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."

-----------------------------------------------------------
- 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.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.
- OUR PHOTO ALBUMS - .https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295/
stargeezerguy@gmail.com

FENCE DONE, CACTUS PLANTED, DOOR RETURNED…& A CACTUS GARDEN GUARDIAN

WITH SOME SCRAP PIECES OF WOOD & A BIG ROCK, I CONSTRUCTED A CACTUS GARDEN GUARDIAN TODAY… ‘CACTUS MAN’

Sitting on my bed Sunday night about 10 p.m. looking out the window at the night sky to the East, I noticed the constellation Orion (the mighty hunter) with his Sword hilt hanging directly down between our two front yard Saguaros.  For me, a fella who enjoys the night sky, I thought that was kinda neat.

MAIN DRIVE THROUGH GATES AT CENTER & A SINGLE WALK-THROUGH GATE JUST TO THE LEFT…ENOUGH ROOM HERE TO GET OUR MOTORHOME IN OFF THE ROAD

Happy to say our fence project is now complete.  Marteen & his wife finished up the fence across the backyard this morning so we are now totally enclosed.  No more wandering Ephalents, Rhinosaucerouses or Hippopotamooses in our back yard.  Much safer for the Pheebs:))

 

MARTEEN & HIS WIFE FINISH UP THE LAST OF OUR FENCING

I did get all my little Cactus guys planted this morning.  Kelly had picked them up last March from a lady over at the Escapee’s North Ranch.  Same Cactus that summered over in our back yard until I was able to move them this morning to their new & permanent home at the front of our property.

I WILL PLANT OTHER DESERT THINGS AMONGST THE CACTUS & WEAVE A PATHWAY THROUGH THE GARDEN

NOW, TO GET SOMETHING PLANTED ALONG THAT FENCE LINE ON THE RIGHT & CREATE A PRIVACY HEDGE

We had picked up a metal security door last March for our back door.  Wrong size!!  Loaded that door into the Jeep this morning & Kelly headed off to Stewart’s Hardware in Wickenburg to exchange it for a simpler & correctly sized heavy duty Ponderosa Pine wooden screen door.  We will pick that door up Saturday.

KELLY HEADS FOR WICKENBURG WITH THE WRONG SIZED SCREEN DOOR…PHEEBS FOLLOWS & CLOSES THE GATE BEHIND HER:))

Our back yard today reminded me of something I had seen in Wyoming’s Yellowstone National Park back in May of 92.  I think they called them ‘bubbling paint pots’.  Noticed a large wet spot back near the fence line late this morning.  Hmmmmm.  No smell & I   thought I detected soap suds.  Kelly had done a couple loads of wash, & this afternoon I did the same.  Suspecting laundry water, I looked out the window & sure enough… saw water bubbling up out of the ground in 2 separate locations.  Dug down a couple inches & located a white plastic pipe.  Not a serious problem & I’ll think about what to do about that later.  Maybe a natural outside hot tube cactus mud bath thingy eh:))

WHEN I TOOK THIS PHOTO TODAY I FAILED TO NOTICE THE TWO DAMP SPOTS (DARKER SOIL) ON THE GROUND…WATER LATER BUBBLED UP OUT OF THE GROUND REMINDING ME OF YELLOWSTONE NAT. PARK

Jim (Bev & Jim) got me straightened out the other day about our 8 tons of crushed stone.  Gravel is sold by the yard & when someone orders a load it comes by the yard. (confusing) Jim explained the 8 tons includes the truck or something.  So, in reality it turns out I didn’t really move 8 tons of crushed stone (unless I moved the truck too) & maybe it was more like 49 pounds or something.  Anyway, with my sore leg, it sure felt like 8 tons by the time I finished wheel barrowing & spreading it:((

HEARD CHILDREN’S VOICES SATURDAY & SPOTTED A KID SITTING HIGH ATOP THIS ROCKY RIDGE ABOUT A QUARTER MILE BEHIND OUR HOUSE…THIS IS THE SPOT I HOPE TO HIKE UP TO & TAKE SOME PHOTOS JUST AS SOON AS MY LEG IS FEELING BETTER

In the morning we’ll head the short distance down Ghost Town Road to the original Congress town site.  An old Pioneer cemetery is located there as is the towns dump from years ago where we heard, artifacts from an all but forgotten time can still be found.

BURNING A PILE OF DEAD PRICKLY PEAR CACTUS MADE FOR A NICE CAMPFIRE TONIGHT

GROANER’S CORNER:((  When young Jose, newly arrived in the United States, made his first trip to Yankee Stadium, there were no tickets left for sale. Touched by his disappointment, a friendly ticket salesman found him a perch near the American flag.  Later, Jose wrote home enthusiastically about his experience. "And the Americans, they are so friendly!" he concluded. "Before the game started, they all stood up and looked at me and asked, 'Jose, can you see?'"

