Day of rest

This morning Yuma wanted to see the new place early so we were up and out at 8 o'clock.   Sunny, no wind and already 56 degrees.  Going to 75 this afternoon. 😀 

Wash next to White Lion.

Stinger "B" and White Lion and Yuma!

Had a leisurely breakfast and discussed doing laundry today, but decided "manana" .😎  Instead we decided to rest today and enjoy the beautiful sunshine in our lounge chairs.

Tom came over around 11 o'clock and offered to get a bladder of fresh water (about 40 gallons) over in the sand dunes rest area, to fill our fresh water tank.  Only room for two, so Nick went with him to get a closer looksee of the California sand dunes.

Didn't do much for the afternoon until dinner.  I made sautéed breasted chicken cut into giblets.   They were yummy along with cut corn.  

The 49ers and Titans play this evening, so watching the game and having pudding with whip cream for dessert is the plan. 😋😋  Titans win with a last seconds field goal!!!

Thanks for stopping by.

Caught the last train to Yuma

 This morning I was up at 8 o'clock with the plan to be on the road to Yuma by 10.  Packing was all done and we met with Nancy for a short visit and at 9:30 with plans to eat down the road a piece we headed out.

Nancy gazing at us through the morning sun as we left her driveway.

We headed out on I-10 around Tucson and that took a good hour.  Amazed I figured it out 😁

Once again we passed Picacho Peak where we visited a couple weeks ago.

We finally got out of the Tucson to Phoenix traffic and onto I-8 towards Yuma.  After two hours, we were starving so stopped in Gila Bend for Diesel and then went across the street to a large empty lot to eat lunch.

After lunch, I went out to the Jeep to get sunglasses to drive with into the sun.  I was at the street waiting to turn on it and there was a lot of traffic and I was waiting as cars kept coming by.  

Then a car pulled into the lot and stopped next to my window.  When I opened my window, he asked "Is this your dog?".  Oh my gosh, I thought Yuma was in the bedroom but when I opened the door to get the sunglasses Yuma followed me and I didn't realize it.  He was jumping at the Jeep each time I moved a little bit forward.  I am so glad for the delay in traffic and this kind gentleman.

It scares me to think what would have happened if I had pulled out into traffic with poor Yuma following the Jeep 😭😱😩😭

Last night Yuma and I were outside chatting with Nancy while she was removing things from her 5th wheel.  It was getting dark and she shut the door to the fifth wheel and as I got ready to go inside I called for Yuma and no Yuma.  I thought I heard a little sound and I immediately pulled out my flashlight and headed down to the wash below Nancy's house.  My thoughts were Yuma had been attacked by coyotes or Javelina pigs.

Nancy and Nick got their flashlights and were looking and calling but no Yuma and no sounds.  My heart was racing.  I shouldn't let him out at dark off leash.  It was then Nancy said "maybe I locked him in the 5th wheel", so she walked up and opened the door and guess who came bounding out?  Yuma had gone into the 5th wheel to check things out and Nancy didn't see him.

Twice in one day my heart stopped thinking I had lost Yuma forever.  I'm not going to let him out of my sight for the rest of the journey! 😬

The remainder of the journey was uneventful, thank goodness!  Except for few times Yuma would become a distraction to my driving.

We finally came over the Fortuna Mountains and below us was Yuma sprawled across the horizon to the west!

It was around 3:30 when we arrived at Ogilby Road just across the border in California and I called Deb for directions to their boondocking home.

As soon as I parked and opened the door, Yuma raced to their MH and met everyone.  Tom and Deb of course and then Shane and Cathy.  We all sat around till darkness descended and then we all parted for the night around 6 o'clock.

We grilled some hamburger and turkey burger for dinner and Nick and Yuma are resting while I type my post for the day before calling it a night.  I'm feeling thankful tonight!🙏🙏🙏

Thanks for stopping by.

Someone worked hard today!

This morning I was going to wake up and get going ay 8 o'clock, so I could dump tanks before the 11 - 1 timeline given me for JB's arrival to fix my septic pipes.  Woke up at 6:30 did a little blog reading and then decided to rest till 8.  The next thing I knew it was after 9 o'clock, my usual wake up time.😩 

No coffee, no crackers this morning!😰  Maybe later.  We left around 10 o'clock and went to the Pima Fairgrounds about 8 miles west of here.  Great place.  $5 for dump and water and there were trash bins.  We were overloaded with trash.  Great price and very convenient.

Started gabbing to a guy in a Class C while dumping and unloading trash and lost track of time.  Nick reminded me that it was 11 o'clock and we had better get back before JB shows up. 

