Restoration Cowboy Style

Many years ago we started traveling to Arizona in the winter. At first for just a couple weeks, then a month, then it progressed to several months. In the beginning we stayed in RV parks but quickly realized we weren’t RV park type people. The Cowboy was the first to start reading blogs probably in about 2006 or 2007. He read about this “boondocking” business meaning you park somewhere on public land without hookups. A popular blog then and now was Travel With The Bayfield Bunch written by Al Bossence from Ontario, Canada. Al and his wife Kelly along with three dogs, Max, Checkers and Cora traveled to find warm weather during Canada’s long winters. Their blog has had over the years more than a million visitors!

Kelly and Al seldom frequented RV parks, instead boondocking for days at a time out in the desert. We learned a lot reading their blog and the blogs of other boondockers. I started writing a blog in 2008 and although I can’t remember when it happened I was thrilled one day to find our blog listed in the “Fellow Bloggers” sidebar of Al’s blog.

In about 2009, 2010 I think we finally got to meet Al and Kelly and became friends. They owned a house in Congress, Arizona when Michael and I owned a house at North Ranch back in 2015. They were our first visitors when we bought the disaster house in Pearce, AZ. They visited that place more than once as we turned the disaster into a beautiful home.

In the last several years Kelly developed a liver disease. In the last two years she has suffered horribly with this disease. I think it was less than a year ago when she was placed on the waiting list for a liver transplant in Canada.  Kelly’s conditioned had rapidly deteriorated recently and she was removed from the transplant list with her doctors telling her she would not survive a transplant. Kelly died on Tuesday of this week.

The world lost a vibrant, kind, outgoing, fun loving person. She enjoyed life, loved to read, loved to shop for bargains, loved her dogs, her four children and her husband Al. Kelly and Al were married about the same length of time Michael and I have been married. She will be missed so much, rest in peace Kelly. Al has written some special blogs over the last few days about Kelly and his own grieving process–well worth taking your time to read.

Monday it was more unpacking, playing with the monster dog, and we moved the RV from North Ranch to our place in Wickenburg which meant more unpacking. Tuesday I found the walking path my neighbor had told me about. Down the hill and out into the desert–Kayce can run off leash again! I could take Kayce to various state lands but I really didn’t want to have to drive to a walking place every morning.

I asked the Cowboy Tuesday morning if I could make him a honey-do list. He said, “you certainly can!–make me a list.” Hummph! Well, he worked on his honey-do list all week–first up was a new faucet on the kitchen sink–the one that was here when we moved in came over on Noah’s ark! He unplugged the master bath sink (yuck!), helped me hang the larger art work, hung my retractable clothesline, hung the bird feeder, etc.–it was a long list!

For the last 44 years Michael has lived in a house he built,(not counting the short period of time we owned the house in North Ranch). In 1980, he built a house on the family ranch, in about 1988 he built the house he had when we married. We then built the Montana house where we now live and we totally gutted and rebuilt the house we had in Pearce, Arizona. He did not build this house and when it comes to fixing things, it’s sometimes a puzzle. But he’s figuring it out!

I had physical therapy on my hip twice this week and although I hate to say anything for fear of jinxing it, the therapy seems to be helping.

The jury is out on whether we will keep the little meandering wading pool or the tree! Someone planted an elm tree right next to the pool fence. The tree just dropped it’s leaves and most of them fell in the pool I’m thinking. We managed to scoop out the leaves but the pool vacuum the owners left us needs a charge–and the previous owners/or their helpers must have packed the charger. Our realtor is working on that issue.

We drove into Surprise one day to get a desk for the room we are calling, “Michael’s office” where he will do stained glass. The guy selling the desk also had a pair of end tables that needed a little TLC–he sold them to us for $10 each–we will see what we can do with them! We made a quick, light Costco run and picked up a grocery order at Walmart.

Saturday was a busy day. Jill invited us over to watch the Montana State University playoff game and for hamburgers and hotdogs. Susan and Steve from Montana were also there–long, long ago, Susan catered our wedding. And another friend of Jill’s, Bob, also from Montana who was a bachelor for the week joined us. It was like old home week!

Saturday evening we retrieved Jill and headed downtown for the Wickenburg Christmas festivities–vendors, music and the tree lighting. Lots of people out and about and it was fun!

I noticed a post on one of the local Facebook groups offering homemade tortillas and signed up to purchase a dozen. The tortillas were ready today and I picked them up. They were delicious–most definitely NOT your grocery store type tortillas.

My goal today was to get the furniture back in place. We had moved all the furniture in order to place the rugs and rug pads. Another goal was to then clean up the mess and put up the Christmas tree–it’s up, the lights are bright but I ran out of steam–decorating will have to wait until tomorrow.

Life is good, busy but good!