-----------------------------------------------------------
- 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.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.
- OUR PHOTO ALBUMS - .https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295/
stargeezerguy@gmail.com

WHEN ALL THIS HOUSE DUST SETTLES

 

YELLOW JACKET ON ONE OF OUR SAGUAROS

A longer early morning walk around the neighborhood this morning.  Sure is a mixture of lifestyles here.  Cute well manicured homes & grounds mixed with absolute junkyard properties.  But, that’s the south-west & we have always noticed that in our travels here.  Of course it is just one of the many reasons we like this side of the country so much.  Never been comfortable much around fancy folks so the remoter desert regions of the south-west fit us just fine.

PHEEBS COMES OUT TO CALL ME IN FOR SUPPER

TERI had a question about the Mesquite tree bean pods that fall to the ground.  Looking like yellow beans, I do rake them up.  And, Pheebs likes eating them sometimes.  Apparently they are harmless & something Coyotes eat as well.  I didn’t spread any crushed stone under the Mesquite trees because of the difficulty raking up the pods in the stones.  SUE B wondered about the low power line in our front yard.  It is still there & Marteen the fence builder is going to put a pole in to raise that wire higher.  I nearly pulled the whole line down with our Motorhome last March.

MONDAY MORNING I WILL PLANT CACTUS IN THESE PRE-DUG & WATER FILLED HOLES

IVAN & HAILEY are on the loose again heading for another winter season in the sunny southwest.  Coming down from Alberta, they have just crossed the border into Washington State.

<<< WHEN THE GARDEN TOOLS ARE RESTING, SO IS THE GARDENER

Think I saw the tail end of my first Pack Rat today.  Noticed a large Prickly Pear Cactus patch near our gate seemed to be piled high in the center with dead Cacti.  Began pulling the Cactus apart & a Rat like creature scurried for cover.  Rat size with a long tail.  Have seen 3 small lizards so for but they were too fast for a picture.  I did get up on a ladder & pull another old board off our eave & clean out all the debris inside where the Yellow Jackets were hanging out.  No sign of them except for the one I saw on the Saguaro this afternoon.

HAVING MYSELF A SHOT AT THE MOON TONIGHT >>>

Our readership goes up every year just prior to our south-west departure & drops off again when we return to Bayfield. This year, with our house in Congress Arizona, we have not traveled as far afield & have been stationery for the past few weeks. Just want to remind readers that although we are not on the road at the moment, many RV Bloggers on our sidebar are. So, for you folks needing a winter travel fix, I suggest you check out a few of our fellow travelers. I will continue to blog every day but it won’t be quite the same as our previous boondocking years. Hang in there anyway, we do plan on doing some traveling once all this house dust settles.   And Kelly, Pheebs, & I will be heading out into the desert this week through the Date Creek Mountains in search of…….Bagdad.  Just a day trip but am looking forward to some new roads, some new scenery & some new photos:))

GROANER’S CORNER:((  A young man hired by a supermarket reported for his first day of work. The manager greeted him with a warm handshake and a smile, gave him a broom and said, "Your first job will be to sweep out the store."
"But I'm a college graduate," the young man replied indignantly.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know that," said the manager.
"Here, give me the broom - I'll show you how."

--------------------------------------------------------------
- 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.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.
- OUR PHOTO ALBUMS - .https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295/
stargeezerguy@gmail.com

WE ARE ALMOST ALL FENCED IN

OUR NEW FRONT GATES ARE OPEN

It’s really kind of neat now because my bed is positioned right under a large window & I can lay in bed & see the night sky.  When I went to bed last night I could see a star cluster, often mistaken for the Little Dipper.  The grouping of stars is called the PLEIADES .  One of my favorite night sky objects.  So nice to be out here under crystal clear Arizona night skies again.  Stars, Planets, & Constellations marching across the sky from horizon to horizon.  Well, actually, aside from the Planets & Moon, the Stars are stationary, & it is our own Earth which is moving.  Well, moving & rotating that is……….. 

MAYBE NOT AS NICE AS AN ADOBE WALL, BUT A WHOLE LOT LESS EXPENSIVE & IT DOES PROVIDE US WITH SECURITY FROM COYOTES & JAVALINAS

By the time we returned from our morning walk our front yard was abuzz with activity.  Three white pick-up trucks in front of the house & fencing workers busy at various fencing tasks.  One fellow had a saw & was busy leveling the top of the posts.  Another affixed some kind of hardware while another fellow carried & laid long top poles in place.  One truck carried a welding machine & a fellow was busy welding pipes together.  A few hours later they were unwinding the chain link fencing.  And, then it was lunch time.

