Home, Home on the Desert!

Hello Family & Friends,
Big News!  We decided that we liked the North Ranch community that we decided to purchase a lot and make it our winter home base.  We finished our lot sitting May 31st and moved down to our lot on S. Running Horse Rd -- Lot 24.

This is from the street corner 

(yes, we have a corner lot -- said we would NEVER do a corner lot again 😉) 

Yes, it is a yellow house, next to us as the neighbors like to remind us!

From the South side view, we have 2 types of trees, Palo Verde (to the left by truck) and Mesquite (near the back of the lot, neither require us watering them)

Along the southeast corner

East side, you can see the storage shed that was on the lot already.  We will replace the "M" and put a "P" on it when we return next Fall.

The Palo Verde trees where Bo tries to catch a little shade.

At the curb, you can see the rocks we put in to keep the smaller gravel in the lot vs in the street.

We are excited and hadn't really planned to do this, but the lot we were on was for sale and sold the end of April.  We figured it would only become tougher to find the lots to sit on each winter and the campground is really close quarters.

We have some electrical upgrades to do and possible additional water/sewer locations but we'll see what we think after we are here next year.

I cannot believe we will be heading to Colorado next Sunday with an overnight in Acoma, New Mexico. We are looking forward to the mountains and much cooler temps.  We are in the 90's by 11:00am and it is hot until the sun sets.

We'll keep you posted of our travel and please keep us in your prayers as we head out -- always a busy travel which adds a little stress when we move Zoe around.

Love to you all, and we'll check in from Colorado next week.

Susan & Darrel

Exploring Martinez Wash

Hello Family and Friends,
OK, one more post as I am catching up from slacking for two weeks!

We took a morning to go rock finding.... along the Martinez wash!  It was a little warmer, only needing a long sleeve shirt to keep the breeze away.

The flat-top mountain is Yarnell and you use it as a landmark to find you way back to North Ranch

It is still really green in the desert.

Round mountain is another landmark for remembering where you are at.

So many rocks to look at to find a treasure or two

Another pic of Yarnell mountain with some fluffy clouds along the ridge

I love catching the "cloud shadows" racing along the mountains -- usually the skies have few clouds...

At sunset, the shadows take on pink and orangish hues....such a lovely day to be out!

Now you are all caught up, our days are quickly running out at North Ranch before we depart for Colorado.  The cooler temps were are having are spoiling us with not wanting to leave just yet, but we know the heat is coming and will look forward to the cooler temps in Colorado.

We wish you all a Happy Memorial Day weekend (again) and stay safe in the summer travels.

Love, 

Susan & Darrel

Petroglyphs near Congress

Hello Family & Friends,
We went back to the area behind Congress to find the petroglyphs we went looking for a couple of weeks ago.  John went with us to help us locate them.  It was an out of the way place, and unless you knew what you were looking for, you would have missed them.

I wonder what they are saying?

A closer shot

The rock is lodged against other rocks, how did they get that way?

I think they are talking about animals in these drawings

So I climbed the rock for a discovery picture, yes, it was cold and windy, and yes, I am wearing a winter jacket and stocking cap we dug out of storage!

Around the petroglyphs, you will find the grain grinding holes in the rocks

I

Be careful because you have cacti and sticker bushes around the rocks

Darrel (in red), Bob to the right, and John behind Bob, plus Ruger in the UTV bed, 

meeting of the male minds! (John's the one that knew the way to the petroglyphs)

Saguaro blooms happen in May and you can see them on the barrels

Not all barrels have blooms -- blooms are usually white but can be yellow

Closer picture of the blooms, I am not sure what the two black dots are?? 

Maybe insects in my zoom mode?

Here's another really tall one, with blooms at the top and side barrel.

I just like the greenery in front of this lonely saguaro, plus the blue skies and puffy clouds!

An then we found this saguaro with many twisted barrels, full of bird holes -- amazing!

We then journeyed around Indian Rock and I got to drive John's UTV which has power steering. Darrel wanted to me to see if it made a big difference in driving, and you can tell, mostly when you are hitting the rough spots and the wheel doesn't jerk as much!  Maybe the next UTV will have the power steering feature??

Better run, adding one more post to catch you up with the happenings!

Love and sending blessings,

Susan & Darrel

Happy Memorial Day!

Hello Family and Friends,
I've been a little remiss in blogging a post or 2 -- guess my only reason is that we've been working and not playing so much, but having a great time in AZ.  The weather has been unseasonable cool and we've had some rain here and there.  Always when we wash the truck we can count on sprinkles or rain to spot it up.  I doubt we will ever see the desert so green and the temps so cool as the year of 2018-19!

It is already Memorial Day and we've been on the road one (1) year on May 28th!  I remember that morning well, pulling out before sunrise and still seeing the moon shining.  It has been a journey and I thank you all for reading along with our travels.

So to catch you up with the last couple of weeks,

Javelinas are still roaming the park, we were riding bikes and saw 2 in someone's front yard, and then I opened the front door and looked out to see one crossing the street a couple doors down.  It is startling to say the least.

