Globe Arizona

Becky, Al, Susan and I traveled to Globe today.  Globe is an old mining town that was home to a silver and copper boom.  We had reservations to take a ride on the the Copper Spike RR. The railroad runs from Globe to the Apache Gold Casino. The casino is operated by the San Carlos Apache Nation.   It was 90 min. trip in some very nice restored coach cars.  We were afraid that it was going to rain all day but it cleared up and stayed nice all day.  The RR departs from an old restored train station near downtown Globe.

After the train ride we went and did a little shopping at place called The Pickle Barrel Trading Post.  It's in a huge old commercial building near the RR.   The 100 yr old building was a warehouse for the Old Dominion Mine.   We had fun poking around checking out everything from tourist stuff to Apache art to antiques.  Becky and I ended up buying a small "Burden Basket" made by a local Apache artist.  Next we checked out a quilt exhibition in the old courthouse and, finally, we drove down the street for lunch at El Ranchito.  It's a small restaurant/grill on the edge of downtown. We had a couple of beers and nice Mexican dinner.  Their food and service were very good. 

It was around 3pm when we finished lunch and decided to go see the Besh-Ba-Gowah Archeological Park.  It's a restored Salado Culture village from around 1200 AD.  It really upsets the stereotyped view of Native Americans that we get from tv.  We (I) grew up seeing them all living in tepees.  The reality is that there have been permanent villages built of stone and adobe located in the US that date back to ancient times.  The Salado Culture was one of the groups that built such villages.  They're abandoned villages are all over the Southwest.

We drove back on US-60 through Miami, AZ and ultimately back to Mesa.  I was all primed for pointing out the huge Pinto Mine and Top-Of-The-World but everyone wimped out on me and feel asleep.

Adios

I took a hike this morning with Wilson Allen.  We went to a concert with the Allen's last week and Wilson and I decided to go hiking this Saturday.

We decided to go to Hackberry Spring in the Superstition Wilderness Area.  It's along First Water Creek north of Superstition Mountain.  I'm rediscovering the area after the Forest Service dropped parking fees in the area.  I was too tight to hike in area when it cost me $4 for parking along a dirt road.  Their excuse was that they improved the road and installed restrooms.  I can assure you that I had no need for nor had I requested a better road or restrooms.  I might have paid something for them to make the road a bit worse and remove the restrooms.  My avoidance of parking fees has caused me to take some pretty hairy detours sometimes. A couple of years ago I hiked to Hackberry Spring by a really round about route and was worn out by the time I got back.

We got started around 8am and beat most of the crowd.  We parked in the horse trailer lot and cut cross country hoping to keep away from other people.  It worked for the most part.  We had a nice peaceful walk for several hours but we eventually had to cut into the regular path to the spring.  The wet weather had allowed grass and plants to sprout and it looked like a landscaped park along the washes.  We got scratched up a bit by the Catclaws while bushwacking through the washes but it was worth the solitude and scenery.

Luckily we came out in a nice little narrow canyon leading to First Water Creek.  There was water flowing in the creek and it was nice walking along and hearing the moving water.  After awhile we started to hear voices and could see a large group coming down the path.  We managed to get ahead of them before getting to the spring so that we could quietly check it out for awhile.

After they caught up we took off again and headed up the path toward Garden Valley.  Garden Valley is actually a mesa that stays pretty wet and is rumored to have been a seasonal camp for ancient indians (Salado Culture).  We cut off and took a shorter way back that went through an old ranch area with corrals and a windmill.

After getting back to the truck we decided to stop and get something to eat.  As luck would have it,  the Mammoth Saloon at Goldfield was open for business.  We drove through a crowd of snowbirds and parked behind the saloon.  Cowboy Bob (the bartender) was friendly but his Italian accent made his cowboy personnae a bit hard to swallow.  He served us two beers in plastic cups and we took him up on his recommendation of chili.

