BOX CANYON, BURGER KING, BIC MAC MISTAKE AND BIG FRONT SEAT MESS AGAIN

Under a clear sunny Sunday morning sky Pheebs and I rolled out the driveway with my IPod plugged into the Jeeps sound system playing those wonderful harmonizing sounds of the ‘Sons Of The Pioneers.  Remember ‘Gunsmoke’ with James Arness years ago?  Remember Festus?  Well Festus, aka Ken Curtis was a member of the Sons Of The Pioneers and here he is singing, ‘Tumbling Tumbleweeds.  Who knew……….. It was a fitting morning for Cowboy songs as we cruised our way back on down towards Wickenburg again.  Not really intending to go into Wickenburg just yet we turned left off busy highway 93 onto Scenic Loop Road. and stirred us up some good old desert dust again. 

MAKING OUR WAY ALONG THE DRY HASSAYAMPA RIVER BED TOWARDS BOX CANYON

OUR FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH THE RIVER AS WE BEGIN TO HEAD UPSTREAM

Had it in the back of my mind to swing us around to Rincon Road then head south along the sandy gravel and rock strewn Hassayampa River bed to Box Canyon.  Figured it had been long enough since recent rains for the river bed to be firmed up again and I almost figured right.

THE SCENERY JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER THE FURTHER YOU GO

MAKING OUR WAY THROUGH BOX CANYON

For anyone in the Wickenburg area this Box Canyon drive is a must but it’s best to come in a 4 wheel drive vehicle just in case.  I’ve been to Box Canyon maybe 4 or 5 times now and have never had occasion to use 4 wheel drive but people have been known to get stuck in the sand here.  Reaching the box canyon section I did notice a bit more water ahead than in previous drives but being careful to follow vehicle tracks ahead of me we were fine until I detected some soft wet sand under us.

JEEP IS FACING UPRIVER AND THAT IS A WATER LEVEL GAUGE ON THE FAR BANK…..DURING SUMMER’S MONSOON SEASON THIS NARROW CANYON WOULD BE A ROARING TORRENT OF TURBULENT WATER HEADING SWIFTLY FOR WICKENBURG

EVEN MANAGED TO GET THE [SHADOW COWBOY[ INTO THIS DOWN RIVER PHOTO

The further one goes into the canyon the more it narrows and the narrower it gets means more driving through the shallow flowing river.  We were about two thirds of the way into the canyon when I stopped at the point where the sheer rock cliffs on both sides begin to close in.  I have driven through this narrower section several times before but this morning as I looked ahead at the water I figured I had better not push my luck and decided to turn around.  Only problem was I really didn’t have enough room to turn around without driving into the shallow water flowing beside me and I knew by doing that turning of wheels back and forth I would greatly increase my chances of digging into the wet sand and becoming stuck.  The watery sand at this point was already beginning to feel a little soft under my tires.

IT WAS AT THIS POINT WHERE I DECIDED TO TURN AROUND

I’m a real darn good back upper so that is what I did.  I simply retraced my tire tracks  backwards criss-crossing the stream a couple times until I came to a wider dryer patch of solid gravely sand.  A bit of wiggling back and forth and we were soon on our way back out of the canyon.  Passed a couple big tire Jeeps heading the other way as we made our way back to Rincon Road.

