Saturday, November 12, 2016

PHEEBS AND I GRAB A COFFEE AND DONUT IN YARNELL THEN HIT THE OLD STAGE COACH ROAD FOR STANTON AND BEYOND

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THE OLD STAGE COACH ROAD LEADING TO STANTON ARIZONA

Our day dawned clear and bright and again warmed up nicely.  Had a number of things on my ‘to-do’ list this morning and after filling up the bird bath I walked around the corner of the house thinking about what I should tackle next.  Noticed Pheebs lying beside the Jeep’s driver door and when she looked my way with her sad little face our eyes met and I knew instantly what was absolutely next on my list.  Jeep Ride’:))))))With a sad little face turned quickly into a happy little face I grabbed my  cameras and loaded up the Spoogers.  It was 8:30 as we headed out our gate and headed south down Ghost Town Road.

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PHEEBS AND I MADE FAST TRACKS RIGHT AWAY FOR THE WEAVER MOUNTAINS AND THE COFFEE AND DONUTS WE KNEW WE COULD FIND AT THE TOP

Closest place for a coffee and donut (no muffins) was the little bakery up in Yarnell about 10 minutes away.  Kelly had made a list of what kind of donuts to get so with that burning a hole in my shirt pocket Pheebs and I didn’t waste any time rocketing ourselves up the Yarnell Hill.  Four donuts to go and one coffee.  Made a U-turn in front of the bakery and headed the short distance back to the south side of Yarnell and hung a left turn onto Old Stage Coach Road.  It was time to break our new ‘off road’ tires in.

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YARNELL’S CORNERSTONE BAKERY

Old Stage Coach Road was just as bumpy and grumbly as ever, and just as scenic too as we jostled our innards around on the long descent down through the Weaver Mountains.

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FIGURED THIS WAS A GOOD ROAD TO TRY OUT OUR NEW TIRES

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ON THE OLD STAGE COACH ROAD MAKING OUR WAY DOWN THROUGH THE WEAVER MOUNTAINS TO STANTON

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THE COTTONWOOD TREES ARE SO PRETTY THIS TIME OF YEAR

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WE HAVE A FAVORITE STOPPING PLACE ALONG OLD STAGE COACH ROAD AND THIS MORNING WE PULLED IN TO SAY HELLO TO SOME COWS………BUT THEY ALL RAN AWAY

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Not many if any changes did we notice along our way and the old mining ghost town of Stanton still looked the same.  Due to the West’s slower laid back pace change can be a long time coming to anything anywhere out here and especially our dusty neck of the woods one hour south of Prescott and 20 minutes North of Wickenburg Arizona.  Congress is kinda out here all on it’s own.DSC_0024

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QUITE AN OLD WEST HISTORY HERE WITH ONE FELLER SHOT DEAD IN THIS OLD GENERAL STORE BACK IN THE 1800’S

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GOLDMINERS RV CHECK-IN OFFICE

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A LOT OF GOLD MINERS IN STANTON WITH SOME IN TENTS BUT MOST IN RV’S

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It was shortly after 10 when Pheebs and I finally found our way back home despite the clouds of desert dust we kicked up coming in along the washboard road from Stanton.  It was nice to touch base with some old familiar spots along the way this morning but I was also aware that despite being happy to be here I seemed to be lacking somewhere in my usual bright eyed enthusiasm.  This is the beginning of our 5th year coming to the same neighborhood.  Could I be in need of new scenery, new ideas and new adventures.  No doubt that is all part of it but here I think is the main reason.  I think I am still recovering from being so sick a couple weeks ago and coupled with our long journey from Florida plus an increasing number of nights with poor sleep I am just too plum tired to be enthusiastically excited about darned well anything.  This afternoon Kelly suggested I try something I hadn’t done in well over a year and a half.  She said why not go lie down on your bed and see if you can fall asleep.  All my sleeps since the summer of 2015 have been in my recliners so I trotted off to my room and did what I was told.  I was probably asleep within about 2 minutes and the next thing I knew Pheebs was barking like crazy and somebody was hollering ‘Hello, Hello’.  I had left our front gate open and some guy was at the door wanting to sell us some frozen food.  Arrrrrgggghh!!!!!!!!!DSC_0025

MY TRUSTY NAVIGATOR KEEPS A SHARP LOOK-OUT FOR ANY BIG ROCKS ON THE ROAD

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OUR HOUSE IS ALMOST VISIBLE TO THE LEFT OF THOSE 2 HILLSIDE WATER TANKS

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THOSE ARE THE DATE CREEK MOUNTAINS IN THE BACKGROUND

Called Aunt Jean this afternoon and she’s doing fine.  It’s just so unfortunate the distances between us are so far.  Flying down to Florida is not an option for us because we would never consider leaving Pheebe behind and the thoughts of her in a cage in the cargo hold of an airplane is not something we would ever even remotely consider.