Later at home, the kids were watching cartoons and I fell asleep in a chair.  Sherry said Kikki crept up to me and she thought that that Kikki was going to do something sweet like give me peck on the cheek.  Either Sherry doesn't know her daughter very well or she's covering up for herself.  What Kikki was really doing was creeping up so she could smack me on the head and yell "Wake Up!"  It's a good thing she's cute.

Adios

The weather's cleared up and we're still doing yard work. Al dug up the garden and planted some greens and peppers.  We'll need to be careful.  We could still get a frost.

We had some folks over for dinner last Saturday.  We were all going to a concert later that evening.  Al cooked most of it and cleaned up.  That make things much easier on me.  I did have to help clean the house though.  We went to see "Asleep at the Wheel".  They're an old (literally) group that I've been listening to since the 70's.  I think the only original members are the lead singer and a steel guitar player.  They're still pretty spry.

Work is starting to pick up again.  I'll probably be going to California next week for a day or two.  There's a several day meeting in Vegas at the end of the month that I need to attend.  I attended a solar energy workshop last week.  I've been skeptical of solar in the past.  However, after attending the meeting I realized that I'd misjudged it.  I was evaluating it as an energy technology when it's really a jobs program.  I'm all for a jobs program and it's also a reasonable technology to be fair.


I've been watching tv in the office (man cave) lately using the internet.  There's a lot of tv shows on the net these days.  You can watch new shows, discontinued series, late night talk shows and movies with very few commercials and you can watch them anytime you want to.  It's nice to be able to watch stuff at 7pm that's really scheduled for 11:30pm.  The whole man cave concept has never worked out for me.  Becky uses her computer in here and the kids tend to drift in.

(The picture above seems pretty peaceful.  However, about five minutes later Bubby tried to move his chair and became irritated that Kikki was in the way.  He crashed his chair into her's and upended the chair and Kikki.  Kikki immediatly began screaming and holding what she implied was a seriously damaged arm.  I carried her at arms length [to protect my ears] to Grandma who passed her off to Mom.  Bubby was also crying and had beaten us all to Mom to plead his case.  All was back to normal abnormal after about 10 minutes of Kikki getting lots of attention to her surprisingly well healed arm.)

Al's "friend" Susan is coming to visit for a week.  She's arriving this afternoon and we'll all be meeting for dinner at my favorite Mexican restaurant (Rosa's Mexican Grill).  It's located in a little rundown strip mall near where Becky worked at a thrift store back in 2000.

I gotta go.

Adios

We've had a cold, pissy week.  We do get one or two a year.  Several storms burst through California and dropped precip and temperatures here in Arizona.  I'll be cleaning up the backyard today.

I cleaned the pool yesterday.  It was full of trash from the tree-cutting last week.  Up North, in the mountains, they got literally tons of snow.  The skiers would be loving it if they could just get there.  A lot of roads were closed in the high country due to the nasty weather.  A few tractor trailers were actually blown over on the intersate.  Flagstaff got at around 3' of snow that has caused some flat roofs to collapse.

It's 47 right now at 9:15 am and I can see frost on the neighbor's roof.  It's clear though and will probably warm up quickly.  (It's 49 now at 9:20am. The sun's getting higher and the frost is disappearing)

We took advantage of the rainy weather to paint the spare bedroom.  Al did most of it but Becky and I pitched in for a few hours yesterday to cut in trim.

The kids all got haircuts this week.  Bubby is still trying for a "Mohawk" and Chey got her's shortened a bit.  This gave her a more mature look that Sherry and Becky have mixed feelings about.

The worst news (for me) is that I've inherited the cat.  This should go down as the most selfless act by any husband of all time.  Al's dog has the cat spooked so she was staying in our bedroom and smelling up the place because she wouldn't leave the room. This was driving Becky nuts. Since it turned out that the old cat was still too fast for me to be able to hit her with the car,  I volunteered to move the cat food and cat box to my office. I'm keeping a close watch for any sign of health problems.  I wouldn't want her to suffer in the least so euthanasia will be my first choice for a cure.

That's Monday morning's work she's sitting on.

Becky's up and the temp has gotten to 54.  I gotta go.

