Friends, new, old and new old.....

Our Location: Empire Ranch, Vail, AZ

Today's post is a bit different, I hope you enjoy it. The photos do NOT match the paragraphs. I am simply telling you what I see when I look out one particular window. The photos are posted at random taken in about a 180 degree of view. I haven't taken any toward the road way that leads us to our spot. 

You know I'm going to tell you about the wind, right? Okay, I've told you. 

 Sorry for the reflection of the kitchen faucet. This is the mountains I describe later in this post.

This is the view when I look southwest out my window. 

Yesterday was a great day for us, we enjoyed a quiet morning and the views outside the window. Let me tell you about the views as I sit in my chair looking out. 

You can see the road beside us, it doesn't look nearly as orange when up close.  Way off in the distance is the mounds I can never reach. To the right is a stump, one of the many that dot the landscape making you think it's something other than a stump.

Those buildings are off in the distance as you can see from one of the above photos. This is just a closer view. The Empire Ranch lands do not reach that far or at least we cannot reach those buildings by the road we travelled.

The grass is a colour that would be hard to duplicate on a painters palette. It's yellowish/brown, but with dark highlights. As it waves in the wind it is quite literally a sea of grass as the long stalks wave in the wind much like a wave rolls on the ocean changing colours as it rolls. In the grasslands it starts off as a yellow/brown roll and as it moves the darker hues of dying stalks show in the wave, when it passes, the yellow/brown once again is dominant. Ripples I guess you could call them in a very light wind, but definite waves as the wind climbs. Stumps and bare somewhat stunted trees (compared to the trees I'm used to back in Ontario) dot the landscape, breaking up the sea of grass. 

 Not welcoming in the least, cold, stark, black with patches of white near the peak to the left of middle. 

The black dot under that tree is a cow. It is near the water tanks which are in the area to the left of the fence.

Here and there you can see black dots of cattle as they forage among the grass, looking for the green tender shoots that appear here and there. Under it all the dirt road ways when seen from a distance look almost orangish, or a very unusual shade of brown maybe,  not the bright orange of Alabama clay but a relative for sure. Upon getting closer it is less orange and more brown. An oddity for sure. 

 You can see that really is a stump. I doubt you believed me when I told you it was. See those mounds way off, I can never seem to reach them. 

This is the view outside our door. I took a series of photos of this view to show you just how different it can look.

It appears to be gently rolling hills but those of us that have visited know it isn't always the case. The washes that run through here present a different colour off in the distance. A patch or line of trees, that looks greenish in hue but you know they aren't. It's a trick of the eye. A dark line of brown or maybe grey seems to hover in these areas and you realize it's the top of the grass along the wash. The colour seems to be darker but it isn't, it just appears to be in the slanted view or maybe it's another trick of the eye. Beyond that is the lower hills or maybe mounds, are far off, I seem never to get close to them, they are always 'over there'. They are a darker brown than the grass but we would still consider them a light brown in colour. They are dotted with dark shapes which of course are more of those bare, stunted trees and stumps. Behind those mounds are bigger mounds, again they are 'over there'. Behind those are mountains. 

A closer view. I believe that tree may be in a small wash, but I haven't yet checked it out. 

The mountains have a look that changes as the light changes. Black, craggy, ominous looking hill sides that end in many peaks. Some with what looks to be snow at their top, but maybe it's simply lighter coloured rocks that appear like snow against the backdrop of such foreboding but majestic formations.  The sun's light changes the views with each passing hour, as the morning turns to afternoon and then on into evening the mountains while remaining dark looks less craggy, less cold, but still not welcoming. There is no colour on these mountains except the contrasting white at the top and black on the sides. 

 Closer still.

The wind is a fact of life here I think. Like a rock in the middle of the water, it just depends on the moment as to what kind of wind you  have. Due to the elevation here, the wind is cool, brisk, some might even deem it to be cold, and I think they would right today as the outside temps hover around 47F/ 8 C at 11 AM. Overall the area is beautiful, breath taking in many ways. I find it some how more lonely than the flat desert floors we've enjoyed for most of the winter. Inviting in a way unlike the desert, but stand offish as well. This is a place that would be easy to have a love/hate relationship with, I have no doubt. I suppose one must decide whether the love side out weighs the hate side, wouldn't you think? 

Can you see the darker grasses over there. A wash runs along that line I'm certain and one day I'll walk over there and check it out.

Yesterday also found us texting with our friends Deb & Tom (Celebrating the Dance) who are currently tethered to full hook ups at Quail Ridge RV just down the way. Riley and I headed into Sierra Vista for a couple of things before stopping at the Stinger Bee for a visit. It is always fun to spend time with this wonderful couple and we hope to see them again before they head out on the next leg of their journey. Thanks for sharing the warmth of the Stinger Bee and the wonders of friendship as well. 

Those are mounds way over there and they always seem to stay 'way over there'.

After a few years of near misses we finally managed to meet new old friends Ken & Shirley ( Seeing America with Ken & Shirley ). We have followed their blog for a few years but have never been able to be in the same place at the same time. Yesterday was the day it all connected as we all met at the Stinger Bee for a visit. They are a delightful couple, lots of smiles and hugs as we settled in to chatter. Seemed like we already knew them even though it was our first meeting. With a full house we didn't get to visit with Ken much but we've all agreed to fix that in the future. We did manage to chatter with Shirley some and of course truly enjoyed her company, she's a sweetheart! We look forward to spending more time with them in the future and getting to know them better.  Shirley of course brought a buffet with her. Thanks for the goodies Shirley. 

Ken on the left, Tom on the right, enjoying a nice cold brew after a hard day of touring and lunch. 

Another couple also came along to join the fun, Doug & Michelle.  Nice folks and they added to the lively mix of conversations. Perhaps our paths will cross again in the future and we will get to know this couple better as well.

Shirley, Deb & Riley.

It was 7:30 pm before we left to head home to the Igloo. Of course we didn't arrive at the Stinger Bee until 4 so I guess we didn't overstay our welcome too much. Riley and I talked on the ride home about how much better she seems at being able to meet new people and how much more comfortable she was with THIS large crowd. She is usually full of anxiety and dreads this kind of gathering. I think because we already know and enjoy the time we spend with Deb & Tom, that helped a great deal as she is very at ease with them. Since we follow Ken & Shirley's blog it's almost like she knows them a little and so the anxiety of meeting new folks didn't really apply to them. The only unknown new folks were Doug & Michelle and as it worked out, we didn't really chat with Doug much, only Michelle. So it was a much easier visit for Riley than it would have been even two years ago. Of course we knew Doug & Michelle would be a nice couple, after all they are hanging out with our friends both old and new old.  How could they not be nice?

Doug and Michelle, and in the right side mirror, Deb & Shirley.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your day even half as much as I enjoyed mine. 

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

Deb