 

Whew–it’s been one busy week! And I took so few photos!! Monday morning we were up and about early, I took Kayce for a walk in the desert and Mike packed last minute stuff. We weren’t taking the RV on this first trip to the new house. The phone call from our realtor came about 10am saying we were the proud owners of a new home and off we went from North Ranch to Wickenburg–a short 15 minute drive–with me driving the Chevy pulling our little ATV trailer piled high with the beds we had purchased and the Cowboy driving the Dodge pulling the big white cargo trailer. The Beverly Hillbillies!

First order of business was assembling the bed frames and getting those dang heavy mattresses into the house! Our Montana friend Jill arrived and the unpacking commenced. We managed to locate bed linens and Jill made the beds. We unpacked and unpacked. Jill went home around 5pm to walk her dogs and shortly after she left we headed back out to North Ranch to spend the night. There were no shower curtains in the house and the ones I had ordered would not arrive until Tuesday.

We were back at the house early on Tuesday and our first rate, fabulous moving crew arrived! I don’t think Michael and I would still be unpacked if it hadn’t been for these people–Sandy and Tom, Judy and Jill. Sandy brought lunch, Jill brought doughnuts and Judy brought snacking candy–sustenance for the moving crew! We worked hard all day long! By the time we finished eating a late lunch, the furniture we had brought with us–the dining table and chairs, the large southwest chest and a couple other pieces were in the house as well as a ton of the boxes from the trailer. The shower curtains arrived and we spent our first night in the new house. We can not thank our crew enough–they worked so hard!!

Michael has not lived in a town for 50+ years. I have not lived in town for the 30+ years we’ve been married. Now we live in a town with city noises–trains, traffic, dogs. We are doing quite well. Our back patio is an oasis and we spend a lot of time out there. But the best thing about living 60 miles from Phoenix–next day delivery from Amazon!!! At our home in Montana and our home in Pearce, Amazon delivery takes a least a week–even though we did have prime–it was no longer two day delivery for those of us living in the country. It’s a perk we’ve enjoyed this week when we needed items for the house–such as shower curtains.

Wednesday Michael and I unpacked and unpacked all day long. I did Thanksgiving prep work after my brain decided it was finished with unpacking. We sold most of our furniture to the buyers of our Pearce home. So, we were sitting on lawn furniture each night with our feet propped on overturned packing bins. Not very comfortable.

Thursday was Thanksgiving and we were hosting in spite of just having moved in. I had a little trouble finding some things–the roasting pan for one thing–the ladies who helped me unpack put stuff where they thought it should be and I am grateful for the help–treasure hunting is fun! By 1pm, the prime rib was almost done and our guests arrived–Tom and Sandy, Ernie and Sue, and Jill. We had such an enjoyable afternoon enjoying all the food we each had prepared and enjoying the company of such good friends. I so wish we had taken photos!!

Friday we were going to stay home and not venture out on Black Friday. But—-that morning we found a set of furniture on Facebook Marketplace, contacted the owner and we were off to Chandler of all places!! No more lawn furniture in the living room! Our travel was uneventful and the traffic wasn’t bad.

The following are photos of the house–mess and all–packing boxes, etc.

I like the kitchen, it has lots of cabinets, and new appliances. The countertops are Formica but that’s something we can change down the road.

We have the small TV from the RV sitting on a Costco table–it’s a small TV! When we were trying to get it to connect to our new router, the Cowboy had to sit on the floor right in front of the TV in order to see the words on the screen–new TV soon.

We are feeling very welcomed in this neighborhood! There were two garbage bins sitting in front of our house on our side of the street Monday. Michael brought both bins up the driveway to the house. Our neighbor across the street Jim came by to say, “I think one of those bins is mine,” and to introduce himself. On Wednesday he brought his wife, Chris over to introduce her and she presented us with this beautiful appetizer tray. On Wednesday our neighbor to the east, Kim, stopped by on his way home from his morning walk to introduce himself. Very welcomed!

Even the police welcomed us to Wickenburg!—are you curious yet??? I saved this story for last because everything else about this move has just been meant to be and I did not want to distract from our happiness.

I decided to take Kayce for a quick walk around the neighborhood early Tuesday morning. Walking along I see a dog–a huge pitbull–charging, barking and snarling. He was attached to a cable and I remember thinking, “he’s going to come do the end of that cable”–but he didn’t.

The next thing I know he is right beside me, snapping, barking, snarling, jumping at me and Kayce. I am terrified, I am screaming at the top of my lungs, backing up, keeping Kayce behind me. The owners come roaring out of their house, yelling at the dog, the man tries to run down these steep rocks and falls down into the street–hard. The woman gets the dog back into the yard and he escapes, running and charging at me again. The man gets up off the street and drags the dog into the yard and the two of them manage to get him inside. The pitbull had broken the cable or pulled it out of its ground anchor–I’m not sure how he was loose. They are both then beside me, asking me if I’m hurt, is my dog hurt. No, we are not hurt but we are terrified. By the time Kayce and I walk the 5 minutes to home I am hysterical. Crying, sobbing. Kayce is shell shocked.