HEADING BACK DOWNRIVER TOWARDS WICKENBURG

HEY DAD I THINK I SEE A MOOSE OVER THERE

NO PHEEBS THERE ARE NO MOOSES IN THESE HERE PARTS

MUCH OF THE HASSAYAMPA RIVER FLOWS UNDERGROUND BUT HERE IN BOX CANYON IT SEEPS UP AND RUNS ALONG THE SURFACE

It’s been about 10 months since Pheebs and I last Whoppered ourselves and it’s been on my mind for the past couple weeks to get ourselves on down to Wickenburg’s south end to get Whopperized.  Turning left onto Blue Tank Road we set us a course for Burger King.  Oh how we were both looking forward to sharing a big Whopper.  Slipping into Wickenburg we hung us a left turn onto highway 93 for the short quarter mile run down to Burger King.  Hauled myself into the left turning lane and between a couple of oncoming maniac speedballs whisked us into Burger KIng and almost crashed us into a fence across the driveway.  WHAT!!!!!!!  Couldn’t believe it, big wire fence up and BG looked like it had gone out of business.  For sure it was closed!!  ‘Arrrrggggghhhhh’  Maybe they are in the process of renovating or something, don’t know.  Pheebs and I just kind of sat there for a few seconds looking at each other with our disappointedly sad faces on.  Well no time to dither about it so snagging a rare break in the Fireball 500 traffic we smoked up the tires and headed the quarter mile back the way we had come.  Dashed ourselves in a bone jarring right hand turn into the sanctity of McDonalds parking lot.  Whewwww, that highway traffic between Phoenix Arizona and Las Vegas Nevada is totally insane!!

THEY ARE EITHER OUT OF BUSINESS OR THEY ARE RENOVATING

Wedged ourselves into the drive-thru and with a burger on my still confused mind I dumbly ordered us up a Big Mac.  Well that was a big mistake.  I’ve never been a Big Mac fan and those things are loaded with a million pieces of shredded lettuce all gooed together with some kind of salad dressing or something  so once again you can imagine the mess we had going on as we sat in the parking lot trying to decide who gets what part of what.  Pheebs was practically in my lap but we somehow managed to get the big Mac dissected enough in a somewhat half civilized fashion so that nobody got hurt.  Cleaned ourselves up best we could and set off for home.  We were in Congress about 23 minutes later.

IT’S QUITE A MESS WE GET OURSELVES INTO SOMETIMES AND I’VE ALREADY CLEANED IT UP A BIT FOR THE PHOTO

No wind today and with the sun’s warming rays bringing temperatures up nicely both Kelly and I sat on our back patio for awhile reading.  First time since being here we’ve done that.  Oh how nice to feel that warm sun.

GROANER’S CORNER:((  With our drive through McDonalds drive-thru this morning I thought this appropriate for Groaner’s Corner tonight…….’The Twelve Days Of Fast Food’

On the first day of Christmas,
My drive through gave to me:
A Big Bacon Classic with cheese.

On the second day of Christmas,
My drive through gave to me:
Two Happy Meals,
and a Big Bacon Classic with cheese.
On the third day of Christmas,
My drive through gave to me:
Three Biggie Fries,
Two Happy Meals,
And a Big Bacon Classic with cheese.
On the fourth day of Christmas,
My drive through gave to me:
Four Egg McMuffins,
Three Biggie Fries,
Two Happy Meals,
And a Big Bacon Classic with cheese.
On the fifth day of Christmas,
My drive through gave to me:
Five onion rings,
Four Egg McMuffins,
Three Biggie Fries,
Two Happy Meals,
And a Big Bacon Classic with cheese.
On the sixth day of Christmas,
My drive through gave to me:
Six chocolate milkshakes,
Five onion rings,
Four Egg McMuffins,
Three Biggie Fries,
Two Happy Meals,
And a Big Bacon Classic with cheese.
On the seventh day of Christmas,
My drive through gave to me:
Seven pints of cole slaw,
Six chocolate milkshakes,
Five onion rings,
Four Egg McMuffins,
Three Biggie Fries,
Two Happy Meals,
And a Big Bacon Classic with cheese.
On the eighth day of Christmas,
My drive through gave to me:
Eight bowls of chili,
Seven pints of cole slaw,
Six chocolate milkshakes,
Five onion rings,
Four Egg McMuffins,
Three Biggie Fries,
Two Happy Meals,
And a Big Bacon Classic with cheese.
On the ninth day of Christmas,
My drive through gave to me:
Nine polish hot dogs,
Eight bowls of chili,
Seven pints of cole slaw,
Six chocolate milkshakes,
Five onion rings,
Four Egg McMuffins,
Three Biggie Fries,
Two Happy Meals,
And a Big Bacon Classic with cheese.
On the tenth day of Christmas,
My drive through gave to me:
Ten baked potatoes,
Nine polish hot dogs,
Eight bowls of chili,
Seven pints of cole slaw,
Six chocolate milkshakes,
Five onion rings,
Four Egg McMuffins,
Three Biggie Fries,
Two Happy Meals,
And a Big Bacon Classic with cheese.
On the eleventh day of Christmas,
My drive through gave to me:
Eleven pounds of blubber,
Ten baked potatoes,
Nine polish hot dogs,
Eight bowls of chili,
Seven pints of cole slaw,
Six chocolate milkshakes,
Five onion rings,
Four Egg McMuffins,
Three Biggie Fries,
Two Happy Meals,
And a Big Bacon Classic with cheese.
On the twelfth day of Christmas,
My drive through gave to me:
Twelve bags of Pepto,
Eleven pounds of blubber,
Ten baked potatoes,
Nine polish hot dogs,
Eight bowls of chili,
Seven pints of cole slaw,
Six chocolate milkshakes,
Five onion rings,
Four Egg McMuffins,
Three Biggie Fries,
Two Happy Meals,
And a Big Bacon Classic with Cheese

