Busy last day .........

Our Location: Saddle Mountain BLM, Tonopah, Arizona

A bit warmer last night, 41F/5C with a bit of cloud cover to help keep the heat. I was awake around 5:30 am, finally rolling out about 6:45 am. Looks like another cloudy day if the morning sky is any indication

 

This morning's sunrise...

 

We’re heading out shopping today to stock up on the staples before we move on tomorrow. We’ve enjoyed our time here very much but it’s time to get the Dogsled back in harness and move elsewhere. Although if ever we are in this area again we will be stopping here for certain. A beautiful place without any doubts. 

 

I love the colours of the sunrise.....

 

Riley strolled out of her room about 7 am but soon disappeared and showed back up about an hour later. I won’t say she was sleeping but well there were noises of some sort coming from her direction. 

 

Not snow, cotton......

 

After a quick breakfast we loaded a few things in the Dogsled and headed out toward Buckeye for some stock up shopping. However before we were far up the road I turned up another road here in the BLM parking area. It took us about 20 minutes but we finally made the spot I had found yesterday up tight to the bottom of the mountain. We parked the Dogsled and walked up so Riley could see and then agreed we could make the climb. Back in the Dogsled I proceeded in a forward direction, slipped into 4 X 4 and kept climbing the hill. I’m not very tall and had trouble seeing over the nose but did alright. It’s a bit tighter with the Dogsled than it looked and we agreed we could make it with the Igloo but hitching back up might be a bit tricky as I’d have to come in almost sideways. Still it was a great spot. After making it back down the washed out part of the hill and making it back to level ground we slipped back into 2 wheel drive and made our way back to Courthouse Road. We took a different road back and managed to make it out in about 15 minutes. We enjoyed our little bit of 4 wheeling this morning and had a chuckle or two.

 

That yellow thing is the square baler for the cotton....

 

Back on Courthouse Road we headed out and quickly came to Salome Hwy and from there we took Baseline and managed to find our way to all of the places we wanted to go. Our first stop in Buckeye was Walgreens to get some water. We drink a lot of water and while we’d prefer spring water, purified is okay. 

 

In the southeast they use round bales for cotton, here we see more square ...

 

Our next stop was the Goodwill store where we made our donation and did a quick browse in the store just because we could. 

 

Beautiful landscaping along the streets near the subdivisions....

 

Next we stopped at the gas bar in the lot near the Fry’s Supermarket. Fuel was extremely well priced and I topped up the Dogsled’s bowl with about 20 gallons of diesel. 

 

 

Inside the grocery store we made good use of our card and stocked up on a number of items that we can easily store for use later. Since we aren’t certain what kind of food stores will be in the areas we’re heading towards next.

 

Love the shaggy look of the palm trees.

 

After leaving Fry’s we journeyed just across the side street to Walmart where we stocked up on a few more things. We also bought a few things that were not necessary but that we’ve been talking about for a while now. Another set of Corelle dishes (although we are discarding the cups), and while they don’t exactly match the other ones, these ones are plain white so that works. My set of 4 just wasn’t quite enough. 

 

 

From Wally’s we headed home, taking the Interstate. The sun was warming things up drastically and of course today we hadn’t left any windows or vents open for HRH back at the Igloo. The last few days it’s been cool enough not to worry about it, and of course today the one day we’re out the temps reached 78F/25C before noon. 

 

Nothing quite like a John Deere.

Back home we opened the door and all the windows. It was a bit warm in the Igloo but HRH was just fine and was actually up on my bed in the warmest part of the Igloo. Go figure! We managed to put alway all the groceries with some extras going to storage that I’ll sort out when we actually settle into our new location. 

 

Love the mail box...

 

A call from my Dad as we were putting away the groceries brought news that one of my nephew’s had his house broken into and robbed over the Christmas holidays. They did some damage getting inside and damage inside as well, taking many, many things, not just jewelry and electronics but tools, guns, and many other items. Apparently the house was ransacked. At least it was my nephew that came home alone to find that, and not his wife.

