Biding Our Time

It's still plenty hot here, but the early mornings are showing some promise of cooler temperatures coming soon.

We're still doing piddle-projects around the house to keep busy and pass the time. Here are a few pictures of a 3-D folk art piece we did for over the mantel in the den. It's made of wood, I draw it, Ralph cuts the wood, then I glue and paint. It's sorta like homemade Lincoln Logs, cut pieces, hot glued together. It began as just a couple of trees, but as I sit and look at it, I think of things to add to it. It's modeled after some of the old abandoned ranches we've seen while Jeeping the back roads in our area. I guess you can call it old folks entertainment, hey, it keeps us out of trouble!

A guy and his power tools

It's simply too hot to be trekking out into the boondocks, so we've settled in for the summer to do a bit of redecorating and remodeling inside the house where it's nice and cool.

Ralph built a wall in the den where there wasn't one, he added a doorway, a door and then built a set of nice bookshelves. Finally we were able to unpack stuff we've had in boxes since we moved here three years ago. Before he built the wall, the downstairs room looked like a bowling alley. It's a long room, so we took one end of it to make ourselves a comfy den. The other end of the room is set aside for the computer and Bailey's (the Schnauzer) favorite chair. We're working on the computer end of the room as well. Ralph's going to build a couple of end tables to match the bookshelves, so his plate is full at least through the rest of the summer. He's enjoying playing with his power tools, I think it's a "guy thing"... he gets a very strange look in his eyes when he's holding a circular or jigsaw and a simple thing like a hammer makes him blissfully happy. If you listen closely, you can hear him making grunting, apelike sounds ... hmmmm what could THAT mean?

Anyway, there's still some work remaining to be done, but the room is taking shape and even more important, we're having a good time doing it.

Too hot for dog days...

104º in the shade!

Do Not Disturb, air conditioned dog at rest.

Ahhhh...what's the use of complaining, after all, this is Arizona and it's officially Summer. It's not fit for man nor beast out there, the birds are gasping for air. The dog needs to be coaxed to go outside, he'd much rather lay around and sleep in the nice cool air conditioning....smart critter.

Nope, we're not Jeeping. It would be foolhardy to venture out into the desert this time of year. We'd probably wind up becoming buzzard bait. Since my moaning and groaning doesn't seem to do much good, I've decided to take another approach and laugh at the soaring temperatures. We'll spend the majority of the summer catching up on some stuff here at home that we've been neglecting since we got the Jeep. Painting isn't nearly as much fun as running all over the mountains in a Jeep, but I suppose it's something that should be done. Time to fix up our fixer-upper and keep cool...very cool.

I looked up some Arizona jokes I thought I'd share with you all. I've got to admit, I got a chuckle out of them too.

These are from "About.com"  

 It's so hot in Arizona that...

• the birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of the ground.
• the potatoes cook underground, and all you have to do to have lunch is to pull one out and add butter, salt and pepper.
• farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying hard-boiled eggs.
• the cows are giving evaporated milk.
• the trees are whistling for the dogs.
• you no longer associate bridges (or rivers) with water.
• you can say 113 degrees without fainting.
• you eat hot chilies to cool your mouth off.
• you can make instant sun tea.
• you learn that a seat belt makes a pretty good branding iron.
• the temperature drops below 95, you feel a bit chilly.
• you've experienced condensation on your butt from the hot water in the toilet bowl.
• you would give anything to be able to splash cold water on your face.
• you can attend any function wearing shorts and a tank top.
• The 4 seasons are: tolerable, hot, really hot, and ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!!
• you discover that in July, it takes only 2 fingers to drive your car.
• you discover that you can get a sunburn through your car window.
• you notice the best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.
• hot water now comes out of both taps.
• it's noon in July, kids are on summer vacation, and not one person is out on the streets.
• you actually burn your hand opening the car door.
• you break a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 a.m. before work.
• no one would dream of putting vinyl upholstery in a car or not having air conditioning.
• your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?"
• you realize that asphalt has a liquid state.
• a sad Arizonan once prayed, "I wish it would rain - not so much for me, cuz I've seen it -- but for my 7-year-old."
• GASP!   

