Before I start this blog I want to thank all our veterans past and present for their service. It’s kind of strange this Veteran’s Day not to have our World War II veteran around any longer–rest in peace Nat Clark.
Our wheels have finally stopped turning–we rolled into our Pearce, AZ home about 1:30pm and unloaded for a while before calling it a day. It’s chilly here, our well driller/friend Brian stopped by to leave the backhoe keys (the backhoe stays at his house in the summer) and said it was 24 degrees at his house this morning. He was blaming us for bringing the cold weather!
Thursday we left about 9am with chains on the truck to get down our snow covered driveway–
Off come the chains.
The roads were snow packed and icy until we reached Bozeman–then it was smooth sailing on dry roads the rest of the way. But, it was dang cold! We drove to Twin Falls, Idaho the first night staying in a La Quinta–nice hotel and quiet, waking up to a brisk 16 degrees. Friday our plan was to drive to North Las Vegas until we realized it was Friday night in Vegas and room rates were double normal prices! So, the Cowboy drove us to Kingman–600+ miles in one day–UGH! At least it was warm and I didn’t have to carry those house plants into the hotel!
Saturday morning we drove to North Ranch where our own private RV awaited us in Larry and Geri’s yard. As always it was so good to see them! As luck would have it, there was a craft show and spaghetti feed going on at the activity center so that took care of lunch. Late in the afternoon we went to Wickenburg to visit our friend Jill and her son Fritz who were at Jill and Terry’s newly purchased house for a few days. Then it was to the Tasty Freez for pizza. While at the restaurant Larry’s phone rang–seems Emmi was howling in the RV and the neighbors were concerned something was wrong with her–no, she is just a spoiled brat and it’s a good thing we live in the middle of nowhere both in Montana and Arizona!
Sunday we just relaxed and visited–Larry’s sister Deb and her husband Merv were also visiting from Minnesota–we’ve met them before and it was good to see them again. We also paid Jim, Ellie and the new pooch Baxter a visit–we missed seeing Mike and Pat–they had gone to church and we ran out of time. In the evening Geri and Larry hosted a potluck for all our ATVing friends. It was so good to see all those folks–it’s been a while!
About 8am Monday morning we said our goodbyes and headed down the road. It was such a relief to stop driving. Our little house summered well and our caretaker Milton did a fantastic job this summer! We’ve partially unpacked and are now relaxing with the heat on–can you believe that–but it is after all winter, even in Arizona!
Restoration Cowboy Style 
oh yeah. Can’t wait to see pictures of the Arizona digs. Glad you had a good trip.
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Thanks Sally–we are so glad to finally be stopped!
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Glad you had a safe trip and are all settled back into your southern abode! Hope you’re able to take a few days before you jump into the big house projects 🙂
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Thanks Jodee–we are hoping to take it a little more “retired” this winter!
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So glad you stopped in and you made it to warm weather!
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Not so warm here tonight, unseasonably cool! Thanks so much for the hospitality!
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Those snow pictures gave me the chills! Been many years since I’ve had to drive in stuff like that and sure don’t envy you for your trip through it. Glad you’re home safe and ready to enjoy a great winter in AZ.
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Thanks Sharon, it’s a relief to finally be here!
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Good to hear you arrived safely and all was well with the Arizona homestead. Luckily, the cool weather should move on by Wednesday.
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Yep, just a few days of cold temps rather than months if we were in Montana!
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Glad to see you made the trip without any hurdles to jump along the way. Chilly in Arizona beats freezing in Montana.
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Yep, the sunshine helps too and we are not skating around on ice!
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I thought our 500 mile day was going to kill me off. Another 100 miles would have really done the job. Sure glad you are home in the sunshine. Know all about the barking, howling dog issue. We don’t go anywhere without them very often. Very restrictive. But it’s our commitment. And we love them.
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I would much prefer to travel as some of our friends do, 300 miles per day would suit me well but the Cowboy prefers to “get it done!” And yes Sandie our pets are a commitment aren’t they–we don’t leave Emmi alone very often and whether in Montana or Arizona we live so far from anyone it doesn’t matter if she fusses but at North Ranch, it was an issue!
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It’s always such a great sense of relief to finally reach one’s final destination. I’m kinda with Mike, the sooner you can get to where you want to be the sooner you can sit back and relax and enjoy the day at the place where ya really wanna be. No point in lollygagging the hours away in a place one would sooner prefer not to be at. Now having said that I do understand the benefits of calling it a day at 300 miles. So there ya are, I’m just as mixed up as always……….
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In our non-retired days I could see us getting the miles behind us but now not so much but it’s one thing where I don’t have much vote! 🙂 And our favorite route takes us across Nevada–few and far between towns with decent hotels. I miss not having the RV and being able to just stop anywhere.
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