JEEPING IN THE HASSAYAMPA RIVER VALLEY

A GREAT AREA FOR MORNING WALKS

Been awhile since I last saw the Planet Mercury so last night just after dusk I went out specifically to look for it. And, there it was, low down on the western horizon. Just make a straight line down to the horizon from the bright Planets, Jupiter & Venus. Mercury will be to the left of where that line touches the horizon. It will look like a faint star.

OUR VIEW OF AN EARLY DAWN OVER THE HASSAYAMPA RIVER VALLEY

 

NOBODY UP YET AT RV SUE’S YET

Pheebs & Motor had me out about about 5 this morning & I immediately noticed the warmer air. Also saw a Scorpion….but it wasn’t on the ground, it was high in the southeastern sky. My favorite summer constellation, Scorpios is now in the morning sky. My favorite winter constellation, Orion continues it’s journey westward & will soon disappear from the night until it re-emerges in the east again next winter.

ATV ROADS GO FOREVER

 

This is a great boondocking area for pets.  No cactus means no prickers in the paws.  Ground is a hard packed sand without a lot of sharp jagged rocks & line of site for keeping an eye on pets outside is good.  Have not heard a single Coyote since being here this past week & a half.  Great views of the surrounding mountains and along the edge of the Martinez wash.  And, the Jeep & ATV trails just go forever in here.

  

WE LOVE OUR SIDE YARD:)) 

On our first full day here over a week ago we spotted a road sign closer to Wickenburg that said, ‘Scenic Loop.’  This morning we headed off to have us a look at the Scenic Loop Road.  First few miles after turning off 89 highway was washboardy enough to jar even the best glued in dentures loose.  After that it was the usual scenic dipsy doodle hard packed sand & gravel road.  Because the road’s name had the word ‘Loop’ in it we thought the road would loop back around & out again.  But nope, that wasn’t the case.

THERE ARE BOON DOCKING SPOTS ON THE SCENIC LOOP DRIVE

 

The loop road ended at the gates of the (For Sale) Hassayampa River Ranch.  A couple of folks showed up on ATV’s who knew the area & noticed we had a Jeep & said if we wanted to take a different route back just to follow them.  We did that & at a Junction of trails the lady told us to follow the right fork to the riverbed & that would take us to Wickenburg.

THIS ATV COUPLE SAID, ‘FOLLOW US”

 

FOLLOWING THE ROAD TO THE RIVER

We did that but never did find Wickenburg.  Upon reaching the navigable river bottom we were faced with a left or right turn.  We chose right & chugged our way up the wide river bottom through a lot of soft sand.   Driving in sand is not my favorite thing because of the many times I had been stuck in it back in my old Volkswagon Beetle days.  You’ll remember that eh Gary:))

RIVER BOTTOM STRAIGHT AHEAD

  

Good thing for 4 wheel drive because I could feel that sand slowing us down & wanting to bury us forever in that river bottom.  Jeep handled it well & except for a few wheel hopping sections we did just fine.  After a few miles a narrow trail led up an embankment & we were drawn to higher ground.  I was expecting to see the outskirts of Wickenburg at any time but instead we reached another well traveled dirt road.  Right or left??  I guessed left & it wasn’t long before we realized we had gone in a complete circle & had somehow landed back on the Loop Road on our way back to highway 89.  Oh well, it was only a few miles further south to Wickenburg anyway.

HAD TO PUT THE SPURS TO JEEPERS A WEE BIT HERE

  

 

YEP, I THINK WE PICKED UP SOME MORE DESERT PIN STRIPPING HERE

Took the opportunity to slip across Vulture Mine Road to the Safeway store for some needed groceries.  Back out into the desert again & we were back to the rig before noon.  That ‘No Camping’ sign sure is working because there was not a soul in the larger boondocking space near the big water tank as we drove through.  That of course meant a lot less ATV’s racing around.  Nice:))

PROBLEM WITH LIVING IN A ‘GATED COMMUNITY’ IS HAVING TO OPEN & CLOSE THE GATE ALL THE TIME…THE DISTANT WHITE OBJECT TO THE UPPER RIGHT IS OUR RIG

Never had an interest in ATV’s but I think if we lived down here an ATV might be on the list.  Well, only if they could make one that is as quiet as a sewing machine of course.  ATV’s are a preferred way of travel out in the back country & I can easily see the advantages of having one.  Where years ago, prospectors would range the hills looking for gold on mules & horses, they are now out in the hills on their ATV’s.  Same with many Ranchers checking their cattle, etc.  I’m surprised at the number of ATV’ers in this area going by with their dogs riding on the ATV’s as well.  They somehow sit ahead of the driver above the front wheels.  I’m also surprised at the number of Senior ATV’ers out here.  Way more than kids.  I think a lot of the ATV drivers in our immediate area are folks from North Ranch.