Adios

This weekend, Al and I cut down a big tree in the backyard.  It had always been a mess and it was starting to crowd the fence.  It dropped all its leaves in the middle of the summer to clog up the pool and in the winter it drops big seed pods all over the yard.  I used a ladder to get into the tree and cut off limbs while Al used a rope to pull them into the yard.  We used a small electric chain saw for the limbs but I'll have to rent a larger one to cut down the rest of the trunk.

We hauled two loads of small limbs and leaves to the landfill.  They used to mulch the yard waste at the dump but it looks like they just treat it like garbage now.  That's a bit disappointing. It seems like a waste of space.

Becky and I ordered a new bathroom vanity and counter top for the master bathroom.  We ordered a light cherry 30" raised panel vanity with 2-12" drawer units on the right hand side. The old one is getting pretty dated and worn.  I've got 3 weeks of rest before it shows up. I'm hoping we can keep the old mirror and medical cabinet.

Well,...got to start work.

Adios

We're getting settled back in after the holidays.  The decorations are down and packed away and I hauled Sherry and the kid's Christmas tree to the city drop off location.  The economy must be getting better.  All 10-15 of the city's big recyle dumpsters were full of gift boxes.

Becky and I are looking for a bathroom vanity.  We've been shopping around for styles and wood stains.  We'll probably order something later this week.

Becky, Al, Bubby and I went and saw a 3D science fiction movie yesterday.  It was Avatar.  It's about 10 foot tall blue folks on a jungle planet being victimized by a mining company.  Bubby was thrilled. Becky not so much.

Al is here.  The weather must have finally worn him down.  He drove out last week and got here Thursday night.  The kids have been having a big time with Uncle AL.  Becky loves it.  He's cooked every night since he got here.  He'll probably migrate back to Ohio in the spring.

Becky, Chey and Kikki are sitting at the kitchen table discussing marriage plans.  Kikki thinks 5-6 kids should be sufficient.  She also has agreed to let Chey's daughter be her flower girl "as long as she's pretty".  Also, and I hope Becky has a recording, they were both assuring her that they would be overjoyed to take care of us in our old age.  Kikki is going to clean the house (that will be a welcome but surprising change) and Chey is going to cook for us.  I guess we can breath easy now.

Hope all is well.

Adios

We're back!  My office thermometer reads 44 degrees at 8am.  It should get up to 70 later in the day.  It's really hard to get used to the cold winter weather up north when you've been out of it for a while.  It was also nice to get back in my old hot tub this morning to relax and look at the stars.  All in all, it's nice to be home.

We really enjoyed getting to spend time with family and friends.  We're sorry that we didn't get to spend more time and that we couldn't manage to see everyone.

We'll be cleaning house today and taking down Christmas stuff.  The dogs have, as usual, made a mess of the the backyard.  One of them has learned how to get into the kitchen trash and carried out cans and wrappers.  I'll probably have to dog proof the door.  Becky would prefer completely ridding the house of dogs.  They also found the cat food and ate a whole bag of it.  The cat's on Becky's side but of course the cat doesn't rate very high either since she peed in the bedroom.  I'm dreading cleaning up the yard.

The kids have also done their part and left the office trashed.  They were probably hanging out in here while their Mom checked her email.  (As an aside, I just looked at this keyboard and realized that it's getting pretty grungy. Maybe this is due to helping John set up his brand new computer a few days ago or to just looking at it too closely.  I've found that things look much nicer if I don't wear my glasses.)  I haven't ventured into the kids bedroom yet.  The kid's get a lot of slack but Sherry may take some heat.

I took a picture of our plane loading up for Phoenix.  It wasn't a crowded flight. We had an empty seat between us and plenty of room.  I read the paperback book that Mom gave me for Christmas the whole flight (Thanks Mom).  Sherry and Russell met us at the airport and drove us home.  The kids were at their Dad's this weekend. Becky says heads will roll if she doesn't see them today.  I believe her.

Thanks for the hospitality everyone and we'll look forward to seeing you in the new year (this one!).

Adios