BACK TO THE LAND OF GIANT SAGUAROS:))

PHOTO TAKEN WITH AL’S CAMERA BY TERRY FROM GYPSY LIFE JOURNAL

I always consider it a bonus if I am able to sleep in to 5 a.m.  Kind of sad seeing Ranch dogs Gleason & Pearce stretched out sound asleep on our living room floor this morning knowing it was the last night for now that we would have Pheebs & Motor’s best Pals in for a sleep over.

 

SUNRISE AT THE RANCH

Being a nostalgic kind of guy I walked around the Ranch grounds at sunrise this morning saying goodbye to the Donkeys, Charlie the Cat and the Chickens.  At this age & stage of the game and with things being the way they are these days one never knows what the future holds or if we will even be back this way again.  Plans change and temporary good-byes can be final sometimes.  On the upside….we may very well be back to the Ranch in 5 weeks:))

  

AW COME ON GUYS HOW ABOUT GIVING THE PHEEBS SOME

Had the Jeep hooked up and ready to roll by 8:35.  Terry & Martha were out with their cameras & we are grateful to them for taking a few photos of the Bayfield Bunch together as a family.  It is rare for us to be in one picture all at the same time.  We have always regretted we never did get a nice family photo of us when Max & Checkers were still alive.

 

GOOD BYE SMOOCHES FOR THE POOCHES

At 8:45 it was a final round of hugs and good-byes.  Waved to Gleason & Pearce just as Martha pointed out the Donkeys were braying a loud good bye from the field.  A short minute later we were out the gate in a slow cloud of dust & headed on down the road.

 

We had an interesting moody sky overhead as the rig rolled west up Davis Road.  So nice to see sun splashes playing across the Valley floor & along the surrounding mountain sides.  Slipped through Tombstone & the ghost town of Fairbank on our way to Benson & Interstate 10.  A quick stop for fuel and an Egg McMuffin at McDonalds had us on the fast track for Tucson.

HEADING WEST TOWARDS THE GHOST TOWN OF FAIRBANK

Passed the sign for Tucson’s International Airport where we dropped Aunt Jean off a few days ago.  Passed LAZYDAYS RV where we had our new toilet installed in December and passed the nearby University of Arizona Hospital where I ended up in Emerge just over a month ago.  With two medical appointment follow-ups we got to know the neighborhood well.  In fact, our turn off today onto Ajo Way west was only a block from the Hospital.

CAUGHT A WIND MILL ON THE FLY FOR YA MIKE:))  

Didn’t take us long to swing through the south end of Tucson & head ourselves back out into the desert.  Always a good feeling for me to be away from any built up city area.  We were once again on one of my favorite Arizona drives & half an hour west of Tucson we passed all the big Observatories atop KITT PEAK.  We both commented on the abundant green scenery while motoring through the Sonoran Desert with it’s countless Saguaro Cactus stands stretching over hill & dale.

WEST OF KITT PEAK

Couple of hours later we passed memorable HICKIWAN TRAILS RV PARK and rolled into Why Arizona.  This is another great memory area for the Bayfield Bunch.  A right hand turn led us up to Darby Wells road just south of Ajo and how nice to see the dust swirling up behind us again as we swung off the highway into another great scenic area full of tall green Saguaro Cactus, flower tipped Ocotillas, smooth green barked Palo Verde Trees,  prickly Teddy Bear Cholla cactus with Creosote bushes and Mesquite trees making for a welcome & refreshingly lush green landscape.  We hear the Spring flowers in this area are incredible.

GOT US A TIRED LITTLE DOGGY TONIGHT

Was hoping our old spot from a month ago near Boondocker Rick would still be empty but I wasn’t too optimistic figuring the area would be flooded with after Christmas Snow Birds.  Coming around a bend I saw Rick’s Casita & Jeep sitting in their same spot atop a hill.  And, just south of him I could see our old spot was……empty:))  Stopped on the main dirt road & unhooked the Jeep.  Minutes later I was lumbering up a rocky loose graveled road with the Motorhome through scratchy Mesquites carefully crafting some new desert pin stripping on the sides of the rig.  I like when that happens:))  A big wave from Rick as he recognized our rig ascending the rocky road.

IT’S MY TOY PHEEBS…….SO GIVE IT ME!!!!!!!!!!

We were barely stopped in our spot when Pheebs was out the door just a running.  Coming down the hill from across the way was Ricks dog Lady and seconds later the two best Pals were jumping, jostling & jousting just like old times.  Nice to see Rick again.  Some people a feller just takes a liking to right off & Rick is one of those people I liked from the first time I met him.  He was very instrumental in helping and being a good friend to RV SUE AND HER CANINE CREW when she was here awhile back.

   

BOONDOCKER RICK (file pic) & RV SUE’S OLD SPOT JUST AHEAD

Heavy overcast & a tad cool but we are secure in the knowledge we will have warmer nights now that we have come down from the high desert where we were.  Looking forward to warmer temperatures:))

 

Dark now & as I look at my watch I can’t help wondering what Pearce and Gleason are doing right now…………..

