‘YAHOUIE LOUIE’ IT’S OFFICIAL, OUR HOUSE IS SOLD AND WE ARE ALREADY 92 MILES AWAY:))

HERE WE ARE 336 MILES EAST OF LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA  TONIGHT

Well as it turns out Sunday night was our last sleep in the house.  Monday morning bright and early we hit the decks a runnin.  Busied ourselves all morning with a lot of very last minute things and keeping a close ear to the phone waiting for Andrea at the Pioneer Title Company to call saying everything is complete and the house is 101% officially sold.  That call came at exactly 11:45 while Kelly and I were standing in front of the house checking with each other that we hadn’t forgot to load anything into the Motorhome.

ALL LOADED UP AND ABOUT READY TO GO

Five minutes after that phone call Kelly was in the Jeep and headed for Wickenburg to pick up the final documents at the Title Company.  I did a final check of our shed and closed the doors.  One of the last things I took out of the house was our sirius satellite radio music source and once I did that the house fell silent like a tomb.  In my opinion once the music dies the soul of the house is gone.

EVEN SAID GOOD-BYE TO ALL MY STUFF IN THE SHED

KELLY BROUGHT BACK SANDWICHES AND COFFEE FROM WICKENBURG FOR OUR LAST SIT DOWN ON OUR FRONT PORCH….IT WAS SHORTLY AFTER 2 P.M. AND FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER WE WERE GONE

BELIEVE IT OR NOT I’VE ACTUALLY GOT A BIG SMILE GOING ON HERE BUT IT’S JUST THIS DAM CRANKY OLD FACE OF MINE

KELLY LEFT TONY OUR HOUSE BUYER A LITTLE WELCOME SIGN OUT FRONT

I had quite a time with myself saying good-bye to everything today.  Said good-bye to all my photogenic birdy pals, my wheelbarrow, all my cactus plants, our big Eagle statue, all the chairs on the porch, our backyard patio, my watering pails, all the Mesquite and Palo Verde trees, my bedroom, the birdfeeder, our Saguaros, all the dust on our picture frames, my recliner, all the rocks and stones we had carted home from the desert over the years, the fence I built, our backyard fire pit, my garden tools, my, my, my, well it just went on and on and on seemingly forever.  And with every good-bye I added a thank-you.  I always make these kinds of situations harder on myself than I really need to make them but that’s me and it’s always been me.  I get attached to stuff.  Had just finished doing a walk around the whole property saying good-bye and thank-you to about everything in sight when Kelly rolled in from Wickenburg.  She very smilingly had the final house sale documents in hand as well as a couple sandwiches from the Local Press Sandwich Bar, a couple coffees from McDonalds and 2 huge apple fritter donuts from Bashas.  Wow what a celebration eh.  We went over to our front porch and had us a last sit down as we ate our goodies.

It was exactly 2 p.m. when Kelly checked our American bank account on line and ‘yessssereeeeeee’ there was the house sale money safely in our account and that was it at last.  It was finally over and done.  I hooked up the Jeep, we did one last quick walk through the house, closed the front door, locked it and walked to the Motorhome.  It was 2:18 P.M. as we had the big wheels slowly rolling out through our south gate for the very last time.  Thirty seconds later we were at the end of Ghost Town Road at highway 71 and there in front of us went a red pick-up truck by with someone giving us a big wave.  It was Janna from the Mike and Janna duo probably heading home to North Ranch from the post office.

ROLLING SLOWLY OUT OF OUR YARD I SNAPPED THIS LAST PHOTO OF OUR FRONT YARD CACTUS GARDEN

KELLY CLOSES THE SOUTH GATE BEHIND US….IT WAS OUR LAST LOOK BACK

Well which way on highway 71 will we go.  East or West??  West it was as I made the wide right turn and watched Congress and the Weaver Mountains slowly begin to slide away in my rear side view mirror.  Rolling westward out of town we chatted a bit about our life and times in Congress over the last nearly 5 years.  But that conversation didn’t last long and as expected the reality of change suddenly kicked in, our spirits lifted and as the past drifted further and further away in my mirror we began chattering excitedly about our future travel plans.  Well as excitedly as a couple 70ish people can chatter that is.

HEAD WEST YOUNG COUPLE HEAD WEST

MY OLD FRIEND HARQUAHALA MOUNTAIN LOOMS ON THE HORIZON

WE WERE SOON PAST HARQUAHALA AND EVEN WHEN WE REACHED I-10 AN HOUR LATER I COULD STILL SEE HARQUAHALA FAR OFF IN MY MY REARVIEW MIRROR FADING INTO THE HAZE

Can’t even begin to describe how happy we felt and even though we have driven this stretch of highway 60 west a half dozen times or more we gazed ahead at the distant blue mountain ranges as if we had never seen them before.  The weight of the past year regarding our house sale had lifted and we soared like Eagles down the road.

