FOUND US SOME CRESTED SAGUAROS, DOWNED OURSELVES A MAUI WOWIE, & PETER & LESLIE’S LAST NIGHT WITH US

PIZZA AT THE T-BIRD CAFÉ TODAY

When I first saw our Winnebago in a London Ontario RV dealership & noticed it had a big back window I thought, ‘not a good idea because it’s just something that has to continually be cleaned’.  Well I sure have changed my mind on that & especially this week as I lay in bed each night enjoying the Moon & Stars overhead.   We can now see in all directions from inside the coach.  None of our other RV’s had a back window except our Rockwood 5th wheel which of course didn’t have a front window.

We were out the door & into the Jeep before 10 this morning.  Unfortunately, no room for the Pheebs again.  Could a roomier 4 door Jeep be somewhere in our future?  Well would be nice of course but I somehow don’t think so unless we found a good used one with a whole lotta extra dust & dirt on it.  Some desert pin striping on the side would be a good selling feature for us as well.  Not interested in anything all shiny & new.  A/C would be a must though.

LESLIE SETS OFF ON A ROCK SCRAMBLE

  

PETER SAYS ‘I CAN’T BELIEVE MY WIFE IS DOING THAT’ AS HE TAKES A PICTURE

OF COURSE THE HARDEST PART OF GOING UP IS ALWAYS COMING DOWN

Beautiful Arizona morning again & it didn’t take us long to reach our destination about half way to the old ghost town of Stanton.  A rough & tumble road leads off toward the Weaver Mountains & goes in about a mile.  Kelly & I already knew where one Crested Saguaro was so with a little jostling over a rocky section & a little eye balling we located the Cactus & pulled up near it.  An easy 30 yard walk took us right to it.  Crested Saguaro Cacti are pretty amazing things when you see them up close.

 

 

WE ARE TRULY IN THE LAND OF GIANT SAGUAROS AS LESLIE POINTS TO MORE GOLD NUGGETS SCATTERED ON THE DESERT FLOOR:))

We had heard a trail in the area led around a ridge where another 8 or 9 Crested one’s could be seen.  Try as we did we could not find that trail.  Jeeped a little farther up the road to a mining site with a locked gate.  From here we were on foot.  Leslie & Kelly headed off on a path while Peter & I scooted around the gate onto the abandoned mining site.

MINING SITES ALWAYS HAVE A LOT OF OLD ABANDONED EQUIPMENT LYING AROUND LIKE THIS BIG CEMENT MIXER RUN BY A 6 CYLINDER ENGINE & OF COURSE THERE ALWAYS HAS TO BE BULLET HOLES IN EVERYTHING OUT HERE IN THE WEST

It was from a flat spot on the mine site we spotted a mine shaft not far away.  An old road led that way & we were soon at the entrance. 

SPOTTED THIS MINE SHAFT OPENING

 

This mine shaft went straight into the solid rock instead of down into the ground like so many others.  I’ve seen these straight in shafts before & they usually do not go too far.  But this one was the exception.

 

Didn’t have a flashlight with us & about 50 feet into the shaft it was getting to a point where the light from the entrance was not enough.  I always use the flash on my camera to briefly catch a glimpse of what’s ahead.  Saw a wooden structure of some kind & the shaft just kept on going.  Deepest mine shaft I have ever seen.  I could hear bees so we stopped.  Not wise to go any further.  Could easily be killer bees ahead in a long shaft like this.

 

We beat a quiet & orderly retreat back to the mouth of the cave.  It is beyond comprehension how these narrow mine shafts were dug through solid rock many years ago with probably not a lot more than a pick & shovel.  

We checked out two more open pits which were also dug out of solid rock.  One even had a stone wall built up by the entrance.  Spotted a second Crested Saguaro too.

 

STONE WALL AT BOTTOM HIDES A MINE SHAFT DOWN INTO THE ROCK

Making our way back to the Jeep we came across a stone foundation not far from one of the shafts.  Obviously a miner’s cabin at one time.  Kelly & I had come across these same ruins last winter as well.

CRUMBLING ROCK FORMATION OF AN OLD MINER’S CABIN PROBABLY

PETER’S SURE GOING TO HAVE A LOT OF PHOTOS TO GO THROUGH WHEN THEY GET HOME

The Gals were already back at the Jeep & time was marching on so it was back down the rocky road to the Stanton road.  A right turn headed us for highway 89 & another right turn headed us up the Yarnell Hill.

