NO FIX FOR THE JEEP TODAY BUT HOPEFULLY TOMORROW

Our Jeep Liberty’s appointment at Jones Ford in Wickenburg was for 10:30 this morning so I was on my way out of Congress about an hour before that.  Figured I’d stop at the TSC store on the way plus McDonald’s for a leisurely coffee & that’s what I did.

They took the Jeep in right on time & I first busied myself walking around their showroom & lot taking a few pics before heading on into the waiting room.  Luckily I had recharged my Kindle so I would have something to read while there.  Unfortunately I forget my Kindle & left it at home.  I sat in the waiting room blankly staring at the walls till 12:15 when they told me they would have to order a resistor for the heater fan & a window regulator.  Parts have to come overnight from Los Angeles so I’ll be on the road Wednesday morning again heading back to Jones Ford for a 10 a.m. appointment whereupon they will install the new parts.  They told me what the final bill was going to be & that of course made we weak in the knees plus I have an additional 2 hours coming up in the waiting room again.  I have affixed a stout rope to my index finger in hopes of reminding myself to take my Kindle reader this time.  What are the odds eh………………………

IN THE SHOWROOM THEY HAD A RED HOT ROD & A WHITE FORD THUNDERBIRD

I was back to Congress shortly after 1 & Kelly immediately got on the computer.  We knew certain years of Jeep Liberties had window problems.  Jeep Liberty Window Problems.  She then called Chrysler to see if our Jeep’s VIN number was covered under the warranty re-call for that faulty window regulator part.  It wasn’t!! 

OUT ON THE LOT I THOUGHT TO MYSELF WHAT THE HECK IS THIS & WHY DOESN’T RETIRED ROD HAVE ONE??

 

GAS PEDAL’S ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE CONSOLE & THE BRAKE PEDALS ON THE LEFT SIDE

Even Kelly’s extraordinary patience can have it’s limits & after struggling with her slow & troublesome Acer computer for about a year now she finally ordered herself a new Lenovo Thinkpad 11e 11.6" AMD APU A4-6210 4GB 120GB SSD Windows 10".  We’ll be keeping an eye out for the UPS truck later this week:))

We have spent the last 10 of 11 Christmas’s here in the South-west & despite putting up decorations & colored lights for many of those years it still does not feel like Christmas without snow.  When one has spent about 60 years in a northern climate with snow on the ground at Christmas it’s pretty hard to get in the swing of things without it.  If I could travel back in time for one 24 hour day each year I might consider that one day to be from about 6 o’clock Christmas Eve to 6 o’clock Christmas day.  Aunt Jean in Sarasota Florida sent us a nice Christmas card & the snowy Cardinals on the front reminded me of frosty winter days & warm Christmases past.

GROANER’S CORNER:(( A US Border Patrol Agent catches an illegal alien in the bushes right by the border fence, he pulls him out and says "Sorry, you know the law, you've got to go back across the border right now."  The Mexican man pleads with them, "No, noooo Senior, I must stay in de USA! Pleeeze!"
The Border Patrol Agent thinks to himself, I'm going to make it hard for him and says "Ok, I'll let you stay if you can use 3 English words in a sentence".  The Mexican man of course agrees.  The Border Patrol Agent tells him, "The 3 words are: Green, Pink and Yellow. Now use them in 1 sentence."
The Mexican man thinks really hard for about 2 minutes, then says, "Hmmm, Ok. The phone, it went Green, Green, Green, I Pink it up and sez Yellow?"

MY VERY MUCH MOST FAVORITE CHRISTMAS MOVIE

How nice in the pre-dawn hours this morning to look up & see a quarter Moon with the planet Venus so close by below.  Of course just walking outside at any time & being able to see the big day or night sky above is such a bonus for me down here in Arizona each winter.

SORRY IF SOME OF THESE BIRD PHOTOS ARE REPEATS BUT I HAVE SO MANY BIRD PICS RIGHT NOW I’M NOT SURE WHICH ONES I HAVE PUBLISHED BEFORE

Loaded up my work gloves, bow saw & clippers in the wheelbarrow this morning & walked myself back to the neighbors property behind us.  Nobody there of course as I busied myself sawing & clipping a couple of very overgrown Palo Verde trees.  Decided before even going over there that I was going to do things differently than I usually do.  Did not have to have a 2 week clean-up job done in the first hour!!  By 11 with a hot sun & sweat under my hat band I decided that was enough trimming for one day & walked on back home.  I’ll probably slip over again Wednesday morning & resume my clean-up.  But only for an hour or so……….

