What We Did for Christmas??

Hello Family & Friends,
Thank you so much for all the Christmas cards and letters letting us know what you have been up to.  My sister sent me a "care package" and it arrived 5 days late but made it for Christmas.  We talked to many of you through out Christmas Day or texted our well wishes in between activities.

We are truly blessed to have so many wonderful people in our life and we do appreciate you sending greetings and updates our way.  Again, I thank you for reading the blog and plan to continue in the 2020 New Year with our happenings and activities.

Bob and Ruger graced us with a morning visit --- Ruger just had to show off his new coat!

This was his new Wisconsin hoodie!

The hand warming pocket is conveniently located over his "butt", I am not sure that I would put my hands in that location : )

And now he is making his exit -- because I'm not sure he really like his new attire???

We had dinner at the North Ranch Community Christmas Dinner -- our table had 3 couples from the campground (Natalie and Les also work kamp at North Ranch).  One of the gentlemen, Terry was blind and I thought that was amazing that he and his wife were snowbirding from Colorado in a RV.  He also mentioned that he would be getting a new service dog in the next few months, having lost his companion of 5 years from cancer.

We had a nice time and the activity center was filled to the brim with lots of North Ranch neighbors.  We came home and relaxed for the rest of the evening, eating a few of our Christmas goodies.  

We wish you the all the best in the upcoming New Year!

Sending our love,

Susan & Darrel

Holiday Happenings

Happy New Year (early),
Monday before Christmas Bob took us over to the Joshua Tree forest to look for crystals (I think they are from quartz but are really clear), we headed on Bagdad, AZ where there is a mine you can tour.  You have to call and find out when they are touring, so we will have to go back.  And then round trip back on Date Creek road to find the old Date Creek Fort location. 

We started out about 8:00am  -- Monday was cloudy, windy and cool by Arizona standards.  The weather wasn't the best for picture taking with gray skies but I tried to snap a few to show you what we saw on our trip.

This is a Joshua Tree (with Ruger checking out the smells)

They really aren't very pretty "trees" but you can find some with really interesting growth.

The fronds (coming from a land of leaves, I am unsure what to call the foliage), will die off and create the hanging down whiskers : )

You cannot quite see it but as you looked toward the mountains, you could see the Joshua trees popping up to create the forest look.

We arrived in Bagdad and was amazed at how clean the town was -- really tidy and neat.  The diner was closed on Monday.  We didn't want to wait to eat at the Bar and Grill in town, so we bought sandwiches at the Basha's grocery store and ate in the park so Ruger could sniff around (or beg lunch).

We took the back road out of Bagdad and headed to a small town of Hillside -- we turned off on Date Creek road which is a primitive road (meaning that is it dirt, sand and minimally maintained).  It is about 20 miles to Hwy 89 which was our connecting route back to Congress.

We found the turn off to the Fort (after a couple of tries) and then walked the wash and fence line to locate the foundation walls -- there has been a lot of overgrowth so it took a few attempts to find the location.

Darrel found a book with information about the Fort and I guess is was active in the 1860's and held the Yavapai Indians for a time.  Not much is left but you can see the original layout of the Fort.

Bob showed us the rigging to pull water from the wash -- we didn't explore it as it was close to 2pm and the weather was turning colder -- the wind was whipping up and none of us had really dressed for it.

I found this one saguaro overlooking the fort and though it looked like a cross, marking the site.

Ruger kept getting stickers in his paws and we decided it would be a better place to explore from the UTVs as we had to traverse cattle trails to get there.   It was an interesting site to see and want to go back to see if we can find the tin can dump and other treasures that are hidden under the desert growth.

We were thankful to be in the truck and cranked the heat up wishing we had hot cocoa with us.  On the road back we stopped to take pictures of Skull rock ---

Darrel did the honors of capturing Skull Rock as he had to climb a rock to get the best pictures.  