I truly thought I was going to be attacked by that dog. I feel certain if the owners had not been there, he would have killed Kayce and me. I did not have my pistol with me which is unusual. When walking in the desert I always have it with me. Maybe I thought I would be safe walking in town.

We decided to report the encounter to the police. I did not want to press charges, I nor Kayce were hurt. But I did want it on record that those people have a dangerous dog. After the police took my statement, I asked what my options were if I shot a dog inside the city limits. The two policemen were very explicit–if I felt threatened, or was under attack or my dog was under attack–shoot the dog. They told me it was Arizona law. They said, “we are sorry this happened to you, but welcome to Wickenburg!”

The rest of our time in our new home has been awesome. Lots of hard work but awesome. Artwork needs to be hung, the rest of the boxes need unpacking, we need to decorate for Christmas and some baking needs to happen–all in good time. Rugs and rug pads arrive Thursday and Friday. We did hang lights outside around the porch today.

Life is good, it really is.

 

 

Monday we again drove to Surprise. It was time to stock the pantry and even though we don’t move into our house until tomorrow, our supplies were low, we didn’t want to go Thanksgiving week, I had scheduled physical therapy appointments–so Monday it was. We had a huge Walmart pickup order and Costco was an absolute zoo. The Costco in Surprise is the biggest Costco we’ve ever entered–it’s huge and was packed with people. We bought a truck full of groceries. We are so glad Don and Vickie’s North Ranch lot came with a full size refrigerator!

Most days we say, “our Kayce is a good dog!” If you’ve read this blog for very long you will remember our previous baby, Emmi, hated to be left alone and unfortunately we sometimes had no choice but to leave her alone. Kayce isn’t thrilled about being left alone but she doesn’t howl or bark. I downloaded a free (with ads) camera app which uses my iPad as the camera and then I can watch her on the iPhone. I can also speak to her. She naps, sits up and looks out the window, plays with the frozen dog food stuffed Kong toys and so far has not destroyed anything–of course we are careful about putting things such as eyeglasses, pens, computer mouse out of reach!  She is getting better about not jumping on people, she completes the “down” command, comes when called (most of the time) and one of the best is that we can have her off leash when we leave the RV, tell her to “load up” and she heads to the truck and waits for one of us to open the truck door.

 

We’ve just been puttering trying to kill time before our move. When we sold the house we tossed around ideas–RV again, rent a house, stay in Montana for the winter, or buy another house. Being in the RV these 3 weeks has reinforced our decision to buy another house. We neither one really want to stay in Montana through a winter. We are bored in the RV–I can only read so much, walk so far, knit until I’m blind, or visit so much and the Cowboy is worse than I am! We’ve taken drives, enjoyed happy hour with our friend Jill who arrived a couple weeks ago and spent lots of time on the computers/tablets browsing furniture and other items. We are so ready to move–tomorrow!!

Our friend Jill loves a good estate sale and told us about one starting in Wickenburg on Thursday. We met up with her at the house and came away with a few bargains–a Ted DeGrazia print, bedding, etc. After the sale we three headed to town and enjoyed coffee and goodies outside in the sun. It was a good day!

We’ve visited the Re-Store, the Habitat for Humanity store in Wickenburg. It’s always been one of the best but it no longer is the best. Too much stuff packed into too small a space. Lowes is now delivering truckloads of items to the Re-Store–I would suspect it’s stuff returned to Lowe’s or stuff they couldn’t sell. And the prices are way too much for a second hand store–I could buy a brand new refrigerator at Costco for less than what the Re-Store was selling a scratched and dented one from Lowe’s. Costco will also deliver and bring the refrigerator into the house!!

We’ve driven to various places this week looking for a spot I would feel safe walking Kayce and have come across a couple trails on BLM and Arizona state trust land. We are spoiled living in the desert at Pearce and now at North Ranch with miles of BLM and state land out the back gate. I will have to drive a short distance to a place I can let her run off leash. And she will have a good sized fenced back yard.

On Friday we joined some of the ATV gang for lunch up at Yarnell. Two couples drove up in ATVs, we and another couple came in our vehicles. The restaurant has limited indoor seating so we sat on the patio and whiled away a couple hours. Thanks Tom and Sandy for inviting us! And it was so good to see Mike and Cathy plus Vern and Terese.

So–another week in the RV has gone by and we are moving in tomorrow. We have high hopes that it will happen early in the day. The trucks/trailers are partially loaded and we will load last minute stuff tomorrow. Stay tuned next week for photos and a description of how the week went!

