WHOPPERED MYSELF THIS MORNING BUT NEVER TOLD PHEEBS

“DAD, IS THERE SOMETHING YOU HAVEN’T TOLD ME ABOUT YOUR TRIP TO WICKENBURG THIS MORNING”

Noticed a few days ago the right passenger side tire on the Jeep appeared to look soft so checked the pressure and it was down.  Taking a deep breath I blew the tire back up to 33 pounds but noticed the pressure was down again this morning. 

VIEW FROM MY BEDROOM WINDOW AND NO THOSE TWO SAGUAROS ARE NOT LEAING OVER, IT’S MY WIDE ANGLE CAMERA LENS DISTORTING THE PHOTO

ABOVE AND BELOW SAGUARO CACTUS PHOTOS WERE TAKEN FROM MY COMPUTER CHAIR IN MY BEDROOM AND THE BOTTOM PHOTO SHOWS A NEW SAGUARO ARM BEGINNING TO GROW

PHOTO AT LEFT IS JUST ONE OF THE MANY CACTUS PLANTS I PLANTED OVER THESE PAST FOUR AND A HALF YEARS

In a rare move I left Pheebs at home and headed straight away to Wickenburg Tire on Tegner Street, Wickenburg.  They took me right in and found a leak at the valve stem.  What is it with leaky valve stems anyway!!  Same problem we had with the tire that finally blew out west of Albuquerque NM last March.  With that leaky valve stem repaired it was down the street to O’Reilly Auto parts for a couple quarts of motor oil.  Quick stop at Bashas for a jug of milk then swung south on highway 93 to see if Burger King was open yet and it was.  Well I didn’t really feel like a Whopper but because I was there and curious to see their new digs I went in and ordered me up a Whopper anyway.  Plus a coffee.  Whopperized myself in the parking lot and drank the coffee on my way back to Congress.  Burger King does build a better burger than McDonalds but McDonalds brews a better cup of coffee than Burger King.

WICKENBURG’S BURGER KING IS NOW OPEN

We were due to have our septic tank inspected this morning but an early phone call said the driver was sick and could they do it Tuesday.  If I had to do that job I would be sick too.

A FEW VIEWS AROUND THE PROPERTY

Still more puttzing around with small stuff today but things are steadily coming together.  Right now the ‘waiting’ is the hardest part………….

GROANER’S CORNER:((

A passenger train is creeping along, slowly. Finally it creaks to a halt. A passenger sees a conductor walking by outside. "What's going on?" she yells out the window. "Cow on the track!" replies the conductor. Ten minutes later, the train resumes its slow pace. Within five minutes, however, it stops again. The woman sees the same conductor walking by again. She leans out the window and yells, "What happened? Did we catch up with the cow again?"

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Christopher Columbus was a shrewd deal maker. He left Spain not knowing where he was going and upon arriving never knew where he was. He returned not knowing where he had been and did it all on borrowed money.

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Why did the blonde freeze to death at the drive-in?   She went to see "Closed for the Season."

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A man and his wife are sitting at the kitchen table, which is next to the window. The man's name is Rudolph, and since he is Russian, people call him "Rudolph the Red." Rudolph looked out the window and said to his wife, "Oh look honey, it's raining outside." She looks out as well and says, "No, I think that is snow." He looks at her and says, "Rudolph the red knows rain dear."

PHEEBS AND I SET OFF IN SEARCH OF SOME NEW SCENERY

I’M GUESSING THIS MAY BE THE BELMONT MOUNTAIN RANGE ON THE NORTH SIDE OF I-10 AS SEEN FROM THE SOUTH SIDE OF HARQUAHALA MOUNTAIN

Feeling a strong need to find myself some new scenery this morning I loaded up the furry little Rug Rascal and we headed west out of Congress on highway 71 in the direction of Harquahala Valley.

MORNING COUCH SNUGGLES

We found ourselves for the second time this week rolling through the little tumble down community of Aguila on highway 60 then turning southwest on Eagle Eye Avenue.  Wasn’t until we reached the Harquahala Trailhead for a leg stretch that we began to see some new mountain ranges on the horizon.  Had been to that trail head twice before but had never followed the highway any further beyond that point.

