CONGRESS, VULTURE PEAK, I-10’S TONOPAH, & AN RV BLOG READER DROPS BY ON HIS WAY TO YUMA:))

OUR FIRST DESTINATION THIS MORNING WAS THE VULTURE PEAK AREA

Had the Jeep’s wheels rolling before 8 a.m. this morning heading for Vulture Peak via Vulture Mine Road running west out of Wickenburg’s north end.  Another fine bright sunny Arizona start to the day. 

VULTURE PEAK IN THE BACKGROUND

Turned left onto a dirt road called Vulture Peak Road & rolled past the campsite where we first met Peter from AMERICAN TRAVELER back in March of 2012.  We were having breakfast with Peter one March morning when we got a cell phone call from our Realtor in Prescott informing us our Congress house deal had gone through.

WE SAT HERE NEAR THE FIRE PIT WITH PETER FOR BREAKFAST

We don’t seem to do the long walks & hikes we once did in the first number of years RVing but we did get out for a bit of a walk northeast of Vulture Peak on a Jeep road for awhile this morning.  It is always such a treat to experience the silence of a surrounding landscape.  In this case it was desert & mountains.  No human sounds anywhere.  Oh how we would love to have a house in that kind of environment.  To step outside in the morning air with no barking dogs or cars going by.   And no neighbor sounds of any kind.  Ahhhh tis what dreams are made of in our kind of world:))

SOME OF THESE JEEP ROADS CAN BE AS DIFFICULT TO WALK ON AS THEY ARE TO DRIVE ON

  

A CLOSE UP 300mm VIEW OF VULTURE PEAK

Main purpose for venturing out Vulture Peak way was to see where the highway went heading south from there.  Looking on a map the past few years I could see it led down towards Tonopah & Buckeye on I-10 but seemed to have some twists & turns at that end.  And I wasn’t sure if it was paved all the way.  The ‘paved all the way’ was important to know because this is the route we would chose to go if at any time we decided to head down into south central or southeast Arizona.  There is no way we would even remotely think of heading down that way if we had to go through Phoenix & Tucson so we set off south on Vulture Mine Road to see if we could reach 1-10 via this route.  Nice easy scenic drive & with one left turn, another left turn & one right turn we reached an I-10 interchange at Tonopah.  Yes it was paved all the way from Wickenburg & I was happy to know that because now we had an alternate passage to southern Arizona.  At I-10 we were in familiar territory & I knew it was an easy drive from this interchange east to Buckeye then south down highway 85 through Gila Bend to a few of our old favorite haunts.  Ajo, Darby Well Road & Hickiwan Trails RV Park in Why Az.  And from there another familiar & favorite drive on highway 86 from Why to the south end of Tucson would land us back on I-10 for a drive eastward for even more memorable territory.  Gets my adrenalin going when I think of Benson, Sierra Vista, Tombstone & Bisbee.  And beyond that lies Cochise County & all the wonderful memories of our ranch sitting days near McNeal.  Long time readers will remember all our good times & adventures in that whole area just a few short years ago……….Well I’ve driven my memories a little too far here so I had better slow down, get myself turned around & backtrack to Tonopah on I-10.

FROM VULTURE PEAK I COULD SEE CONGRESS (NOT THE LINE OF HOUSES IN THE FOREGROUND)  WAY ACROSS THE DESERT AT THE FOOT OF THE DATE CREEK MOUNTAINS… TWO WHITE DOTS AT THE EXTREME RIGHT SIDE ARE THE 2 WATER TANKS JUST A COUPLE BLOCKS NORTH OF OUR HOUSE (300mm)

After crossing over the Interstate we noticed a Shell gas station service center complex with a Taco Bell, Subway, Pizza Hut & a fairly large restaurant.  Lots of trucks here & the place looked busy.  Decided to pull in for a sub before heading back the way we had come.  I don’t know how this always happens but it does.  Whenever Kelly goes in to get some kind of a food item anywhere she always comes back with better tasting food than I do if I had gone in.  The sub she came back with today was way better than the sub I would have come back with.  Same thing at home.  I can make a sandwich but if Kelly makes the same sandwich it always tastes better.  Why the heck is that anyway.  Pulled the Jeep up close to the north side of the sub shop out of the sun & we chowed down on our big yummy sub.  Pheebs too.