JB didn't show until 12:45 and I was getting a little worried.  The parts looked great and he started to work, expecting to be done and out of here before Nancy arrives.  

His two hour job lasted till 5 o'clock!  He had to run into town around 3 o'clock to replace a 90 degree elbow with a 45 degree.  While he was gone, Nancy arrived and Nick and I moved our vehicles out of the driveway so she could get her 5th wheel parked under its cover.

We all sat out in the driveway chatting for about an hour until JB needed my help to hold things and Nancy had to make a run over to her friend's house.

JB hard at work.

By the time JB was done it was dusk and cooling off so once Nancy returned we had a short chat before everyone called it a night.  It has been a long, but successful day! 😀

We're packed and ready to head towards Yuma tomorrow morning sometime, but no real hurry.  It's about a four hour drive from here.  Going to have my breakfast for dinner and a little dessert and call it a night.

Thanks for stopping by.

Mish Mash Day

 Didn't get up till after 9 o'clock this morning.  Chilly, but Mr Heater took care of that problem in a hurry 😀  We had a leisurely morning waiting for a phone call.  

After breakfast, Nick went on a five mile run and I walked Yuma through the desert behind Nancy's home.  What a beautiful day with a high near 70 with no wind and full sun.  

At noon, I called the RV repair place and Lisa quickly answered.  But when I told her I wanted to know the status of an ordered part she transferred me to Luis in the parts department where I got an answering machine.  I hate those things.  Left my number and more waiting. 😝

I had hoped to come here on Sunday, do some shopping on Monday and get a call and have JB come out Tuesday morning.  That is what I wanted.  Dolly texted me to let me know there is a game on at 3 o'clock, so we laid outside in the sun waiting for a call.  

While waiting I tried powering the RV using a method that did not require solar panels, plugging into a power source or using my generator.  Read about this on the Internet 😁  Been boondocking for many years and could have used this method as an option on cloudy days or long nights watching TV.  Anyone out there know the method I'm talking of?  😏

At 3 o'clock I debated calling again, but decided to wait till tomorrow morning.  With Christmas coming quick, I've got decisions to make and fast! 😕  I sent a text to Dolly quoting a funny and appropriate quote I found on Al's blog.

"Due to recent cutbacks, the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off until further notice!"

It wasn't two minutes after I sent that text when my phone rang.  And it was Luis!  Said that my parts had just arrived and he would alert the scheduling department to set me up for JB to come out and install my parts! 😂😂😂😂   It wasn't two minutes after that, Lisa called and asked if tomorrow at 11 o'clock would me okay?  I am so happy to have answers to all my decision making problems resolved.

After a few more walks with Yuma, Nick and I headed to Safeway in Vail to get all the supplies we will need to do some long term boondocking.  $300 and 1 1/2 hours later we were back home by 5:30.  Put things away and the football game got real interesting in the last minutes of the game.  Another upset with the Raiders beating the favored Browns at home 16-14.

Now we're watching the Bears getting beat by Vikings as expected.😡  Time to finish this post, eat a quick and easy to fix dinner and enjoy the game.

No pictures today, so including another great picture from the other night.

Thanks for stopping by.

Moving Day

 Last night I almost missed the full Moon coming up over Whetstone Mountains.

This morning wasn't as cold, only 32 for a low.  We got up at nine and started breakfast.  Before breakfast I checked my fasting blood sugar level for the first time this month and hit 115 and I'm happy with that. 

After breakfast I decided that today we would move back to Nancy's driveway with the positive thought I would receive a phone call tomorrow saying my part is in and JB would be out Tuesday morning to solve my water pipe problem 😑  Hopefully, it isn't just a dream.

Also, yesterday, I was walking down to the empty site below me taking Yuma for his walk and I noticed a new sign had been added - NO CAMPING 😠 I think they are waiting for me to leave and another sign will pop up.

Ivan Roadtrip 2021 mentioned in a comment that he thought there were camping restrictions on the Information Sign at the entrance to the ranch.  We all took a short Jeep ride down there and sure enough in the fine print it said no overnight camping in the road corridor from hwy 83 to the Empire Ranch.  And I'm camped right between the two on a hill for all to see!

Thankfully, they were nice enough not to throw us out a week ago.  I really loved this million dollar view and thankful for my ignorance 😁 and will miss it.

At 12:30 we were packed and headed out.  One last picture and a video of the mountains to the east.

An hour later we were parked in Nancy's driveway once again.  First thing we did was put up the TV antennas so we could watch the football games until Yellowstone at 6:00 tonight.  After the show they will show the first show of the 1883, a new show introducing the Dutton family when they first moved to Montana.