HARQUAHALA MOUNTAIN TRAILHEAD

I had a pretty good idea there was another road ahead intersecting the road I was on and running basically north and south but didn’t know how far ahead it was until I reached it and realized it was further than I thought.  A sign said this was the Salome highway and I instinctively knew the small dusty western town of Salome would be to the right so it was a right hand turn we made.

OH HOW I LOVE SEEING NEW MOUNTAIN RANGES AND THOSE MOUNTAINS TO THE WEST ARE CALLED THE ‘LITTLE HARQUAHALAS’ WHICH ARE LOCATED SOUTH OF SALOME

I was a bit surprised at how flat the Harquahala Valley floor was as we made our way along ever vigilante for cattle on the road.  With a morning haze in the air far distant mountain ranges seemed to lumber up off the desert floor and stumble slowly along across the horizon.

A VERY FLAT HARQUAHALA VALLEY FLOOR

As usual there was very little traffic on any of the Sunday morning roads and if you did meet another vehicle the other driver seemed to give a little wave as if to say “thanks for being out here in case I need some help”.  The desert in it’s subtle beauty can be very unforgiving to those unfortunate enough to find themselves in peril upon it’s sands.

When we finally reached Salome we were once again in familiar territory as we turned right onto highway 60 and headed East.  Over the past four and a half years we have traveled this highway many times on our way to and from our jaunts to places like Quartzsite, the Kofa Mountains, Yuma, Slab City and Borrego Springs.  Like I have said before this drive from Congress to I-10 just a few miles east of Quartzsite will go down as one of my all time favorite drives. 

When we reached Aguila again we in effect closed a large circle as we had driven completely around Harquahala Mountain.  From the time we drove through Aguila earlier in the morning until we returned to Aguila we had Harquahala Mountain on our right hand side every mile of the way.  A short distance east of Aguila we turned left onto highway 71 and that took us straight home to Congress.  It was almost noon when we rolled into our driveway.

Early afternoon again saw us working around the rig packing, re-packing, and moving ever closer to getting ourselves organized for our possible final departure from this area soon.  Thought a lot about that this morning and am very comfortable with the ‘house sale’ decision we made back in August of 2015.  Both Kelly and I are so much looking forward to the next chapter of our ever changing lives…………….

GROANER’S CORNER:(( The symphony orchestra was performing Beethoven's Ninth. In the piece, there's a long passage, about 20 minutes, during which the bass violinists have nothing to do.  Rather than sit around that whole time looking stupid, some bassists decided to sneak offstage and go to the tavern next door for a quick one.  After slamming several beers in quick succession, one of them looked at his watch and said, "Hey! We need to get back!"  "No need to panic," said a fellow bassist. "I thought we might need some extra time, so I tied the last few pages of the conductor's score together with string. It'll take him a few minutes to get it untangled."  A few moments later they staggered back to the concert hall and took their places in the orchestra.  About this time, a member of the audience noticed the conductor seemed a bit edgy and said as much to her companion.  "Well, of course," said her companion. "Don't you see? It's the bottom of the Ninth, the score is tied, and the bassists are loaded."

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You Might Be A Redneck if.…………
- Your kids are going hungry tonight because you just had to have those Yosemite Sam mud flaps.
- You fainted when you met Slim Whitman.
- You have lost at least one tooth opening a beer bottle.
- Jack Daniels makes your list of "most admired people".

A LITTLE FELLER WITH A STICK HORSE A BIG COWBOY HAT AND A SIX GUN RIDING THE TRAILS OF THE OLD WEST

COWBOYS IN THE DESERT

Yaaaaay, a sunny day with milder temps in the low to mid 60’s.  Bonus.  About the only thing I had in mind regarding a Jeep ride destination for Pheebs and I this morning was a coffee at Wickenburg’s McDonalds so without further adieu we rolled out the driveway and headed south.

Sitting in McDonald’s parking lot sipping a  hot coffee and sharing a Burrito with Pheebs I couldn’t seem to get myself interested in yet again doing the same old too familiar desert road route out and around the east side of Wickenburg so we headed south on Constellation Road and just kept going for about 10 miles.

