DRIVING MISS KELLY

HERE’S PHEEBS & I DRIVING MISS KELLY THIS MORNING…..PHEEBS WAS PESTERING KELLY SO MUCH FOR THE FRONT SEAT KELLY FINALLY SWITCHED PLACES WITH HER & THAT STOPPED THE PESTERING….WHAT A LITTLE SMARTY PANTS THAT PHEEBS IS.

It’s just short of a month since we arrived in Congress but until this morning we had not taken a single day trip drive together.  Kelly suggested we drive out north of Yarnell to Wagoner Road & take a drive along a section of Wagoner that we had done a Jeep trip on with Jim & Bev, Janna & Mike, & Simon & Sandy two winters ago.  That was an all day tour back on March 4th 2014 & you can read about the day 4 little Jeep Wranglers bounced & bumped their up into & over the Bradshaw Mountains with the destination being an old & still active mining town called Crown King…… INTO THE BRADSHAW MOUNTAINS LOOKING FOR CROWN KING.  This morning we planned on doing only a few of those miles on Wagoner Road.

HEADING FOR THE YARNELL HILL TO CLIMB UP INTO THE WEAVER MOUNTAINS ABOUT 9 THIS MORNING

WE BOUGHT A HAT RACK FOR OUR HOUSE IN THIS YARNELL SHOP BACK IN 2012

YARNELL’S CORNER ?? BAKERY

PATIENTLY WAITING OUTSIDE THE BAKESHOP

HERE COMES THE GOODIES

HEADING NORTH THROUGH PEEPLES VALLEY

Of course we didn’t drive a tenth as far today as we did that day nearly 2 years ago & just Jeeped in on Wagoner Road as far as the 17 mile marker before turning around & heading back to highway 89.  Our aim this morning was just a simple pleasant drive to enjoy the scenery on a road we were a bit familiar with.  Stopped again at the historic steel overhead Hassayampa Bridge which was built in 1924.

THE HISTORIC HASSAYAMPA BRIDGE

ROAD ACROSS THE BRIDGE IS ALL WOOD PLANKING

  

STANDING ON THE BRIDGE FIRST LOOKING DOWNRIVER THEN UPRIVER

I THINK DURING MONSOON SEASON THIS QUIET HASSAYAMPA RIVER IS PROBABLY A RAGING TORRENT OF WATER THROUGH HERE

Some nice ranches along this road such as the TK Bar Ranch which a rumor has it was once been owned by the Revlon Cosmetic Company family.  No idea if there is any truth to that but we did stop at the front gate for a few photos of the property.  Judging from the front entrance it was obviously built by someone with many many wheelbarrows full of gold nuggets.

WAGONER ROAD CUTS RIGHT THROUGH THE TK BAR PROPERTY

WE FIRST CAME ACROSS A COUPLE PONDS WITH DUCKS & GEESE ON THEM

IT’S ALWAYS SO NICE TO SEE WATER ANYWHERE IN ARIZONA

A STONE WALL WITH CLIMBING ROSES LEADS TO THE MAIN GATE

THE TK BAR’S MAIN GATE

PARKED JUST OFF WAGONER ROAD TO TAKE A FEW PHOTOS

PEERED AROUND THE EAST END OF THE WALL BUT ALL I SAW WAS A GRAZING HORSE

Another ranch further down Wagoner Road called Za Arizona also had a nice front gate entrance but again we could not see the ranch house which we suspect was further back in.

THIS FRONT ENTRANCE & GATE POST WERE A NICE CORAL COLOR

THESE TYPES OF GATES LET TRAVELERS KNOW WHAT RANCHES THEY ARE ENTERING OR LEAVING

Wagoner Road leading to the Bradshaw Mountains winds & tumbles it’s way through sweeping valleys with the ever present Bradshaw Mountains on the Eastern horizon.  Some of the road is paved at the beginning out as far as the TK Bar Ranch & from there to the Bradshaws it is a sandy gravel with the road becoming a bit of a challenge in spots if my mind serves me correctly from back in March of 2014

BRADSHAW MOUNTAIN ON THE HORIZON BUT WE DIDN’T GO THAT FAR TODAY

HORSE FENCING

THIS WAS OUR TURN AROUND POINT

HEADING BACK IN THE DIRECTION FROM WHENCE WE HAD COME

KELLY CHECKS OUT THE ENTRANCE TO THE GOLD BAR RANCH BED & BREAKFAST CAMPGROUND

Returning back to highway 89 from the direction we had just come we decided to take a short ‘truck’ bi-pass around the Hassayampa Bridge.  This bi-pass is definitely an Arizona type western bi-pass alright & is for any local trucks or vehicles deemed too heavy for the overhead steel Hassayampa Bridge.