 

 

Lunch time was getting to be almost past as we were pushing 3 pm by this time. Riley opted to have some of the  small chicken we’d purchased at Walmart, along with some shrimp. I made myself a big salad with left over Christmas chicken tossed on top. I can tell you I was full when I finished. 

 

We cleaned up the dishes, grabbed our sticks and headed out for a walk. We chatted with Matt (from Phoenix, just starting to camp and knows nothing about dry camping) and to Kim, while petting Taz. Returning home from out walk we grabbed a drink of water and headed back outside to start packing up our patio/weber etc. Now we have only a few little things to finish packing up tomorrow. 

 

You can do your banking down here Dad....

 

We finished as the sun went down, but stayed outside for a bit longer to have one last little fire.  Back inside I started editing pics and writing my post. Riley is off doing whatever it is she does and the night is quiet here. 

 

The road thru Tonopah.

 

So there you have it, our busy last full day here at Saddle Mountain BLM. It’s been fun, we’ve enjoyed it a great deal and will definitely come back another time. However it’s time to move on and see something new. We’re looking forward to tomorrow. 

 

Our last sunset here at Saddle Mountain....

 

Thanks for stopping by, feel free to leave a comment. 

 

Looks like dust in the air over there....

 

Until next time…take care, be safe, 

 

Good night from Saddle Mountain....

Deb

A quiet day, meeting new people......

Our Location: Saddle Mountain BLM, Tonopah, Arizona

The stars last night were bright and near at hand, one could almost touch them. The crisp desert air sent us inside after a few minutes of star gazing.

 

A hint of sunrise this morning..

Awake this morning around 5:30 am,I  finally got up just before 7 to catch a less than spectacular sunrise.  Here the sun rises behind a long ridge of mountains and if there is no cloud cover it seems to hover with a line of orange, then a quick hint of yellow and after that the sun seems to simply pop up with no fan fare. Still nice though to see the skies lighten and brighten. No clouds this morning, should be a warm day. Cool again last night, 36F/2C but we’ll take it. We just pull up the duvet and give Mr. Heater a few minutes and before long we are toasty warm. 

 

From here it just turned completely yellow within a few minutes

A hot chocolate in hand I caught up on my blog reading and comments. Some days there just aren’t enough hours in the day to get things accomplished. Riley heard me stirring around and came stumbling out a while later. We both had some thoughts about the day and after cleaning up and getting ourselves ready to face the day we started prepping lunch. Today would be BBQ Bourbon Chicken, a mixed veggie medley and some acorn squash. Of course I had my salad as well. 

 

A bit closer than usual.

After that I headed out for a walk by myself. I headed back to the  mountain that is very prominent in my photo’s around sunset time. I love the way the sun catches all the crags and crevices and today I wanted a bit closer look than I had the last time. I headed out on the road and stuck pretty much to some form of road except for one little jaunt through a wash that was kind of blocking my way. I didn’t want to walk all the way back to the road and then back up the other side, so I headed off through this somewhat significant wash. It was over 5 feet deep as it was over my head so that’s how I know that little bit of information. 

 

I walked back along this wash for a while. It's much more rugged than it appears in the picture

 

I managed to find some very nice camping spots if I can just figure out how to get the Igloo back there. I’ll have to check out a couple of the other roads before we leave. One is at the very bottom of the mountain, on a slight bit of a climb but not too high. We’d need to use low gear to get up but we do that already at our summer location so it’s not a big deal. I took some pics that I’ll share with you in this post. 

 

I followed this hint of a path for a while along that wash.

 

I managed to hike part way into one of the washes that went between two of the mountains, but didn’t go too far, it was far too rocky with just me on my own and I didn’t want to twist an ankle by myself. The gorge was fairly deep and I’m certain the water is moving very rapidly when it comes down there. A number of large rocks and deposits of sand could be seen along the bottom of the area. Up close and looking at that big mountain it was evident that it is pock marked with small holes and places where rocks have fallen and left spaces. A few cacti growing up there as well tells me that there are some deposits of soil of some kind with enough depth to allow these cacti to root and grow to a fairly significant size. I would like to explore further but not on my own.

