were kinda familiar with the huge mega-mall complex in the north end of the city.  Familiar enough to know where 5 GUYS was & we weren’t long getting ourselves over there after leaving the used furniture store.  Burgs & fries were great but I would have liked to get my hands on the volume knob of their music source.  There is no need to blast loud annoying noise like that.  That’s my biggest beef with 5 Guys.

LAST TIME WE WERE HERE AUNT JEAN WAS WITH US & IT WAS LAST WINTER
 
KELLY SCOOPS ALL THE FREE PEANUTS SHE CAN CARRY & THAT’S OUR BURGS IN THE BAG
Around the corner from 5 Guys Kelly remembered a Yogurt place beside Starbucks.  Slipped on over there & got myself about 5 ounces of Carmel Yogurt.  It’s a neat idea they have in that store with Yogurt prices being based on the number of ounces of Yogurt one buys.  At .45 cents an ounce I had a $3 dollar dish of yummy Yogurt.  Kelly slipped next door & grabbed a coffee to go.  Not caring for Starbucks coffee I passed.
 
EACH ONE OF THOSE WINDOWS DISPENSES TWO DIFFERENT KINDS OF YOGURT…JUST STEP UP WITH YOUR CONTAINER, PULL A LEVER & PUT AS MUCH YOGURT IN YOUR CUP AS YOU LIKE
Didn’t take us long to find our next stop.  We backtracked up highway 60 to Trader Joes.  Couldn’t help but notice the crushing & congested traffic of course.  You couldn’t pay me enough to live in an area like this.  But back to Trader Joes……  Kelly grabbed a cart because with the blog reader’s list she had in her hand we knew we would definitely be needing a cart to get everything back to the Jeep.

THAT’S KELLY HER VERY SELL WITH THE WHITE TOP & RED CART GOING IN THE DOOR
 
CHECKING OUT JOE’S OLIVE OIL & GRINDING SOME OF JOE’S COFFEE
Now we didn’t get everything on the list of course but we did spend a half hour in the store getting familiar with TJ’s products even stopping clerks with questions.  As you all well know I am not a foody guy but I think our trip to TJ’s today kind of gave me a liking for this place.  Saw a lot of organic stuff, etc.  And we both agreed the prices were reasonable.  And the peanut butter pretzels we bought never even made it out of Trader Joes parking lot before I had them open.  Yep, we will be back to TJ’s alright:))

ROLLING THROUGH WICKENBURG WE NOTICED LOTS OF WESTERN HORSE ACTIVITY

Rolled northbound out of Surprise at 3:15 & we were home by 4.  From Surprise to Congress it is pretty much a straight shot with much of it being a 4 lane highway.  Aside from the traffic it’s a pretty easy drive.  Even Wickenburg’s 2 round-a-bouts are feeling more familiar.       


First thing I opened up when we got home was the Cookie Butter.  Didn’t take me long to make a huge dent in that small jar.  Had to fight with myself not to take the Cookie Butter to bed with me & put it under my pillow.  Oh Dear, not the start of another addiction I hope……………..

HERE’S A FEW THINGS WE BROUGHT HOME FROM TRADER JOE’S TODAY
When’s the last time you saw a bunch of Alligators together.  From a safe distance I would hope.  Have a look at what these folks over at IN THE DIRECTION OF OUR DREAMS stumbled across out on a hike at MYAKKA RIVER STATE PARK in Florida.  Keep on scrolling down through their photos.  Alligators, Alligators, Alligators!!…….  And have you ever had a nightmare oil change done to your RV?   Why would that oil change take 3 days & end up with your rig on the end of a tow truck?  You can read all about the Hollingers personal oil change nightmare at WHAT AN OIL CHANGE THAT WAS!!

GROANER’S CORNER:((  A young and foolish pilot wanted to sound cool on the aviation frequencies. This was his first time approaching a field during nighttime, and instead of making any official requests to the tower, he said, "Guess who?"
The controller switched the field lights off and replied, "Guess where!"
-------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.

DIDN’T QUITE MAKE IT TO THE TOP OF ROUND MOUNTAIN TODAY

DECIDING WHETHER WE WANTED TO RUN THE JEEP OVER THESE ROCKS TO REACH THE TOP OF ROUND MOUNTAIN

Wanting to change things up a bit from our usual morning walk we piled into the Jeep & headed off in search of some new horizons for a change.