EVEN PHEEBS IS HAPPY TO BE ON THE ROAD AGAIN GOING SOMEWHERE SEEING AND SNIFFING NEW THINGS

BY THIS POINT WE WERE TRULY SOARING:))

LAST LITTLE SETTLEMENT ON HIGHWAY 60 BEFORE I-10 AND HEY I ONCE NEW A REALLY NICE GIRL BY THAT NAME MANY MANY YEARS AGO……….AND YOU WOULD KNOW WHO THAT IS GB:))

HEADING DOWN THE ON-RAMP FOR I-10

HEADING WEST ON I-10 QUARTZSITE IS JUST MINUTES AHEAD IN A LARGE LONG VALLEY THIS SIDE OF THOSE DISTANT MOUNTAINS

Our first night’s destination was Quartzsite Arizona for an overnighter before moving further west.  Gassed up at the east end Chevron then headed off to find us a quiet spot in the desert.  We have been to Quartzsite many times over the past 10 years so we knew exactly where we were going.  Luckily there is hardly anybody here yet but a month from now there will be thousands upon thousands of RV’ers swarming absolutely everywhere.   Mid January in the Q is the largest RV event in the world.  I like Quartzsite best without the swarm…………..

AHHHHHH, NO SIGNS OF ANY HUMAOIDS ANYWHERE:))

So where will we head for in the morning??  Hard to say and it depends on some decisions based on a couple unexpected variables.  We’ll see how things shake out when the sun comes up.

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Police officer pulled this guy over for speeding and told him that his eyes were bloodshot, and asked him if he'd been drinking. The guy said "Your eyes are glazed, have you been eating donuts?"

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How do snowmen get around?
On their icicles.

Q: What do snowmen eat for breakfast?
A: Snowflakes.

What does Santa call reindeer that don't work?
Dinner.

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Christmas is just plain weird. What other time of the year do you sit in front of a dead tree in your living room eating candy and snacks out of your socks?

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Q: What do you call a bunch of grandmasters of chess bragging about their games in a hotel lobby?
A: Chess nuts boasting in an open foyer!

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".

EAGLE EYE CEMETERY IN THE SHADOW OF HARQUAHALA MOUNTAIN

HARQUAHALA MOUNTAIN

Brewed myself up a coffee in our ‘Bodum French Press’ one cup coffee maker, tossed the last Safeway Blueberry muffin into the microwave for a few seconds, grabbed my cameras, loaded up the Pheebs and we were off out the door into the Jeep.  Again, no idea where we were going so we just went anyway until we reached wherever it was we couldn’t think to go.

HEADING WEST ON HIGHWAY 71 UNDER CLOUDY SKIES THIS MORNING

THE DUSTY LITTLE TUMBLE DOWN TOWN OF AGUILA STRAIGHT AHEAD AND CAN YOU SEE WHAT IS KNOWN AS THE ‘EAGLES EYE’ IN THE SMALL MOUNTAIN ON THE LEFT

Despite an overcast sky and 45F temperatures we were fine in the Jeep.  Fired up the heater for some comfortable warm air, cranked down Pheebs window halfway for a a refreshing breeze and turned on the dome light to simulate some sunshine.  We were good to go:))

CLOUDS ATOP HARQUAHALA MOUNTAIN

DESERT SCENERY ALONG THE SOUTH SIDE OF HIGHWAY 71

By the time we reached the end of Ghost Town Road about a minute after we left the house I decided to turn right on highway 71 and head west.  My other 2 options were heading north on highway 89 towards Yarnell or south to Wickenburg.  We have been in both those places have a dozen times or more in the last 3 weeks so west it was and off we went in the direction of Aguila. (pronounced A-gee-aa)

WE’RE GETTING CLOSER TO THE EAGLES EYE AS VIEWED FROM THE NORTH SIDE

It was on this same stretch of road I took the ‘Mountains In The Mist’ photos last week.  Highway 71 from Congress to Aguila covering 25 scenic miles is a favorite drive of mine simply because of how it lazily wanders along in a relative straight line across the desert floor with very little traffic on it.

Harquahala Mountain loomed closer the further we went.  Toyed briefly with the idea of making a run up the mountain but thought better of it.  Had forgot to take the cell phone and with the rocky road climb up Harquahala it was no place to go alone without a cell phone or hard hat in case one fell of the road and tumbled down into a deep canyon.

From 71 we turned right on highway 60 and drove the short distance into Aguila turning left onto Eagle Eye Road heading towards Harquahala Valley about 40 miles away.  Knowing we weren’t going to go that far we just kinda puttered along south of Aguila for about a mile until I spotted a sign saying ‘Eagle Eye Cemetery’.  I’ve always liked wandering through old out of the way cemeteries looking at things so off we went in search of it.  Luckily it was only a few hundred yards off the road.

