Some shopping, chatting with the girls, and a nice long walk.......

Our Location: Saddle Mountain BLM, Tonopah, Arizona

Warmish over night, temps didn’t get too cool and it was a nice night. I woke up once and truly didn’t hear a sound outside. It was so quiet, no coyote’s yapping, no cars going by, no voices, radios, or airplanes. I found it strangely comforting, similar to our summer location, peaceful. 

Looking out Riley's bedroom window at the back of the Igloo.

I opened my eyes around 6:30 am and just listened to the peace for a while. I took my cuppa outside and enjoyed the peace but with a cool breeze from the east I moved to the front of the Igloo for protection from the wind. Sent a couple of texts to my sister in law Janet in Palm Desert California, read my book and sipped my hot chocolate. My long jammies, a sweat shirt and my slip on shoes, I was comfortable out of the wind. 

We walked up closer for a better look.

Riley made her presence known around 8:30 am and we both sipped some more hot chocolate and discussed our plans for the day. Riley seems stuffier this morning and I think she may be catching a cold, she just seems not quite up to par. 

That's us on the left side of the photo.

I slipped out to the Dogsled and grabbed our US GPS, Miss Bella, to ensure we could find our way home by setting the co-ordinance for the Igloo in our favourites. After that I programmed Buckeye’s Wally World as well, we hopped into the Dogsled, leaving a few windows and vents open for HRH Miss Kitty here in the Igloo and off we went. 

Taking a walk toward the mountain base.

We of course had a rough idea of where we were headed and we kept ignoring Miss Bella as she wanted to take us to the interstate and we didn’t want to go there. We compromised and for the last 5 minutes of the drive we did in fact get on I-10 EAST toward Phoenix. 

Not easy walking here..

We found the Wally World with no issues. We even managed to get into the Dollar Tree (where everything is a $1) and grab a few little tidbit items that we needed. From there into Wally’s we headed. I want to get a 10” or 12” memory foam mattress with cooling gel but I could only find 4” toppers. I may have to order it and have it shipped to the store for pick up. I researched a number of different ones on the net but thought I’d at least try out the one available through Walmart in case there are any issues, their return policy is very good. 

Those white things way off in the distance are vehicles on I-10.

We did manage to find a few things in the non grocery aisles before moving off to top the cart up with food stuffs. The store was very busy today, all the cashiers were open, and each line had at least 4 or 5 people in it. We should know better than to go shopping on a Sunday but well, that’s just the way it worked out.

After some cross  country walking I managed to find this road and took it pretty much back home.

We headed home on I-10 West which took us only a short time. Miss Bella directed us right to our ‘turn off’ and proceeded to say,” navigate off road”. We both chuckled at that instruction.

That little white dot in the middle of the pic is the Igloo as seen on our walk today.

Home the wind was a bit gustier but not as bad as in Buckeye. I parked the Dogsled behind the Igloo to break some of the wind on the patio in case we wanted to sit out there. We put the groceries away, and I started making lunch. It was already 1:30 pm by this time. We hadn’t had any breakfast so no wonder we were hungry. 

A little closer look on my walk today.

I made myself a nice garden salad with raspberry vinaigrette dressing. Riley didn’t want a salad. As I was making my salad I also chopped some extra veggies for the spaghetti sauce as well.  I sautéed those veggies before adding some bottled spaghetti sauce, added a few other ingredients and let it simmer for a while. I enjoyed my salad while Riley made some cheesy garlic bread using Ciabatta buns instead of bread. Once the spaghetti was cooked, the sauce was ready and we enjoyed the rest of our lunch. 

This is one the roads at the very base of the mountain, much too rough for anything except a 4 x4 or an ATV. This is the smoothest section.

We grabbed our walking sticks and headed out to explore. We started off cross country and who ever thinks the desert is just pebbles and sand, you couldn’t be further from the reality. Large ankle buster stones litter the ground, very black, sharp angles and edges. A few cacti plants and some creosote, along with mesquite bushes pretty much top off the rest of the growth. There are a few Palo Verde bushes in the washes as well. We trekked across a good 1/2 mile of ground before Riley decided she’d had enough. I wanted to keep going and so after pointing out the Igloo and Dogsled, I handed her my walking stick as well, so she would have two and that would give her better footing on her walk back. I kept going forward, over the next rise and the next one too. I found the gravel road we’d seen the other day and followed it along but it went too far out of the way, so I cut cross country again. I angled along the road I could see off on the right making my way slowly down to join up with it again and just as I was reaching the spot Riley and I chatted with a fellow last night, Riley called to say she’d made it back to the Igloo. I had no doubt she would, you could see it very easily and since she’s pretty tall I was certain I would see her if she hadn’t returned by the time I did. So turning the corner and heading for home I managed to reach it about 10 minutes later.

A lot taller and rougher than it looks.

I chatted with my sister for a bit today. She’s off to Sudbury tomorrow to see her eye dr. She’s doing well, and keeping herself busy. She has a hobby called Book Folding in which she is doing well, and has numerous orders to fill over the next week or two. She’s extremely crafty and does amazing work. 

This is a dead cactus, see the individual pieces that make up the cactus?

I also chatted with both of my other daughters tonight. Although I’ll call the oldest again tomorrow as she couldn’t talk, she was out on the town having dinner. Middle daughter Bradey and I chatted for about 20 minutes just catching up. They are making plans for their Christmas with her boyfriend David’s family. It’s a tradition they spend Christmas Eve there every year.  She says there is no snow but they’ve had flurries, and the forecast tomorrow is calling for snow. Always nice to chat with the girls. 

Coming back from the base of the mountains, we are not the first trailer but the top of the Igloo is the furthest one on the right.

After that we cleaned up the dishes and settled down for the night. Riley off to her end of the Igloo to do whatever it is she does, and me to write my post and edit my pics.

On my walk tonight, not really sunset but a nice pic.

So there you have it, our first full day here in Saddle Mountain. We’re enjoying it a great deal. We’re both very comfortable here, and plan on staying for a while. We can rest here, and just kind of catch our breath and relax. It’s been a lot of first on this trip, and while we haven’t over done anything we both agree that it’s time to just sit for a while and do nothing. Soak up the sunshine, read, and do some walking that we’ve been missing.

 

Behind me on my walk as I headed through the mountains along a very rough road.

I hope you’ve enjoyed your visit, thanks for stopping by. Feel free to leave a comment.

Until next time…take care, be safe,

Deb