PHEEBS AND I TOOK OURSELVES OUT TO VULTURE PEAK THIS MORNING

AT THE VULTURE PEAK TRAILHEAD WITH VULTURE PEAK IN THE BACKGROUND

An icy cold North wind came in the night and blew all the clouds out of town leaving us with plenty of sunshine this morning.  Although the air was cold it wasn’t long before the first few warming rays began to make themselves felt.

Loaded up the little Bugsy Buns and we were out the door and into the Jeep shortly after 8.  We weren’t long in getting the heater cranked up. Hadn’t been out to the Vulture Peak area since we’ve been here so we made tracks for Wickenburg.  A coffee and muffin at the ‘Pie Cabinet’ and off we headed out Vulture Mine Road.  The coffee was good but I’ll make no comment on the Coffee Cake muffin.

PHEEBS IN THE FOREGROUND WITH VULTURE PEAK IN THE BACKGROUND

THAT CONE SHAPE ON THE LEFT IS CALLED ‘ROUND MOUNTAIN’ AND IS BELIEVED TO BE THE CENTER CONE OF A LONG EXTINCT VOLCANO I THINK….WICKENBURG LIES IN A VALLEY TO THE RIGHT

I was interested in checking out a few boondocking sites on the south side of Vulture Mine Roads so turned left into the desert on Vulture Peak Road.  As expected the hard packed sand and gravel rocky road was a bit on the rough side but still doable with an RV if one took it slow.  Nobody on your old site Peter.

WE DECIDED TO FOLLOW THAT JEEP TRAIL AHEAD TO SEE WHERE IT WENT

We continued along this road for a short distance before stopping for a leg stretch at a turn around spot.  Nice area and we had been here half a dozen times since March of 2012. 

TOOK THIS PHOTO LAST MARCH PARKED IN THE SAME SPOT WE WERE PARKED THIS MORNING

SONORAN DESERT MEANS GREEN DESERT

A CLOSER LOOK AT VULTURE PEAK FROM THE NORTHEAST SIDE

While out for a short walk I noticed a pink Jeep Wrangler come up the road then head off down a Jeep trail near where Libby was parked.  When we got back to the Jeep we headed off down the same trail that pink Jeep had taken.  Saw a few familiar spots so knew I had driven down that stretch before but we followed the Jeep tracks further into an area where I knew we hadn’t been.  I was hoping the road would lead in closer to the base of Vulture Peak which it might have but we came across a ‘cowboy gate’ and decided to turn around.  I think next time we’ll maybe slip through that gate and see where it takes us.