OUR REFLECTION IN THE COOL SHADE OF THE SUBWAY SHOP

An hour later we were back in Wickenburg.  Quick stop at Safeway for a couple things & 20 minutes later we were in Congress heading up Ghost Town Road.  As we came closer to our house we saw what appeared to be a Class C Motorhome parked at the side of the road in front of our house.  We swung in & came through our south gate.  A stranger approached saying “Hi my name’s Hank”.  Well he was a stranger no more as I right away recognized that name as one of our blog readers these past 4 years or so.  Hank was on his annual southbound Snow Bird trek from Abbottsford British Columbia to his winter destination in Yuma Arizona.  He had left the Las Vegas area early this morning & came this route because he had an RV to look at in Prescott.  Knew he would be coming down through Yarnell & Congress to catch highway 71 for Quartzsite so dropped in to say Hello.  It was a chance meeting & had we been 5 minutes later we would have missed him.

HANK’S FROM ABBOTTSFORD B.C.  NICE FELLA:))

 

We hauled a few chairs together on our front porch & had ourselves a good old RV chin wag.  Hank had full timed years ago in a Class A diesel pusher & had also owned a 45’ Dutch Star.  Due to some heart problems his Doctor advised him to slow down a bit so Hank downsized everything selling his Class A coach, Harley-Davidson motorcycle & his Corvette car amongst other things.  Bought himself a Class C type Chinook but like us with our 2 previous Class C’s he is finding it too small & that’s why he had stopped in Prescott to look at another Class A Motorhome.  Hank’s destination today was Yuma so he was soon on his way again.  He asked me how long I thought it would take to get to Quartzite which is on the way.  I said 3 hours but shortly after Hank left I remembered it’s only about an hour to the Q from here.  Oh well I thought, he’ll be a happy guy to get there in 1 hour instead of 3.  Thanks for dropping by today Hank:))

HANK HEADS FOR YUMA IN HIS 21’ FORD CHINOOK

So nice to just get out & go somewhere again today.  Walk a new trail, drive a few new roads, & see some new scenery we’ve never seen before.  Weather was perfect for we two cooler air loving Canadians……………

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Sally phoned her husband, Bill, at work for a chat.  "I'm sorry dear," said Bill, "but I'm up to my neck in work today. I don't have time to chat."
Sally replied, "But I've got some good news and some bad news for you, dear."  "OK darling," said Bill, "but as I've got no time right now, just give me the good news."
"Okay," agreed Sally. "Well, the air bag in the car works!"

---

A pastor got up one Sunday to preach and announced to his congregation: "I have good news and bad news. The good news is, we have enough money to pay for our new building program. The bad news is, it's still out there in your pockets."

READING ABOUT CANADIAN SINGERS & SONGWRITERS & THEIR SIGNIFICANT INFLUENCE SOUTH OF THE BORDER

DESERT DRIFTWOOD NOW IN OUR FRONT YARD

It was a good thing I remembered to bring in my laundry off the line Monday night or it would have ended up scattered over downtown Congress.  Well that’s if Congress actually had a downtown which of course it basically doesn’t.   Monday had been fairly windy for most of the day but as evening rolled around but a steady north wind began picking up & howled like a Banshee near my bedroom window through the night.  With no let up it blew heavily through the morning tipping over my wheelbarrow, some chairs, blew our hanging fish off the porch, knocked over our Eagle statue & whisked our front porch mat out into the front yard.  With air temps sitting at 53 early this morning you can imagine where the wind chill factor was.  Neither one of us felt like going out for a walk in that.  Figured we’d put or Vulture Peak hike & Jeep ride off till another day.

OUR DESERT EAGLE STATUE WAS TOPPLED BY THE WINDS & LANDED ON HIS BEAK

 

FISH BLOWN OFF THE PORCH, WHEEL BARREL KNOCKED OVER & A RUG BLOWN OFF OUR BACK PATIO

We’ve been very patient with our spotty internet these past couple years here at our Congress digs but enough is enough & this morning after talking to the folks at the 3G store & reading all the product reviews we decided upon & ordered a FULL BAND OMNI ANTENNA.  Apparently this antenna works well with the WILSON SLEEK SIGNAL BOOSTER which we fortunately already have.  This antenna will mount on the roof of our house & I think that is something even I can do….but don’t hold your breath.  When we decide to sell our house at some point the antenna is something we can take with us.

