MOONBEAMS KEEP FALLING ON MY BED

 

NOW, HERE’S A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE FOR MANY OF US…STANTON ARIZONA

With a full moon approaching, & my large bedroom window facing east, each night around 9, my bed becomes awash in moonlight for an hour or so.  Looking out, I keep thinking I will see ET bicycling across the very face of the the Moon itself.  Oh how nice that would be for this boyish imagination & it’s life long belief in Extra-Terrestrials:))

NO, THAT IS NOT A BAYFIELD BUNCH PHOTO…DARN

Pheebe has been making some friends along the way on our morning walk.  Seems everyone in the southwest owns a dog or 6.  All properties here are fenced so we walk the Pheebs off leash.  Most dogs we encounter are behind fences & are friendly, but some little guys are really super feisty.  Pheebs does her best to make friends with them all & seems so hurt when some of the little guys just go ballistic.

 

FRIENDLY:))

 

NOT SO FRIENDLY:((

We had ourselves a 2 vehicle convoy formed up & ready to move out by 8:30 this morning.  Destination: STANTON ARIZONA.  Don’t have to tell you what a fine Arizona morning it was.  That just goes without saying. 

 

ENTERING & REGISTERING OUR PRESENCE AT THE CAMP’S OFFICE

It’s only a short 15 minute drive from our house to Stanton.  Jean & Skip followed us in their Pontiac Sunrunner as we turned off the smooth pavement of highway 89 at the foot of the Weaver Mountains.  Headed east on a dusty hard packed washboardy road.  I knew any vehicles we would meet from here on in would have something to do with Gold prospecting.  This area is loaded with prospectors & gold.   Ya just gotta find the darned stuff.

THIS IS RUGGED GOLD COUNTRY WITH PROSPECTORS WORKING THOSE HILLSIDES

    

 

Turned into what looked like an RV Park which of course is/was the former wild west mining town of Stanton.  We didn’t get 20 feet out of our vehicles before a Gal stuck her head out of an old building & hollered for us to get on over there & register our presence.  Oh dear.  Got that little formality out of the way & spent the next little while ambling the few historic & original buildings.  Outside of every nearby RV were piles of buckets & various home made sluice box configurations.  But, for an RV Park, there was something unusual here.  No people!!  No “Howdy Neighbor,” no music, nobody out shining up their SUV’s, no BBQ’s going, just no activity at all.  What?? 

OLD MINER’S CABINS HAVE BEEN REPLACED WITH MODERN RV’S

These people aren’t here to lounge around.  They are all prospecting folks & they were all up early & out working their claims in the surrounding hills, gullies, washes & mountains.  Because of the hot days, most are back by noon.  Some with their ATV’s loaded with buckets of sand & gravel to be processed in the afternoon at their RV sites.  Talked to one couple who after only two days in the area had already found two flakes of Gold.  Always stories going around about lucky nugget finds but here’s something the couple told us that we found surprising.  They said many of these folks never cash in their gold finds.  They just hang on to their booty.  Almost like a trophy of sorts.

 

WALKING AROUND WHERE ONCE THE OLD WEST MINING TOWN OF STANTON STOOD

From Stanton it was a dusty run back down to highway 89 where a right turn took us up the south side of the Weaver Mountains to a quaint little whistle stop of a place known as Yarnell.  One stop at the colorful must see YARNELL EMPORIUM (my blog) & we slipped over to the site of the ‘Shrine of St Joseph of the Mountains’.  Jean, Skip, & Kelly took a quick walk around the Shrine area while I stayed back at the road with the horses.  Whether one is religious minded or not, this Shrine is worth seeing & experiencing.  Very quiet & peaceful place & I suggest you check out my post HERE for that day’s photos.  On the way to the Shrine, Kelly had spotted a floor lamp sitting by the road with a sign on it saying, free.  We scooped it on the way out & yes, when we returned home later & tried it out, it worked:))

STOPPING TO POINT OUT A FEW THINGS ALONG THE WAY

SHORT STOP AT THE YARNELL EMPORIUM

  

A STOP AT THE YARNELL SHRINE

It’s a twisty winding road coming down what is commonly referred to as the Yarnell Hill.  Stopped at a scenic look-out on the way.  Easy to spot the Escapee’s North Ranch RV Park out on the desert floor as well as Vulture Peak & HARQUAHALA MOUNTAIN (my post) on the horizon with the town of Congress to the right tucked into the mountain base.  Had we had our binoculars we could have seen our house because with binoculars we can see the viewpoint location from our front porch.  We were all down safely on the Valley floor & back home shortly after 12 noon.  Like the prospectors, we like to be home out of the mid day desert heat early.

STOPPING AT A VIEWPOINT

Relaxing afternoon just staying inside & staying cool until about 4 when the heat begins to back off returning us once again to comfortable energy inducing temperatures.

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One month ago today was our last day at Kelly’s Mom’s place in Spencerport NY.  It already seems so very, very, long ago.

GROANER’S CORNER:((    The local sheriff was looking for a deputy, so Gomer - who was not exactly the sharpest nail in the bucket went in to try out for the job.  "Okay," the sheriff drawled, "Gomer, what is 1 and 1?"  "11" he replied.
The sheriff thought to himself, "That's not what I meant, but he's right."
"What two days of the week start with the letter 'T'?"  "Today and tomorrow."
He was again surprised that Gomer supplied a correct answer that he had never thought of himself.
"Now Gomer, listen carefully: Who killed Abraham Lincoln?"  Gomer looked a little surprised himself, then thought really hard for a minute and finally admitted, "I don't know."  "Well, why don't you go home and work on that one for a while?"
So, Gomer wandered over to the pool hall where his pals were waiting to hear the results of the interview. Gomer was exultant.  "It went great! First day on the job and I'm already working on a murder case!"

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