Arizona people seem to find the art in their rocks out here and we have quite a few "painted" images -- like Frog Rock, Elephant rock (which really is just an elephant painted on a flat rock), now Skull Rock and I think there are a few more -- maybe someday I'll do a blog on the painted rocks???

We arrived back home from the the trip a little wind blown and ready for that hot cocoa.  I am ready for the cool snap to retreat back into Canada and warm up Arizona temps again!

Sending Blessings from the Road,

Love,

Susan & Darrel

Christmas Lights in North Ranch

Hello Family & Friends,

It has been chilly again in Arizona -- not like the Midwest with all the snow, etc. but for us "snowbirds" seeking warmer temps, we are day chilling to the upper 50's and low 60's by 2pm and then the night cool down, thank goodness Santa brought us an early present of an electric blanket.

North Ranch is home to avid Christmas light decorators and I hopped in the UTV with Carole (a lady from pickleball) and we toured the park in search of lights!  Here's a few we captured out and about -- it was cooled and windy but we enjoyed it all the same.

Festive lights set the mood --

My UTV lights were on so not as pretty a shot, I should have doused the headlights but didn't want to get run over, next time I will.

There are drainage ditches in the park and we have inflatable Snoopy and little Woodstocks floating in the ditch.

And on the other side is Steam Boat Mickey inflatible.

As we headed around the campground we found this house with multiple inflatables ---

A "spam can" RV with Santa popping out the door and a North Pole Helicopter with Santa at the controls to mention a few -- it was quite decorative.

This is just a few, there were lots of the spotlight displays on garage doors, walls and sparkling trees.  There is a Holiday parade on Sunday where decorated forms of transportation travel around the park on every street.  We enjoyed this last year and plan to sit out and watch it again this year!  It is pretty awesome.

Wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love,
Susan & Darrel

Human Kindness Shared

Hello Family & Friends,
I cannot remember if I shared this or not, but we had a problem getting a package delivered.  We didn't get a notice or the package in our PO Box so we checked with the Post Office staff and they said it had been put in our PO Box -- we never did get it (in other words, no good samaritan returned the mis-delivered package), so we were working with the PO staff to see what recourse we had to get our money back.  It was mailed 1st class, so it wasn't looking good for any kind of reimbursement.

We reached out to the seller (it was an eBay purchase) and he too, confirmed it was first class so no tracking or any insurance.  It wasn't a large amount of money but we really needed the item Darrel had ordered for the UTV.

We were amazed at what happened next, the seller offered to send another package (free of charge and free delivery) delivered by FedEx to our lot.  We were so appreciative of his generous offer.  The lug nuts arrived and delivered to our door the next day!!!  You would think it would end there ..... BUT......

When Darrel opened the package, it was the wrong lug nut size (he still isn't sure what happened there, if the pop up choices he chose were wrong, it the model didn't match, etc.).  This was on a Friday, so not much to do but reach out the the seller and ask if his store actually had the correct size he was needing.  We apologized profusely, accepted the responsibility for the wrong choice and offered to return the "2nd" package we received at our expense.

We didn't expect to hear much until the first of the week, and totally expected the guy to respond "you should stay off eBay and quit wasting my time LOL" BUT instead, he greeted us kindly, offered to send the correct part we needed, asked that we return the wrong lugnuts and wished us a Merry Christmas!  Just as we were writing a note to put in the package we were returning and printing a mailing label, Fed Ex knocked on the door and delivered the correct lugnuts!!

I realize this is such a small piece of the bigger picture but to us, it was an extreme show of Human Kindness ---- and if you read below you can experience

Dignity Health has commercials that are called Human Kindness and they just make you feel good with people caring about all kinds of things --- here's one I especially love and if you google "Dignity Health on YouTube you can see others -- after this experience with our eBay Seller, I definitely believe there are many helping heroes, in lots of sizes, shapes and situations, so my 2020 New Year's goal is to show more Human Kindness and be a helping hero to others in our life.

Kindness Video link

Here's a cute Holiday "snowman" Kindness video link

Thank you for reading this unusual post and before I end here's a couple "made you smile" pictures that were shared with us by Darrel's brother and I passed on to my sister and now to you all.