Life is good!

 

 

 

A week from today we move into the new house. Papers are signed, we just have to wait for the “closing date” which is a week from tomorrow. This RV keeps getting smaller and smaller but we are surviving! I’ve even managed to cook brownies in the RV oven without burning them!

On a friend’s Facebook post about buying a new to her family RV Bonnie asked people for their “what to pack in a camper” list. One friend told Bonnie to have a 1/8″ thick piece of sheet metal cut to fit the inside of her oven, placing it over the burner on the metal plate with the holes, covering each hole halfway. It would help dissipate the heat. I’ve heard about using ceramic tiles but never metal–and it works and works so well! Since doing this, my oven cooks more evenly and to temperature set. So, the brownies didn’t burn! Now if someone would invent an oven that you could light by turning the knob instead of contorting yourself, down on your hands and knees, sticking your head into the oven and trying to get the dang pilot to light!!

On Monday we made the big trek once again, 270 miles to Pearce, Arizona to retrieve our huge cargo trailer that was loaded with all the stuff we packed from the house. Our friend/neighbor Charlisa before she left on a cruise and extended trip offered us the use of her home any time we needed it. So, we slept in the comfort of her beautiful home located in the quiet desert. Monday night Louanne and Dan fed us dinner AND breakfast the next morning. We have great friends! After dinner several friends stopped by Louanne and Dan’s to say goodbye–we have great friends!

Tuesday we and that big trailer headed for Wickenburg. The Cowboy was thrilled with how the trailer pulled. I brag on my “can do everything” husband but his skills are so evident when he backs a trailer! The red truck was parked a space over from the shed. The Cowboy threaded that trailer uphill off the street at an angle and into the spot next to the shed. There are obstacles–Vickie’s cactus/rock garden and drain pipes buried in the ground that can’t be driven over.

Wednesday I started physical therapy on my hip. The young man and his wife who own the practice are from Butte, Montana. Lots of gorgeous Montana scenes photos decorate the walls.

On Thursday we got to walk through the house with the owner who showed us how everything works. This will be a learning curve for us. The house has a waterfall (yep, a waterfall in the desert) and a small wading pool in the back yard. Pool maintenance!  The owners have packed most of their belongings and are ready for the next chapter in their lives. In the afternoon we signed all our paperwork at the title company.

Not sure if I’ve mentioned it or not but Larry and Geri are no longer at North Ranch. They sold their home and moved to Rapid City, SD to be near their daughter and her family. North Ranch is not the same and that was very evident when we all gathered in Sue and Ernie’s backyard space for a potluck–outside–no longer in the warm garage Larry and Geri had turned into a gathering place! It was a touch breezy and grew very chilly outside when the sun started to go down. We all discussed how inconsiderate it was of Larry and Geri to leave us! 🙂 🙂

The Cowboy had a spurt of energy and washed both trucks. Saturday I helped him by vacuuming and wiping down the insides of both trucks. Spiffy clean!

Wickenburg has a couple very active Facebook groups. I saw mentioned on one group that a store in Wickenburg was selling fabulous, locally grown cantaloupes. We have now purchased THREE of them and cut one so far–it had to be one of the best cantaloupes we’ve ever eaten!

Sunday we were off for our first adventure to the big city–Glendale–a suburb of Phoenix. I had found a California king headboard and footboard for the mattress we bought at the North Ranch garage sale and at another location Michael had found an almost brand new queen mattress, box springs and frame. So, off we went with the little ATV trailer in tow. The phone GPS made finding the first location so easy and when I then entered the second address it was a pleasure to find we were only 10 minutes from it!!  We treated ourselves to lunch at Five Guys and headed home.

The highway (89) leading to North Ranch just off Highway 93 north of Wickenburg is a nightmare! Two lanes, people driving too fast and then this has happened twice this week–

Both times Michael was doing over the speed limit by a couple mph and someone passes on a double yellow line. The first time, the person pulled right back in front of us and a car came over the hill. She could have killed them, herself and the debris from the accident would have also caused us to wreck. Then to top it off, she pulls into North Ranch barely five seconds ahead of us. She was an older woman, most likely retired–what was her hurry? Stupid–there is no other word for it! That’s my rant for the day!

Kayce has been having an upset tummy. Before we left Montana she was put on a round of antibiotics for the tummy issues but the diarrhea has not totally resolved itself. I called my dog expert friend Susan who recommended taking away the bully sticks (too much protein) and maybe changing the protein in the puppy food she is eating–lamb instead of chicken, etc. So, Michael and I did some reading and learned a lot. Not only are bully sticks way too much protein but they also are very calorie dense. In the process of all this reading Michael stumbled across an article about dog treats. This article agreed with Susan and us on the subject of bully sticks but also said to avoid bones of any kind (even the round ones), yak cheese, Nylabones, antlers, hooves, rawhide, and pigs ears. Bones, yak cheese, Nylabones, antlers and hooves are too hard for dog teeth the article said and with just one chewing can fracture teeth. So, what can a poor dog have for chewing??

