A STROLL THROUGH A BEAUTIFUL CACTUS GARDEN

 

Kelly remembered seeing a Cactus nursery south of Wickenburg at the junction of highways 60 & 74.  A touch on the cool & windy side today so we figured it would make for a nice Sunday morning drive in the Jeep.  She was right & we drove ourselves down to a place called Cactus Ranch Nursery & Garden.  ‘WOW’ is this ever a nice place.  Seven acres of beautifully landscaped cactus.  Have never seen such a huge variety of cacti like this anywhere before & one does not get the feeling while leisurely strolling the gardens that this is a retail operation.  It was obvious right from the start this place was like no other we’ve seen.  Immaculately clean with each & every cactus perfectly & pains takingly placed by a true landscape professional.  And it is cactus only here, no trees, shrubs, or flowers for sale, just cactus.  I sensed right away this business was more than just a business.  It was someone’s labor of love.   

  

We really had not intended on buying any cactus but Kelly did pick up a couple small ones she liked.  We talked to a hard working fellow there we assume was the owner & he was very helpful answering all our cactus questions.  It was easy to tell he was extremely knowledgeable about all things cactus.  He also gave us a good deal on the 2 plants Kelly had picked out.  If your in the area drop in for a stroll through these gardens & marvel at all the beautiful cactus plants so meticulously laid out.

 

  

Grabbed a couple coffee’s at McDonalds & few groceries at Safeway.  Kelly & I both agreed Wickenburg would be a nice place to live.  It’s still small enough to feel homey yet large enough to have pretty well everything anybody needs.  Built in a valley on gently rolling hills with scenic mountains all round.  Downtown has retained it’s old western flavor without being glitzy & touristy.  Streets are easy to get around with only one traffic light downtown.  Couple more on Wickenburg Way leading out of town to the northwest.  Traffic on the east side of Wickenburg is handled quite nicely by a couple round-abouts.  Roundabouts George, not walkabouts:))  Lots of genuine cowboys in Wickenburg with all the rodeo & horse events going on in several large areas.  Cowboys & horse folks come from miles around to take part in the continuous outdoor activities.

  

 

 

Couple days ago Kelly stopped at a yard sale just a couple blocks from our place & noticed the folks had some potted cactus plants for sale really cheap.  After we arrived home today she slipped back over & talked to the nice elderly couple.  She bought a couple plants & the people threw in another dozen cuttings so when Kelly got back she had a Jeep full of cactus.  Didn’t take me long to grab my shovel & begin planting.  Wanted to get them all in the ground quickly because we have a rain front coming in overnight.  One large Agave had been planted in an old metal bucket years ago & the roots were bursting through the rusted sides.  Had to use my tinsnips to cut off the bucket from around the plant before I could plant it.  The elderly couple said if we want more cactus to just come on back. 

HAD TO USE MY TINSNIPS TO CUT AWAY A RUSTED PAIL FROM THAT ROOT BOUND AGAVE ON THE LEFT

 

SO INTENT WAS I ON MY TASK AT HAND I DIDN’T KNOW KELLY HAD TAKEN THESE PHOTOS UNTIL I BEGAN EDITING MY PICTURES TONIGHT

 

MANAGED TO GET THIS NEEDLE TIPPED AGAVE PLANTED WITHOUT SKEWERING MYSELF

Janna, Mike, & Emmi dropped in about mid afternoon.  They have company coming & needed a back seat for their Jeep & by golly we just happened to have a Jeeps backseat alright.  I had taken it back out of the Jeep when our company left last month.  It was just sitting in our shed so was more than happy for Janna & Mike to use it.  Had us a front porch chat for awhile & they were on their way.

 

With more dark clouds moving in & wind picking up I had to carry all our front porch furniture back into the house.  Even though we have a porch overhang things still get wet when winds blow the rain up onto the porch.

AND YES THERE IS A REAL TORTOISE LIVING HERE AT CACTUS RANCH NURSERY

GROANER’S CORNER:((  The optimist: This glass is half full.  The pessimist: This glass is half empty.  The engineer: This container is twice as large as it needs to be.

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A politician awoke in a hospital bed after a complicated operation, and found that the curtains were drawn around him. "Why are the curtains closed," he said. "Is it night?" A nurse replied, "No, it is just that there is a fire across the street, and we didn't want you waking up and thinking that the operation was unsuccessful."

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- 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.