Love,
Susan & Darrel

 

Saturday Activities

Hello Family and Friends,
This past Saturday (Dec. 14) was an interesting day.  We said farewell to long time North Ranch residents, Jud and Joann as they are returning to Pennsylvania to be closer to family and manage health issues.  Several of us gathered at the entrance with signs in hand, wishing them safe travels and letting them know how much they will be missed.

Joann was the first person that we met when we arrived last year -- she was visiting the lots and decided to stop in for a chat.  I bought my first bicycle from Jud and he had it running like a top.  They will be missed by many.  This is something you have to get used to, saying good-bye to the people that cross your path in this journey.

We loved the signs and especially the upside down "Safe Travels" in the back -- it made us smile at such a sad occasion -- saying good-bye to good friends 😢

Ruger joined the picture, even it Bob wouldn't.

So later that afternoon, Bob was cooking a "Trash can" turkey that was postponed from the Thanksgiving weekend due to inclement weather.  There were several people from his block bringing food and we had a beautiful day (just a little cool), for the outside gathering.

So here's a few pictures of how that Trash can cooking works!

The trash can is covered on top and bottom to keep the heat in -- he used a fire pit as the base for the coals.

Then you carefully removed the can when the cooking is done (it was a 10lb bird) so it takes about 90 mins. for a 15lb bird, so it was a little under 1.5 hours.

Here's the end result -- we were a little concerned it would fall off the mesquite skewer stand.  We had a great, well seasoned bird -- Bob does know how to roast and BBQ meat!

It was a nice meal and after we were all stuffed Bob helped Ruger tell us a story -- here it goes.

Bob put the turkey out in a tub to soak a few minutes before putting on the stand in the trashcan to cook.  He went back into the house to get a couple of things and left Ruger outside with the bird???  Anyway, he comes back out and guess what?, no turkey in the tub --- Ruger had grabbed it out of the tub and was "tenderizing" the wing portion of the bird 😂😂 -- Bob grabbed the bird, rewashed it and rubbed a little more seasoning on that portion, put it in the trash can to cook and scolded Ruger for stealing the turkey. (In fact, Darrel came in on the end of the scolding).

We all gathered to eat and Ruger was on the porch, banished during the meal (little did we know he was in big trouble....) -- Bob waited until we were all done with our dinner to help Ruger confess his transgressions.   We all just laughed and figured it was a good after Thanksgiving story to remember in the years to come.

We all hear about restaurant stories where food is dropped and put back on a plate so I think I would rather have a Ruger tenderized wing vs. food off the floor any day!

We started the day with a sad farewell and ended the afternoon with joyous laughter, how blessed we are on this journey.

Sending our love, hugs and blessings,

Susan & Darrel

Montezuma's Well

Hello Family & Friends,
Just down the road about 10 miles is Montezuma's Well -- I think Darrel and I enjoyed this monument more than the Castle but they both were very interesting.  Check out the link for more information on this landmark.  The Well is free admittance but there was a Ranger on site, assuring us visitors that we would be found the "next morning" if we didn't make it back --- LOL

You have quite the hike up to see the Well -- we found lots of ducks swimming around.

From a distance you could see the mountain ridge.

The walls are very steep around the "watering hole"

As you walk the path around the area, there is an irrigation ditch that allows water out of the well into a nearby creek.

We were able to walk quite a ways into the irrigation ditch and saw even bigger Sycamore trees near Beaver Creek.

Waterfall up the way

We were able to walk down to the bottom of the edge of the Well.  Behind me you can see cliff dwellings they used in this area, just above the rim of the Well.

The weather was perfect, just warm enough but not too hot.  We plan to visit the next monument that is near Jerome to check out its history!

Thanks for reading,

Love,

Susan & Darrel

Montezuma Castle National Monument

Hello Family & Friends,
We decided to take a day "off" and do some sightseeing.  We had wanted to visit Montezuma's Castle and Montezuma's Well National Monument near Camp Verde and Rimrock, Arizona.  We headed out on a beautiful day and it takes about 2 hours to get there (you have mountains to climb and Prescott to go through).  I have put up two posts so the pictures don't get overwhelming.