 

AND WE HAD ALL SPOTTED A SECOND & THIRD SAGUARO AS WELL

  

AND WE BELIEVE THE CENTER PHOTO SHOWS A VERY YOUNG CRESTED SAGUARO JUST BEGINNING TO FORM

BIT OF A ROUGH ROAD AS WE MADE OUR WAY OUT OF THE AREA

We had heard a lot of great things about a place up in Peeples Valley that specialized in wood fired Pizzas.  And yes the T-BIRD CAFÉ actually had a real Ford Thunderbird outside.  Nice inside & sure enough we could see the fire roaring in the brick oven.  Friendly lady took our order & I saw a fellow behind the counter twirling the pizza dough around.  We ordered a big Maui Wowie & a Big AL’s American-Style & I’ll be darned if we didn’t just about finish them both off.

  

 

HAWAIIAN MAUI WOWIE ON LEFT & BIG AL’S AMERICAN STYLE ON RIGHT

Yarnell was on our way back so we stopped at the Yarnell Emporium & an adjacent boutique type store.  I like the Yarnell Emporium because to me it is one of those magical places with colors-colors everywhere.  Very artsy craftsy with sweet aromatic pot pouri drifting through the air & ambient music in the background.  The two colorful buildings are crowded with countless really neat-o artsy stuff.  Just about every square foot of floor or wall space has something groovy on it.  You have to kinda turn sideways to get yourself around everything.  I love places with atmosphere like that.  Takes me way back to a special place in my childhood.  Toys, toys, everywhere:))

PETER BLENDS RIGHT IN WITH ALL THE COLORS

 

 

  

I ALWAYS GET MYSELF A LITTLE CAMERA CRAZY WHEN I GET INTO THESE PLACES WITH ALL THEIR SHAPES & COLORS

A quick drive through Yarnell showed us all the rebuilding that has been going on since the fire last June.  New foundations poured, new houses going up & burnt rubble being removed.  The sleepy little community is literally rising from the ashes & soon there will be no signs of the tragedy that took place here.  New homes will soon blend in with old as Springs new growth & vegetation bloom forth from areas of parched ground.  The people have rallied & will survive to be the quaint quiet little community it has always been.  Thanks in part to 19 courageous young Firemen.

  

We were back down the Yarnell Hill & home before 3.  Marteen & a couple helpers (maybe his Sons) were here working on our new gate.  They poured concrete into 3 holes & set in heavier gauge steel corner posts.

  

OUR MEXICAN GATE CREW

Always appreciate it when reader’s point out errors I have made in my post.  GORDON W caught one a few days ago when I referred Harquahala Mountain as being Arizona’s highest mountain.  That mistake was a direct result of being way overtired & not taking a minute to double check something I wasn’t sure about.  Don’t want to be the spreader of mis-information you know.  By the way, if you want to see some photography I consider to be superb just click on the Gordon W link above.  Be sure to click on ‘Photos’ when you get there.

JUST HAVING A LAZY AFTERNOON SIESTA

Been plowing around on the internet looking up & reading reviews on Cloud storage sites.  Figured I had maybe better try to change some of my older computer Dinosauric ways & try to get myself hip with what is going on.  I have a lot of photos that need a safe & reliable storage facility other than external hard drives.  What is this Cloud business all about anyway & which one in reader’s opinions is the best.

 

Leslie & Peter will be heading back to Las Vegas in the morning & from there flying back to Rochester NY.  That puts us back into travel mode here & I’ve been scratching my head as where to head for next.  After talking with JANNA & MIKE a week ago we had kind of thought maybe we would head down into the Benson/Bisbee area but I’m kinda re-thinking that one now.  Gonna have to snug down the old travel hat & pour some serious thought into a destination.

We all had another candlelight supper & a wee chit chat around the table afterwards.   It was nice having Peter & Leslie here this week & we could tell they really, really, enjoyed themselves.  Lots of reading, rest, & relaxation.  Jeep trips, walks, hikes, bird watching, & the contented list just grows.  It has been such a welcome & complete change for them from their normal life back home in Webster NY.   They are very quickly becoming South-West converts loving the quiet desert life we lead out here.  The big mountains, the sweeping vistas, the sunrises & the sunsets.  And those big starry skies every night is one of Peter’s favs.  They are going to miss all that…………………………

LESLIE & THE PHEEBS SHARING A QUIET MOMENT

We talked to a neighbor about Dally this morning.  She has not been seen.  Kelly made some phone calls but no one has seen her.  Neighbor feels it’s a little suspicious about the gate being left open.  I don’t think we will ever see Dally again & we can only hope that if someone took her they did so to give her a better home.  Or if she wandered & someone picked her up we can only hope they will be kind to her.  It is those thoughts we have to keep in our minds.  Dally, wherever you are, know that not all people are uncaring & know that Kelly & I & Pheebs along with many of our readers will always remember you…………….

GROANER’S CORNER:((  What has three teeth and sixty feet?  The front row at a Willy Nelson concert.

What would you call it when an Italian has one arm shorter than the other?  A speech impediment.

What do you call a musician without a girlfriend?
Homeless. 

-------------------------------------------------------------
- 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.