And, a special thank you to Terry & Martha from GYPSY LIFE JOURNAL for taking our pictures this morning & later including us in their Blog.  Much appreciated guys:))

THE ONLY PHOTO I MANAGED TO GET OF MARTHA & TERRY THIS MORNING 

 

OUR OLD SPOT ON DARBY WELLS ROAD

GROANER’S CORNER:((  A Ventriloquist with his dummy on a knee starts his act. One bit requires his dummy to tell Dumb-Blonde Jokes. After a few jokes, an angry blonde woman finally stands up and starts speaking her mind.
"I have had it with the stereotyping of all blondes being stupid!" the woman yells, and she continues ranting on about this.
Finally, the ventriloquist says, "Sorry ma'am ..."
The woman cuts him off by saying, "You stay out of this. I'm talkin' to the dummy."

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A STROLL THROUGH THE OLD CONGRESS CEMETERY

I remember the first cemetery I ever saw in the South-West.  It was somewhere in Castle Valley north-east of Moab Utah.  It was May of 92 & I remember heading south on Mountain Loop Drive watching a storm brewing in the mountains to the east.  I will never forget the lightning flashes, the dark foreboding clouds, the sheer mountain beauty, & the experience of this particular day’s drive.  From a  photography standpoint, the lighting was phenomenal.  One of my all time favorite memories.  Not sure where exactly it was but I remember spotting something on the east side of the road.  We (different traveling partner back then) stopped, turned around & went back.  Sure enough, it was a cemetery.  But a cemetery unlike any I had ever seen.  That was back in the days of 35mm film so I do not have any digital photos.  But, this morning at the Congress cemetery I was reminded of that very first one I saw in Castle Valley over 20 years ago.

 

 

There were no manicured acres of green grass, no tall stately trees, & no great granite headstones towering silently over unwavering rows of perfectly engraved marble inscriptions.  Things are different here in the south-west, including the cemeteries.  This mornings walk through the Congress cemetery was no exception.  Rather than explaining the difference, I’ll just let the photos do that for me.

 

Tombstone Arizona probably has one of the most well known cemeteries anywhere.  We have been to Tombstone’s ‘Boot Hill’ but I was not impressed.  Not impressed because we have wandered through some of the real cemeteries of the southwest.  Not to say Boot Hill is not real, but it’s pretty commercialized.  To see an untouched cemetery of the old days one only has to travel a few miles from Tombstone to what’s left of the old western town of Fairbank on highway 82.  A quarter mile walk will take you to a ‘Boot Hill’ that has not been touched by man’s commercialism.  You can read about & see photos of the old Fairbanks cemetery at our site entitled… THE GHOST TOWN OF FAIRBANK.

  

While at the cemetery this morning we scouted out a boondocking area close by.  A few rigs scattered about but we did find a nice spot for some RV Boondocker Blogging friends of ours who may arrive at the end of the week.

NICE ROOMY SPOT FOR AN RV

 

VIEW TO THE SOUTH & THE OLD CONGRESS GOLD MINE TO THE NORTH BEHIND THE JEEP

WE THINK THIS MAY HAVE BEEN RV SUE’S SPOT WHEN SHE WAS HERE EARLIER IN THE YEAR

After the cemetery, we took ourselves for a little drive around the wee town of Congress. There is more here than what meets the eye for anyone passing through on highways 89 or 71.  Not a lot of touristy things here & I like that.  The town may not be of interest to some folks, but my camera generally finds something of interest for me.  I will be out & about soon with an eye looking for a few things off the beaten path.  And, a few things on as well.

 

SEE THE 2 BIG WATER TANKS UPPER RIGHT…OUR HOUSE IS JUST BELOW & BEYOND THEM A BIT

In the shade of a Palo Verde tree, tipped back in my lawn chair for a few minutes this afternoon, I watched with interest as 2 fighter jets dueled it out high overhead in the clear blue Arizona sky.  Saw 2 orange flares out of one jet & then watched as the second jet rapidly gained on the first jet in a tight turn.  Another flare out of the first jet as they banked away out of sight.  I listened for another half minute as the engine sounds slowly droned away to the northwest.  I have seen this mock combat in the southwest sky many times before & I have a theory about the flares.  When one plane electronically locks it’s guns or rockets on a target & fires……the flare or flares ejected by the target plane probably signify a ‘hit’ to the pursuing plane.  Just a theory of course.  We often hear the roar of ‘dog fighting’ jets overhead.  Being a kid always fascinated with airplanes…..I like that:))

 

GROANER’S CORNER:((  A lady was filling her tank at a gas station, smoking a cigarette, even though all the signs say not to. The fumes that came out of the gas tank ignited, severely burning her hands.
But it also lit up her arm, too!
Instead of rolling on the ground to put it out, she panicked. She took off running down the street.
A police car was at the intersection where it happened and he tried to stop her to put out her arm, but she just kept running and screaming. All the officer could think of doing was to shoot her. This took everyone by surprise. The officer ran over to her and put the fire out, then called for an ambulance.
When questioned about his course of action to stop her, the officer said, "My only thought was to stop her. After all, she was waving a fire-arm."

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- 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.
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