THE HASSAYAMPA BRIDGE BI-PASS CUTS ACROSS THE HASSAYAMPA RIVER HERE

YOU CAN SEE THE HASSAYAMPA BRIDGE BEHIND US & THE BI-PASS ROAD ON THE LEFT

THIS MOUNTAIN STREAM WATER RUNNING ACROSS THE ROAD WAS CRYSTAL CLEAR

OH NO DAD I GOT MY PAW WET

HAD WE BEEN HERE A MONTH EARLIER THESE COTTONWOODS & ASPENS WOULD HAVE BEEN SO PRETTY WITH THEIR BRILLIANT GOLD AUTUMN LEAVES

“UMMM WHY DID WE STOP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RIVER DAD”??  “SO I COULD TAKE A PICTURE OF YOU LOOKING AT THE WATER PHEEBS”

A cool but beautifully sunny Saturday morning up on the Colorado Plateau as we made our way back to the highway then turned south for Yarnell.

I’M THINKING THOSE ARE THE NORTH SIDE OF THE WEAVER MOUNTAINS

PRESCOTT IS IN THOSE MOUNTAINS TO THE RIGHT & I’M GUESSING THAT PEAK MIGHT BE GRANITE MOUNTAIN

HEADING SOUTH ON 89 FOR YARNELL & CONGRESS

ALWAYS LIKE SEEING THIS LARGE HORSE FARM IN PEEPLES VALLEY

 

Yarnell’s Thrift Store/Community Center is at the North end of town so we pulled over & parked while Kelly went in for a browse.  Of course it’s not the same kind of browse we liked to do the past few years when we were always looking at things for the house.  We have everything we need now & with the thoughts of  selling the house sometime in the next few years we do not want to pick up any more stuff than we already have.  Kelly came out empty handed anyway saying she didn’t see any super bargooons so that was just as well.  We headed on through Yarnell & leisurely tumbled ourselves down the long winding drop out of the Weaver Mountains on what is affection ally called by area locals, the ‘Yarnell Hill’.  We were home just before 1 p.m. & called it a day.  I like it when we get ourselves out on those little exploratory fun drives…….:))

JUST A NICE AUTUMN FEELING DAY IN YARNELL ARIZONA

PHEEBS WAITS PATIENTLY TO SEE IF MOM FINDS A GOOD DEAL ON ANY YUMMY DOGGY TREATS:))

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Ten common fishing terms explained::

Catch and Release - A conservation motion that happens most often right before the local Fish and Game officer pulls over a boat that has caught over it's limit.

 
Hook - (1) A curved piece of metal used to catch fish. (2) A clever advertisement to entice a fisherman to spend his live savings on a new rod and reel. (3) The punch administered by said fisherman's wife after he spends their life savings (see also, Right Hook, Left Hook).

Line - Something you give your co-workers when they ask on Monday how your fishing went the past weekend.

Lure - An object that is semi-enticing to fish, but will drive an angler into such a frenzy that he will charge his credit card to the limit before exiting the tackle shop.

Reel - A weighted object that causes a rod to sink quickly when dropped overboard.

Rod - An attractively painted length of fiberglass that keeps an angler from ever getting too close to a fish.
School - A grouping in which fish are taught to avoid your $29.99 lures and hold out for spam instead.

Tackle - What your last catch did to you as you reeled him in, but just before he wrestled free and jumped back overboard.

Tackle Box - A box shaped alarmingly like your comprehensive first aid kit. Only a tackle box contains many sharp objects, so that when you reach in the wrong box blindly to get a Band Aid, you soon find that you need more than one.

Test - (1) The amount of strength a fishing line affords an angler when fighting fish in a specific weight range. (2) A measure of your creativity in blaming "that darn line" for once again losing the fish.

ROCK SCRAMBLING WITH MY BEST PAL AND OUR HOUSE DECISION HAS FINALLY BEEN MADE…..

ROCK SCRAMBLING WITH MY BEST PAL THIS MORNING

With our 2 day cloud cover finally beginning to break up & giving way to warming sun splashes skipping their way across our cooler landscape I decided it was time to get myself outside the house again.  Planted 2 more cactus then fired up the Jeep.

Pheebs & I didn’t go far this morning with just a short drive of maybe a mile down to the end of Ghost Town Road.  This is an area where a few folks boondock temporarily & a few others call home for the winter.  Only saw 3 rigs scattered widely about amidst the Mesquite trees, Creosote bushes & Palo Verde trees.

This area is also the former town site of 1885’s Congress Arizona.  Only thing left is a couple old Pioneer Cemeteries & pieces of broken pottery & glass which are scattered around on the desert floor.  Where we drove & walked this morning was once a bustling town with stores, cabins, shops, streets, mining offices, a hospital, eateries, saloons, a school & 2 churches.  Had Pheebs I been walking here 130 years ago we would have been meeting people & horses on the streets.  Folks would have been busy bustling about their business.  Pheebs & I could have probably popped into one of the eateries for a big mess of bacon & eggs.  It was a mining town of course with the large Congress Gold Mine less than half a mile away.  All of Congress’s inhabitants would have had something to do with that mine one way or another.  I’m sure all the towns men covered many miles walking to & from that mine each & every working day which was likely 7 days a week in those days.  Only one road led into the mine & that is the road our house & property are located on.  An elderly neighbor said the old miner who built our house in the 1950’s built it with lumber he hauled home from the partially abandoned Gold Mine.  Of course rumor has it that he hid all his gold in this house too……………..We’re still lookin:))

THE ORIGINAL MINING TOWN OF CONGRESS ONCE STOOD OUT THERE WHERE ALL THOSE CREOSOTE BUSHES NOW GROW

One of the old cemeteries is still in use so a graded road is kept open to that location.  Off that graded road are Jeep roads leading off out into the desert.  It is off these hard packed sand & gravely roads boondockers have carved themselves out their own sites on flat pieces of the desert floor.  We parked just off one of these Jeep roads & walked up a narrower ATV trail to a jumble of rocks at the base of what would be called a mountain back in Ontario but what we call here just a big darn bunch of rocky hills dotted with Saguaro Cactus.

