No Ride

After playing pickleball one last time in the Escapees North Ranch RV Park (AZ) indoor court, we spent the rest of the morning goofing off and waiting for 2pm.  We had plans to meet friends Doug and Jan then for a bike ride up “the hill” to a restaurant called The T Bird Cafe for wood-fired pizza.  All morning gray clouds slowly built until 1:30 when they sprinkled a bit of rain on us.  Duane and Doug decided to scrap the plan.  Duane loaded the bike for travel, we ate lunch at home, and no more rain fell all afternoon.  The gray clouds stayed around for a great sunset on the west,

and north.  The east and south remained solidly gray.

Moving day tomorrow.

Louise and Duane

Desert Surprises

When most people think of saguaro (sawaro) cactus they think of a tall spear with two alternate arms of about the same length.  In actuality, some grow only one or two,

and some none at all.

Saguaros often live over 150 years and grow their first side arm any time from 75-100 years of age.  They grow to be over 40 ‘ tall with their growth rate strongly dependent on precipitation—the more rain, the faster they grow.  The tallest ever measured was an armless “spear” near Cave Creek, AZ.  It was 78’ before it was toppled by a windstorm in 1986.

These must be over 100 years old, judging by the number of arms.

While I was walking around today I was surprised to find cactus blooms.

beautiful golden barrels

One day left here at North Ranch Escapees RV Park and residents area.

Biking tomorrow.

Louise and Duane

What A Day!

Morning

 

midday

evening

eastern sky

western horizon

night.

Perfect!

2 days left.

Louise and Duane

Deja Vu

To our delight, we were once again summoned to dinner with our biker friends Doug and Jan.  This time the Grill Master served up some perfectly done and wonderfully juicy and flavorful boneless pork chops.  Jan complemented them with with tossed salad, baked beans, stuffing, and baked potato chunks.  This time we had all afternoon and early evening to enjoy our visit.  We enjoyed every minute of it.

Only three days until moving day.

Louise and Duane

No, Nothing

No pictures today because we did nothing picture worthy.  We both played pickleball this morning in the North Ranch RV Park indoor court, then Duane played this evening in Wickenburg outdoors.  In between I played cards with some of the residents in the park Clubhouse. 

We are both looking forward to some relief from from the heat.  In the past week the daytime temp dipped into the upper 80’s-lower 90’s for a couple of days, then went right back up next to 100.  Duane said that when we move to Tonapah, AZ next week, the first thing we need to do is to put in some one-on-one practice on the (outdoor) pickleball court at the Saddle Mountain RV Park, where we’ll be spending the winter.  I said that the first thing we need to do is to quit getting up at 6am!

Up early again tomorrow.

Louise and Duane

Cruisin’

With only one week left of our month’s stay in Congress, AZ, we spent some quality time with friends Doug and Jan on one of our favorite rides.

We cruised AZ 89 north past the green frog,

up Yarnell Hill (Weaver Mountains)

through Peeples Valley past the propane “sow” with all her little “piglets”.

At Kirkland Junction we peeled off northwest on AZ 96 through Skull Valley.  I think this valley is prettier and more interesting than Peeples Valley.  I like the flat topped mesas, grasslands, and well-kept ranches that give way to fields of giant boulders.

Our ride took us past the duck,

and the football,

with an elevation change of 1500’ and plenty of interesting curves.

The road ends in the town of Bagdad, which exists only because of the copper mine.

We cruise up the street to our turnaround point and parked at the Main St. Diner, 1950’s outside

and in (except for the salad bar, of course.)  The metal strip along the ceiling

gave me an interesting view of Duane and Jan.  After an hour or so in chit-chat and good food, we retraced our ride.

We stopped for a view of this unique crested saguaro (one of the ‘arms’ split),

but otherwise kept on riding,

eventually descending Yarnell Hill, and through Congress where we waved goodbye to Doug and Jan and headed to North Ranch RV Park.

To amuse himself and the grandkids, Duane is growing his beard to see how long he can get it.  After a ride it amuses me to see it all spread out like this!

Staying home tomorrow.

Louise and Duane

Not Happy

Sadly for our potato family, it was their turn for dinner. Their goofy little faces were very tasty, but can cheer us no longer.

To cheer ourselves we drove to Peoria (Phoenix) to the Costco to look for our favorite candy—Sander’s Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramels.  The store was stocked with lots candy and plenty of chocolates, but, alas, no caramels.  When Duane enquired, he was informed that they were on backorder for this area of AZ and CA. 

Sigh.

Louise and Duane

Mr. Potato Head

The real one.

The same face, just turned around and around.  Isn’t he just too cute!

We really need to get out of this heat!

Louise and Duane

All In All

We really didn’t do much today, but the day was quite satisfactory.

We are usually up at dawn (6am)  now so that we can enjoy breakfast before

playing pickleball in the North Ranch (Escapees ) RV Park indoor court.  Enough winter residents have trickled back into the park so that we have 4-5 people to play with now. 

After a nice workout our friends Doug and Jan invited us to their house for dinner.  Grill master Doug made perfect steaks while Master Chef Jan made salad, corn on the cob, and salt crusted baked potatoes.  After we stuffed ourselves she served a sea salt and caramel cream pie.  Yum! Yum!

When we first arrived here in Congress, AZ. we were disappointed to find that they were out of town.  Fortunately they made it back in time for a really nice visit this evening.  We will also be taking a motorcycle ride later this week.

More fun tomorrow.

Louise and Duane

North Ranch Night Lights

Venus just above the horizon

Mars on right top

moon shadow

Love walking around in the dark.

Louise and Duane