Girls UTV Day Out!

Hello Family & Friends,
Yes, I called us "Girls" and I am allowed -- seven of us girls/ladies from North Ranch took a Girls' UTV trip to explore the Congress area -- I had been to a couple of the spots before and have shared previous pictures but sometimes you get a different snap so I am sharing the experience again.

We loaded up at 9:30am in the green (now turning brown) space up by the front entrance of North Ranch.

To small to name everyone but we had two Susans', Carole (photographer), Linda, Jodi, Joanne and Bonnie ... plus....

Skittles, in her desert riding gear (who belongs to Susan) --- Linda was riding in her UTV.

And this is Sundance (Sunny), in his riding gear -- he belongs to Jodi and she has a single UTV.

Both of these dogs were great travelers and a joy to have on the ride!

We headed to the Congress Mine which is how Congress came to be -- I had never been there before.

It is still a working mine --- as you can see, we had a beautiful day for the ride!

Next we headed to the cemeteries (both the new and old) -- 

Many decorations on some of the graves -- there was a lady there tending her husband's grave and we visited with her a while.  She was from the Phoenix area but comes up a few times to clean off the weeds.

On to the Old Congress Pioneer Cemetary (notice the spelling)

Really old headstones can be found -- lots dating to the mid-1800's, sometimes really young infants and a few that were entire families.  So much history in those walls.

Next we were on to the pictographs -- where we had lunch.

Not nearly as big as Indian Rock -- read on to see it!

The overcast skies were a welcome break from the sun and we enjoyed the rest break.

On to Indian Rock, aka at Mother Rock, aka House Rock -- I just learned that House Rock name that day.

We headed back home around 1:30pm and stopped at the Dollar Store in Congress for ice cream and popsickles.  I think I was back home by 3:30pm and very tired from the travels.  When you only travel 25 mph, it takes a few hours to cover the desert miles.

What a wonderful day .... a great group of "girls" on an adventure.  We plan to do it again but the weather is heating up and it means gettin up early and returning by 10am --- too hot to be out in the sun.

Hope everyone is doing well, and surviving the stay at home -- we did try to respect the social distancing and most of us had masks on during the travel to avoid the dust.

Wishing you all health and happiness,

Susan

Sharing Birthday Smiles

Hello Family & Friends,
Darrel and I both really appreciated all the birthday greetings, from phone calls to texts to birthday cards.  I just had to share a few we got that -- I didn't want to share all or you would be reading this all day and night 😉

Darrel turned 70 (YIKES) -- a new decade!  Two cards that he received are shared below:

 

This one was pretty cute, you might not get to read the info under the 10 as it is a little blurry, but it lists all of Darrel's accomplishments in those 69 years -- father, brother, son, friend, fireman, etc.  pretty cool ---

 
Ruger can find the best cards (I bet Bob helps him) and this one is pretty cute as well -- read left to right and you aren't quite sure what the inside is going to say .....

Anyway, the next batch of cards to share came for Susan --

 
Those crazy animals in my life, Archie, the cat provided this one for a moment of laughter -- I definitely will ask him what he has been up to before I allow him to kiss me!

 
Who doesn't love a cute duck, wishing me a Happy "Year" older birthday!!!  -- Wait until He grows up, he might just be dinner some day!

Again, Ruger (with Bob's help) is on it and I really love the fact that he thought I was 60 (reality check, I am 61).  I love the desert theme so Ruger really does remember that we explore with him.

 
Darrel's brother enjoys customizing birthday cards -- and he even sent me a million dollars (and it wasn't from the COVID-19 stimulus fund HAHA) -- I know you cannot see the cartoon funnies but they are so personal and funny -- I really don't know where he finds them.

And I received some great creative cards with personal artwork and scrapbooking desert themes.

 

Oh and I had to share this text that my sister-in-law, Sharon sent me, --- she actually forgot my actual birthday but was quick on the draw to send this belated!