OUR FRONT YARD DRIFTWOOD IN A TRUER PERSPECTIVE

 

Winds finally abated by early afternoon & without the uncomfortable heat of last week we sat on our back cement patio for awhile today just soaking up Old Sol’s warming rays & enjoying birds at our feeders.  Always like watching a group of Gamble’s Quail slipping daintily under our wire fence & scrounging the ground for seeds under the bird feeders.  Love the pleasant weebling sounds they make amongst themselves as they timidly skitter about like little busy bodies.

 

Very happy we decided to buy a Kindle last winter.  It has resumed my interest in reading again after a long time away.  Has been too hard for me to read small print in books for years but with new technologies such as readers like Kindle I am once again able to pick up one of my old favorite hobbies from years ago.  Recently started my 4th book this year which of course isn’t a lot for many readers but it’s a step forward for me.  Really enjoying my latest read, WHISPERING PINES.   Whispering Pines is the first comprehensive history of Canada’s immense songwriting legacy, from Gordon Lightfoot to Joni Mitchell.  I’m in the early stages of Gordon Lightfoot’s beginnings having already read about Hank Snow, Wilf Carter, Ronnie Hawkins & all the members of his band the Hawks who later went on as ‘The Band’ to back up Bob Dylan on his electric transformation & tours.  After all these years of listening to music I am finding it fascinating to read behind the scenes how the whole music scene these past 50 years has come together & how Canadian singers & songwriters have played such a large & important role in everything.   

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Have you noticed that children sometimes try to be helpful, but it makes your life more complicated?  I heard a story about a mother who was sick with the flu. Her darling daughter wanted to be a good nurse. She fluffed the pillows and brought a magazine for her mother to read. And then she showed up with a cup of tea.  "You're such a sweetheart," the mother said as she drank the tea. "I didn't know you could make tea."  "Oh, yes," the little girl replied. "I put the tea leaves in the water like you do, and I boiled it, and then I strained it into a cup. But I couldn't find a strainer, so I used the flyswatter."  "You what?"  And the little girl said, "Oh, don't worry, mom. I didn't use the new flyswatter. I used the old one."

GLAD I’M NOT A COW STOPPING BY FOR A DRINK

KELLY HUNG UP HER PEACE FLAGS TODAY…WE’RE SLOWLY GETTING IN THE GROOVE

Nice morning to be outside doing things.  More tree trimming & raking plus I managed to get a couple loads of laundry done & hung up in the morning’s cooling breeze.  Bright sunny skies overhead & all seemed well.  Neither one of us could explain our lethargic Sunday but I have a feeling it has to do one’s working life over the years.  We’re just used to getting up on a Monday morning & getting right at things.  The week-end is over & our brains which have been programed right from early school days to full blown work mode for the majority of our lives still automatically kicks into gear every Monday morning regardless of where we are or what we are doing.  I’m alright with that & enjoy the active motivation & stimulation of week day mornings.  Well most of the time anyway.

I’M NEVER TOO FAR AWAY FROM MY CAMERAS

Each morning we drive a little further out into the desert & do our walks in different areas.  I like this because we do not walk the same stretch of ground day after day after day.  Always fun finding new things & this morning it was some nice pieces of desert wood that someone had obviously thrown out there.  Probably somebody cleaning up an old property & didn’t have an artistic eye for some of the wood stumps lying around.  Not enough room to bring them home with 3 of us in the Jeep so Pheebs & I headed back later in the morning to load up the decorative pieces.  With temps hovering in the low 60’s I wasn’t worried about Pheebs & I running into any snakes.

