Thursday our adventure was a visit to Kentucky camp, located about an hours drive from the RV Park.
The sign located at the middle of the buildings, told the story of the water source, and the purpose of the buildings. There is a trail along the ditch to the start of the water system eight miles away, and we will save this hike for another day.
The ruins of the old barn, and a truck chassis. Lloyd framing a picture to the right, and the rest of the group in the center.
This is the front of the Hotel/Office building. The roof has been replaced, and the porch has been rebuilt to preserve the building. The walls are adobe brick, and as all of these buildings, the little rocks and twigs that were added to the mix are exposed all along the walls.
This wide picture is taken on the far corner of the Office building, with Linda and Steve walking down the covered porch.
Anne-Marie, Lloyd, Bill and Steve are studying the water monitor, that was moved here for display. The box of rocks was used for balance to keep the monitor on target. Eight miles of water lines and ditches, and this would squirt over 100 feet, and blast the hillside away, into a slushy gravel muck, to processed out the gold.
The wide view showing the Office building and the Assay building on the right.
The cabin on the right has been restored to a livable state, and the Forest Service rents it out for $75.00 a night, and it is presently occupied. Lloyd is close to the last adobe cabin, and it was closed to visitors. I walked around the building, and next to the rock wall, on the back side of the cabin, I was startled by a loud angry “Hissss”. I froze, looked down and saw nothing, and moved closer to the building, and looked for the source. I couldn’t see any snake, tortoise, or Gila Monster lizard, that might have made such a loud sound, and I even picked up small rocks to throw against the rock wall, and still no more sound. I dashed around the cabin and alerted the remaining three of our group, and they all seemed a bit disinterested, looked and then walked on. I left the rock wall not knowing what caused the terrifying “hisss”, but happy that maybe I didn’t really want to know.
The full moon has been bright enough for the girls to have their moon lit walks, the last two nights. Anne-Marie and I have been at Grandmas house doing laundry and packing the left over stuff from the estate sale, and we are almost done. The Realtor has been showing the house several times a week, but no good offers yet.
For not having anything to do all day, we are struggling to keep up with all the social activities that are available to us. Today we have a trip to a ghost town, about an hours drive away, lunch out with about 7 friends, A wine tasting tour, A pizza feed at 4:00PM, and Happy Hour after all of this. Some days we can just barely keep up. Saturday, the group has a hike planned that requires an early start. about 8:00AM. We all seem to enjoy a day off between the high energy days, but the happy hours continue.
Tuesday Evening we had a early moon rise, and the clouds from the west to the east had a red glow, but the camera didn’t show it well. Out of a dozen pictures that I took, this was the best. The moon is so bright, that this camera just doesn’t show detail. This was taken during happy hour, standing behind Steve’s RV.
The Javelina made a visit last night, and pushed the seed block all over while chewing on it. The Javelina in the center, is pushing and rolling the seed block. I didn’t see anything this morning, except foot prints, and I think that the seed block has been eaten.
This picture shows the huge head and neck that these animals have.
The damage and heartache that these animals cause, is nearly as bad as the neighbors hogs back home, when they got loose, and rooted around the yard and garden. Tuesday night when they visited this seed block, they first visited Bill and Linda’s bird feeding area, and tore up their little garden, and ate their seed block. Linda was watching from inside their RV, as the seed block was broken by the Javelina’s strong jaws, and then consumed by two of the animals. Bill tried to chase them off, by throwing rocks, but they returned after a few minutes. Bill said that a couple of them were broad, and wide like small cows, and didn’t want to mess with them. Over at Steve’s RV, they left slobber and snot on a few of the chairs, and moved some decorations under the bird feeders.
This morning, after changing the memory card in the camera, I saw that the Javelina had really rooted up Steve’s patio area, and under the bird feeding tree. The nice border holding the bark mulch in place was rooted up, and a lot of the bark was pushed around, it’s kind of a mess.
I think that we don’t need to have food for these animals even close to our RV’s anymore. They just aren’t grateful about anything.
Yesterday was a day for a hike to the Honeybee hive, and we saw the usual and some unusual sights on the trip. We walked over 6 miles during the day.
I have seen horse tracks on the desert trails, but never a rider until this hike. This is a local resident, from a few miles away, and he spends winters here, and summers in Minnesota. The horse is a rescue horse, and seems to be well mannered around other people. I was going to give the horse my apple that I brought for lunch, and as this was early in our walk, I wasn’t hungry yet. The horse and rider got away before I could get the apple out of my pack, and that worked out the best for me, as I was really hungry at lunch time.