BECAUSE OF THE HIGH BACK SEAT I WONDERED IF THIS MIGHT HAVE BEEN A GUIDED SATURDAY MORNING JEEP TOUR OUT OF WICKENBURG

THE TRAIL WAS A BIT CHOPPY IN A FEW SPOTS BUT RELATIVELY EASY WITH A 4 WHEEL DRIVE

I LOVE DRIVING ALL THESE DESERT JEEP TRAILS FOUND THROUGHOUT THE GREAT AMERICAN SOUTHWEST

SPOTTED THE PARTIALLY HIDDEN PINK JEEP AGAIN SITTING ATOP A RIDGLE LINE WATCHING US GO BY

Back to Vulture Mine Road we turned left and headed a few miles further south then turned around at the Vulture Peak trailhead parking area.  Some nice boondocking sites here but you can’t let your dog run free because this area is heavily laced with Teddy Bear Chollas and you don’t want your dog getting into those things or it could mean a painful trip to the Vet.  There were about a dozen RV’s scattered about with most of them having towed trailers in with ATV’s on board.  I’m sure all these folks will be on the roads and trails leading to the base of Vulture Peak.  Kelly and I have hiked the trail and walked the road which leads to a parking area on the way to the peak.  If I had had an ATV this is one of the treks I would have liked to do.

THOSE ARE ALL TEDDY BEAR CHOLLAS LINING THE DIRT ROAD TO THE TRAILHEAD

VULTURE PEAK TRAILHEAD

From the trailhead we headed back to Vulture Mine Road and turned right in the direction of Wickenburg.  Toyed with the idea of heading over into Box Canyon but figured we’d save that for another day.  Slipped East into an through Wickenburg then swung North for Congress.  We were back home before 11 and oh how nice it was to be out for a drive this morning after hanging around the house for the last 3 days.

CONGRESS ARIZONA STRAIGHT AHEAD ABOUT 15 MILES AT THE BASE OF THE DISTANT WEAVER MOUNTAINS ON THE HORIZON

Winds died down in the afternoon and with temperatures around 65F I actually felt a nice touch of warmth in the air.  With sunshine streaming through the Motorhomes two big living room windows and skylight the rig was toasty enough inside for me to spend time cleaning up the front cockpit area and getting things ship-shape for possible travel soon.  Although our rig is nearly 15 years old I am always impressed with the Amish craftsmanship that went into it.  And it also shows how well our Winkler Manitoba Canadian made Triple E Commander had been so exceptionally well maintained by it’s previous owner since new.  Many extras and innovations.  Yes we did have some problems our first couple years but that’s all behind us now.  Fingers crossed for trouble free future travels……………….

JUST SOAKING MYSELF UP A FEW WARM SATURDAY MORNING RAYS DAD:))

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Three vampires walk into a bar and sit down at a table. The waitress comes over and asks the first vampire what he would like. The first vampire responds, "I vould like some blood."  The waitress turns to the second vampire and asks what he would like. The vampire responds, "I vould like some blood."  The waitress turns to the third vampire and asks what he would like. The vampire responds, "I vould like some plasma."
The waitress looks up and says, "Let me see if I have this order correct. You want two bloods and a blood light, right?"

------------------

A tramp knocked on the door of the inn known as St. George and the Dragon. The landlady answered the door.  The tramp said, “Could you give a poor man something to eat?”  "No,” said the woman, slamming the door in his face.
He knocked again and said, “Could I have a few words with George?”

HOPING FOR A SUNNY SATURDAY

My anticipated sunny day never happened.  Overnight clouds moved back in and that was that.  Instead of a Jeep ride with Pheebs this morning I did laundry.  Exciting eh.  I’m hoping Saturday warms up and holds more promise………………

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Two golden-agers were discussing their husbands over tea. "I do wish that my Elmer would stop biting his nails. He makes me terribly nervous."  My Billy used to do the same things," the older woman replied, "but I broke him of that pesky habit."  "How?"  "I hid his teeth!"

---------------

What did the bra say to the hat? "You go on ahead, while I give these two a lift."

--------------

A new girl called Carly came to Jimmy's school.Jimmy really fancied her, but was already going out with Lorraine. Some time later he heard that Lorraine's family were emigrating.  On her leaving day he went to see her off. On his way home, he was singing to himself: "I can see Carly now Lorraine has gone.''