PHEEBS & I HIT THE ROAD FOR A SATURDAY MORNING BUMPY JEEP RIDE ON AN OLD STAGECOACH ROAD

THE OLD STAGE COACH ROAD BETWEEN YARNELL & STANTON ARIZONA

   

PHEEBS IS SOOOOO HAPPY TO BE OUT CRUISIN IN THE JEEP AGAIN:))

It was shortly after 10 this morning when Pheebs & I piled ourselves into the Jeep & headed off for a Jeep ride.  No idea where we were going but soon found ourselves heading up the Yarnell Hill.  Thought occurred to me about half way up of having breakfast at the Ranch House Restaurant.  New owners awhile back so figured I’d see if the breakfasts were as good as they used to be.  About 6 million motorcycles parked out front but that’s to be expected as this has always been a popular spot for motorcycle groups to stop on their circuit tours between Phoenix & Prescott.  Now why Retired Rod has not been here yet I don’t know.

I NEVER TIRE OF THE SCENERY OUT HERE IN THE WILD WOOLY WEST

 

GOTTA LOVE THESE OLD ROADS

  

 

COWBOY COUNTRY

Found me a stool at the counter & luckily had me a look in my wallet before I had me a look at the menu.  Bacon & eggs were $7:95 with coffee extra for $1.95.  I quietly put the menu back in it’s holder & as discreetly as possible backed myself away from the counter, turned & slipped quietly back out the door.  No Sireeee, I wasn’t going to spend my last $10 of the winter on my stomach & besides why does breakfast have to be so darn expensive anyway. 

 

WINDMILL BLADES LAY TOPPLED ON THE GROUND

There’s a scenic old dirt stagecoach road which winds itself back down through the Weaver Mountains to an old western mining town by the name of Stanton. Pheebs & I took our time Jeeping our way over that-a-way stopping here & there to look at this & that.  Have driven this road both ways about half a dozen times before & it is always a nice slow paced scenic drive.  One can only imagine the difficulties a stage coach & team of horses would have had making their way along this rock strewn road back in the mid 1800’s when it was probably not much more than a barely passable trail.  Much of the road higher up is still only wide enough for one vehicle & if another vehicle is encountered on a blind corner somebody is gonna have to stop & back up.

ALL THIS GREEN GRASS REMINDED PHEEBS & I OF BEING BACK IN ONTARIO

 

I THINK I SEE SOME COWS OUT THERE DAD

YEP COWS ALRIGHT

Some of the old original buildings still stand in Stanton but mainly it is made up of RV’s.  Many mining claims in this area are still being worked but instead of all the old 49’er miners living in tumble down wooden shacks they now live in 40’ Motorhomes, 5th wheels & travel trailers.  We took a drive in & made a loop around the many rigs.  Even saw a few tents pitched.  Not too many people around so figured a lot of them must be up in the surrounding hills & mountainsides working their claims searching for the ever elusive gold.  It’s quite a little community they have here & it’s all well organized & controlled.  No more shoot-outs in the street!!

THIS IS ABOUT AS BIG AS THE COMMUNITY OF STANTON IS NOWADAYS

STANTON IS A MECCA FOR RV GOLD PANNERS

STRAIGHT AHEAD BE THE CENTER OF TOWN

IT IS SAID BAD GUY ‘CHUCK STANTON’ WAS GUNNED DOWN IN THE GENERAL STORE WHICH IS THE BUILDING ON THE LEFT…CLICK ON STANTON'S WILD WEST HISTORY

Main road from Stanton back to highway 89 just north of Congress is hard packed dirt & very washboardy in many places.  Pheebs & I just took our time with a little exploring up & down a few Jeep side roads leading off the main road.  This area is a bit elevated so we could see for miles in all directions.  North Ranch & Congress were easy to spot & had I had my binoculars along I’m betting I could have seen our house way across the valley floor.  I think it is the wide panoramic views most everywhere in the southwest I enjoy so much.  It’s nothing to look off 20 or 30 miles in any given direction many times.  This land is made up of tall mountain ranges with wide sweeping valleys stretching for miles upon miles between the mountains.  One drives across a long desert valley floor then up & over sometimes steep mountain ranges only to drop down into the next valley beyond with the process repeating itself over & over as one travels the highways & bi-ways of the great southwest.  Land of enchantment, land of legend.

WE SPOTTED OURSELVES SOME COWS NEAR A WATER HOLE

 

 

WE ARE BEING WATCHED CLOSELY BY THOSE COWS HIDING BEHIND A MESQUITE TREE

TINY TOWN OF CONGRESS ARIZONA IN THE BACKGROUND

Motorhomes come with hydraulic stabilizing jacks which when deployed make for a very rock solid coach when parked.  No swaying when folks walk around inside.  Travel Trailers & 5th wheels come with mechanical jacks which can be deployed with a crank.  I never knew there was an additional way to steady up 5th wheels & 7 travel trailers until I read Paul & Marsha’s post about Paul installing stabilizers on their 5’er.  You can see how that’s done on their post entitled, Rock Solid. 