 

It was very cool this morning so I wasn’t too concerned about Rattlesnakes but one is always cautious about them anyway just in case even though they should all be into hibernation by now.  We did manage ourselves a nice rock scramble & I’m always amazed at how well Pheebs does in scrambling up & over the large rocks a boulders as well.  I’m thinking she must have some Mountain Goat in her.

We were back home before 11 & I could smell Turkey in the oven.  Well not a whole Turkey but what is called a Turkey breast which is always lots for us.  We both like Turkey & generally have it 3 times a year.  Canadian Thanksgiving, the American Thanksgiving & of course Christmas.  Sure is a nice change from peanut butter & honey sandwiches:))

MORE OF A BIG ROCKY HILL THAN A MOUNTAIN

Of course there is just Kelly, myself, & Pheebs here & that is how we like to spend our Thanksgiving days.  We’ve both done the large family & public gatherings over the years & not having to do that anymore suits us just fine.  We also feel the same way about Christmas. 

Called Aunt Jean in Sarasota Wednesday night & she’s been keeping herself busy.  Jean & her golfing pals tried out a different golf course earlier this week & with the grounds being not as hilly as their usual course she was able to play a full 18 holes.  She is finding it frustrating though not being able to get outside to do her own grounds work anymore.  With some heart, lung, & spine problems increasingly restricting her physical movements now it sure hasn’t dampened her Spirits & independence.  Aunt Jean’s 88 year old mind is still sharp but it just can’t coax her body into doing all the things she used to do & would still like to do.  And do them all on her own…………….

It’s not quite the end of the month yet but our hard thought out house decision has finally been made.  Kelly contacted a local Realtor earlier in the week & the lady is coming in early December to give us an appraisal on our house & property……….but we’re not selling it:))  We have decided to wait another year & re-assess our house decision again at that time.  We did feel it important to make contact with a Real Estate company though just in case there came a time if something happened to one or both of us & we couldn’t get back to Congress for whatever reason.  When one reaches our age these are things that have to be carefully thought about & planned for just in case.  Gone are those crazy free wheeling & wildly sometimes reckless thought processes of yesteryear.  Darn, I do miss those days though.   We will probably take back to Canada a lot of our personal items this coming Spring & anything else we treasure & want to keep………………………..

GROANER’S CORNER:(( A man arrives at the gates of heaven. St. Peter asks, "Religion?"
The man says, "Methodist."
St. Peter looks down his list, and says, "Go to room 24, but be very quiet as you pass room 8."
Another man arrives at the gates of heaven. "Religion?"
"Baptist."
"Go to room 18, but be very quiet as you pass room 8."
A third man arrives at the gates. "Religion?"
"Jewish."
"Go to room 11, but be very quiet as you pass room 8."
The man says, "I can understand there being different rooms for different religions, but why must I be quiet when I pass room 8?"
St. Peter tells him, "Well the Jehovah's Witnesses are in room 8, and they think they're the only ones here.

BLOGGER’S BLOCK

I’m hoping my ‘Blogger’s Block’ will lift shortly.  In the meantime all’s I have are a few bird photos……

GROANER’S CORNER:(( 

Psychiatrist: What's your problem?
Patient: I think I'm a chicken.
Psychiatrist: How long has this been going on?
Patient: Ever since I was an egg!

A SAD LITTLE PILE OF STONES IN THE DESERT

PHEEBS RACES HER SHADOW ALONG A DUSTY DESERT ROAD THIS MORNING

Pheebs & I did make it out for our desert walk this morning but other than that I really don’t have anything much to write about tonight.…………

UNDER A PALO VERDE TREE ALONGSIDE A DRY WASH I FOUND THIS SAD LITTLE PILE OF STONES IN EARLY MORNS DESERT STILLNESS

GROANER’S CORNER:((  As a Delta Air Lines jet was flying over Arizona on a clear day, the co-pilot was providing his passengers with a running commentary about landmarks over the PA system.  "Coming up on the right, you can see the Meteor Crater, which is a major tourist attraction in northern Arizona. It was formed when a lump of nickel and iron, roughly 150 feet in diameter and weighing 300,000 tons, struck the earth at about 40,000 miles an hour, scattering white-hot debris for miles in every direction. The hole measures nearly a mile across and is 570 feet deep."
From the cabin, a passenger was heard to exclaim, "Wow! It just missed the highway!"