We have been pretty boring!

Hello Family & Friends,
Sometimes in life, even in a RV, you have chores and stuff you have to do (boo hiss).  February has been filled with a colonoscopy for Darrel (he passed with flying colors), dental appointments (which Darrel did not pass with flying colors) and a return appointment for Darrel to the dentist.  Then came Valentine's Day (nope, we stayed home and had brownies) and then President's Day -- so I feel like we are way off schedule but I tried really hard to come up with something to share besides all the above I just did 😀

We went to Payson, AZ which is about a 2 1/2 hour drive up Hwy 87 after you skirt Phoenix.  As we went past Lake Pleasant, we saw hot air balloons (13 or so as I counted).  Of course, I am hanging out the truck window trying to snap pics at 65 miles per hour. (YIPPEEE)

I apologize for the very unprofessional pictures but on Hwy 74 you just cannot pull off with the heavy traffic.  They were so great to see and so many at one place.

I think Payson is along the White mountain range and they had had snow there the week before.  We stopped on Main street at a thrift store and then headed back through Pine and Strawberry (both quaint small towns).  It was pretty chilly but nice sunshine.

As we are zipping along and again, me hanging out the truck, Darrel missed the turn off to Camp Verde so I am laughing about not paying attention to the road.

Sunday we did our gun range practice and I decided to snap some pictures of the Wickenburg Sportsman Club where we have access to an outdoor range.

There are 4 bays and we usually practice in Bay 4 (plus the building on the left is the target storeroom for the cardboard targets and stands.

We have porta-potties at the bay level and the upper level clubhouse has flush toilets as well as a meeting/classroom.

The upper level has the clubhouse and the caretakers RV where they stay onsite.

Another shooting bay

This is Bay 4 where we practice.

They have a trap shooting area above the pistol/rifle bays.

Wickenburg has a weekend event called Gold Rush Days and it brings in the crowds for the rodeos, parades, art show and much more.  We were surprised that the range was pretty quiet on Sunday.

Well, I guess that is all I have to share this post.  I don't see much excitement on the horizon just yet, we have a tax appointment, painting the shed, and adding a rock border to the lot at the street edge.  But if something fun comes along, I'll let you know!

Sending blessings from the road,

Susan & Darrel

Family Visit Happenings!

Hello Family & Friends,
We entertained my mom while she enjoyed her stay in Sunny Arizona.  We had great weather and couldn't have asked for it to be much better.  Chilly mornings but beautiful afternoons and some gorgeous sunsets.  So here's a few pics we took as we toured the desert and saw the sights.

Trip 1 -- Crested Saguaro -- this was a warm up trip to get mom in the groove to travel in the UTV.  It is about 45 mins or so from the back gate to a good warm up trip.

Seeing the a crested Saguaro in person -- mom and me!

Darrel took a closer shot of us to get the crested top in view.

Ruger is always ready for a ride and Darrel was trying to get him to look our way ....

....and he did!!!  He loves the UTV and his favorite place is in back.  He stands for hours as we journey along the trails.

Trip 2 -- Indian Rock or Mother Rock -- it is situated behind Congress and you go out a back gate by the elementary school.  We have been there before but love to show it off to visitors.

We had a friend, Carole along with us on the ride -- she is a snowbird and lives full time in her RV as well.  You can see Ruger in the picture, sniffing at the left side.

Susan, Mom and Carole

Darrel climbing the rocks around Indian Rock -- you have to watch him like a hawk!

Caught him waving to me as I hollered to be safe and not fall.

Bob, Susan, Mom and Darrel with Ruger in the front -- we finally cornered them into the photo!

Darrel's brother arrived on Sunday and we took a ride on Monday to Stanton, a mining town we have visited before.  I took my camera but didn't manage to take any pictures as we traveled along.  It was a later start in the morning and we had a long ride ahead.  I wish I would have had it in my pocket : (

We did so many things each day that I can hardly list them all, we took walks in the Saguaro Park, strolled along the streets saying hello, doing stitch work in the evenings, playing Mexican Train at the clubhouse, a trip to Surprise to check out a Quilt shop -- Mom got to see Pickleball in action ..... we had tons of found and had great weather to do it all in!

I am so glad she was here when the weather cooperated because here's what we have in store for next week...

Yikes, winter has returned to Arizona and we will be dripping water a few nights and checking the propane tanks for the furnace!

So, I hope this catches you up with the last 2 weeks -- we have a busy February ahead with doctor's appointments and dental appointments plus that dreaded word ... TAXES!

We hope everyone is doing well and staying healthy with all the illnesses out there -- wash those hands!!!

Sending blessings from the road,

Susan & Darrel

Looking Good!

Hello Family and Friends,
Well, we took a break to host my mom visiting us and then Darrel's brother & wife visiting us!  It was quite the busy time so I will have several posts to catch you up!  Just too much going on to try and blog while we were entertaining!

But.... before we get to the "fun" stuff, here's why we are LOOKING GOOD!!!!

We decided to cut the Agaves that line the wall to the west of our lot.  They were overgrown and looking pretty ratty.  In fact a couple of them were pretty rotten and we just pulled them out of the ground for disposal.

I forgot to take "before pictures" because Bob came to help out and was cutting before I could get to my camera.  Now we have nicely trimmed "pineapple looking" Agaves and you can see from the length of the wall that we removed several that were dead.

There were 3 more and a couple "pups", that we discarded.  We will try to find something else to plant along the wall??? Maybe or Maybe not???

Here is the loaded utility trailer with the cut off limbs and the one that was rotten.

A closer view of the debris and let me tell you this stuff is nasty to work with -- heavy and prickly.  I wore a pair of latex gloves under my work gloves so the juice wouldn't burn me.

You actually use a reciprocating saw to saw off the limbs and the juice is a mess to have on you.

So now we have a very nice looking dirt ridge above the retaining wall that someday may have something planted there.

This is our unique way to protect the axles from catching moisture and sun.  We removed the tires to prevent anyone from stealing the cargo trailer, because yes, it happens here in our tiny community.  I am working to make a cover that will go over the buckets like tire covers but we haven't got that accomplished yet.

My handy, dandy husband found a screened gazebo at a garage sale for $40.00 and he and Bob put it up to add shade to our outdoor space.  It has been a little chilly at night to sit out yet, but the time is coming.  Notice my pink heart for Valentine's Day on the 5th wheel hitch?  I have 2 decorations, one for Christmas and one for Valentine's Day -- guess I had better start looking!

Here's a view from the back end of the trailer.  We have outdoor mats to help with the desert sand as we seem to always have something tracked in on the floor.  The Mesquite trees are a pain with the little leaves but we like them and learn to deal with it.

So we continue to setup the lot to our liking and probably will make more changes long the way.

Hope you have enjoyed seeing out space!

Sending blessing from the road,

Susan & Darrel