 

WE HAD A BUSY FRONT YARD THIS MORNING

Let me dispel the old rumor of Mexican folks taking an afternoon Siesta.  These guys were back an hour later & the fence work continued.  Soon the entire front fence was complete including the gates.  Now their attention turned to pulling out the existing fence & posts around the house & next week they will install that fence across the back of the property.  So nice to see the inner fence finally gone from the front & side of the house.  Our acre now looks pleasingly larger.

 

PULLING OUT OLD FENCE POSTS, WELDING, & INSTALLING THE GATES

A neighbor from down the road walking her dog stopped out by the road for a chat.  Pheebs & Thunder hit it off right away & the zany stuff was afoot.  Been awhile since Pheebs found a playmate & she was sooooo excited with her new Pal.  Karen, her husband, & Thunder the dog are traveling Snow Birds from Colorado & have lived on Ghost Town Road for the past couple winters.

KAREN & THUNDER

SPENCER LOOKS ON AS PHEEBS & THUNDER GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER 

Bev & Jim dropped in this afternoon.  They are in Wickenburg for the season doing a bit of Ranch sitting.  Hadn’t seen them since last March when we did a back roads Jeep tour together.  Jim also prospects for gold during the winter months so knows the back country well.  They spend their summers in Oregon on a Cherry farm.  We are cooking up a couple Jeep runs soon but probably not for a few weeks yet.  This is a link to our previous Jeep day….. JEEP TOUR THROUGH GOLD COUNTRY.

 

JIM & BEV DEEM

Kelly spent the majority of the day house cleaning while I , yup you guessed it….hung off the end of my shovel, rake, pitchfork & shrub clippers.  More brush burnt up.   

WHEN I AM FINISHED BURNING ALL THE BRUSH I WILL DISMANTLE THE CEMENT BLOCKS & MAKE A STONE CAMPFIRE RING

I have always called our ‘Blog Follower’s list, the Blog Follower’s list.  Somewhere along the line I am told the name has changed to Friend Connect.  Something to do with Google again….of course.  So be it.  Friend Connect or Blog Follower’s list, tonight we welcome PAMELA  to Travels With The Bayfield Bunch.

 

OUR FRONT YARD IS SLOWLY COMING TOGETHER 

GROANER’S CORNER:((  Four surgeons were taking a coffee break and discussing their work. The first one said, "I think accountants are the easiest to operate on. Everything inside them is numbered."
"I think librarians are the easiest," said the second. "When you open them up, all their organs are arranged alphabetically."
The third surgeon said, "I prefer to operate on electricians. Their organs are color coded."
"You're all wrong," said, the fourth. "Lawyers are easiest. They're heartless, spineless, gutless, and their heads and asses are interchangeable."

--------------------------------------------------------------
- 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.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.
- OUR PHOTO ALBUMS - .https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295/
stargeezerguy@gmail.com

A VISIT TODAY FROM GEOGYPSY

Nice to wake up to a comfortable 60F in Congress this morning.  If we were still in Bayfield we would would have been waking up to 25F temps.  It’s no wonder Bears, Squirrels, & Turtles hibernate & Snow Birders like ourselves head south for warmer temperatures.

  

Jeff, over in the Shout Box wondered about the tall white aerial on the back bumper of our Jeep.  Not functional as a CB or Ham radio but generally carries a small orange triangular flag for visibility when off roading.  Vehicles in gullies & washes are hard to see so the orange flag atop a tall aerial is often the only thing visible & warns other drivers of it’s presence.  Suppose I could take it off while not off roading but it’s just easier to leave on.  Besides, if I took it off I would probably never remember where I put it.  Might come in handy next week when we head off into the desert in search of

 

Some may wonder how we ended up in Congress Arizona.  I can tell you, it was not planned.  Beginning the early part of our long journey home last year we headed northeast from Borrego Springs California with the destination of Lake Havasu in mind.  Had never been there so figured we’d boondock in the area & have us a look around.  Unbeknownst to us, we could not have picked a worse time or day to head into Lake Havasu.  It was PYROTECHNICS week-end & I think there was something else going on as well.  Traffic, traffic, everywhere.  Up till then we had spent the previous winter months quietly boondocked in various spots in Arizona & California.  When we rolled into Lake Havasu on that Saturday Pyrotechnic week-end we were in for a bit of a shock.  The few boondocking sites south of town were jammed full of RV’s.  Four lane traffic was heavy as we rolled into Lake Havasu & that traffic flow jsut carried us right through town & dumped us out the other side.  It was a little overwhelming for a couple of country bumpkins like ourselves.  And besides, I was a bit cranky that morning due to a poor night’s sleep.  To make a long story short, we decided to retrace our tracks back through Lake Havasu, head south & get ourselves back down to the sanctity of the quiet desert just west of Bouse Arizona.  Spent a few days there relaxing & deciding which north-east route to take from there.  Looked like we might be able to head east for the town of Wickenburg & head north from there on our way home.  JANNA had told us of a boondocking spot just south of Congress & it was while boondocked here for a couple weeks that Kelly noticed a house & property for sale on Ghost Town Road.  And, that’s how we arrived here:))