LOADED UP SOME DESERT DRIFTWOOD

 

DESERT ROADS CAN OFTEN BE A TAD MORE EXCITING THAN BACK HOME COUNTRY ROADS

We bumped along a familiar Jeep road until we arrived at  what I figure was the site of an old ranch at one time.  We’ve stopped here before a few times so knew where it was.  Not much left except some old timbers lying about & a couple what I guess may have been chicken coops or something.  A windmill tower without it’s windmill holds 4 solar panels which I presume runs a pump somewhere below keeping a round metal tank full of water for nearby cattle.  Black Angus I think.  The tank is choked full of algae & was abuzz with many bees.  Could see water dripping from a pipe into the tank & guessed at 2 drips per second.  I’m sure other desert creatures come here to drink in the pre-dawn hours as well.

GLAD I’M NOT A COW STOPPING BY FOR A DRINK

 

THOUGHT I SAW JACQUE COUSTEAU SWIMMING AROUND IN THERE

 

Tuesday morning we may slip over past Wickenburg & do ourselves a little exploring around Vulture Peak.  We’ve done the Vulture Peak Trail part way a few times so I think we’ll look for some of the other trails in that area.  Lot’s of Jeep roads over that-a-way we haven’t been on yet.

 

FACES IN THE WOOD

Our internet signal here is still very sketchy.  Sometimes we can’t get on-line at all, other times it is agonizingly slow & on very rare occasions it seems to be as fast as a speeding bullet.  Doesn’t appear to be any rhyme or reason for the varying speeds & we have no choice but to be as patient with it as we can.  Needless to say we haven’t been keeping up with too many blogs & any blog with a lot of photos generally won’t open for us at all.  We get a lot of ‘This page can’t be displayed’ messages.  Frustrating.

WELL, WHICH HAT WILL I WEAR TODAY

GROANER’S CORNER:((  When I discovered my first gray hair I immediately wrote to my parents:  "Dear Dad and Mom, You saw my first steps. You might want to experience this with me too."
I taped the offending hair to the paper and mailed it.
My father's response was in the form of a poem:

It's a trustworthy observation
That nothing can compare
In the process of aging
With finding the first gray hair.

He signed off with this observation:  "That gray hair you sent is not the first one you gave us!"

FROM A COOLING FAN TO A WARMING HEATER

Went from a cooling fan to a warming heater in a rather short space of time.  This morning’s 38F had me turn on a little heater by my computer chair for a short while.  No I’m not complaining about it being too cold…..just sayin:))

I know I sometimes go on a bit about my dislike for our cold snowy winters back home in southern Ontario but of course like anything else there is always another side to the coin.  At times winter can be spectacularly beautiful with all it’s picturesque snowy scenes & crispy clear blue skies.  I have nice memories of cross country skiing, a short stint at down hill skiing, & of course many country road drives on bright sunny days through snowy rural landscapes.  I have many snow scenes in 35mm slides but very few winter photos in digital.  One of our blog readers lives in Ontario’s Beaver Valley which is a couple hours drive northeast of Bayfield & I’ve noticed this fellow has a keen photographic eye for nature’s beauty.  His photos remind me of winter’s scenic side & his interest in what nature has to offer mirrors my own love of outside natural photography .   Check out the Furry Gnome’s SEASONS IN THE VALLEY.  You can also find the Furry Gnome on our sidebar.

Let’s just say we had ourselves a very quiet day which left me with little to write about tonight.  Some days are just like that…………….

ANOTHER BACK YARD SUNSET

GROANER’S CORNER:((  "You think so much of your game that you don't even remember when we got married," complained the wife.  "Of course I do honey," the husband said. "It was the day after I sank that 40-foot putt."

---

A gushy reporter told Jack Nicklaus, "You are spectacular, your name is synonymous with the game of golf. You really know your way around the course. What's your secret?"  Nicklaus replied, "The holes are numbered."

---

An older gentleman is on a golf green about to putt out, and a foursome is behind him, waiting for him to finish. Suddenly, on the road alongside the golf course, a shiny black hearse pulls into view, followed by an entourage of some fifty vehicles.  Immediately, the man takes off his hat, places it over his heart, and stands at a respectful silence until all fifty cars have slowly passed. He then puts on his hat, taps his ball into the hole, and walks to the next tee. The members of the foursome are impressed, and, when they catch up to him, say that it has been some time since they have witnessed such a display of respect and dignity. To which the older gentleman replies: "It's the least I could do ... on Monday we would have been married fifty years!"