The group studying the damage to the hive. The rain storms this summer, filled the wash with water, and the bank eroded away. The hive was partially destroyed, but the bees are still working.
The wet looking area on the ground, is fallen parts of the hive, and the wet looking area on the bank, is the old but still working area. The other picture is of a smaller part of the hive,and the bees have built some new combs, and were real active. We didn’t see any bees flying to or from the hive while we were there.
Bill and Steve at a dead saguaro cactus. The ribs of these cactus had many uses with the Indians, generations ago.
The trail camera caught a visit from the Javelina last night. They hung out off and on for an hour, and pushed and rolled the seed block around. This was a small group, and the most that I saw in a picture at a single time was four. Mostly full grown adults, and no babies were pictured. The two on the right were having a discussion about feeding order, and a few of the pictures were showing some blurry action.
The two nose to nose, and another just came into the frame, right next to the camera. The large Javelina in the second picture shows how large that their head is, they look to be 1/3 head and the remaining 2/3 is body. They seem to follow each other, but they don’t get along well around food. We have seen them in Copper Crest Development, and the hair looks dirty and coarse, they just aren’t a cuddly animal.
The trail camera got a real close inspection by the Javelina, and the dirt streaks are slobber and snot from their noses. The batteries in the camera gave out last night, and the last pictures were too dark to show much. New batteries in place and ready for another show, but the seed block is small enough to get pushed out of the picture area, I think that I’ll get another.
The Estate Sale at Grandma’s is all over, Kathryn and Ernie are on the way home, and Anne-Marie and I get to clean up the place, but at our own schedule. The sale disposed of a lot of stuff, and we need to gather the remaining items that didn’t sell, into a group so that the Salvation Army folks can pick it up. The sorting out of the family mementos took a bit longer than anticipated, and in haste, because of the upcoming sale, a large pile was not boxed up, but covered with blankets, to protect from being sold. The remaining pile needs to be boxed and put into storage by Anne-Marie and I. The house is still listed for sale, but there is a chance that we have a renter lined up for the winter season. This house had only a couple of boxes of nonmarketable trash in it, total. Grandma and Grandpa had traveled full time for 20+ years, and had a lot of little souvenir items, from all over the world, and this took a lot of energy to sort. This house was tidy, and nothing compared to the estate sales that I helped with, back when we had a book store at home. I remember some houses that had so much junk, that in the end it sorted out to less than one box of good stuff, to 10 boxes of trash. The estate sales, at one point got to be the same pile, just at a different house.
Anne-Marie and I are just numb and tired from the whirlwind of energy that was used up by all of us. Yesterday we did a small shopping trip, and we forgot several items that were written on the list that we had in hand. This was a week of high energy work for us, but Kathryn and Ernie, after driving 835 miles made it a week of vacation for them, and after all of this, they get to have a relaxing 835 mile drive back to Carson City in Nevada, so that the both of them can rush back to work tomorrow. Anne-Marie and I had vacations that involved long drive times, and high energy activities, and a rush back to work to rest from the vacation, I don’t know how we did it.
Anne-Marie and I are just beat, but not from the physical work, but the number of decisions to make, and the overwhelming amount of stuff to look at. This reminds me of when we were in the Great Lakes area this last summer, and we were trying to do two or three museums and attractions a day, and we both had information overload several times when we looked at too much.
Two coyotes this morning, and one about 11PM last night. This picture shows the female sniffing a little container of ant poison, that was set out on a ant home. The ants were traveling to a RV site, and becoming a real bother, and the RV owner set these pet safe ant baits along the ant trail. There is a coyote in the distance straight up from the seed block, at the edge of the wash.
The ant poison is what she doesn’t like. She has visited nearly every night, and been captured by the camera, and she marks this almost every time. This is the first daytime pictures of the coyotes, and I’m still waiting for the Javelina to come by. A few nights ago, a neighbor just about 100 yards away, had a visit by the Javelina, so my turn is getting closer.
The Estate Sale went well, and a lot of stuff that I thought should go to recycle was actually wanted by someone else. Today is Thanksgiving, and dinner is at 2:00, Kathryn and Ernie will be attending with us. Anne-Marie has worked on cooking the turkeys, and yesterday she made the gravy and dressing for the meal. When Anne-Marie was finished with the meal prep yesterday, she smelled like Thanksgiving dinner for several hours after. The bunch of us went out for dinner at Tiny’s last night, and we had a good meal, and a wonderful time visiting. Tomorrow is another sale day, and a packing day for the family mementos, and Ernie and I will have a run to the local transfer site after the sale ends.