I ordered KONG rubber bones with holes in the ends for hiding treats, I ordered a made in Montana toy, a Zogoflex which is also rubber and can hold hidden treats. And of all things–Greenies–with one caveat–they also add calories to a dog’s diet.

And on the subject of Kayce–then I will stop typing–this blog has gone on long enough! I posted the photo of Kayce drinking beer and found out from our dear friend Gay that beer is toxic for dogs. After seeing Gay’s comment I read article after article that said even a small amount of beer can be toxic to dogs and even cause death. Thank you Gay!!

Have a great week! Life is good!

Monday was a day of ups and downs. We made an offer on a house, the offer was countered way to high. We went to bed Monday night thinking it was back to the drawing board looking at the meager offering of homes for sale in our price range. At just after 10:30 on Tuesday morning our realtor called us saying the sellers had reconsidered their counter and were ready to make another offer–which we accepted!!! We won’t have to live in the RV all winter!! Maybe our friends and family will come to visit??

We drove to Aguila, about 20 miles from Wickenburg, for lunch at a well recommended Mexican lunch, the Coyote’s Den, to celebrate! Who knew they grew broccoli in Aguila–acres and acres of broccoli!

The Cowboy has been busy– every morning for a bit he goes outside and digs weeds–weeds that were sprayed for Don and Vickie but were sprayed when too tall leaving weed “sprigs” everywhere across their gravel. The lot looks so much better now!

Kayce and I walked in the desert twice on Tuesday–once off leash, once on. While out in the late afternoon we met an older female golden retriever and a 9 month old puppy (Kayce’s age) golden retriever. The puppy and Kayce got the zoomies–the golden owner and I laughed and laughed. We are so glad Kayce is other dog friendly! We are practicing with the gentle lead leash that Susan and Dave use with their dog Taos. Kayce hates it. Ours is a bright red color and when Kayce sees that leash she finds a place to hide. As we walk she is constantly trying to get that thing off her nose–but she is getting better. Plus she is so much better behaved when wearing it–no pulling, no jumping up on people.

Seems as if every day we are in the truck heading to Wickenburg, it’s only about 10 miles from North Ranch. We had to sign paperwork at the title company, meet the septic tank pumper guy at the new house, buy groceries, etc. Arizona law requires the seller pay to have the septic tank pumped prior to closing–now we know where our tank resides.

Friday and Saturday was the annual North Ranch garage sale which brings in tons of people from outside the park–it was busy! And we scored! Michael had noticed some cool paintings/photos and wanted me to see them. What I saw was a mattress on a tarp on the ground!! It looked small but when we stopped to ask the lady said it was a California king. They purchased the mattress, slept on it a few times and moved to North Ranch where the mattress did not fit in their new home. She wanted an offer, if it didn’t sell it was going to the dump! The mattress came home with us–it’s a really nice mattress–thank goodness Don and Vickie’s lot came with the use of their shed–not sure where we would have stored a mattress otherwise!!

Have you ever seen one of these mattress bags??–it’s a blue tarp with a zipper made to hold a mattress. Sure made moving and keeping the mattress clean a lot easier!

Saturday the Cowboy decided a weight distribution hitch for that heavy cargo trailer we have to move was needed. He spotted one on Craigslist, contacted the guy and we were off to Lake Pleasant where the man and his wife are camped in the desert. They are full time Rvers, in a 42 foot long toy hauler.

When we lived at North Ranch we always joked that when you went for a walk it took way longer than it should as you were always running into people you knew. North Ranch hasn’t changed! Kayce and I went for a walk late Saturday afternoon and ran into the lady that owns our former home–we had a nice chat! Then we ran into our neighbor/friend who we’ve known for a long time having met when we participated in a shooting sport and they had a home in Montana. Kayce is a patient puppy, standing or sitting while I chat.

Sunday morning we drove down to our former home–now the home of Gemma and Bill. It is amazing what those two people have done to that house–all on their own! Moved walls, made new rooms, moved windows and doors–sound familiar?? Those two people have the “vision!” And Gemma has incredible taste in decorating!

Lacey, our friend Charlie and Peggy’s pooch loves the leftover sips of beer always left in a can. When Kayce joined the ATV gang, she saw Lacey drinking from Charlie’s can and decided she wanted to try that! She also figured out how to drink from a bottle of beer. Charlie created a monster!!–

A friend had told me there was a new dollar store in Congress. I needed ice today and we drove to Congress, just north of North Ranch. Congress really does have a new dollar store, a DG Market by Dollar General. It has fresh meat, produce, it’s huge and very well stocked. I was amazed!

