Trails in to the Superstition Mountains

 This morning, I was lying in bed doing my brain games at 7:30.  No heat required today.  Starting out to be a nice warm day with only a slight breeze.

First thing I did was to put a call in to my friendly State Farm agent.  Actually, one of his secretaries.  He will only pick up the phone if it is a sale.  Got and answering machine asking me to leave a message.  I knew that as soon as I mentioned a claim, I would not get a return call today.  Sure enough, no call.  Try again tomorrow.  Luckily, I have lots of time.  Evidently, they don't.

After breakfast, I did some Google searching for hiking trails into the Superstition Mountains and there are quite a few.  Didn't want a long trail today, so I selected the Hieroglyphic Trail on the southside of the mountains near the town of Gold Canyon at the bottom of the mountains.

Only a 15 minute drive.  The information said to be sure to park only in designated parking or risk being towed.  Followed directions and got close and there was a long line.  Asked someone, why the line and he said, there were no parking places available, so have to wait my turn.  That's not going to happen!  So, we turned around and got out of there.

The next closest trail was the Peralta Trailhead, not far away, so we headed there.  It was a five mile drive off the highway on a dirt road towards the mountains.  This trail can be as long as I like.  There are several waterfalls about three miles up the mountain.  I am not prepared for a 6 mile walk, so Yuma and I decided to just go there and hike up to the base of the mountains.  We'll come back soon, to travel the full distance.

This time when we ran into a line of cars, it was not because of no parking places, but a water filled wash keeping the low riding cars from crossing.  They were leaving their cars there and hiking the mile to the trailhead.  Of Course, a little water won't stop the Silver Streak.

Small wash.

Bigger wash.

Deep wash.

The Peralta Trailhead is located on the southside of the Superstition Mountains.  There was quite a crowd of hikers, but Yuma only ran into one doggie friend.  Yuma was very good and basically ignored the hikers, unless they leaned down to give him a pet.  He was all for that.  The portion we hiked was not very steep and easily hiked.  It gets much steeper close to the falls.

I must say, the views were great.

The "I need gas" light came on as we were heading for pavement, so stopped at a gas station and while there bought a couple of burgers from McDonalds for Yuma and me.  Made it home around 3 o'clock and laid outside eating lunch/dinner enjoying the nice afternoon.

Thanks for stopping by.

Work Day

 Slept in this morning till 6:30.  Nice to not feel the chill in the air when I wake up.  Going to be a very nice day again with a high of 70.

Yesterday, Kay mentioned that I should degrease the engine bay to help make it easier for Dean to get around in there without all the dirt and grease.  So, after breakfast, Yuma and I ran into Walmart and picked up five cans of degreaser.

I did sections at a time while enjoying the nice weather.  Kay caught me on one of my rare breaks.

Of course, she didn't catch me while I was deep into the engine bay choking on degreaser fumes.

After finishing, Yuma and I were ready for a bath.  My hot water has been working great.  I think I've figured out the buttons to push to get hot water on command.

Clean and ready to run

Sweet and clean

Yuma wanted to go for a walk before dinner.  There is a beautiful grassy water retention area just around the corner, so that's where we headed.

Really hungry tonight, so had a burger, potatoes, buttered bread and beans for dinner.  Yummy!

Plastic fork and paper plate.

Getting close to a full moon.  I'll have to try and catch it coming over the Superstition Mountains tomorrow night.

I'll finish up with a few more pictures from yesterday's hike.

Balancing rock high above

I have ideas for tomorrow, but haven't decided what I should do.  Going to be beautiful, so you can bet I'll be out there somewhere with my buddy, Yuma.

Yuma waiting for me to go to bed.

Thanks for stopping by.

Short hike into the Goldfield Mountains

 Woke up around 4 o'clock to turn the heat on in the WL, but before going back to sleep, I did a few brain games.  I seem to do okay early in the mornings.  Went back to sleep and didn't get out of bed till 8:30.