LOTS & LOTS OF BIRDS AT THE FEEDER

Kelly called the Wickenburg Jeep dealer this morning & they said bring the Liberty in Tuesday at 10:30 so that’s where I will be in the morning.  If it needs any window or heater parts I’m hoping they will have them in stock & I won’t have to sit there in the waiting room for 3 days waiting for parts.  It will seem odd going somewhere in the Jeep without the Pheebs but a garage waiting room is no place for the little Sweets so she’ll just stay home with Mom.

 

THIS MORNINGS QUARTER MOON & VENUS >>>>

By chance I was lucky enough Sunday night to catch what has quickly become my favorite Christmas movie.  I just love THE POLAR EXPRESS.  It was only the second time I had seen this hauntingly beautiful movie & it’s a movie I no doubt will watch whenever I can over & over in the coming years.  It just brings the little boy out in me like no other movie I’ve ever seen.  The animation, the colors, the scenes, the locomotive churning it’s way through a snowy winter’s night.  And the melodic sounds of Christmas carols wafting lazily on the chilled night air when the children reach the North Pole.  There is a teasingly dark magic at work here.  The Polar Express takes me back to a time of happiness, wild imagination, & wondrous thoughts.  A time when as a small boy I believed in things, trusted what I was told, & felt the security & warmth of having a magical world wrapped snugly about me at Christmas time.  The lights, the tinsel, the Christmas tree, & the adventuress feeling of a light snowfall on a crisp winter’s night.   Colored ornaments, hot chocolate & cookies with everything so cozy & warm.  And always in the background the sound of Christmas carols.  When I watch The Polar Express I can feel all those wonders stirring that little boy within me.   The movie each time brings forth & re-news a whole host of faded memories & reminds me of a long ago era when things were oh so different.  And oh how some day I would like to see ‘The Polar Express’ in a big IMax theater with just the little boy within being the only one quietly seated there surrounded by his own once upon a time Christmas dreams & fantasies…………….

GROANER’S CORNER:(( 

Q. Why is Christmas just like a day at the office?
A. You do all the work and the fat guy with the suit gets all the credit.

“And this over here” croaked the 90 year old museum tour guide, “is a fossil 4 million and 69 years old, on it’s left you can see another fossil that’s 2 million and 69 years old.” “Wow! That’s really fascinating,” said a fellow in the audience, “how can you age it so accurately to the year?” “Well that’s simple” answered the old chap, “It was two million years old when I started working here 69 years ago.”

It was during a heat wave in August one summer when I saw this sign on a telephone pole. “Garage sale this Sunday 7AM until 100 degrees.”

SUNDAY MORNING COFFEE SOMEWHERE IN THE DESERT EAST OF WICKENBURG AZ.

HORSE RANCH SOMEWHERE EAST OF WICKENBURG ON RINCON ROAD

How nice this mornings pre-dawn sky with a quarter Moon so close to the planet Venus.  Jupiter & Mars are still visible as well & Monday morning check out this EarthSky site to see what is happening in the early morning & daytime skies.  Yes, the night sky is still up there during the day & to sharp eyes Monday the planet Venus will be visible in a blue sky.

ENJOYING A McDONALDS SUNDAY MORNING COFFEE SOMEWHERE EAST OF WICKENBURG

 

A NICE HILLTOP CAMPSITE AT SOPHIE’S FLAT TRAILHEAD

Well, what to do today.  It didn’t feel like sitting around the house was an option so Pheebs & I were not long in getting ourselves into the Jeep & out the gate.  Had a grocery list in my pocket anyway so we headed off to Wickenburg & made our first stop at Safeway.  With a big whack of people in church Sunday mornings it’s always a good time to go grocery shopping.  Forty five cases of peanut butter, 38 cases of honey plus a few other odds & ends:))  No jostling in the isles & no big long line-ups at the cashier.  I was in & out of there so fast I almost left my shorts behind.

SOMEWHERE EAST OF WICKENBURG BEING VERY CAREFUL NOT TO GET ANYWHERE NEAR THOSE TEDDY BEAR CHOLAS

LOOKING SOUTH

From Safeway we re-traced our wheel tracks from a drive we did a week or so ago.  McDonalds for a couple Burritos & a coffee to go.  Out Constellation Road to Blue Tank Road & hung a left.  Bit of high cloud cover today so desert colors weren’t quite popping as well in the diffused sunlight.  No matter, it was just nice to be out by ourselves with windows down puttering along up & over down & around the desert’s dusty roads.  Haven’t washed the Jeep once since we arrived here over a month ago & with all our desert drives it just makes no darn sense to do so.