CLOUDY AND COOL SO IT WAS KIND OF A VEHICLE CLEAN-UP DAY

Took advantage of this mornings cloudy skies to clean all the glass in the Motorhome including the big double windshield.  Washed all the tire rims and back cap.  Cleaned the Jeeps interior as well.  It was overdue.  Our mornings have been cold and today I traded in my big 22-10 ton 40 gallon cowboy hat for my Canadian winter toque.  T-shirt, flannel shirt, and a lined flannel shirt kept me pretty toasty for the first few early hours.  We stuck pretty close to our heater today.  Neither one of us likes being cold anymore.

Other than the vehicle clean-ups earlier today there wasn’t much of anything going on so not a lot to write about tonight.   Never took any photos so had to dig up a few file pics from earlier this year.  With clearing skies late this afternoon I am looking forward to a sunny Friday with hopefully some warmth in the air.  Maybe Pheebs and I can get out and rustle us up some new photos somewhere.   Loaded a few things into the Motorhome this afternoon……………

GROANER’S CORNER:(( If God Had Voice Mail::

Thank you for calling heaven.
I am sorry, all of our angels and saints are busy helping other sinners right now. However, your prayer is important to us and we will answer it in the order it was received. Please stay on the line.
If you would like to speak to:
God, press 1.
Jesus, press 2.
The Holy Spirit, press 3.
If you would like to hear King David sing a Psalm while you are holding, press 4.
To find a loved one who has been assigned to Heaven, press 5, then enter his or her social security number followed by the pound sign. (If you get a negative response, please hang up and try area code 666.)For reservations in heaven, please enter J-O-H-N 3:16
For answers to nagging questions about dinosaurs, the age of the earth, life on other planets, and where Noah's Ark is, please wait until you arrive.
If you are calling after hours and need emergency assistance, please contact your local pastor.

Knock Knock
Who's there?
Adolf!
Adolf who?
Adolf ball hit me in on the nose!

Confucius say: Man who want pretty nurse, must be patient.

Knock-knock.
Who's there?
Dishes.
Dishes who?
Dishes the police! Come out with your hands up!

TAKING CARE OF SOME BUSINESS IN WICKENBURG THIS MORNING:))

ALWAYS LOTS OF WEIRD AND MYSTERIOUSLY SHAPED THINGS OUT IN THE DESERT

Well folks I have been sitting on my blabbering fingers as tightly as can be as of late and I can tell you for me that is no easy task.  Last March when we were in the final stages of selling our house with papers signed and a down payment deposit in place I excitedly got ahead of myself saying that our house was so sold and for all intents and purposes it was but the very next day I had to embarrassingly come back and retract that statement when our deal fell apart at the last possible moment.  We are at that same stage again right now with a new buyer but i am certainly not going to say this time that our house is sold.

SHORT ON PHOTOS FOR TONIGHT’S POST I FOUND A FEW PICS LEFT OVER FROM LAST SUNDAY MORNINGS JEEP DRIVE WITH THESE TWO SHOWING HOW ‘OFF ROADERS’ OFTEN USE DRY SANDY RIVER BEDS TO RUN THEIR VEHICLES

We had a final inspection Tuesday for termites and no evidence of termites were found so that cleared the way for final negotiations to proceed.  This morning at 10 a.m. we met our new prospective buyer at a Wickenburg Title Company to sign papers and get the house sale ball rolling.  Everything is in the hands of the Title Company now as we wait for the good folks there to do their side of the transaction and get all the i’s dotted and T’s crossed.  They will call us when they are ready for us to come in and go ahead with the next step.  So just to say again, our house is not sold but is in the process of being sold.  Knowing how fast things fell apart last March I am not counting our chickens before they are hatched this time.