Opened the door to a beautiful morning.  Yuma and I sat outside and I enjoyed my morning coffee.  I wanted to submit at least one of my towing claims this morning, so got on that.  Not going to go deep into my attempts, but needless to say after several calls, I still don't have any idea of what I need to do.  I will call my State Farm agent Monday morning and hopefully get this finally taken care of.  If you seem to remember me doing this in the beginning of this fiasco only to get pushed off to someone else, you are right.

Received a text this morning from Dolly that my son, Steve went down to Nashville with his running team to attend a half marathon.  They do this every year.  Steve did fantastic!  Number one in his age group, he received the title of Grand Master!  Congratulations, Steve!

At 11:30, Yuma and I couldn't stand sitting around the rig any longer with so many beautiful mountains around us, so we hopped in the Jeep and headed up the Apache Trail.  We wandered around, first going to the BLM land I have stayed at in previous years.  The road into the area is atrocious!  Much too bad for the WL plus, it was crowded with small RV vehicles, cars, trucks and you name it.

We then just started wandering roads again till we found one of many hiking entrances to the Goldfield Mountains.  I had forgotten just how beautiful the Apache Junction area is.

Yuma and I did a two mile hike into the mountains and I could not stop taking pictures.  I just wish the pictures would give justice to just how beautiful the area is, but they don't.  With all the rain, the mountains are especially green.  It was so quiet, except for the occasional sound of a Cactus Wren.  Yuma just loves running the trails sniffing everything around him.

The snow covered Four Peaks.  From my angle I only see three of the peaks.  Absolutely gorgeous!

Bulldog Mine at the base of the Goldfield Mountains

Superstition Mountains

Looking back at the Superstitions.  The trail is nice and used by both hikers and horses.

Yuma leading the way

We came across a deep wash and followed it

More sniffing

Hikes don't get any better than this!  This is where we turned around.

We had hiked about two miles into the mountains and decided we had best head back to make sure we were home by 4 o'clock.  Been awhile since I've made my goal of 6000 steps.  I felt great.  My Arizona Ankle Boot has made a big difference in my walking distances.  So happy!

On the way home, I spotted this pasture of flowers.

What a way to end a day.  Thanks for tagging along.

Laundry Day

 Slept well last night.  Woke up at 5:30 and laid in bed doing brain games till the house warmed up.  Today is laundry day.  Last time I did laundry was three months ago in Yuma.  December 28th to be exact.  

After breakfast, I put all the laundry in a pile to carry out to the Jeep.

  At 11:30 we were off to find a laundromat in Apache Junction.  I really like this area.  It is in the shade of the Superstition Mountains and they are beautiful.  Especially now with the snow on them.  Won't be long before the snow is gone.  Expecting warm weather starting tomorrow.  Thankgoodness!

Looking from the front door of the laundromat.

A gentleman on the bench next to me, pulled a guitar out and started singing for tips.

I lucked out and they had five washers right in a row empty and ready.  I quickly, loaded all my clothes in them and Yuma and I sat outside enjoying the view and the music.  I hate doing laundry, but this wasn't bad.  Plus, it is a nice day.  Cool, but very sunny and nice!

A little different at home.  Dolly said it had started snowing and they will get several inches of cold sloppy snow with a lot of wind.

Returned home at 1:30 and slowly folded all the clothes and put them away.  For the rest of the afternoon, Yuma and I did a little snoozing on the freshly made bed.

Watching Gold Rush now.  It is the season ending episode.  Tomorrow morning, I will call and make sure both towing claims are reported and then anxiously wait to find out the secret reimbursement amount.  Anything is better than nothing.  Shouldn't take more than two weeks to determine what they will cover and what I will cover.  Keeping my fingers crossed.

Keeping just in case.

Tomorrow will be a gorgeous day, so Yuma and I will take a drive over to the mountains for some pictures.  Hope there is still a little snow on them.

Thanks for stopping by.

The day after!

Between the weather and my White Lion tribulations, yesterday was a day to forget.  I was very tired last night by the time I finished my post at midnight.  Yuma and and slept till 8:30 this morning.