IT’S HORSE COUNTRY OUT HERE AROUND WICKENBURG & THIS LARGE STAGING/CAMPING AREA IS FOR FOLKS TRAILERING THEIR HORSES HERE FOR TRAIL RIDES

THE SOPHIE FLATS HORSE TRAIL BEGINS JUST TO THE RIGHT OF THAT FOREGROUND POST

WICKENBURG IS STRAIGHT AHEAD DOWN THERE IN THAT VALLEY

Made our way along the dry sandy floor of Arizona’s Hassayampa river for a mile or so before arriving at the same stop sign on Rincon Road we did last week.  Instead of turning left into Wickenburg we headed off to the right in search of where Rincon would lead us.  We passed many ranches through this valley section & I was surprised to see so many of them for sale.  Seemed unusual to me & begs the question ‘why are so many ranches for sale all at the same time.  I’m wondering if their close proximity to the Hassayampa River might have something to do with it.  I seem to recall hearing about some severe flood conditions last summer & the Hassayampa River has a history of destruction in the Wickenburg area.

THE DRY HASSAYAMPA RIVER BED CAN BE SEEN MAKING IT’S WAY TOWARDS WICKENBURG

A 300mm TELEPHOTO VIEW OVERLOOKING WICKENBURG WITH THE VULTURE MOUNTAINS ON THE HORIZON

Continuing our drive northeast of Wickenburg we finally came to another stop sign in the desert.  I had a pretty good idea where we were so turned left in a westerly direction & sure enough 15 minutes later we reached highway 93 north of Wickenburg.  We were exactly where I thought we would be on a road called South Scenic Loop Drive.   Being only a mile from the Congress turn off to highway 89 we were soon on our way home & rolled into our driveway about 12:45.  Had been another nice relaxing exploratory drive through the desert landscape.  I like the fact I’m getting to know these desert roads better.

Quiet afternoon spent reading & I’m still enjoying Straight On Till Morning: the Biography of Beryl Markham.  The movie Out Of Africa takes place at a time Beryl Markham was romantically linked with the stories main true to life character Denys Finch Hatton played by Robert Redford.  I have never seen the movie but now reading Beryl Markham’s biography & how she played an integral part in Denys Finch Hatton’s life leading up to the time of his death due to a tragic plane crash I would be interested in seeing the movie.

JUST WATCHING THE GREAT SOUTH-WEST SCENERY ROLL BY

About a week ago the rear driver’s side window in our Jeep Liberty began making a bad noise & the window had trouble going up or down.  We did manage to pull it up higher by hand but today the window sunk down into the door & refused to come up when the window button was pressed.  That problem combined with a second problem in our Jeep’s heater control where the fan only runs on it’s highest speed & not the previous 3 speeds has forced us to make a decision.  When we researched & read reviews on 07 Jeep Liberties last Spring we did read a lot of Jeep owners were having problems with windows.  I remember reading what the problem was & know that It’s something not easily fixable.  Because of that we will call the Jeep dealership in Wickenburg Monday morning & to make an appointment to get that window problem fixed as well as the heater fan problem.  I’m always leery about taking a vehicle to a dealership because of the high shop rates & parts prices but at least the Jeep mechanics will be familiar with & have had experience with repairing those troublesome Jeep windows.

GROANER’S CORNER:(( A few tongue twisters tonight:: 

There was a fisherman named Fisher who fished for some fish in a fissure. Till a fish with a grin, pulled the fisherman in.
Now they’re fishing the fissure for Fisher.

I thought a thought. But the thought I thought wasn’t the thought I thought thought. If the thought I thought I thought had been the thought I thought, I wouldn’t have thought so much.

A good cook could cook as much cookies as a good cook who could cook cookies

I saw a saw that could out saw any other saw I ever saw.

Betty Botter bought some butter, but she said “this butter’s bitter! But a bit of better butter will but make my butter better” So she bought some better butter, better than the bitter butter, and it made her butter better so ’twas better Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter!  

Black bug bit a big black bear. But where is the big black bear that the big black bug bit?

A big bug bit the little beetle but the little beetle bit the big bug back.