Life is good and we are making progress toward getting out of this small toy hauler!!

 

 

 

Big change, huge change! I’m sure many of you have been asking, “why in the world did they leave a beautiful fall in Montana for those brutal temps in Arizona???” Well, we had a reason–we made a momentous decision! In early October while visiting Arkansas my phone rang one evening–it was our friend Pam who also sells real estate.

We never talked about it but about two years ago we listed our Arizona home with Pam one spring. It was right when the interest rates went up and property wasn’t selling, we removed the listing the next fall when we came back to Arizona.

Pam had clients, young people with children, retired military, going to work for the border patrol and they were looking for a house in our area. Home inventory in Cochise county is slim pickings. Pam was calling to see if we might be interested in letting her show our home to this young couple. Well–the rest is history as the story goes. Shown on a Thursday, offer on Friday, wanted a quick closing and we were still in Montana!

We spent a week in Montana closing up, cleaning flower beds, winterizing the sprinkler system, etc. And we were off to Arizona. It was so, so hot!! For 18 days we worked long days packing, buying a 32 foot cargo trailer and stuffing it full of our belongings. Those boxes were so heavy!! The young couple purchased most of our furniture which was a huge help but we sure accumulated a ton of stuff in the 7 years we lived in that home!! Take our advice, don’t move when you are our ages!! Start purging now!! We were able to offload a bunch of stuff–lawn tractor, tools, quilting stuff, grill, smoker, etc.

Wednesday evening I mopped the floors and closed the door. We spent the night in the RV and left Thursday morning about 9am heading for Wickenburg. The Cowboy towed the RV; I followed in the red truck pulling the trailer and golf cart. The traffic through Tucson and the edges of Phoenix wasn’t too bad. We are at North Ranch on a lot belonging to friends Don and Vickie. We’ve been looking at houses, driving by houses, dining out (something which was non-existent in our Cochise county neighborhood), etc. And would you believe, the Cowboy is looking at move in ready houses???

Cool mornings and evenings, warm days. North Ranch has a gate which leads to miles and miles of BLM land. When we owned a house at North Ranch we rode ATVs and walked our Emmi girl in the desert. Kayce loves the desert walks–she gets the zoomies making the sand and dust fly!

We have no regrets. Will we miss certain things–oh yes–my beautiful kitchen the Cowboy built for me, the mountain views, the quiet–but it’s time for a new chapter and off we go!

Life is good!

 

We just can’t believe how hot it is in Arizona this October. We’ve been coming to southeast Arizona and our home for seven years and it’s never been this hot this late in the season. We usually even have a freeze by this time of year. It’s been over 90 degrees for several days this week and all I can say is “thank goodness for air conditioning!” Plus it’s so, so incredibly dry–probably drier than we’ve ever seen it. The Cowboy was digging a trench for some electrical lines and it’s bone dry 2 feet down.

There hasn’t been much going on in our world this week except we’ve been purging! Not sure how we accumulated all this stuff in the seven years we’ve been living in this house but it was time for some of it to go. We’ve sold some things, given away others and disposed of the junk at the transfer station.

Kayce and I take early morning walks while it’s still cool. She likes to be outside but when it’s so hot, she doesn’t want to stay long. She thinks these huge grasshoppers we have are delicious morsels–makes me gag!!

Over the years we’ve heard so much about Cafe Roka, a fine dining restaurant in Bisbee, Arizona but had never been there. It’s been a long, long time since we ate in a “fine dining” restaurant! Our 30th wedding anniversary was mid October and on the actual date we had to be in Benson to sign paperwork, enjoying a quick lunch at the local Mexican food spot. We decided to celebrate for real (it was our 30th after all) asking Pam and Robbie to join us, they drove and we went to Cafe Roka. Oh my goodness!!! It was amazing–the staff, the ambience, the building and the food–all totally amazing! We had such a special evening spent in the company of delightful friends!

The restaurant is three stories and we had a table on the third floor overlooking downtown Bisbee. I would most definitely not want to be a waiter/waitress at Cafe Roka–the kitchen is downstairs, all the food has to come up two flights of stairs. There is a bar on both the first and third floors.

The Cowboy’s daughter Shannen and our granddaughter Kristen have become quite the talented leather working duo. They created the halter this horse is wearing–it’s stunning!

And my book club met on Friday–I’ve looked forward all summer to seeing these ladies again. We met at Lucia’s beautiful home and enjoyed chatting, finding out what books everyone had read this past month and feasting on Lucia’s great food. Such a special group of friends!