VULTURE PEAK & THE OUTSKIRTS OF WICKENBURG

Took us for a late afternoon walk down the hill to see RV SUE & HER CANINE CREW.  She’s doing fine & loving her new site.  Spike & Bridget were happy to see Pheebs & the Motormouse.  We are the only two rigs in this whole area & how totally great is that…………..:))

GROANER’S CORNER:((  People say there is no difference between COMPLETE & FINISHED.
But there is. When you marry the right one, you are COMPLETE.
And when you marry the wrong one, you are FINISHED.
And when the right one catches you with the wrong one, you are... COMPLETELY FINISHED.

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-Tourists see the world, travelers  experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
BAYFIELD BUNCH PHOTO ALBUMS https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of
right  now...AL.
stargeezerguy@gmail.com

ANOTHER GOOD OLD COW SMOOCHIN DAY FOR THE PHEEBS

Sitting outside basking in the early morning sunshine I couldn’t help but think, ‘what a difference a day makes.’  Friday morning we had howling winds & freezing temperatures & this morning the warming air had a silent stillness to it.  Birds were in the air & the view over our Mesquite filled shallow valley made one want to just stay right where we are without moving again for awhile.  I have a feeling that when we do leave it will be straight home for us & we will save Monument Valley for the Autumn beauty which I would much prefer to see if we can get away earlier this Fall.  Already have my fingers crossed:))

 

EARLY MORNING GAME OF TOYS

I was at the rear of the rig putting something away in a bin when I heard a slight scuffling behind me.  Turned around to see a dozen Cows at the front of the Motor Home, all standing staring curiously at the Pheebs a few feet away.  Well, it wasn’t long & the heads were together again, noses touching for another round of big slurpy Cow smooches with the  Fabulous Pheebs.  She walked around amongst the small herd with a big smooch here, a small smooch there, a few nose bumps & some downright comfy snuzzles.  Twenty minutes later the Bovine Bunch had disappeared once again into the surrounding Mesquite trees & a good time had been had by all.

 

 

 

 

At 11:45 I Jeeped myself up to the highway & opened the gate.  Parked the Jeep where it was visible to southbound traffic, focused my binoculars northward on the oncoming traffic & watched for a white van towing a little white Casita.  Yep, there it was alright, heading down the highway right for us.  A minute later with a left turn signal going, the van slowed & made a wide turn through the gate.  Yaaay, RV SUE & HER CANINE CREW had made it.  Really great to see Sue again.  She is one of our favorite people:))

COULD THAT BE RV SUE & THE CREW WAY DOWN THE ROAD?

 

YEP, HERE SHE COMES:))

I led the way as Sue & the crew followed us back into the desert on a hard packed sandy & sometimes bumpity road.  It’s a big area here & Sue found herself a real nice spot with lots of trees & birds.  And, lots of room for Spike & Bridget to get out & really rip & tear.  No cactus in this area so no prickly stickers to run into.  Pheebs spotted us & came running down the hill likkity split to see her old Pals, Spike & Bridget.  Spike was so happy to see Pheebs he was bouncing around upside down with squeals of delight.   I don’t like to bother people when they are setting up so I loaded up Pheebs in the Jeep & we bounced our way back up to our rig.  We’ll see Sue & the crew in the morning.  All is well in Boondockerville:))

KIND OF A LAZY UPSIDE DOWN 2 DOGGY DAY 

Rest of our day was spent just totally enjoying the fine weather.  No urge to go anywhere or see anything.  Just nice to kick back in our loungers & drift off to sleep in the warm Arizona sun.

   

Found it interesting reading the CAVE DWELLINGS post Friday when Donna mentioned about having to put up with noise levels once they return home to Illinois.  I am very much bothered by noise as well but do not remember that as being the case until we started RVing a few years ago.