While watching a football game when we first arrived, Yuma started barking and running around the RV looking out windows.  Thinking it was someone outside, I walked out and in Nancy's front yard was a huge Javelina and me with no camera.  By the time I got back with a camera, it was slinking into the underbrush and no picture.  😭 Below is one from the Internet.  All these years I've been coming to the southwest and this is the first time I've personally seen one.

Love Nancy's back yard and beyond.

I had a cheeseburger and Nick a cheese turkeyburger.  It is now 9 o'clock and the Tampa Bay vs. New Orleans game is nearly over with New Orleans getting a surprising win by blanking Brady of TB, 9-0!😱

Thanks for stopping by.

Day of Rest with a Coyote

 Got cold last night outside - 25 degrees!  We can do without that.  Calling for one more tonight before it warms back up.

Awoke around 7:30 and turned the heaters on so we would be warm at 9 o'clock when we got up for the day.  Yesterday, I ate the last of my Ritz crackers for breakfast and planned to stop somewhere to buy a box.  No stores going across the canyon and I was too tired to go last night.

This morning, I was cutting cheese in preparation for my morning crackers and Nick asked what I was going to do for crackers.  Oh my gosh!  I had completely forgotten the crackers.  So, I stopped right there and headed into Sonita to pick up a box of Ritz crackers.

Got them 😁

I noticed when walking out of the store, there were a lot of motorcycles collecting up to go on a ride somewhere, so I went over and asked.  Nice group!

Leader of the pack!

Pack

Santa and his helper!

It was a beautiful morning for a motorcycle ride.  I asked where they were headed and they are heading to Patagonia and taking Christmas presents to the children in that area.  Everyone was to meet at the school in Patagonia and have a great day making children happy.  So very nice of them to take their time to do this.  Wish I had gotten the name of the group.

Wouldn't it be nice to live in that ranch below the Santa Rita Mountains?

It was our plan to just lay around the White Lion today and just relax and enjoy the nice weather.  Little cool, but the sun solved that problem. Only 56 today.

We were inside for a minute and I happened to see something moving down by the gate below us.

He went through the gate area and walked up the road to our MH and then quickly went into the brush to go around us and then on down our road.  He was alone and appeared to be old and malnourished.  Probably forced from his band of coyotes because he could no longer keep up.  Poor guy!

These girls look well fed!  Am I right this time Deb and Nancy?

Tonight is chicken and steak and a little football before calling it a night.  Thanks for stopping by.

Ride through Box Canyon to Madera Canyon

 This morning I got up at a little after 9 o'clock after lying in bed for an hour waiting for a little warmer temps and reading blogs.  Mr Big Buddy had everything toasty after a 32 degree night.  

While eating our breakfast I decided after reading Al's blog that we would head over to Galena Canyon.  It is located on the other side of the Santa Rita Mountains west of here.   It is a popular area for the Tucson folks because it is much cooler and a nice recreational area.

At 11:45 we were on our way.   It's only 20 miles away, but we will have to go through Box Canyon through the northern part of the Santa Rita Mountains following a creek so it will be a windy road.  Nice concrete road to start.  Hope it stays this way all the way through the mountains.

No such luck!😏

Heading down.

Once we got over the mountains we could see the Green Valley in the distance to the west.  

Green Valley and I-19 corridor below.

Finally back on concrete.😉

Took us over an hour to get to Madera Canyon going about 25 mph on a wash board dirt road through the Box Canyon..  

Our road ended at the road that heads up to Madera Canyon.  It was about now I realized I had been this way before.  Just about five miles back up the Madera Canyon, we came to the dead end parking lot.

We looked over the trail options and decided to try one that we could hike as long as I could go and then just come back down.  I could really feel the stress going up the trail.  We walked about a mile up and unfortunately there so many trees we could not see the mountains for the trees.  Not my cup of tea!😞

We walked about a mile up and I was ready to call it a hike.  I'm sure Nick could have gone to the top, but not today.  Maybe, the next time he's here.

Got my best pictures back at the start of the trail.😀

Old Baldy and Mt Wrightson.  Just a five mile hike away.😁

It's after 3 o'clock and time to head back through Box Canyon to get home before dark.

Coming up the Empire Ranch Road, we could see home off in the distance at the top of the hill with the million dollar view!😀

Got home around 4:15.  Took over four hours for our adventure today.  Quite cool at 54 degrees with a slight north breeze.  It wasn't long before dinner of hotdogs for me and a turkey burger for Nick.  Then we cranked up the Dish TV for an evening of Gold Rush shows.

That was our day.  Thanks for stopping by.