WITH A GLOOMY SKY OVERHEAD IT SEEMED A FITTING DAY TO GO PROWLING AROUND IN A CEMETERY

THE EAGLES EYE IS IN THAT KNOB AT TOP LEFT

ALL VETERANS SITES ARE MARKED WITH AN AMERICAN FLAG

HARQUAHALA LOOMS IN THE BACKGROUND

SOME MARKERS ARE SIMPLY DONE

The difference in cemeteries out here in the west we have seen and the cemeteries at home in Ontario is quite remarkable and the one Pheebs and I walked through this morning was a good example of that.  Plots didn’t seem to be organized in sections or rows but were sort of scattered about in a willy-nilly fashion.  We have seen this before in western cemeteries.  I always find it interesting to read the inscriptions on the stones or old wooden crosses often just stuck in the ground.  We have come across graves in places other than cemeteries out here in the West.

THE TOWN OF AGUILA CAN BE SEEN IN THE BACKGROUND

I SUSPECT THE PERSON HERE MAY HAVE BEEN AN AVIATOR

WONDER WHAT THE STORY IS BEHIND THIS FELLOW

A HAND HEWN RESTING BENCH

HARQUAHALA MOUNTAIN ALWAYS PROMINENT IN THE BACKGROUND

Bit of a cold wind blowing through the cemetery but no matter I was dressed good and warm and of course Pheebs had her fur coat on.  A smattering of diffused sunlight began appearing as I noticed skies were very slowly beginning to clear.  We were on the east side of Harquahala Mountain and how nice Harquahala looked with a few brief morning sun splashes touching down close to her peak.

SAW THIS SET UP UNDER A COUPLE PALO VERDE TREES

I’M SURE THERE ARE SOME PAINFUL MEMORIES HERE

From the cemetery Pheebs and headed back to Eagle Eye Road and turned left heading another couple miles or so until we saw a familiar desert road turn off for Tonopah about 40 miles away.  Tonopah is on Interstate 10.

A CLOSE UP 300mm TELEPHOTO VIEW OF THE EAGLE’S EYE FROM THE SOUTH SIDE

We ventured down this hard packed sandy gravel road for maybe a mile before turning around.  We had already done this desert highway in the Spring only in reverse one morning when we headed out Vulture Mine road then instead of turning left for Tonopah we turned right for Aguila.  I remember it as being a very dusty road with a lot of rumbling gravel trucks on it so we made our way back to Eagle Eye Road and headed back for Aguila as skies ever so slowly began to get a little brighter.

PHEEBS AND I TRAVELED THIS LONG AND DUSTY DESERT HIGHWAY BACK IN THE SPRING COMING FROM THE OTHER WAY

WE HAVE ALREADY TURNED AROUND AND IT WAS FROM THE SPOT I TOOK THE POST’S HEADER PHOTO WHICH WAS BEHIND ME

Half a dozen more photo stops along the way and we were back to Congress pulling into our driveway right on the stroke of High Noon.  Another relaxing morning spent in the arms of Mother Nature again.  I sure would be lost if it wasn’t for our morning drives, walks, and short hikes whether it be back home in Bayfield Ontario or out here in the mountains, valleys and deserts of the South-west.  A few hours out with Pheebs most mornings sure shortens up what are otherwise long boring days for me sometimes.  No schedules, nobody telling us where to go or what to do or when to be home.  We are free to think our own thoughts and kibbitz back and forth like a couple of Crazy-O’s.  Stop where and when we want, grab a burg here or a Sub there.  It’s quite the life we have and for as long as we can keep doing it we are going to keep doing it……… And for anyone interested in reading about the day Kelly, Pheebs and I rough and tumbled our way up to the very top of Harquahala Mountain and made it safely back down again you can read my post about our Jeep Wrangler trip by clicking this link….. Our Toughest Jeep Challenge Yet.  You might be surprised to see what we found up there……………

I HOPE TO HAVE MORE PHOTOS OF THIS MORNINGS JOURNEY IN TOMORROW NIGHT’S POST

GROANER’S CORNER:((  A famed English explorer was invited to Dartmouth to tell of his adventures in the African jungle.  "Can you imagine, a people so primitive that they love to eat the embryo of certain birds, and slices from the belly of certain animals? And grind up grass seed, make it into paste, burn it over a fire, then smear it with a greasy mess they extract from the mammary fluid of certain other animals?"
When the students looked startled by such barbarism, the explorer added softly, "What I've been describing, of course, is a breakfast of bacon and eggs and buttered toast."

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“I mixed up the cardiac resuscitation equipment with the lie detector, but I will de-fib you later.”

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A young lad was visiting a church for the first time, checking all the announcements and posters along the walls. When he came to a group of pictures of men in uniform, he asked a nearby usher, "Who are all those men in the pictures?" The usher replied, "Why, those are our boys who died in the service".
Dumbfounded, the youngster asked, "Was that the morning service or the evening service?"