 

GETTING THE BUGS CLEANED OFF THE FRONT OF THE RIG 

I first began to notice my noise annoyance after having spent our first winter in the southwest boon docking in the quiet desert.  Up to that point, every day noise was just that, every day noise.  Like most folks I really didn’t take much notice of it I guess.  But, with each winter’s time spent in our quiet desert boon docking spots I soon became aware of unwelcome noise.  People noise!!  When one spends pristine quality time with soft winds in the Saguaros & tweeting songbirds birds in the Palo Verde trees it’s pretty hard to have the patience for people generated noise.  But, here’s an odd twist.  I don’t mind the thunderous roar of jet aircraft in the overhead sky & yet somebody’s radio turned up or a bunch of people hootin & hollerin just drives me bonkers!!

THIS IS THE NEWLY POSTED SIGN IN OUR AREA

Our Sitemeter told me tonight we have hit the half million visitor mark on our Blogsite.  How well I remember starting out a few years ago with no visitors at all & I remember how great it was to see 2 or 3 hits on the site those first few days & weeks.  It was a slow start for quite awhile & I think it was Laurie from SEMI TRUE TALES OF OUR LIFE ON THE ROAD who stumbled across one of my posts way back when & mentioned the Bayfield Bunch in her blog that began the ball rolling.  My Google stats tell me most of our site referrals come from HITCHITCH so my advice to new Bloggers is to get yourself on Hitchitch to increase your blog’s traffic flow.  Probably the biggest boost our site has had came from meeting TIOGA GEORGE a few months ago.  His mention of the Bayfield Bunch in his blog nearly doubled our daily Sitemeter visits.  Our numbers literally shot up over night & amazingly enough have remained there.  Tioga George has had over 6 & a half million visitors to his site.  So, a big thank you to all my fellow Bloggers who have helped us along the way & pushed our Sitemeter numbers to the half million mark. 

No word yet on the property ker-fuffle at the house on Ghost Town Road but I expect we’ll hear something from the Realtor this coming week.

AND, I THINK THE COWS HAVE JUST FOUND SUE & THE CREW:)))

GROANER’S CORNER:(( The sheriff pulled up next to the guy unloading garbage out of his Class C motorhome into the ditch in Kentucky. The sheriff asked, "Why are you dumping garbage in the ditch? Don't you see that sign right over your head".

"Yep", he replied. 'That's why I dumping it here, 'cause it says 'Fine For Dumping Garbage'".

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-Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
BAYFIELD BUNCH PHOTO ALBUMS https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of
right now...AL.
stargeezerguy@gmail.com

COLD WINDY DAY WITH THE ONLY EXCITEMENT BEING LAUNDRY & ‘OH OH’ A NEW ‘NO CAMPING’ SIGN!!

KIND OF A BORING DAY AT OUR HOUSE TODAY
Beautiful night sky last night with the planets Jupiter & Saturn converging & due to pass each other in another week or so.  The Planet Mercury is also visible low in the West at dusk & soon the planet Saturn will be in the night sky making for 5 visible planets overhead.  Maybe not to interesting for most folks but the night sky has always been a very interesting place for me.

How nice to look out our windows this morning & once again see a different landscape.  A few days ago I could watch the sunrise from my chair & now we are faced the other way & I can see the sunsets at night.  Just another great advantage of the boon docking lifestyle.  We can change our surroundings whenever we choose, always keeping the views fresh & exciting.

KELLY GATHERS UP SOME TRASH & POSTS A SIGN
Quiet night until the winds suddenly picked up about 5 a.m. this morning rattling our slide awnings & bringing in a cold front.  Would have to say this turned into the poorest weather day all winter for us.  Lots of the usual sunshine but the high winds mixed with colder air had me in my lined winter pants & warmer clothes including mitts.  Had to retract our bedroom slide because of the gusting east winds.  Not nice!! (the winds finally quit about 5 in the afternoon)

GATHERING SOME FIREWOOD IN THE COLD WINDS THIS MORNING
We headed back up to NORTH RANCH this morning with a Jeep load of laundry.  Back home I always do my own laundry but while traveling we just sort of jumble it all together & Kelly usually gets stuck doing it.  She’s just a better laundry person than I am.  I have a tendency to turn nice white things into various shades of groovy grey.  They have a large lounge area with a mega screen TV near the laundry room.  Oodles of books in there too.  In the adjacent bathroom was a couple of spacious showers so I was quick to take advantage of that.  How nice to have an unlimited hot water supply in a space bigger than half a broom closet.