ACROSS FROM WICKENBURG’S CONSTELLATION PARK I SPOTTED THESE FOLKS GETTING READY FOR A TRAIL RIDE

HEY PARDNER WHERE’S YOUR COWBOY HAT OVER THERE EH

NICE CHRISTMAS COWBOY WREATH ON THESE RANCH GATES

This was not a new stretch of dusty old road for us, in fact it brought back pleasant memories of maybe half a dozen times we’ve driven this stretch with the two very first times being the most enjoyably memorable.  Fellow RV’ers at the time Jim and Bev leading the way in their Jeep Wrangler led us through these winding hills and mountains on two different occasions.  A GREAT JEEP TOUR THROUGH GOLD COUNTRY was the first time.  On the second trip Kelly’s brother Peter and wife Leslie were with us in our Wrangler as Jim and Bev led our little 2 Jeep convoy to Castle Hot Springs near Lake Pleasant north of Phoenix.  Jim and Bev now live permanently way up there in that Idaho place somewhere north of Utah.  Mighty fine folks them two:))

HEADING EAST ON CONSTELLATION ROAD

NOTICE PHEEBS EARS DOWN AND BACK, NOTICE SHE IS HOLDING HER PAW UP, NOTICE THE BURR STICKING OUT…..I HAD TO GET THAT ONE OUT WITH MY TWEEZERS WHICH I ALWAYS CARRY IN MY POCKET HERE IN THE SOUTHWEST

This morning Pheebs and I just kinda flopped ourselves slowly along taking in all the marvelous desert scenery with a few stops along the way to take a couple photos and grab ourselves a leg stretch.  Encountered a few ATV’ers, a couple fellas on horseback, maybe 3 other Jeeps and half a dozen pick-up trucks with one pulling a long horse trailer.  I met the feller towing the long horse trailer on a tight curve and we smiled and waved and nodded a couple ‘Howdies’ as we edged and rattled on by each other.  Well I wasn’t doing much rattling but his old truck and trailer sure were.

HOPE I DON’T MEET A RATTLY OLD PICK-UP TRUCK TOWING AN EVEN RATTLIER OLD HORSE TRAILER BEHIND COMING ROUND THIS BEND

 

THE ONLY COW I SAW IN THE DESERT THIS MORNING

Think it was around 10:30 when I figured we had gone about far enough so we found us a turn around spot and headed back towards Wickenburg.  When we leave this area soon I will sure be taking a lot of pleasant morning drive memories with me.  With a long slow trail of desert dust hanging in the still air behind us we were soon dropping down out of the hills into the south end of picture postcard Wickenburg.  Hung a right turn onto highway 93, blew by McDonalds, sling-shotted ourselves around Wickenburg’s 3 round-a-bouts and rolled into our Congress driveway sometime before noon.

THIS WAS OUR TURN AROUND POINT AS WE HEADED OFF TO THE RIGHT BACK TOWARDS WICKENBURG

IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY YOU CAN SEE A HOUSE ON THE HORIZON AT TOP CENTER

THIS IS THAT SAME HOUSE WITH MY TELEPHOTO LENS AND IT’S THE ONLY HOUSE FOR MILES AROUND

VULTURE PEAK ON THE HORIZON AS CONSTELLATION ROAD BECKONS US BACK TO WICKENBURG

PHOTO TAKEN FROM ABOUT 5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF WICKENBURG ON CONSTELLATION ROAD AND I BELIEVE THAT CLUSTER OF WHITE SPECKS TO BE NORTH RANCH JUST SOUTH OF CONGRESS

We had another bunch of stuff gathered up so we busied ourselves organizing, re-organizing and loading the rig’s 6 basement storage compartments earlier this afternoon.  Anything slated for Bayfield has to go in first so that we are not stumbling over it for the next three and a half months while boon-docking our way around the Southwest again.  So far so good and everything is fitting in nicely.