WHITE OBJECTS IN THE BACKGROUND MAKE UP THE COMMUNITY OF NORTH RANCH…WE’VE ALL HEARD OF THE ‘THUMBS UP’ SIGN RIGHT, WELL HOW ABOUT THE ‘BUM’S UP’ SIGN EH:))

RV’ers are always looking for & needing parts for this & that as many folks do their own maintenance & repairs.  And RV folks are always on the look-out for the next best thing for their rigs.  Came across this site which bills itself as, ‘Canada’s Largest RV Dealer Network’.  RV Care  Noticed this site offers much more than just merchandise such as Destinations, Places & Attractions as well as RV Dealer & Manufactures info, RV Resorts & Campgrounds plus much more.  Even has a Blogs & Columns section.  Canadian Snow Birders might want to check it out.

HAD I HAD MY BINOCULARS I COULD PROBABLY HAVE SEEN OUR HOUSE ON THE EXTREME LEFT (300mm TELEPHOTO LENS SHOT)

 

STANTON IS AT THE BASE OF THOSE MOUNTAINS ABOUT WHERE THE WHITE DOT IS

In Friday’s post under my last photo I wrote, ‘Does anyone notice anything odd about this photo??  Well 2 people did.  Both John Picard & Gordon Wolford noticed the photo was upside down.  And yes I did that purposely.  Below is the photo showing the difference.  

UPSIDE DOWN

 

DOWNSIDE UP

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Ordering a Pizza in the Future

Operator: Thank you for calling Pizza Delivery. May I have your National ID number?
Customer: Hi, I'd like to place an order.
Operator: I must have your NIDN first, sir.
Customer: My National ID Number, yeah, hold on, eh, it's 6102049998-45-54610.
Operator: Thank you Mr. Sheehan. I see you live at 1742 Meadowland Drive, and the phone number is 494-2366. Your office number over at Lincoln Insurance is 745-2302 and your cell number is 266-2566. Email address is sheehan@home.net. Which number are you calling from sir?
Customer: Huh? I'm at home. Where'd you get all this information?
Operator: We're wired into the HSS, sir.
Customer: The HSS, what is that?
Operator: We're wired into the Homeland Security System, sir. This will add only 15 seconds to your ordering time.
Customer: (sighs) Oh well, I'd like to order a couple of your All-Meat Special pizzas.
Operator: I don't think that's a good idea, sir.
Customer: Whaddya mean?
Operator: Sir, your medical records and commode sensors indicate that you've got very high blood pressure and extremely high cholesterol. Your National Health Care provider won't allow such an unhealthy choice.
Customer: What?!?! What do you recommend, then?
Operator: You might try our low-fat Soybean Pizza. I'm sure you'll! like it.
Customer: What makes you think I'd like something like that?
Operator: Well, you checked out 'Gourmet Soybean Recipes' from your local library last week, sir. That's why I made the suggestion.
Customer: All right, all right. Give me two family-sized ones then.
Operator: That should be plenty for you, your wife and your four kids. Your 2 dogs can finish the crusts, sir. Your total is $49.99.
Customer: Lemme give you my credit card number.
Operator: I'm sorry sir, but I'm afraid you'll have to pay in cash. Your credit card balance is over its limit.
Customer: I'll run over to the ATM and get some cash before your driver gets here.
Operator: That won't work either, sir. Your checking account is overdrawn also.
Customer: Never mind! Just send the pizzas. I'll have the cash ready. How long will it take?
Operator: We're running a little behind, sir. It'll be about 45 minutes, sir. If you're in a hurry you might want to pick'em up while you're out getting the cash, but then, carrying pizzas on a motorcycle can be a little awkward.
Customer: Wait! How do you know I ride a scooter?
Operator: It says here you're in arrears on your car payments, so your car got repo'ed. But your Harley's paid for and you just filled the tank yesterday.
Customer: Well, I'll be a #%#^^&$%^$@#
Operator: I'd advise watching your language, sir. You've already got a July 4, 2003, conviction for swearing at a cop and another one I see here in September for contempt at your hearing for swearing at a judge Oh yes, I see here that you just got out from a 90 day stay in the State Correctional Facility. Is this your first pizza since your return to society?
Customer: (speechless)
Operator: Will there be anything else, sir?
Customer: Yes, I have a coupon for a free 2 liter of Coke.
Operator: I'm sorry sir, but our ad's exclusionary clause prevents us from offering free soda to diabetics. The New Constitution prohibits this. Thank you for calling Pizza Delivery.