 

As you can see, it goes for a long way.  This is also the back of the campsite I would like to slip into next time we're in the area.

 

I headed back home as I’d already been gone for some time. I managed to follow roadways the entire way, although some were barely considered roadways, more like ATV trails perhaps. I did move some of the more razor like looking rocks on the road way just in case I decide to take the Dogsled over that way tomorrow. I would love to take the truck to the campsite spot and check it out before hauling the Igloo in that direction. It might be a bit tight on the turn but it would be wonderful to get there. It’s not a place I would park at this time of the year but later in the year when we head home it would be a nice spot to sit for a few days. It is literally at the foot of the mountain. 

This is a partial view from that same campsite.

 

Back home I checked the time I’d been gone just under 2 hours. I didn’t necessarily put in a lot of miles but I did enjoy the exercise and the views. I puttered around outside taking down a few little Christmas things when Kim and Taz (a small dog) were walking by. Kim comes from a couple of roads over, and is our nearest ‘distance’ neighbour but not our closest reachable neighbour. Two big washes make it difficult to cut cross country to reach Kim’s place. Kim and her husband Marty are from Washington and are heading toward Texas where Marty has a brother. They have a nice little travel trailer with an Add-A-Room that they make a lot of use of. She chatted and asked to see inside the Igloo, and after the grand tour she headed off with a bag full of movies as we had thinned out our selection. She told us to drop by to check out the Add-A-Room anytime. 

 

The view from a little further down the roadway leading from the campsite

 

Back inside I washed up, enjoyed my salad and then just needed to nap. I slept for about an hour and a half. Riley cooked lunch which was excellent in case you were wondering. She thoughtfully covered mine and I ate it when I got up. We added a couple of oatmeal cookies to the end of the meal, they hit the spot.

 

More like trails than roads...

 We both grabbed our sticks and headed out taking the same route as yesterday. We were just passing Kim & Marty’s trailer when we met Kim and Taz, she invited us in and we chatted for a few minutes, meeting Marty and enjoying the visit. We were soon on our way once again heading back the way we’d come and arriving home within 20 minutes. 

 

A survey stick but I loved the sun's rays...

I stayed outside to catch the sunset but too much cloud cover prevented any kind of show tonight. I did however gather a few dead sticks while waiting for the light show and tomorrow we’ll have a little fire and enjoy the smells of the desert wood. 

 

 

Sonya, Josh and Jack left today as I was coming back from my walk. We didn’t get a chance to say good bye but we do wish them safe travels. 

 

Looks different up closer.....

That was our day, nothing spectacular but it was interesting and fun. We enjoyed meeting Kim, Marty and Taz. Perhaps we’ll run into them further down the road or perhaps at another time back here in this area. It would be nice. The day wasn’t warm enough for short pants and I wore a light weight pull over for part of my morning walk and again this afternoon. Not a bad day but not overly warm either. 

 

 

Last night I called my buddy Ron in Kansas to find out that a friend of ours from Benton Harbor, Michigan who  winters at Magic River Campground, Long Beach, MS passed away yesterday during emergency surgery. Mac McKinney (Mac was his nick name, I don’t recall his given name) was a fixture around the place all winter. Mac was an early riser and could be counted on to be around the fire pit between 5 - 5:30 am pretty much every morning. Mac will be greatly missed by all who enjoy the Magic River Campground hospitality over the winter seasons. Our condolences to his family and friends. Rest in peace Mac. 

 

Thanks for stopping by, feel free to leave a comment. We hope you’ve had an excellent day as well. 

 

Until next time…take care, be safe,

Deb

A very Merry Christmas to one and all....

Our Location: Saddle Mountain BLM, Tonopah, Arizona

Today's pics are sunrise, lunch and sunset. Sorry but I didn't take any other pictures at all today.

Start of sunrise between 7 - 7:30 am

Merry Christmas to all! May this day bring the love and warmth of family and friends to you and yours. 

