Wednesday, November 21, 2012

A ROUGH ROAD LEADS US HALF WAY TO BAGDAD AZ.

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NOT MUCH HAPPENING IN BEAUTIFUL DOWNTOWN HILLSIDE TODAY
With a growing half moon overhead, it is a real treat to walk with Pheebs around our fenced in property now.  Am enjoying seeing moon shadows cast upon the ground through our Mesquite & Palo Verde trees.   The nice advantage of a moonlit landscape is that I do not need a flashlight to keep an eye on the Pheebs.  She is easy to see in the moonbeams. 
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HAD WE KNOWN THIS WOULD BE NEARLY 20 MILES OF WASHBOARD ROAD, WE WOULD NEVER HAVE TRAVELED IT
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NICE TO SEE THE AREAS FALL COLORS 
Had the Jeep on the road by 7:30 this morning & the 3 of us were off to a town we knew nothing about.  It’s a paved road all the way for most folks but we decided on a secondary dirt road from Congress up through another little known place by the name of Hillside.  It was apparent right from the start this was not a good road.  Not because of the usual washes, holes, dips & doodles.  That stuff is acceptable.  Washboard is not, & by the time we reached Hillside 21 miles away we had spent two thirds of that drive on one of the worst & consistently long washboard roads we have ever been on.  Washboard roads just simply destroy vehicles by shaking them apart.  Not likely we will ever travel this particular stretch of road again, but we did enjoy the great scenery along the way.
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A FEW INTERESTING SITES TRAVELING THE ROAD TO HILLSIDE
For me, Arizona never disappoints in it’s great ability to wow me with it’s ever changing majestic mountain & desert scenery around every bend in the road.  And so it was this morning as we dustily bumped & banged our way north over this rocky ridge, through that gravely wash, around another bend, & always between the Date Creek Mountains on our left & the Weaver Mountains on our right.  Can’t tell you how relieved we were to get our tires back onto smooth pavement again in a little burg called Hillside.  Turns out, Hillside was exactly half way between Congress & our destination….Bagdad Arizona.
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A DESERT HITCHHIKER & WHILE TAKING A PHOTO ABOUT 50 YARDS BEHIND THE JEEP I FOUND THIS PART ON THE ROUGH ROAD…HOPE THAT’S NOT A JEEP PARTS NUMBER:((
Nothing much to tell you about Hillside.  It is like so many other forgotten little southwest towns that have passed their prime many years ago & fallen on to hard times.  In many of these kinds of places we rarely see any people, just old rusting pieces of long ago machinery, abandoned buildings & scattered pieces of civilization here & there.  And yet, all these weathered little places have an attraction & likeability all their own.  It’s like one has taken a ride in a time machine back, yet forward, to a planet of no people.  Just the remnants of a long lost civilization.  It is generally the sound of a barking dog, maybe a rooster or chicken somewhere, maybe a cow, that brings things back into perspective & tells us yes, this is reality & it’s time to move on.  We did see an interesting house & property for sale in Hillside though.  Guess we’ll never get that Real Estate excitement out of us will we:))
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AN INTERESTING HOUSE & PROPERTY FOR SALE IN HILLSIDE…COMPLETE WITH A SWIMMING POOL
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THIS FELLOW BUILT HIS HOUSE RIGHT ON HIS OWN DESERT ROCK GARDEN
A winding stretch of scenic highway brought us down a long curvy grade through miles of Prickly Pear & Saguaro Cactus before starting us on a short climb to our next destination.  For a little western town, BAGDAD Arizona was a big surprise.  Green grass, palm trees, a golf course, playgrounds, sports complexes & 4 lane roads running through the town.  The big copper mine here is obviously doing very, very, well.
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AND, THIS IS BAGDAD ARIZONA
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LUNCH IN THE PARK & A GOLF COURSE
Had us a little drive through Bagdad & stopped at a Bashas’ grocery store for a sandwich to go.  Headed right back to a playground/sports complex area where we had spotted a nice swatch of green grass shadowing under a group of Pine trees.  So nice to walk on soft grass again & Pheebs just loved it, racing around all over the place without the fear of prickly stickers.  It was 10:30 in the morning.
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I JUST LOVE ALL THIS SOFT GREEN GRASS MOM & DAD:))
From Bagdad, it was west through more of Arizona’s great mountain scenery to the junction of highway 93 which connects Wickenburg with Kingman Arizona.  A left turn headed us south for Congress.
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SOUTHBOUND ON HIGHWAY 93 HEADING FOR CONGRESS
We have been to JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK Park in California but we did not see the number of Joshua Trees there that we saw today just a few miles north of Congress on highway 93.  Wow.  Just about as far as the eye could see…..Joshua Trees on both sides of the road.  Now how nice is that.
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JOSHUA TREES ALONG HIGHWAY 93 NORTH OF CONGRESS
Stopped to have a look at another house for sale really cheap.  No, we are not thinking of buying or moving but we do like looking at houses & properties now that the market is soooooo much in the buyer’s hands.  Nicely landscaped property but the house is in grim shape.  Not an old house but whoever lived there treated it very poorly.  Too bad because it has a garage big enough to roll a big diesel banging 40’ Motorhome right inside with room left over for a couple Smart Cars.  I just don’t understand how & why some people have such little respect for where they live.  I’m guessing the original owner must have rented it out to a bunch of Javalinas.  And, speaking of Javalinas, Kelly saw about half a dozen of them crossing the road just south of our house this morning.
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THIS FIXER UPPER HOUSE & PROPERTY CAN PROBABLY BE HAD FOR LESS THAN $20,000
To wrap up, let me just say how much we are enjoying ourselves getting to know this whole area.  With each little Jeep jaunt we learn & see something new.  Just as we did in Cochise County these past few years, we are building new memories here in Yavapai County discovering our great Arizona environment.  Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a life it is……………:))
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KELLY FIELDS A DEER PARK LODGE TODAY WITH THE WEAVER MOUNTAINS IN THE BACKGROUND
GROANER’S CORNER:(( 
'Twas the night of Thanksgiving but I just couldn't sleep.
I tried counting backwards, I tried counting sheep
The leftovers beckoned, the dark meat and white,
But I fought the temptation with all of my might.
Tossing and turning with anticipation
The thought of a snack became infatuation
So I raced to the kitchen, flung open the door,
And gazed at the fridge full of goodies galore.
I gobbled up turkey and buttered potatoes,
Pickles and carrots, beans and tomatoes.
I felt myself swelling so plump and so round,
Till all of a sudden, I rose off the ground.
I crashed through the ceiling floating into the sky
With a mouthful of pudding and a handful of pie.
But I managed to yell as I soared past the trees,
Happy Eating to All….. Pass the Cranberries Please.
----------------------------------------------------
- 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.
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10 comments:

  1. I don't remember that road being That bad. Lots of painted rock art in that area. I liked the true "hillside" house. Bagdad is a surprise in the middle of nowhere. Well you can knock that trip off the list.

    Now the road to Wagner, that's a rough one.

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  2. A treasure in the middle of nowhere!..oh and Pheebes?..she is a blogging star!

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  3. So many hidden gems out there to find, so nice exploring new places too. Have too much fun.

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  4. I always wondered what was up that road, thanks for taking me Al!! Happy Thanksgiving to the Bayfield Bunch.... It sure has been nice weather,,,,
    I took the trip from Kirkland to Bagdad once on my Harley...I was surprised how Beautiful it was......Cheers Buddy and thanks for the comments and the encouragement on my Blog... I needed that....:-)

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  5. We took the highway to Bagdad and now I'm glad. Great blog Al!

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  6. Good to get out and see the terrain..We are very close to jumping out of Illinois for lower taxes and warmer temps...

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  7. What a nice treat to have a picnic in some green grass!

    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
    Karen and Steve
    (Old Blog Name) RVing: Small House... BIG Backyard
    (New Blog Name) RVing: This Country Is Our Big Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com

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  8. Now we gotta go to Bagdad! And where the heck is Wagner?

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  9. That was a nice trip you took us on. Bagdad sounds like a nice place if it has actual soft grass!

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  10. Nice tour - I had no idea there was a Bagdad, AZ. Glad Pheebs got to run around without the fear of stickers. Loved the poem!!

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