From the Title Company Kelly and I slipped up the street to Dennys for a ‘feeling good’ breakfast and cautiously talked with optimism about our future plans and travels for the rest of this winter.   Our breakfast was excellent by the way and we had more food than we could eat, well that I could eat anyway.  I’m not a big eater anymore.  I had the ‘Grand Slam Slugger’ and brought my 2 big pancakes home with me for later.  I can still remember back in the late 90’s my very first Denny’s visit.  It was in Sarasota Florida while visiting Aunt Jean that she took me out to Denny’s on Bee Ridge Road for breakfast one morning.  I’ve liked Dennys ever since:))

AFTER WE ARRIVED HOME I REALIZED WE DIDN’T HAVE ANY MAPLE SYRUP SO I LATER HAD TO DRIZZLE A FEW COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF FRENCH VANILLA ICE CREAM ON MY PANCAKES TO EAT THEM:))

From Dennys we popped into the Goodwill Store near Safeway then into Safeway for a few groceries.  From there it was back downtown to the Title Company to sign a few more papers.  That completed our business in Wickenburg for the day and we headed home where a very happy little dog was anxiously waiting with wagging tail at the door for us.

I am going to reserve all my thoughts on our pending house sale until such time we close this chapter of our lives and move on.  I will have lots to say at that time of course and maybe even clear up a few readers questions that have come in about ‘why not this’ and ‘what about that’ etc.  I do intend from this point on now to keep readers informed on how things are going and what is happening.

<<< IT’S A HORSE OF COURSE

I can tell you one thing right up front though and that is if it wasn’t for Kelly handling all the required paperwork and making all the necessary phone calls involved I’ve no doubt I would be very hard pressed on how to figure out all this stuff by myself.  For sure I would have had to get a Realtor to handle everything for me but Kelly just steps right into that Realtor breech and efficiently handles everything.  The thought did occur to me today while at the Title Company that Kelly probably missed her calling and would have made an exceptionally successful Real Estate person.  She has all the smarts, the charm and the patience.  She never gets rattled, rude or overbearing.  I hear her on the telephone all the time dealing with the likes of hard nosed companies like Verizon, Bell Telephone, Shaw Satellite etc etc and she never gets snarly or upset with anyone on the other end of the line.  She treats people with utmost respect and she knows how to rationally figure things out.  Sticking with a problem until it is resolved is a particular strength of hers.  Sticking with me all these years is another one of those particular strengths as well.  I am certainly married to the most amazing person I have ever met.  She’s got all the smarts and I got my handy shovel.  In fact I took my handy shovel out into the back yard this morning and within 2 minutes located the lid to our septic tank.  So there ya go, I’m darn good at some stuff too.

SURE AM GLAD I MADE THE DECISION TO PUT HEAVIER DUTY TIRES ON THE JEEP THIS YEAR

And why did I use my shovel to locate the septic tank lid??  We have a septic tank inspection and pumping coming up shortly which is a standard requirement of a home owner selling their home and by locating the lid ourselves we saved a $75 lid location fee by the septic tank company.

A BLACK COW WEARING IT’S BEST SUNDAY ‘GO TO MEETING’ WHITE CAP AND BIB:))

GROANER’S CORNER:((   A middle aged woman has a heart attack and is taken to the hospital. While on the operating table she has a near death experience. During that experience she sees God and asks if this is it. God says no and explains that she has another 30-40 years to live.  Upon her recovery she decides to just stay in the hospital and have a face lift, liposuction, breast augmentation, tummy tuck, etc.. She even has someone come in and change her hair color. She figures since she's got another 30 or 40 years she might as well make the most of it. She walks out of the hospital after the last operation and is killed by an ambulance speeding up to the hospital.  She arrives in front of God and asks, "I thought you said I had another 30-40 years?" God replies, "Sorry...I didn't recognize you."

-------------------

Q. What did the digital clock say to the analog clock?
A. Look, No hands!

-----------------

A couple of Newfies in a pickup truck drove into a lumberyard. One of the men walked in the office and said, "We need some four-by-twos."
The clerk said, "You mean two-by-fours, don't you?" The man said, "I'll go check," and went back to the truck. He returned a minute later and said, "Yeah, I meant two-by-fours." "All right. How long do you need them?" The customer paused for a minute and said, "I'd better go check." After a while, the customer returned to the office and said, "A long time. We're gonna build a house."