As I’ve written in the past this dry, dry Arizona county has a lack of water issue. The huge dairies and nut orchards are drilling seriously deep wells and pumping, pumping. In the last major election cycle creation of a water management area was defeated??? Last spring before we left I attended a raucous meeting in which the attorney general of Arizona spoke.  Over the summer letters have been written, meetings with the governor have occurred–all happening due to the work of a grass roots organization of which Steve, Lucia’s husband, is a major player. Recently the governor herself came to our small community and met at Steve and Lucia’s house to talk to a group of people who had experienced water well issues due to over drilling in this arid landscape. And the governor is taking action because the legislature can’t seem to get it done using executive power–to create a water management area. While it won’t repair the damage all ready done it should stop the over drilling of our aquifer.

Our neighbor’s home burned last year and their new one is almost finished–we took a tour Saturday afternoon and I loved Diane’s floorplan, especially her room size pantry and her “wet room” shower/tub combination.

In the next couple days the wind is supposed to blow and our temps are forecast to be more normal–let’s hope so!

Have a great week! Life is good!

 

We’ve done nothing but work and work! Cleaning, getting rid of bugs, brushing Kayce free of grass/weed seeds, goatheads, and feeding us. What are goatheads you might ask–they are one of the nastiest of weeds and we had our place cleared of the dirty buggers until this year. The weeds produce a hard kernel with multiple sharp barbs. When any dog gets one inside their paw pads they immediately stop and hold up the offended paw–Kayce is no exception. We bring the burrs in on our shoes, they stick to a rug, you walk across the rug in bare feet and when you step on that goathead you produce words you didn’t know you knew!

Our trees have grown and we actually had apples for the first time on our apple tree–small, shriveled apples. That’s the problem with fruit trees–we aren’t here when the trees produce apples, they shrivel on the trees or fall to the ground to attract varmints. Kayce is doing well with her new surroundings–she is wondering where all the green grass went. She is sticking close to me off leash when we walk the desert “roads” in this “subdivision.” The Cowboy is enjoying the garage he finished last spring–puttering.

But that’s enough about us, I want to talk about North Carolina. There has been so much in the news about who is helping whom after Hurricane Helene, who is getting aid, who is not, who is stealing aid, who is not that I wanted to share a story about someone I know who was actually there in North Carolina.

Several years ago when blogging was more popular I started following a blog, Raven and Chickadee, written by Laurel. When I first started following this blog Laurel and Eric were traveling full time in a RV. Then 2020 and covid struck. Laurel lost both parents, inherited their house in Florida and remodeled it, making it their own. They continued to travel in the RV but grew weary of the worry and expense of owning a home in hurricane prone Florida, deciding to relocate to a tiny home community–near Ashville, North Carolina.

Laurel and Eric’s tiny home survived unscathed, a couple other neighbors weren’t so lucky with trees falling onto their tiny homes. The hurricane happened on September 27th in North Carolina and Laurel and Eric’s blogging friends began to worry. Our friend Sue did get a short reply from Laurel saying they were OK. Laurel did not write a blog until October 7. And I am assuming she still does not have internet as she has not answered comments on that post–which she always does.

In her blog she talks about how it wasn’t supposed to happen in the mountains of NC. She talks about getting 18 inches of rain in less than 48 hours on top of the 4 inches they received before the hurricane actually started. The creek behind their home suddenly rose several feet and spread out more than 50 feet. Their tiny homes are built to sustain Category 1 hurricanes which is what she and Eric though they probably had in NC.

Laurel wrote, ” It was a landscape-and-life-altering storm, and the scale of tragedy is overwhelming. No one was truly prepared. How could we be? North Carolina doesn’t have hurricanes in the mountains.” 

They were without power for 5 days, they gathered as a neighborhood and cooked outside, because they are RVers they had a small Honda generator and used it to charge their and their neighbor’s cellphones and other devices. They helped with the neighborhood cleanup, they met on their porches with friends for coffee.

The author Barbara Kingsolver who won a Pulitzer Prize for her novel, Demon Copperhead about the opioid crisis and the pain it causes families in the Appalachian mountains.  She knows about the Appalachian mountains because she lives there and experienced hurricane Helene. Her home also survived unscathed but they lost trees and were without power for many days.

Many areas of NC are still without power and internet because the infrastructure was destroyed, roads were destroyed, bridges were washed away, entire highways systems are closed. As Laurel said, it was a landscape and life altering storm–it can’t be fixed in a couple days. It wasn’t supposed to happen. So, that’s my take and you may disagree with me but so be it.

Saturday evening we had the pleasure of heading out to the Chiricahua Mountains to the ranch belonging to friends Pam and Robbie. We took a side by side ride around the ranch–it’s as beautiful as always and came home to steaks on the grill, twice baked potatoes, salad and grilled asparagus. It was all so good. Oh, and homemade apple pie!