Opposite the sunsets, the skies go from red to yellow

A coolish Christmas morning here in Saddle Mountain BLM as the temperature reached 37F/ 2C over night.  I’m sure I heard the sleigh bells ring as St. Nick passed overhead much earlier around 5 am. A Merry Christmas wish from daughter Courtney about an hour after that had me thinking it was time to put the iPad aside and get out of bed. A beautiful sunrise brought the day to a awesome start between 7 - 7:30 am. HRH Miss Kitty and I started the day curled up on the couch waiting for Mr Heater to warm the Igloo. Actually I was curled on the couch, she sat on the chair looking at me as if to say, well, aren’t you going to feed me yet? Which I did when I was making my hot chocolate like I do pretty much every morning. You would think she would know the routine by now. 

Enough cloud cover to make it interesting today

Around 7:45 am I headed outside, as Riley was still sleeping, to start my holiday phone calls to the great white north of Ontario, and of course to the areas of Southern Ontario that my two other daughters call home. Wishes and warm tidings were exchanged and passed around  in all of those calls. Nothing like hearing the voices of loved ones at any time, not just on this day.

Riley rolled out and while I was finishing up my phone calls and she pulled out some Grand Biscuits for breakfast. They were purchased for the occasion so it was nice to have a treat this morning. Although I will admit we’ve treated ourselves a few times this winter season to these biscuits.

We have enough chicken left over for a couple of sandwiches

After that I did a bit of tidying up and finally about 10 am got out of my jammies. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I’m not ever in my jammies that long. However I was a lazy bum this morning and enjoyed it to the hilt. 

Lots of veggies but my favourite is the stuffing

We decided on a walk this morning, and walked about two miles. Up one road, down another, with Courthouse Road adding the last of the triangle. On our easy walk we met Sonya from Connecticut. She travels with her youngest son, Josh and dog Jack in a van type camper. We finally made friends with Jack before we left our chat with Sonya. We chatted for about 15 minutes and enjoyed the interaction with other folks.

I left the date so you would know I wasn't just showing the same pics over and over

Back home I started prepping lunch. I opted to bypass my salad today as I still pretty full from my 3 biscuit breakfast. I put the whole chicken on the Weber around 1:30 pm and turned it twice. It was done to golden perfection and isn’t in the least bit dry. We added Thyme, Parsley, and Oregano before tossing it on the grill. It was just about ready by 2:45 pm at which time I added two packets. One of mixed veggies including fresh green beans, fresh mushrooms, spaghetti squash, celery, peppers, and carrots. In the other packet I added some butter and a bit of honey to some Acorn squash. While those were cooking Riley made some stove top stuffing. That my friends was our Christmas lunch. We have a bit of left over chicken and everything else was cleaned up with no leftovers. 

Maybe Chevy should be buying some of these pics.

After dishes I once again donned my shoes and headed off for the approx mile round trip to Courthouse Road and back. I didn’t over eat but I was certainly full and the walk made me feel much better. 

Awesome, isn't it?

The sky was overcast all day and the temps didn’t get very warm, only in the mid 60’s/ 16-18C, with a hint of wind, nothing you could actually say was wind but the hint was there. Since there wasn’t any sunshine to sit in for warmth I had to put on my fleece sweater and my Santa Hat while I sat outside reading and cooking lunch. We left the outside door open but not any windows. I closed the door when it reached 4 pm as it was cooling off quickly. Now as I sit outside taking pics of the sunset at 5:30 pm the temps are still dropping. The sky has cleared up some with some blue showing more now that the sun has left the sky. A nice light yellow seems to be the colour of the moment. 

Our plans are to kind of pack up a few things tomorrow but nothing much. We will be heading to Buckeye on Wednesday to do a stock up shop before we head out on Thursday. I also want to top up the Dogsled’s fuel bowl before I hook up as I find it much easier to do so. I find that it’s often difficult enough to get to the diesel pumps with just the truck as some people have no concept of what the green handled pumps are for and park their little cars in the middle of the pumps to block anyone from using the other pump. When I’ve got the Igloo behind me it makes it a bit more difficult to maneuver around those folks. Which is the reason we aren’t taking the Igloo with us to stock up and then head out. We aren’t pressed for time so we can take our time and do it over two days. Less hassle, less stress. I like less stress.