After our hectic traffic morning in Lake Havasu & failure to find a quiet boondocking site, I vented my frustrations in my blog that night & shouldn’t have done that.  It wasn’t Lake Havasu’s fault that we blundered into town during the busiest week-end of the year.  Always felt bad about that post & maybe one day we’ll slip on over there again at a quieter time & enjoy what Lake Havasu has to offer. 

ONE OF MY FAVORITE KELLY PHOTOS >>>

A lot of the brush clearing I did this past couple weeks was Palo Verde & Mesquite tree trimming.  Aside from a few dead branches, most of the limbs were green.  Can’t burn green wood so that is what we had to have had hauled away.  Not logical to pile all that green brush & let it dry out until we returned next year.  Fire hazard.  The bigger Mesquite tree limbs I sawed up & kept for fire logs next year.   You can see this was a major clean up job these past couple weeks…….& I still have a little less than a third of an acre to weed-whack, rake, & burn.

THIS CANDID PHOTO KIND OF SUMS UP MY DAY

Not much to tell you about our day.  Helped Kelly put up curtain rods & curtains, burned some more brush & started the last phase of my ground cover clean-up project.  Marteen & his fence crew began dismantling our inner fence surrounding the house & began re-installing it across the back of our property.  Have held off on my Cactus planting until I can get a book identifying the various Cactus plants & what locations they are best planted in.  North side, south, east or west of the house.  Need to know about sun & shade.  Also need to know which Cacti grow tall & slim & which one’s spread out.  Lots to learn & I find that kind of learning enjoyable:))

PHEEBS & I WILL BE HEADING OUT ON A DESERT ROCK GATHERING TOUR SHORTLY

Fellow RVing Blogger Gaelyn from GEOGYPSY dropped in this afternoon.  Gaelyn spends her summers as a Park Ranger at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon & her winter’s in Yarnell just about 12 miles up the road from us atop the Weaver Mountains.  First met Gaelyn when she dropped in to see RV SUE & HER CANINE CREW boondocked at the end of Ghost Town Road last March.  When traveling, Gaelyn drives a big honkin diesel pick-up truck towing a big honkin 5th wheel.  Gaelyn’s planning on heading off to Africa for a month early next year.  This will be her second trip there.

GAELYN, AL, & RV SUE…FEBRUARY 27TH 2012

It’s not often Kelly & I eat Pizza but tonight we made an exception.  Had heard a lot about the great Pizza’s at the Congress Mercantile store on highway 89 at the south end of Congress.   Kelly phoned up & Mercantile Judy said to pick it up in half an hour.  Gotta be the best darn Pizza we have had for many, many, years.  We got it loaded so I had to spend a little time picking off all the black Olives:((

We still have not adjusted to the time zone change from Bayfield Ontario.  We can barely make it to 8 p.m. Arizona time before falling asleep.  To nights ago we were both in our jammies by 5:30 in the afternoon.  Of course we involuntarily start our days on the early side with Kelly getting up around 5 & me getting up anytime after 3 a.m.  Absolutely no reason for either one of us to be up that early, but it’s just the way our body clocks are set I guess…………….. 

WICKENBURG’S VULTURE PEAK IN EARLY MORN  

GROANER’S CORNER:((  Let’s just call these, Ed’s Puns. 

-I changed my iPod name to Titanic. It's syncing now.
-When chemists die, they barium.
-Jokes about German sausage are the wurst.
-I know a guy who's addicted to brake fluid, but he says he can stop any time.
-How does Moses make his tea? Hebrews it.
-I stayed up all night to see where the sun went. Than it dawned on me.
-This girl said she recognized me from the vegetarian club, but I'd never met herbivore.
-I'm reading a book about anti-gravity. I can't put it down.
-I did a theatrical performance about puns. It was a play on words.
-They told me I had type A blood, but it was a Type-O.

-------------------------------------------------------------
- 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.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.
- OUR PHOTO ALBUMS - .https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295/
stargeezerguy@gmail.com