IT WAS A LAUNDRY MORNING AT NORTH RANCH 
No sooner got back to our rig when a tan colored pick up truck stopped at our site.  It was the Fish and Game Warden.  Nice young fella but asked if we had seen the ‘No Camping Permitted’ sign on the road coming in.  Actually we did see a sign this morning on our way in that we thought was new.  And, it was.  The sign had been posted just yesterday for the whole area where we had been camped.  So, if we had not moved yesterday we would for sure been moving today!!  The area we are in now is OK but the big area where most RV’ers & Week-end Warriors go is now off limits.  Day use only.  No idea what prompted this but the ‘No Camping’ sign is in the ground!!

PHEEBS BRINGS HOME ANOTHER OLD DESERT BONE
Here is the location of the now ‘No Camping’ site.  On highway 89 south of Congress Arizona you will see the Escapee Park called, North Ranch.  It is on the east side of the road.  About one mile south of there on the same side you will see a gate.  You will also see a large brown water tank way back in.  It is the large area around that water tank that is now ‘off limits.’  It was at the southeast corner of this area where we were parked our first week in this area.  Water tower is at the northeast corner.   And, a word of caution.  Highway 89 is a 65 mph narrow no shoulders speedway & it is a dangerous turn off the highway through the gate.  You need to have someone open that gate for you first so you can make a wide turn off the highway to get through it straight on.  You can get pulled off the highway at this gate but it’s still going to be difficult to get in because you still need to swing back up onto the speedball highway to line yourself up with the gate.  Lots of Cows, ATV & Jeeping roads here.

MOTORMOUSE PATIENTLY AWAITS A HAND OUT WHILE MOM MAKES SUPPER 
Guess we could have turned the afternoon into a Jeeping trip somewhere but we just opted to stay inside with the heater on & ride out the cold gusting winds.  Forecast is for the weather to calm down with 80F temps on the way:))

GOTTA DRESS WARM THESE COOLER DESERT MORNINGS
I have noticed my reading has been way down this winter.  Made two attempts at trying to get myself interested in a couple books but only got in as far as maybe a dozen pages or so & that was it.  My blog reading, email correspondence, & commenting has been way down as well compared to a year or two ago.  I think I just tried to keep up with too many blogs & just bogged myself down.  So many new blogs & so many new Bloggers.  I have folders within folders on my desktop of people’s blogs I have been trying to stay current with but alas, I just seem to fall further & further behind.  Just too many blogs for my aging memory to keep up with.  Plus, I have to get my eyes checked this summer for sure because I am definitely way overdue for new glasses.  Should have done that a couple years ago.  Trying to read some small magazine print this morning in the Escapee lounge was near impossible.

LOTS OF MESQUITE & PALO VERDE TREES IN THE AREA
How about having a Scorpion walk into your campsite near your feet & then awhile later have a Schwan’s Ice Cream truck show up at your site.  No, didn’t happen to us, but it did happen to K AND D IN THE RV down near Yuma.

DID YOU SAY ‘WALK’ DAD
RICHARD has joined the Bunch as Blog Follower 451 closely followed by SUSAN, our latest interested reader.  Susan is a very active outdoors Gal & you can check out some of her photo adventures HERE.  Thanks for your interest folks & welcome to our blog:))

OH DEAR, WE NEVER SAW ONE SINGLE COW TODAY:((
GROANER’S CORNER:((   A blind man, traveling with some RVing friends decides to take a walk from the campground they are staying at and walks into an all girl biker bar by mistake. He finds his way to a bar stool and orders a drink.
After sitting there for a while, he yells out ,"Hey, you wanna hear a blond joke?"
The bar falls absolutely silent. In a deep husky voice, the woman next to him says, "Before you tell that joke, sir, I think it is only fair--given that you are blind--that you should know five things:
1. The bartender is a blond girl with a baseball bat.
2. The bouncer is a blond girl.
3. I'm a 6 feet tall, 175 lb. blond woman with a black belt in karate.
4. The woman sitting next to me is a blonde and a professional weightlifter.
5. The lady to your right is blonde and is a professional wrestler.
Now, think about it seriously, Mister. Do you still wanna tell that joke?"
The blind man thinks a second, shakes his head and mutters,
"No. Not if I'm gonna have to explain it five times."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Tourists see the world, travelers  experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
BAYFIELD BUNCH PHOTO ALBUMS https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of
right  now...AL.
stargeezerguy@gmail.com