MORNING & AFTERNOON VISITORS TODAY

GOING TO MISS ALL THE MELODIC BIRD SOUNDS IN OUR BACK YARD WHEN WE LEAVE

We’ve been traveling to the southwest United States each winter for 9 years now & I have never seen a Rattlesnake or a Gila Monster.  Doug from Miss Adventure Travels in only his 2nd winter here just in the last few days has seen 2 Gila Monsters & 1 Rattlesnake.  And he has photos to boot.  Luckily he had Yuma on a leash when he encountered the Rattlesnake & 2nd Gila Monster.  The fact snakes are out now is another contributing factor for us to move on to cooler climates.  Even though Pheebs has had her anti-rattlesnake vaccine shots it is still a big worry for us.

MALE HOUSE FINCH

Occasionally in my posts I have mentioned Stanton Arizona.  This old gold mining ghost town is less than a half hour’s drive from our place in Congress.  We have been in & through Stanton a half dozen times & I have touched on the history of Stanton a few times but thought this couple explained it much better than I.  Thom & Dar are adventurous desert travelers & in this post from Thom & Dar's Sabbatical Journal for 2015 they not only talk about Stanton’s history but write about their 2 trips to the ghost town with the second one being along rough Jeep back roads.

  

2 OF OUR 3 FRONT YARD SAGUAROS

 

Renee from North Ranch dropped over to say hello & goodbye this morning.  You may remember it was from Renee & Dave’s place we hauled home all those big bricks awhile back.  Renee & Dave just bought & moved with their big 5th wheel onto a nice spot in North Ranch last year.  They also spend time at their property near Datil New Mexico during the hotter months of summer.  Nice folks for sure & I missed getting a picture of Renee this morning.  Some days I am much less impressed with my memory than other days.

NO MATTER WHERE ONE IS IT’S ALWAYS SO NICE TO SEE THE VIBRANT GREENS OF SPRING

 

Cloudy day but we had the nicest warm breeze in the morning.  Sky looked dark & grumbly at times this afternoon but we never did get any rain out of it.  Computer’s weather map showed other areas around us did.

Gaelyn from Geogypsy Traveler came down off the mountain this afternoon to say hello & goodbye before we rolled out in a few days.  Gaelyn’s home base for the winter months is in Yarnell atop the Weaver Mountains about a 10 minute drive from our place.  In the summer months Gaelyn works as a Ranger at the Grand Canyon’s North Rim.

WE’LL MISS ALL THE BEAUTIFUL BLOOMS ON OUR PRICKLY PEAR CACTUS AGAIN THIS YEAR

We have been monitoring the weather around the Grand Canyon area plus all the way up to Moab & so far weather is looking great for the next 10 days.  Yes we may have to put on an extra pair of socks at the Grand Canyon’s south rim but that’s fine & we are well aware it could be cooler there.  And with a bit of luck maybe those cooler temperatures will mean less people.  I did check the Canyon’s website & it stated a good time to visit the Grand Canyon was from March to May.  Less people:))))))

I’M MISSING OUR PLACE ALREADY & WE HAVEN’T EVEN LEFT YET

GROANER’S CORNER:(( An American couple was fond of England and of all things richly historic and aged. They decided to retire to London, where they hoped to buy a castle. Though that proved out of their price range, they did find a wonderful house, quite ancient, with a long and noble history.  They found this house during their July vacation. They sold their house in Chicago and in November they crossed 'the pond' to retire.
To their horror, they found that their new home was abysmally cold.  They immediately set about trying to get a central heating system installed. Sadly, they were told by contractor after contractor that, in a house that old, it simply wasn't feasible.  "I was afraid it would come down to this," the husband finally said.  "What, honey?" the wife asked. "We can't have archaic and heat it, too."