NICE QUIET BOONDOCKING AREA HERE JUST OFF HIGHWAY 89 SOUTH OF CONGRESS

Slipped on down south of North Ranch & bumped our way into the desert through a familiar fence.  This was the area we first came to in Congress back around the end of February 2012.  JANNA & MIKE back then had told us of a nice boondocking area & that is where we headed back to this morning.  KAREN & STEVE as well as RV SUE have boondocked here too.  This is the place where Pheebs made friends with all the cows & all those cow smooching photos were taken.  We waved at some cows & our two previous camping spots & headed further into the desert where we had not been before.

  

PHEEBS WAS CRYING TO GET OUT WHEN SHE SAW THESE COWS

We followed a rough & tumble road back to the Martinez wash, up over a ridge & onto a second plateau.  One spot we got out to double check the road/trail ahead.

NO PROBLEM FOR JEEPERS

Coming down of the second plateau we entered a dry wash whereupon we turned south & drove a few miles along a sandy bottom.  This is where 4 wheel drive really comes in mighty handy.  The Jeep wallowed, yawed & slewed as each tire pulled it’s way through the gripping sand.  It’s important to keep the wheels moving.

WHEN IN SAND IT’S A GOOD IDEA TO KEEP MOVING

We had been told by an ATV’er a ways back we could reach Round Mountain by following this wash.  Well, we probably could have except we followed tire tracks in the sand to the right when we should have followed them to the left.  We knew we were on the wrong trail when we could see Round Mountain becoming further distant on our left side & then behind us. 

THAT’S OUR DESTINATION ROUND MOUNTAIN ON THE HORIZON

We stayed on the trail we were on which eventually led us to a road which in turn led us back to #89 highway.  Figured we were half way to Wickenburg.  We could turn right & go home or we could turn left & head to McDonald’s for a coffee.  Easy decision & off we went to Wickenburg.  What a maniac speedway of traffic that highway 93 is.  Ridiculous!!

GAMBLE’S QUAIL

With coffees secure in their holders we backtracked up highway 93 through a couple round-a-bouts & found us the ‘Scenic Loop’ road.  We have traveled this road before but today we were looking for a way to reach Round Mountain which isn’t really a mountain but just a big pointy topped hill.  Of course if it was located out on the flat land Prairies I’m sure the folks living there would consider it a mountain.   We remembered Scenic Loop road as being washboardy from last time.  It hadn’t changed.  Found the small dirt road leading to Round Mountain & went part way up & stopped.  The road was deteriorating & the next section was narrow, steeper, & made up of a lot of sharp loose rocks.  The Jeep would have gone up there no problem but how much did we want to beat up our tires on those sharp rocks.  Decision was unanimous & we decided to park little Jeepers & grab ourselves some exercise by walking part way up.  Nice views.

  

NO POINT IN BEATING UP OUR TIRES ON THESE ROCKS IF WE DIDN’T HAVE TO

Spotted a couple red Polaris RZR’s coming down.  Those RZR’s are kinda somewhere between an ATV & a very small Jeep.  Driver & passenger sit side by side instead of one behind the other.  We see a lot of them around here & they are popular with folks.  Because of their 4 wheels instead of 3 they look a little more reassuringly stable than an ATV.  The folks stopped & chatted for a bit.  One couple from North Dakota & the other couple from just up the road at North Ranch.

THESE 2 COUPLES WERE JUST ON THEIR WAY DOWN & SAID THE ROAD GETS WORSE NEAR THE TOP

 

We had ourselves back in Congress before 1 & that was about it for the rest of our day as far as things to write about go. 

And we were saddened a few days ago when we heard that one of Pheebs little Pals on the block squeaked through a hole in a fence awhile back & disappeared.  Gizmo’s house was right on the edge of the desert & the neighborhood is frequented by Coyotes.  We hadn’t seen the Giz for a couple weeks & had wondered if something had happened……………I guess it did:((

GROANER’S CORNER:((  Women have a Passion for Mathematics.  They divide their age in half double the price of their clothes & always add at least 5 years to the age of their Best Friend.

-------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.