I hear the quail in the morning and especially at night.  I haven't seen the babies trucking along after mom but as many adults as I see there should be hundreds of babies 😀

This one is sitting on the Dish receiver at the neighbors.  I hear their "squall", it sounds like someone in pain.

Here's a closer shot, when I hear their call, I start looking for them and it usually takes me awhile to find their location.

The neighbor brought me roses from her rosebushes for Mother's Day -- it was a nice surprise.

Our time is quickly ending for the winter season at North Ranch -- we will head out to Colorado in early June, headed back to South Fork and Ute Bluff Lodge and RV Park.  It will be interesting to see what the weather is like after their snowy winter and wet spring.

I have added another post about the petroglyphs we finally found and some pics along the way.

Love to all,

S & D

Happy Mother's Day (a little late)

Hello Family & Friends,
Well, this week has been pretty uneventful, been getting the RV ready for the travel to Colorado for the next 4 months.  Arizona weather has been very cooperative and I really cannot complain -- cool mornings and nights and warm to upper warm day temps.  If you find shade and the breeze is blowing, it is not too bad.  If you are out in the direct sunshine, you will feel the heat pretty quick. But I think that is coming to an end with 101 degrees expected on Wednesday in Phoenix, which means we are about 7 degrees cooler --- so lower 90's?

The lizards are enjoying it -- so many scurrying around when Darrel and I take a morning walk -- even when I ride my bicycle, they zip across the road and it is pretty startling.  They aren't dangerous but sure do surprise you when the dash across your path.

Everything is blooming and I haven't had my camera with me to take pictures so I will try to be more diligent.  The saguaros are beginning to bloom and I will definitely get a picture of one in the park that has about 30 blooms started on the barrels (arms).

People are leaving and it is kind of sad -- but I do like the quiet with fewer people.  We will be some of the last to depart in early June, most are out by late April or early May.

Pickleball is wrapping up as well as we are losing so many players.  I think we have enough to play thru Wednesday and then, not sure of how many we will have left.  It feels kind of like the end of a school year, a rest break and then you are back together again.

Guess I don't know much else --- Our week will still be working on the RV reorganizing project -- still have the loft to pack and pots and pans to find places for.  Since we have moved to the induction cookplate, we have fewer pans and need to find a spot for them.

However, I did catch a rainbow over the mountains this past week.  It hadn't rained here at North Ranch but I looked out our RV window and caught the rainbow in the clouds.  You just never know what the sky will look like in the desert.

Great mountain shot!

Tried to get part of the cloudy sky

This is front the RV front steps and you can see the blue in the sky above, it was bizarre to look out and just see a rainbow over the mountains.  Guess you need to pay attention!

We hope to take a motorcycle ride some early morning when the temps are still cool -- hopefully I'll see an interesting site or two.

So until another post and maybe with some better pictures, take care to all,

Love,

Susan & Darrel

Piggies, Piggies, Everywhere!

Hello Family & Friends,
Actually they are Javelina (checkout this link for more info on these Piggy looking creatures) and not really a pig at all.  They have invaded North Ranch and when my family was here in April, there was one next door to us and roaming the park as well.

This week we have seen them wandering the streets, this was on Wednesday -- Darrel is yelling at me to get the camera and chase them down (uh, uh, no way)

Here they are headed across the lot of the home down the street.

They just walk the streets like pets, but definitely are NOT a pet.

Not sure if they are a couple, haven't seen any babies to date!

And again today (Thursday, 5/2) another sighting, this time much closer.  I am in the RV prepping up lunch stuff and I hear this scuffling around, I thought it was Darrel but when I looked out the front door, this is what I saw

This is the corner of our driveway, near the front door -- I couldn't get their faces but there were the 2 again, looking for food and/or water.

They ambled across the street to the empty lot

And kept right on going through the park home yards - definitely don't want to pursue them as they amble around the park.

So we will keep an eye out as my youngest sister, Shari, would like one for a pet?? And would like me to catch one for her, uh uh, no way!

Take care and sending blessings your way,

Love,

Susan & Darrel

In Search of Petroglyphs

Hello Family & Friends,
We headed to the desert again behind Congress (this time the school) to search for another set of petroglyphs but the weather was kind of stormy looking so we kept an eye to the sky and didn't find the drawings but we did see some unusual sights, oh and we did see 3 deer along the way -- not much else for wildlife except lizards and birds.

Here's some of the scenery shots I took --

You can see the stormy skies -- we made it home just before the heavy rain & whipping winds

Lots of granite rock cliffs -- Darrel liked this one, if you look closely, right in the center it looks like railroad ties stacked up, but I assure you they were rocks!

More cliffs to see

Lots of greenery, as the desert is still enjoying the rainy/snowy winter

And the blooms are happening everywhere

A clumps of flowers right in front of a the prickly pear cactus

Even the cactus will bloom - we see new ones everyday

We made it home before the rain burst and was glad not to get too soaked on our trip.  It was nice have the overcast as it keeps the heat down.

We are doing well, and keep exploring the area --

Happy Trails,

Susan & Darrel