So Darrel and I thank each and everyone making our "long distance" birthdays a wonderful day of celebrations.  We keep our cards for an entire month and display all of them proudly.  We are truly bless so many caring family and friends in our lives.

Love,

Susan & Darrel

April brings Celebrations

Hello Family & Friends,
April brings my birthday and my sister's birthday.  Her birthday had the full moon so she, her daughter and mom celebrated by watching the moon rise.  I asked her to send a picture and here's the beautiful, relaxing pic she texted me (ain't technology grand, when it works?)

I love the ripples on the water and the moon, just rising!

So, not to be outdone (ha ha), I said I was going to watch the sunrise in the desert for my birthday (I was a early baby just after 6AM so the sunrise seemed appropriate).

I asked Bob to take us out to this point about the wash that has a great view so we wouldn't get lost in the dark --- believe it or not, Darrel and I woke up at 4:30am so we could head out around 5:30am to get there.  Carole rode along with Bob and Ruger -- we headed out amid the clouds rolling in.

This is what the moon looked like as we warmed up the UTV -- not sure we were going to see the sunrise with the cloud bank.

Here's our selfie before heading out -- yes, Darrel has a cowboy hat he found at a garage sale!

We arrived in the dark with just a hint that we might see the sun.

Darrel, Bob and Susan waiting for the sun to come up!

Clouds,

Yarnell (Flattop) covered in clouds

Round Mountain, cloudy but you can see the dawn approaching.....

Here comes the sun!!! Notice the glow in front of us, not sure what the refection was.

Hello Mr. Sunshine -- Happy Birthday to me!!!

Ruger, Bob (hosts) and Carole (our photographer)

Unfortunately, the only animal we saw was Ruger, nothing was up and about (can't say I blamed them).  We had a great sunrise morning, a nice ride in the desert and a great way to start my birthday!

Thanks to all you sent texts, cards and phone calls with birthday wishes, I cherished each and every one.  I had a great birthday amid the COVID-19 pandemic....one to surely remember in years to come.

Sending blessings from the road,

Susan & Darrel

PS, yes my hair is getting longer as not salon services -- Darrel says he will cut it but I am not that desperate yet!

News before Celebration

Hello Family and Friends,
I have two posts to share because I wanted to get the routine stuff out of the way before the celebration post (which will be much more fun, I promise).

Darrel decided we needed rocks (again) to put around the gazebo screen bottom edge to keep it from blowing ..... so out to the wash we went (of course with Bob and Ruger) to find some that were a medium size to hold down the screen material.

Darrel out picking up the rocks ....

and further down the wash ....

We have been having lots of wind and the sand was whipping up as we walked the wash.  Bob said it almost couldn't see because of the sand storm where he was walking.

Oh, and I got another toe boo boo -- this time I caught it under the bedroom door when I was opening it and sliced a little bit down the 4th toe.  Ouchie.... Darrel put some skin shield on it and within a day or two it really was healed.  I had a little trouble with my shoes and wore flip flops for a couple of days.

NOTE:  I should tell you that my sister chunked off some of her thumb while trimming bushes in her yard (I chose NOT to share those pictures) so I guess she wins the boo boo of the month).

Oh, and Pickleball Carole sent me some fantastic cactus pics and I hope I get their names right -- so here they are:

Claret Cactus

Hedgehog cactus

Octillo -- this one I know for sure!

Oh and remember the owl family?  Well one of the other pickleball ladies, Lori, has a zoom on her camera and caught this picture of the owls in the park.  She also got one of the babies and I am trying to get that one from her -- what an awesome picture of one of the adults.

This week the babies have left the nest so I am hoping we will keep seeing them around the park.  Most people are leery of them because they can grab cats and small dogs if you aren't careful.

We are doing fine during stay at home -- trips to the grocery store, fuel and post office.  We are staying healthy and hanging out at North Ranch.

I think that is my newsy information and now on to the celebration!!!!!

Sending virtual hugs and blessings from the road,

Susan & Darrel