The days post isn’t complete without the latest from the trail camera. A coyote in the background.
A coyote dashing across in front of the seed block, and that’s all that there was.
The wildlife in Copper Crest show themselves more often than they do here in the RV Park. Tuesday afternoon, Anne-Marie, Kathryn, and Ernie got to watch a Javelina wandering around the wash, right out the backdoor of Grandma’s house, and it was there for nearly 10 minutes. These are the most miserable looking animals, 1/3 head, and covered with coarse gray brown hair. They don’t look like anybody would want to rush out and hug or pet one. They have a strong musky odor, and Kathryn could still smell it after it had left, most unpleasant.
Tuesday, late afternoon I took a walk in the Copper Crest development, visited the tree that has all of the insects feeding on it, took a walk up to the upper end of the houses, and into the desert a few hundred feet. The insects are busy as ever, and I found a unopened seed pod, and I collected it. The seed pod will help me get an identity on the type of tree that it is. I walked to the upper end of the development, and the sun was just starting to set, and set the clouds a glow.
There is a lot of fiddley camera stuff to get a good exposure on the glowing clouds.
I think that I took nearly fifty pictures, and this is one of the best wide panorama ones.
This is typical of the colors that we see during happy hour, back at the RV Park. This was taken less than 100 feet from the top of the development.
Today Anne-Marie gets to help with the Thanksgiving Dinner some more. Anne-Marie helped with the turkey yesterday, and today they are making the stuffing and gravy.
At Grandma Johnsons they are having a Estate Sale today and Friday. The sisters have sorted most all of the stuff in the house and all is going well.
Grandma’s house has been attacked by the four of us, and the storage building is all gone through, and decisions have been made where stuff goes to. Anne-Marie and her sister Kathryn have started in the spare bedroom, and some decisions have been made in that room, also. The seasonal decorations have been gone through, several boxes worth, and Anne-Marie and Kathryn had fun with the "remember this one" stories. The furniture is largely staying in place, except for a few items, and we won’t need to move much. Today is a day of packing smaller and more fragile items, and all is going well.
Grandma and Grandpa had a curio cabinet built by a local furniture shop, years ago, and we don’t feel like we want to move this fragile piece across two states. We will try to sell it, or let it go with the house.
During nap time for the other workers, I took a walk over to the tree that has all of the insects feeding on it, and got a few pictures.
The camera doesn’t always cooperate with focus, and zoom, but I’m starting to sort some features out. There were three larger types of butterflies, and more smaller ones.
The tarantula hawk and a regular honey bee. I have had pictures of the large black wasp on here, but this is a good comparison to show the size of the wasp. The wasp is an easy four times the length of the honey bee, and this isn’t the longest one that I’ve seen. The tree didn’t have flowers on it that I could find, but it seemed to have a sticky shiny looking something on the small limbs and leaves, and all kinds of insects were gathering something on it.
The blog isn’t complete without showing a coyote that walked by the seed block, this morning at 2AM. I repositioned the camera this morning, in hopes of catching at least the bunnies. The seed block has a lot of activity at it with birds of all types, and bunnies, and I hope to start to see some of them on the camera.
This is a busy week for Anne-Marie and I. Anne-Marie’s Sister Kathryn and husband Ernie are arriving today, and will be staying at Grandma Johnsons house in Copper Crest. We will be working on packing and moving Grandma’s stuff to somewhere, to vacate the house, as it is for sale. This is another phase of transitioning from one living space to another, Grandma from this one, to assisted living. Anne-Marie and I spending the last three winters here, probably allowed Grandma to stay in her house for three years longer, had we not been available. I expect some emotional times this week, but the packing should go rather quickly, as the house is very tidy. Anne-Marie is helping with the turkey at the RV Park this week, and we are having Thanksgiving with the RV crowd again, they are almost like family.
The camera caught a coyote last night after 10PM, and she sniffed around and found a special spot, and squatted.
This morning at 6AM another or the same female coyote at the same spot, and then she dashes off.
I just don’t understand this behavior, do they mark everything, is it a sign of ownership? I can see that if one starts to do this on something on your patio, it might get hit several times a week.
We’ve been busy taking care of ourselves, and doing favors for our neighbors. The RV lifestyle seems to be working for us, and we are going to travel and vacation for another year. We hear of old neighbors, here in Tucson, that transition out of their RVs and into a permanent home every year. Our neighbor Steve, has bought a home in Copper Crest Development, and will be transitioning into a permanent house, and perhaps downsizing to a much smaller RV.