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BIG WAVE FROM A WATER TRUCK DRIVER HAULING WATER UP TO STANTON

That short little snooze I had on my bed earlier was a big help so tonight I may even try sleeping in my bed for a change.  As long as my Vertigo doesn’t return and my arms don’t to to sleep I just might be alright.  Guess it’s worth a try………

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SOMEBODY WAS PRETTY DARN TIRED BY THE TIME WE GOT HOME

GROANER’S CORNER:(( The Local sheriff was looking for a new deputy. When a blonde walks in to try for the job, he asks her "Okay, what is 1 and 1?" "Eleven", she replies. The sheriff thinks to himself, "That's not what I wanted, but I guess she's right!" "What two days of the week begin with the letter T?" he asks. "Today and Tomorrow", the blonde answers. The sheriff is again surprised that the blonde has supplied a correct answer that had not even occurred to him.
"Now listen carefully, who killed Abe Lincoln?" he asks her.  The blonde looks a little surprised. She thinks really hard for a minute and finally admits, "I don't know."  "Well, why don't you go home and work on that one for a while?"
So, the blonde wanders over to the beauty parlor, where her pals are waiting to hear the results of the interview.  The blonde was exultant. "The interview went great!" she says. "First day on the job and I'm already working on a murder case!"

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A mother took her little boy to church. While in church the little boy said, "Mommy, I have to pee."  The mother said to the little boy, "It's not appropriate to say the word 'pee' in church. From now on when you have to 'pee' just tell me that you have to whisper'."  The following Sunday, the little boy went to church with his Father and during the service said to his father, "Daddy, I have to whisper."  The Father looked at him and said, "Okay, why don't you whisper in my ear."

7 comments:

  1. That does look like a rugged landscape and road you've got to explore down there. Glad to see you back to your morning drives with Pheebs!

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  2. Hi, Al. I so hope you are able to sleep in your bed. Remember that the same week you had your big episode, the same thing happened to me? The only difference, I think, is that I didn't have much nausea. The feeling of being sucked down a drain, the world spinning, is something I will never forget. Doc says it will happen again. Hope not. I have been noticing that you have stuck to sleeping in a recliner. That sure seems like a hard thing to do. Not being able to turn over, etc. would not be fun. I have kept on sleeping with in my bed. No recurrence so far ( Hope I am not jinxing myself!)
    I am VERY careful getting into bed. No quick drop. I think sudden downward movement might trigger the inner ear problem?! Good luck. I am sure you will keep us posted.

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  3. BUT WAIT! What about Spencer? Is he okay? :-)

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  4. I can't even begin to imagine me sleeping in a recliner every night. I would be a wreck.

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  5. Love all that scenery that we enjoyed there last year, and the Cornerstone Bakery, wonderful.
    Good luck with sleeping in your bed.

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  6. What a lovely morning drive in the sunny southwest! I often slept in my recliner in the S&B, so comfortable I could sleep like a rock. Unless your doctor told you that sleeping upright would prevent vertigo, I would be surprised to find that's the case. I understand that if it's going to happen, there's little to stop it. Although the exercises to make it go away work very well (the one time I needed them). Best of luck getting some good sleep!!

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  7. Al, we currently don't go anywhere we can't take our lab, Ripley, with us. I had to leave her at home while my husband was in the hospital down in Temecula and SHE GOT out again (2nd time). A neighbor down the street found her, but now that's twice. I'm just not willing to tempt a 3rd time (even though she is licensed and microchipped). We live off of two major streets here in town. We CAN take up with us up to Idyllwild, and we took her on our Sierra trip and she was fine. But, I cannot leave her at home, in the yard, alone....sigh...
    ~Cheryl Ann~ By the way, I had vertigo myself last week. I couldn't walk a straight line and I was veering off to the left...doctor thinks it was stress.

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