NOT WANTING TO MAKE THESE FELLAS UNCOMFORTABLE BY TAKING THEIR PICTURE WHILE THEY APPROACED THE JEEP I WAITED UNTIL THEY WERE PASSED AND TOOK THEIR PICTURE IN MY SIDE VIEW MIRROR

WHEN THEY WERE FAR ENOUGH ALONG AND I DIDN’T FIGURE THEY WOULD LOOK BACK I STOPPED AND HOPPED OUT OF THE JEEP TAKING A COUPLE MORE PICS, THIS ONE AND THE FIRST ONE IN THIS POST

Fellow RV’ers Renee and Dave from North Ranch dropped in to see us this afternoon.  Renee had come across our blog years ago and we finally got to meet them when they bought themselves a winter place in North Ranch awhile back.  They also have summer property in New Mexico southwest of Albuquerque.  Nice folks these two:))

ALTHOUGH IT LOOKS LIKE A SWELTERING SUN BEATING DOWN ON A BARREN LAND IT WAS ANYTHING BUT SWELTERING AND THE LAND HERE IS ANYTHING BUT BARREN

It was Hank Williams we had riding with us for a ways this morning as well as Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller and many of the old crooners from days long ago.  It’s these tunes which so often take me back to my childhood when I was a little feller with a stick horse a big cowboy hat and a six gun riding the trails of the old West.  It’s these same tunes which now as an older fella with a Jeep a big cowboy hat and a camera that still takes me riding along on the trails of the old West.  I am one very fortunate fellow indeed…………….

GROANER’S CORNER:(( A pastor explained to his congregation that the church was in need of some extra money, so he asked them to consider being more than generous. He offered that whoever gave the most would be able to pick three hymns.   After the offering plates were passed about the church, the pastor glanced down and noticed that someone had graciously offered a $1,000 bill. He was so excited that he immediately shared his joy with his congregation and said he'd like to personally thank the person who placed the money in the plate.   A very quiet, elderly, saintly lady in the back of the church shyly raised her hand. The pastor asked her to come to the front, so she slowly she made her way towards him.  The pastor told her how wonderful it was that she gave so much, and in thanks he asked her to pick out three hymns.   Her eyes brightened as she looked over the congregation. She pointed to the three most handsome men in the church and said, "I'll take him and him and him."

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Confucius says::

Man who run in front of car get tired.
Man who run behind car get exhausted.

Man who eat many prunes get good run for money.

Man who drive like hell bound to get there.

Man who stand on toilet is high on pot.

Man who lives in glass house should change clothes in basement.

Man who drops watch in toilet bound to have crappy time.

NOT MUCH HAPPENING TODAY SO IT’S A SHORT POST

Started my day off doing a load of laundry which was Okay because it gave me a good reason to get up and do something.  I like when that happens.

PHEEBS BEST PAL TIPPY ACROSS THE ROAD

TIPPY, LIKE PHEEBS IS ONE MIGHTY FINE FRIENDLY POOCH

Slipped over to Janna and Mike's around 9 to help Janna a bit with getting the hang of a Nikon D5000 camera she had bought from Mike McFall at a North Ranch garage sale a few weeks ago.  Camera and accessories are in excellent condition just like new.  Janna just happened to be in the right place at the right time to snag that deal.

SEEN IN A WICKENBURG RESTAURANT A FEW DAYS AGO

Just some ‘around the house’ stuff to do today and that really doesn’t make for very interesting writing or reading so I might as well wrap it up right here and we’ll see what tomorrow brings.  Pheebs and I will likely be off to somewhere in the morning.

GROANER’S CORNER:((   There were three men traveling together, a priest, a farmer and a lawyer. It was starting to get late and they needed to find a place to sleep. They came across this farm and they asked the farmer there if they could spend the night. He said, "thats fine but my guest room is only big enough for two people, one of you will have to sleep in the barn."  The priest said, "I don't mind sleeping with God's creatures, I will take the barn."  So they all agreed and went to their rooms.  About an hour later there was a knock at the guest room door and there stood the priest. "There is a chicken in there that won't stop clucking! I'm sorry but I'm going to have to sleep in the guest room."  "That's ok," said the farmer, "I'll sleep in the barn, after all, I'm used to it."  So they all agreed and traded places. About an hour later there was a knock at the guest room door and there stood the farmer. "I can't stand the odor from that cow in there any more. I'm sorry but I'm going to have to sleep in the guest room."  "Well, I guess that leaves me," said the lawyer.  So he went to sleep in the barn. About an hour later there is a knock at the guest room door and there stands the chicken and the cow.

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Knock Knock
Who's there?
Arizona!
Arizona who?
Arizona room for one of us in this here town!