Ride to Bull Canyon Trailhead

5/29/08

It was nice to get out this morning for some Jeeping...Oil companies be damned! We headed for Cherry Creek Road to continue checking out the roads and trails leading off of it. Larry & Jean told us about the six mile road leading to the Bull Canyon Trailhead, but since Jean mentioned the altitude, I'd always said "Naw...I don't wanna" this morning I guess I was feeling invincible so we decided to give it a try. The road began nice enough despite the sign posted warning of rough road. The views were spectacular and of course, VERY high. Jean wasn't kidding. There were a few places I couldn't look over the edge, but fortunately, I didn't have to. Ralph was driving and when I checked, his hands were cold and clammy as he gripped the wheel. Wow, what a ride! The road stayed pretty good by comparison to some we've been on, only a few minor washouts and some rocks in the road. We're glad we did it, it was well worth the drive.

 

Here's a link to a site with lots of information about hiking the Sierra Ancha Wilderness. (click your back button to return to this journal)

 

http://gorp.away.com/gorp/resource/us_wilderness_area/az_sierr.htm#140

 

Tags: Arizona, Sierra Anchas, Jeeping, Blogplugs, Hiking, Wildflowers, Ralph and Laura

Cactus Garden 2008

5/24/08

We've had an abundance of rainfall this year and our cactus garden is confused but thriving. The cacti are blooming their hearts out and putting on a spectacular show for us. Each morning there's something new to see. Some of our cacti have never bloomed for us before, but this year they're coming up with new surprises each day. We enjoy sitting on the patio next to the rock and cactus garden, watching the horses grazing in the pasture behind us and reminiscing about where each rock and memento came from. It's a very serene setting, it makes us forget there's a whole bustling world out there...thankfully, far far from where we are now.

Often when we visit an old mining camp, or just on a Jeep ride through the desert, we bring back a small souvenir.  What may look like rusted junk to others, are really small bits of history and treasures to us. Since Arizona is a rockhound's paradise, we have no problem finding great specimens to add to our collection.

Hope you enjoy our photos of Cactus Garden 2008.

 

 

 

Tags: blogplugs, cacti, cactus, Arizona

Up Workman Creek

5/17/08

Nice jaunt today. We headed up to Workman Creek with Jean & Larry. The road had been closed for the winter so we wanted to check out the conditions since it reopened.

Unfortunately, since the huge Coon Creek wildfire back in 2003, so many of the trees were damaged and have since rotted and are in the process of falling across the road in many places. Some of the roads were impassable because of fallen trees blocking the road. A few of the smaller trees we managed to crawl over in the Jeeps, but we had to turn back when a series of large pines blocked our way. We turned around and continued up to Aztec Peak and the fire lookout tower. Since the wildfire season is just beginning here, the tower was manned by a retired hotshot fire Ranger named Red and his dog, Roper. Roper was the official greeter and came running happily to say hello to us as we arrived. Red said that he'd retired from fighting forest fires and had landed his dream job of manning the lookout tower, a job he loves doing. If you want solitude and enjoy being alone in the midst of nature, it would be the ideal job indeed. Because of my fear of heights, I was glad to remain on the ground when Red invited everyone up the tower steps to take a look around from his bird's eye view on the tower platform. Ralph, Larry & Jean took him up on the offer, while I enjoyed the scenery on terra firma.

The air was crisp, clean and clear up there at the 7748 foot elevation, a nice change from the low desert where summer is slowly creeping up on us. (100º expected tomorrow) 

No critters were spotted today except a few lizards and a Red-tailed Hawk, unless we count the group of men and boys who were getting ready to rappel the 75 foot waterfall at Workman Creek.

Mother'Sssss Day

5/11/08

While the temperatures are still decently cool in the mornings, we headed out for a short run to Cherry Creek. We're going to try to hit all the trails off of Cherry Creek Road to see where they take us. The first one led just a short way back ending at a windmill and old corral. The second road was much more extensive. We went back a few miles but the road headed through an extremely rough and rugged lava field and since we were alone, we decided to turn around and head back. It was rough going, over some large rocks, but we made it through without any mishaps.

On the way back down Cherry Creek Road, we heard a loud, angry sounding buzzing as we passed an embankment. Stopping and backing the Jeep up, we spotted a fair-sized Rattlesnake wrapped around the base of a Staghorn Cactus. With a few small rocks tossed in his direction, we angered him enough to come out and have his picture taken. He turned out to be a Mojave Green Rattlesnake, a variety we've heard about but had never seen before. He was an ill tempered cuss (maybe the rock tossing didn't help his disposition), seemingly more aggressive than the usual Western Diamondbacks we are used to seeing. The venom from these snakes is much more dangerous and toxic than that of other Rattlers. We were excited to have seen him but I'm glad we didn't stumble upon him while hiking. Anyway, it was sure a nice way to spend Mother'Sssss Day!