The moon was beautiful this week–this photo was taken one morning as the moon went down behind the Dragoon Mountains–

So, that’s it for our first week in Arizona–have a great week–life is good!

On Monday we were off to Billings for just one appointment and lunch. We did pick up a few groceries and then were on our way home. When I saw a new to me internist in September he was appalled that this hip issue I described had been ongoing for 4 years. He wanted to try and get to the root of it so to speak–so I agreed.

I had another MRI which showed exactly the same thing the MRI I had two years ago–tendonitis and a partial tear of my hamstring muscle where it inserts into my hip bone.  I then waited a couple weeks for this orthopedic surgeon appointment.  He showed me the actual MRI and I could see the area where the inflammation and tear is located. Surgery really isn’t indicated unless my hamstring detaches completely. YIKES!! But, there is a new procedure out there–platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy which might help. PRP therapy works by drawing your own blood, spinning it down to extract the platelets and injecting that platelet-rich blood into the area surrounding your injury to help reverse existing tissue damage. Our Arizona departure date is set and can’t be delayed this time so for now I will try another round of physical therapy in Arizona and if that doesn’t work will try the PRP therapy when we return to Montana.

We tried to work ourselves into the ground on Tuesday! Remember earlier this summer we had a load of firewood logs delivered? Well, Mike finally had time to cut up some of those logs into firewood–he worked hard Tuesday morning!! I cleaned my front yard flower bed where that angel puppy Kayce has made a mess, grabbing chunks of the weed control cloth and ripping it out–it looks awful–one more project to do when we return in the spring! I bathed and clipped Kayce–she is destined for another groomer other than me–she is a terror! We have hops vines growing up our deck railings in the summer and I removed one of those dying for the season vines–Mike got the other two when he came home from his gathering of his high school buddies. Oh, and I gave myself a pedicure–it was one busy day!!

Kayce and I go for an early morning walk in the hayfields and on some days we go up to another county road near us and walk and additional 2-3 miles. On Wednesday we just did the hayfield route and I was off to Livingston to have lunch with Sarah and to pick out frames for new glasses. Lunch with Sarah was delightful as always–she brought me a Rosh Hashanah tradition–a jar of pecans in raw homey–made in Montana. It’s a Jewish tradition during this holiday to eat apples, nuts or challah bread dipped in honey to ensure a sweet new year. Sarah suggested eating the honey/pecans over my morning Greek yogurt–amazing, delicious!!! Thank you again Sarah for a wonderful lunch and the delicious gift!

And I guess I am spoiled by Costco glasses prices–I picked out inexpensive frames at the optical department in the offices of my optometrist and ended up canceling the order the same afternoon–I simply can’t justify paying that much for glasses I wear only part time. So, I still need new glasses–maybe when we get to Arizona!

Thursday was a day of packing, packing , packing because I had yet another appointment in Billings on Friday. I won’t bore you with the details of this appointment only to say I will still have the problem as I refused to pay $500/month for a medication that might help the problem. Will our country ever stop allow pharmaceutical companies to rip us off at every turn in the interest of their profits?? Got my haircut on Friday–at least something worked that day!

Thursday about 8pm, Lonn sent me a text that said, “go outside and using your iPhone you can see the northern light.” We drove up into the hayfields and wow!!–so cool! I’ve seen the northern lights once long ago when Michael and I were first married but it was awesome to see them once again!!

Saturday morning we were on the road by 9am heading south. Kayce was a trooper, sleeping most of the time in her bed in the backseat. Just south of Casper, Wyoming is a reservoir, Pathfinder National Wildlife Refuge. We drove the seven miles out to the lake, found a campsite and were ready to put our pay envelope in the pay box when both of us decided–nope–not staying here. The campground was operated by the county–it was run down, inhabited by sketchy looking characters (one guy was taking a shower outdoors when I walked by with Kayce!) and there was not a level site in the whole place. I’m talking super unlevel–so we left intending to head to Independence Rock State Historic Site when before we got back to the highway I spotted a large pull off beside the road–so, we stayed there. It was a quiet, chilly night–perfect!

 

On Sunday we drove through Moab–so many people, vehicles, motorcycles–way too many people!–but the scenery can’t be beat!

Sunday we drove and drove–or rather my Cowboy drove and drove–528 miles I think. We landed at Sand Island BLM Campground in Bluff, Utah at about 6pm, walked the dog, ate supper and went to bed. Monday my Cowboy drove and drove once again–we landed at our house in Arizona about 4:30pm. All looks well, the internet works as you can tell. Our trees have grown taller and it’s still dry in Arizona. More next Sunday when we’ve recovered from that drive!

The game camera contained some cool photos when I took it down and stored it for the winter–

Have a great week everyone!