No winds and partly to mostly cloudy morning.  Temperature is 39 degrees.  That is 20 degrees below the normal.  This has been a winter of the decades in California and Arizona.  Especially, in the mountains and high country.

Yuma had no dog food, so it was off to Walmart.  When coming back, the clouds had dispersed over the Superstition Mountains and they had a beauty of their own.

These were taken from Kay's backyard.  She said it has been nearly 40 years since snow has fallen that low on the mountains.

That was the highlight of my day.  Tomorrow is laundry day and then after that is house cleaning day.  My posts are going to be short on adventure for the next few days.  I do intend to complete the online towing claims so that may become interesting.

Inside day in the sun for Yuma and me!

Thanks for stopping by.

Moving Day!

 Last night after publishing my post, I changed my mind about wanting to know the cost of towing the WL to Mesa, Arizona before scheduling the tow.  I am going to have to tow it either way, so I completed the online form and allowed them to deduct the $952 from my credit card.  

I woke up around 2:30 and was working on one of my brain puzzles when the cell phone rang.  It was the towing rep for State Farm letting me know they were scheduling the tow and wanted to set the time a little later in the morning.  I was happy to change it to around 9:30.

Couldn't go back to sleep.  I think the stress of dealing with all of this was finally sinking in.  I spent the early morning getting everything put away and ready for the tow truck.  It was 10:30 when the young lady working to get the tow lined up called.  After a couple of minutes, I got the distinct impression, she knew very little about towing 15 ton 40 foot motorhomes.  She said she was having a hard time finding one in my area that could handle a rig this big.  What a surprise.  She did find one that would tow it for $3300 and would that be okay.  

If you're not interested in insurance stuff, skip the paragraphs below until a paragraph starts with a green word.

I had to stop her right there and ask who was paying this bill and she said, I would and then submit a claim for reimbursement.  I'm right back where I was last night, except it isn't the $952 State Farm had decided was the proper cost of this tow, but $3300, the proper cost the tow truck company expected.  

To make things more confusing, this same towing company that towed the WL 3 miles for $575 had quoted me $2300 just yesterday to tow it to Phoenix.  Doesn't add up to the State Farm towing service providing me better service than I can get on my own.  In fact, they are costing someone $1000 more and for some reason, I think that someone is me.

We decided that I was the better negotiator, so she said I should proceed with them and State Farm would step out of the negotiations.  The previous amount of $952 billed to my credit card would now be reversed.  I called the towing company, and the secretary said Rick would call me as soon as he was done with the job he was on.  This was around 10:30 and nothing happened till 1 o'clock.

Then a huge 40 foot white beauty pulls up to the WL and the driver, Chris hops out.  It's raining, windy and cold, but the tow must go on.  I gave him the destination in Mesa that I wanted it taken to and because Mesa is 30 miles  farther east than Phoenix, the cost was going to be $2840.  Savings ended up at $460.

Got all hooked up and at 1 o'clock Yuma and I followed the tow truck to Mesa.

 

The trip was 160 miles and scheduled to take around 2 and half hours.  What we didn't realize that I-40 in the northern part of Arizona is closed due to inclement weather and everyone was driving down to I-10 to get across the state.

We averaged 40 mph and it took us 5 hours to get to our destination.  Chris, the driver said he had never seen the highway so crowded.

We pulled in to the yard and Chris unhooked and got out of there.

Superstitious Mountains in the background

 

Kay, had a delicious dinner cooking and invited me for dinner.  It was 8:30 by the time I got home and fed the Yuma.  Still pouring down rain, windy and very cold.

Dolly attended a singing concert that our grandson, Keaton was participating in.  He loved being in it and Dolly, Jim and Sarah enjoyed watching him sing in the event.

Keats second from left on bottom row

Jim and Keaton.  What a handsome pair.

Time to get this post published and go to bed.  Been a very long and frustrating day.  I'll let everyone know the amount I receive from the two towing bills when I know.  It will be a week or so.

Thanks for stopping by.