Our first destination was Montezuma's Castle (which is funny because Montezuma never visited the area for either the Castle or Well) -- the Castle is basically a cliff dwelling environment.

You head out on a 1/3 mile loop walk that lets you observe the "castle" and the surrounding area. 

SIDE NOTE:  If you are over 62 and don't have a National Park Pass for Seniors, I highly recommend that you purchase one.  Darrel got his when he turned 62 and it was $10.00.  They have now raised the amount to $80.00 but this pass allowed us to get in free to visit the monument.

It is pretty high up and is 5 levels of living area.

Additional building sites are there as well that were used for daily living activities.

Stone walls still stand from the fountain.

As you look up you see additional alcoves that were used for a variety of reasons.

Beaver Creek provided their water resource and it was running quickly the day we visited.

Here I am in front of the stone wall.

We also got introduced to some of the native plants in the area.  We didn't realize that Arizona has a Sycamore tree and a Walnut tree -- not sure I could pick them out in the desert but I plan to get a Flora book soon.

The Sycamores are huge and many are hundreds of years old.

The bark is smooth and green, unlike a Kansas Sycamore tree.

The Walnut tree is small and scraggly -- unlike the walnuts we had in our yard.

We enjoyed the walk and headed on to Montezuma's Well which was about 10 miles away, further north on I-17.

Check out the next post for our adventure to the Well.

Sending blessings from the road,

Susan & Darrel

A Trip to Box Canyon

Hello Family & Friends,
On Saturday we took a ride with Bob & Ruger, his friends, Tee and Betsy and a pickleball playing friend, Carole.  We headed out in the UTVs to travel to Box Canyon.  So much has changed in the trails behind North Ranch -- between the Monsoons and all the extra rain we've received in November and December, the trails are really rugged and have changed in topography.  We had some pretty rocky climbs and a lot of water in the Hassayampa river.

We had overcast skies and some chilly temps when we started out at 9AM but sometimes that is more enjoyable than the heat beating down on you??

Although it doesn't took too rugged, this is the first rocky climb Bob took us up -- yikes, it has to get better, right?

OK, here's the black cattle at the bottom of the trail, see what I mean????  Look right in the center and to the right, those are cattle!!!

Always keep the landmarks to orient yourself, the mountains are a good one to see long distance.

This Saguaro is starting its little barrels so probably a youngster in the age of Saguaros

We arrived at the 1st stop before entering the canyon

The parking area before heading on down into the canyon.

The trees mark the area to head into the "Box Canyon" -- lots of water in the river.

You just never know where the cactus will grow!

Check this one out -- they look like soldiers guarding the ridge.

We found some cliff caves, not sure what resides there, but I don't want to find out!

Betsy (leaning on the white UTV), Tee in the middle of the pic, and Darrel in the red stocking cap.

Water, water, everywhere!

Darrel walks, looking for a place to cross the water.

Canyon ridge to the East

Canyon entrance

Bob and Ruger headed into the "Box Canyon" alcove

More water flowing

Trail to the left or crossing the water stream

We had a wonderful trip enjoying the quiet weather.  On our way back to North Ranch, we encountered a lady with 2 dogs walking one of the trails -- she seemed a little far away from the gate so we gave her and the 2 dogs a ride back -- what would have taken her about 45 mins. took us about 15 mins.  We were happy to help.

Sunday we woke up to lots of dense fog and could barely see the mountains. Arizona has had such weird weather this winter, I truly believe we are the "bad weather" gypsies!!!

We have a fairly quiet week but it seems lots of things pop up to do, so we try to stay flexible.  We have to schedule a truck fix date (4 recalls to correct) since the one we had scheduled didn't have all the parts and a couple of doctor appointments.

We wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and send our blessings always,

Love,

Susan & Darrel