Haircut day for Anne-Marie and I. Maria from next door cut our hair, right on our porch, and it’s Anne-Marie’s turn in the chair. Maria even groomed my eyebrows and ears, to a aesthetically approved fashion, I have hair where I shouldn’t.
Friday, I went on a Gates Pass loop trail hike with Steve, Lloyd, and Maria. We drove to the trailhead on Gates Pass road, and we walked over 4 miles of trail with views and vistas the entire length. This is a wide view of the valley floor, with the trailhead at the bend in the road, and Old Tucson in the distance, and Maria on the right.
Approaching the Gates Pass trail crossing, with Mt Lemon in the far distance. Steve and Maria on Gates Pass.
A final view from Gates Pass, as we are about to hike around the mountain.
The teddy bear cholla cactus is really healthy up here.
This was our resting spot at about halfway. Steve Lloyd, and Maria taking in the views of the hidden valley, and new rock formations.
The mountains beyond Tucson, and a interesting rock formation south of Tucson Estates.
This is on top of a pass between Tucson Estates, an the Gates Pass Road. I rested my fanny pack on the trailhead signs, while the others made the last climb up the hill. The three of us old guys walked at about the same pace, and Maria being a bit younger and stronger, was out in front, but always checking back on the stragglers, as we all seemed to take turns being last. Maria didn’t fall back to the middle of the pack, until she picked up a few rocks for her rock garden, at the RV Park, one of which weighed at least ten pounds. When we got back to the trailer, I was beat over and needed a nap, but I think that Maria took off in her car running errands, I just don’t have the energy that I did 20 years ago. We walked over four miles, and we didn’t return for almost four hours.
When we arrived here, the Wi-Fi was working good, but as additional RVs arrive, the small issues and problems start to show. I am able to solve a few problems a day, but I seem to fix an issue, and another jumps up. I think that I’m making headway with the whole thing, and it’s real fun to make changes that the residents appreciate.
The Trail Camera didn’t even take one picture yesterday. This morning Steve and I repositioned the camera angle, and moved the seed block closer, and that should help. The Javelina haven’t found the seed block yet, and the birds and bunnies are getting it worn out, I may need to buy another.
I have been tinkering with the Wi-Fi stuff here in the RV Park, and the more that I look, the more projects that I find. This summer the area had a severe rain and wind storm, there was flooding all over the valley, roads washed out, roads covered with rocks and gravel, and things blown over. Here in the RV park, a mobile home was blown over onto its side, by what was described as a tornado, and the mobile home had a Wi-Fi antenna attached to it. The mobile home has been totaled, and has yet to be all cleaned out and removed, but the antennas had little damage, and have been temporally relocated. The big antenna at the office was broken during this storm, and is only temporally attached, and needs a permanent fix. Another antenna in the front of the RV Park, is attached to a power pedestal, and the rain softened the ground, and the wind caused the whole thing to lean, and now the antenna needs to be moved down the line to a straight pedestal. The office got a new internet vender and new equipment, and I need to spend a few hours labeling and arranging the equipment and wires, so Christine can work around the office. A park model in the front of the park, has a antenna and equipment inside it, and I need to reconfigure that system to put another radio on line. I have another radio in the storage room, and a antenna pole stored next to the office, and all this needs to be put into service before the park fills up. These projects are really small, and should only take a few hours each, and when I was working, it would be a long days job, but I’m older, slower, not as strong, my organizational skills are nonexistent, and all work stops for naptime and the sacred happy hour.
Happy Hour seems to involve the whole neighborhood in our corner of the RV park, and last night we all gathered at Rick and Jeanny’s. As the other folks arrive for the season, the Happy Hour crowd can grow to 12+ people, and involves food and drink somewhere every night.
Last night when we walked across the street, this is what our house looked like, the picture doesn’t show it as well as it was.
The trail camera and seed block has been moved to a better viewing area for us, but I may need to move the seed block closer to the camera. These are the only series of pictures that the camera took yesterday, a dove resting on the camera tripped it, and a neighbor walked in for a closer look. I think that the camera is missing some of the action, and I really want to catch the larger animals.
Today is haircut day for Anne-Marie and I. Maria from next door is a Licensed Stylist in Florida and here in Arizona, and is waiting for a position to open in a local salon, and we will let her work her magic on our hair. I told Maria, that when I take a nap in the afternoon, my hair on the back of my bald head really sticks out, and is in bad need of getting fixed, and she said she can solve that for me.
