Sunday, December 3, 2017

A little exploring today.....



Our Location: Coyote Howls Campground, Why, Arizona

A wonderful night for sleeping with the windows open. A full or nearly full moon kept the desert floor looking pretty bright.The coyotes yapping off in the distance gave the night a rather amusing bit of entertainment.

Looks fuzzy and soft, doesn't it?

Awake shortly after 3:30 am I spent some time reading blogs, writing emails, etc. I think today we will head out exploring in the area, checking out a few more boon docking locations. Iput in time on the computer until about 6:30 am and then started puttering around in my part of the Igloo, quietly of course. Finally around 8 am  Riley staggered out of her room. 

Wouldn't catch me setting a dish up in there.

I made pancakes for breakfast this morning as we were heading out for a few hours and didn't want to be overly hungry when we got back. A quick clean up and we were on our way out the door around 9:30 am. We headed north toward Ajo finding our way to Darby Well Road. We'd heard there was AT&T service there but we couldn't find it. We scouted out a number of boon docking spots but truly without cell service nothing in there was of interest to us. It's too far away from people if something should happen.

No idea what this is but I think Rick would like it for his collection.

We did chat with a few fellows, one a fellow Canucky from Flin Flon, Manitoba. They assured us that parking was fine as long as it was on an established road. We drove for over an hour, winding our way here and there, enjoying the sights and discussing the 'what if' there was cell service.  Riley didn't like it, didn't feel comfortable and so after that we just enjoyed the scenery. If we both aren't comfortable we don't stay anywhere. 

Pretty pink Cactus

The road we followed swept around and into the back side of Ajo. We kind of tumbled down into the little town, seeing numerous residential areas with a great deal of southwestern flavour. Many had cacti gardens, curved arches, wrought iron here and there, many rounded corners, and bright colours. Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures as we were busy looking for Olsen's Grocery on the GPS. 

Arizona Snowman....er cowboy man....er....cowboy mud man...

We found it, and I'm surprised to say we also found Olsen's Ace Hardware. It was part of the grocery store, with about 4 or so aisles of hardware between the groceries and a row of freezers along a wall. It was very odd. They even had shopping carts for each, small ones with Ace Hardware, and bigger ones like a regular grocery cart. Truly it was different. 

Heading toward Darby Well Road and the town of Ajo, Arizona

We noted a number of homes with Christmas balls atop of the cacti in the gardens. It was very cute and I'm sure when the sun catches them, quite a sight to see. 

Looks like he's confused on which way is up


A couple of beautiful churches along our drive in the little town of Ajo, we managed to snap a couple of pics but didn't stop. We had freezer items in the back and even though they were in a 'freezer' insulated bag, I didn't want to have them sitting out in the heat. 

Interesting as the middle two are touching in some places  but not growing together.

We didn't find Gunsight Wash today but we'll catch it tomorrow. Just to say we've had a look around and take a few pics as well. 

Just lovely to look at.

Home around 1 pm or so, we read for a bit before BBQ'ing lunch. Today was a green salad, mixed veggies with a squeeze of orange juice and a nice ham steak. It was pretty good if I do say so. 

The road we followed into the back side of Ajo

Tidied up, headed out for a walk. We didn't walk the entire perimeter but we probably dud a little more than half, so I'm thinking probably we've put in about a 1 1/2 miles today. We enjoyed some of the many sights here in the park. Each individual has a unique style for decorating their spots, we even found one themed for the beach complete with sea gulls, a pelican and mooring posts. 

Coming in the back door at Ajo....

We are enjoying the various types of cacti, and the interesting uses to which they are put. We've seen a few places that have placed empty glass bottles upside down on some bushes, I'm wondering if they are some kind wind chime to deter something from eating the garden. I'm not sure and I didn't see anyone to ask. 

Interesting looking, don't ya think?

On our walk around the park we checked out the laundry room, very clean, the machines are nice, $2 to wash (top loads only), very reasonable. Big drums so they will hold a good sized load. I didn't see the price for dryers but I have seen a few clothes lines around the park. The showers and washrooms are old and need some serious refurbishing as the hard water is playing havoc with the ability to clean anything. The rusty build up in the shower bottoms indicates more than just a hard water problem. Riley and I won't be using them, we both came to that conclusion at the same time and a look between us was all that was necessary. 

A very pretty church.

On our walk we passed George and Suzie, as they were sitting outside reading their e-readers and enjoying the nice weather. We stopped for a few minutes, George giving us good instructions to get to Gunsight Wash tomorrow and Suzie filling us in with regards to the Event Calendar we were given upon entrance to the park. Thanks again guys. 

Sunset starting tonight....

We trekked onward to the clubhouse and were amazed at the number of books they have there. We will be going through our own collection and perhaps offering up an exchange before we leave. They had no movies that interested us though. Their collection wasn't too big. A nice puzzle that Patsy would like I'm sure. Plenty of room to work on it. Doesn't look to me that anyone has done anything since George posted his picture the other day.

Then it went to this pretty sky...

Back home we slipped inside for a bit. I edited pics and then came outside to catch the sunset and it was amazing tonight. The sky was on fire!!! The coyotes were yapping off and on as it went down. Truly a nice night. 

The read increased and got darker....

I'm still outside at 6 pm with short pants and a sweatshirt typing my blog. I'll have to go in soon to upload some more pics and edit them as I used my phone for tonight's sun set pics. The door is still open, the vents and windows too. The temp reads 70F/ 21 C. A truly wonderful evening. 

And this was the end.....

So there you have it. Our day of getting out and looking around. Nothing earth shattering or life altering but fun for us and we enjoyed it. Thanks for stopping by, feel free to leave a comment, or send money. Which ever suits you.

Until next time...take care, be safe....

Deb

5 comments:

  1. It sure was nice to see you guys again. this area is different , but we find it grows on you. Like you said the showers not too nice and have to pay, but we do have our own and we have water and a dump station. Enjoy your time here as we sure will.

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    1. It was fantastic to see you and Miss Suzie again as well. Thanks for the directions. I don't mind paying for a shower but bathhouse number 3 ( the only one we checked out) truly needs an update, not even a good cleaning could would help and I think it's probably very clean as everything else certainly is sparkling. It is a very nice park, well priced, friendly people, and certainly in a very nice spot. I can see why you like it.

      Take care, be safe,
      Deb

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  2. Love your pic. Deb. Be save

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    1. Thanks Dad. We're being very careful. Enjoying ourselves and having a great time.

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  3. Just backtracking a bit in my reading that I missed and have to comment on the sand snowman. It looks like a huge bunch of chocolate chip cookie dough!

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