A plane left his calling card in the night sky too.

So there you have it, our Christmas Day. Peaceful, bountiful and quiet. We like that. We hope you’ve all had a wonderful day, feeling the love and affection of family and friends, enjoying the warmth of the season in a way that was comfortable for you. While it seems we can’t have peace in the world, I’m happy to settle for the peace we’ve found here at Saddle Mountain during out stay.

A birthday greeting goes to cousin Barry, who celebrates his birthday today. A Christmas baby that was definitely a unique gift, he is truly one of a kind! Happy Birthday Barry!!

Thanks for stopping by, feel free to drop a comment. 

Merry Christmas, goodnight from Saddle Mountain, Tonopah, Arizona

Until next time…take care, be safe,


Deb

 

Merry Christmas .......

Our Location: Saddle Mountain BLM, Tonopah, Arizona

A bit warmer this morning and once the sun started to come up it warmed up quickly.  I lazed around in bed until just around 7 am this morning and enjoyed the quiet here at Saddle Mountain. I was outside chatting with my sister on the phone by 8 am, enjoying my hot chocolate outside. I will admit I put on my heavy jacket and a pair of thin gloves to keep my hands from aching. I was still in my jammies though.

We headed out along this roadway

Riley poked her head out doors a couple of times but just waved. When I finished chatting with my sister and headed inside Riley offered to make breakfast. Even pancakes if I wanted them. However I wasn’t really hungry so I thanked her but declined the offer of breakfast. I did however have an apple about an hour later. 

 

I circles this dome much higher up yesterday....

We chatted and discussed a few things and then spent about an hour reading. We headed out for a walk earlier than usual and ended up chatting with Doug, from California in a spot back behind us. Doug is new to boon docking and apparently Arizona and loving the sights and peace. We chatted for about 15 minutes before Riley and I continued on our walk. 

 

We headed across here from the roadway

We walked part of the road way and then took off cross country following a similar path as I went yesterday but we were much lower down and the going was much easier. It was a great walk, again it took about an hour and a half  but we didn’t rush and even though it was a bit of a stretch we both enjoyed it. I spent the afternoon outside in short pants, and a t’shirt, but only in the sun, the shade was too cool and I would need a sweater to sit there. Riley cooked lunch today and I was so happy to take the day off. I truly appreciate Riley’s taking over the kitchen today. We had of course a green salad, pasta, with a jazzed up pasta sauce, along with cheesy garlic bread. It was excellent.

 

Then along here....

During clean up my Dad called to wish us Merry Christmas and tell us about his plans and past events. Sounds like they had a great time at my brother’s house next door. All of the grandchildren and great grandchildren were there and except for Claudia all of the ‘partners’ made it as well. My sister in law Barb’s parents were also there for dinner and I have no doubt the meal was most excellent. Barb is an amazing cook. 

 

Holes in the side of the wash we climbed through..

So after clean up I headed out for a short walk to Courthouse Road and back. About a mile return I think. Don and Lilly have moved on and there is only 2 units on our little road now, us and one other unit. Three units in the back and one beside us, a number further away on the other roads to the east of us can be seen from our location. So it’s pretty quiet here with few people. 

 

Back home I grabbed my book, and the camera heading outside to watch the sunset. Riley came out and enjoyed part of it with me. A truly wonderful day we’ve had and the sunset was the cherry on top of an excellent day. 

 

A couple of notes to add to this Christmas Eve post. To all of those that read this post, we wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas. We hope you are enjoying the love of family and friends, be they near at hand or far away. From our Igloo to your homes, Merry Christmas one and all.

 

A happy birthday wish goes out to my great niece Miss Isabel. Miss Izzy turns 4 years old today. She is a delightful young lady and we know she’s had a wonderful day!!!

 

On that note, thank you for stopping by on this Christmas Eve. We hope you’ve had a wonderful day as well. Please feel free to leave a comment.

 

Until next time….take care, be safe, 

Deb & Riley