Arizona Christmas and the Sunset on 2019

Christmas celebrations-Arizona style- began here for me last week with the local Quilt Guild Party.  Our nearest town, Wickenburg, has a long history of vacation or 'dude' ranches.  Four or more are still hosting winter guests.  Rancho Los Caballeros has both lodging and dining.  Our Guild Party was held in  the historic Los Caballeros dining room.  It's low ceilings and adobe style made it warm and cozy.

The members who were hosting made all of the colorful placemats.  They could be taken home or given to the local Senior Center.

The room was decorated with an Arizona 'Christmas tree'. 

The festivities included a gift exchange, donations to local community services in 3 towns, door prizes, and a quilt raffle.  I didn't win the beautiful small quilt that would have been perfect on the couch, but I did win one of the blooming cyclamens that decorated our table.  It looks lovely in my neighbor's living room.

Our 'porch' lights are in place and lit for the Christmas season.  The Community Christmas Parade is next Sunday evening.  People decorate any and everything from skateboards to Jeeps.  It is fun to see such creativity rolling by!

But almost every evening is a parade here as the sun set moves across the sky in our front yard.   The color just gets deeper and deeper.

It was pretty impressive  to start with at the end of our walk.  Terry and I watched it just get more intense.

It is hard to believe that the end of 2019 is just around the corner.  Remember when it was 2000 and 2020 seemed so far away.  Well here it is and we wish you a holiday season that is full of peace, gratitude and contentment with where you are and the joys you have to share.

Merry Christmas and many beautiful sunsets in 2020!

Waterfalls, Quilts and Autumn Farms in Oregon

Our third Volunteer Season at Silver Falls is flying by.  Terry has been busy helping clear out 40 years of unused stuff in the park.  He has trucked many loads to the Surplus Depot in Salem.  He also transports and picks up equipment for repairs and re-location.  When I see him driving the big truck with that long trailer loaded down and secured I know he is where he needs to be!

  I'm hosting in the Lodge 2 days a week and helping people plan their hikes to the Falls.  It makes my day when someone returns to tell me what a great time they had.  I've started hiking the South Falls Loop after work.  The late afternoon light is beautiful!

This is one of 4 falls you can walk behind.  In the backyard of the Lodge I walk the wooded Rim Trail some days.  It's wonderful all the time!

I love visiting my sister, Jane, most weekends.  Last weekend we went to the Portland Quilt Show.  It was fantastic!  Look at this photo from my favorite quilt and also one of the first place quilts.

The farmers are busy around us putting in winter crops.  They burn off the wheat fields in early September and re-plant soon after.  The new green sprouting through the black is amazing.

Other fields are just being plowed for winter crops.  The fall rains have started so it is time to plant.

We will leave here on October 31 to return to sunny Arizona.  What a contrast from the moss covered forest we live in here!!!

A Wonderful Family Adventure in Arizona

The last 7 months have kept us close to our new home, but just up the road is a pretty big- Must See!  That's where we started when my cousin, Gwen, her husband, Darrell and her son, Kyle came to visit from Northern Ireland.  It had been 12 years since they were in the U.S. and this was their first visit to the Southwest.  So we headed north to Williams, AZ and the Grand Canyon.

We walked many miles each day to share the amazing Grand Canyon views before returning to our Straw Bale House AirB&B. The spacious dining table and the large patio were perfect for meals together and some ham radio contacts.  Darrell has been inspiring Terry in the hobby for many years.

We visited the Meteor Crater east of Flagstaff and Walnut Canyon, a site of ancient cliff dwellings.

Darrell and Kyle braved the 300 steps to get a close up look at the cliff structures.  From the bottom they could see dwellings in the canyon walls we stood on to watch them hiking.

Sedona's Red Rock Scenic Byway was part of the loop south we made to stay a few days in Prescott.  We all wished that more time and cooler weather would have allowed us to do some hiking.

We did a little shopping at the Mall in Prescott and stopped at the Food Court for lunch.  I was totally amazed when the table next to us began to set up a Mahjong game.  By the time we left the mall there were 4 busy Mahjong tables.  The players said this is normal for a Friday afternoon.  Wow!

Our fantastic trip together was a great way to end our time in Arizona.  We leave for 4 months in Oregon on Friday.  We will be at the same park as last year, Silver Falls, near Salem, OR.  Come see us!

"Yarnell Daze" Parade and Festival -Plus my new Phone- 360-559-8120

I've mentioned Yarnell before because I attend church there and an all day sewing circle on Tuesday.  The church is very active in the community and constantly shares it's space to gather.  A group always participates in the community festival called Yarnell Daze and I was asked to join.  This morning we marched  the highway through town and I really enjoyed seeing it at a walkers pace! Here's the approach to town.

The new Dollar General is on the edge of town.  (Scene of my twisted ankle on Christmas Eve.)

The town is nestled in boulder covered hills on the main highway between Phoenix and Prescott.  It is 13 vertical miles from our community.  It has a population of 649.

There are lots of antique shops, gift shops, restaurants and a bakery.  I visited a few today and was pleasantly surprised.  The Festival included vendor and craft tents.  I purchased a print by the son of a famous AZ artist, George Phippen.  There is an art museum in Prescott named for his father.  I loved talking to him about art history.

The Parade included the usual entries: cars, horses and a Shriner mini truck.

Walking back from the Parade, I got to photo my favorite roadside wildflower, Globemallow.

Coming down the mountain I stopped to take a photo of our RV community in the middle of the desert below.  (That fuzzy white spot out there.)  There's not much but BLM land around us.

Last but not least, I am no longer a 'flip phone girl'.  In the change over I had to get a new number.  It is---360-559-8120   now.  I am slowly learning all that a smart phone can do!

Home At Last

After a  very long 3 months and 2 days, we moved to 30689 S. Wandering Way on Thursday afternoon.  The gravel was delivered and spread in the morning.

Terry, and his brother Phil, packed a driveway for the trailer, secured things to move 6 blocks and hooked her up.  I didn't get a picture of the trailer creeping along with a 31 ft. antennae on the bumper.

It was wonderful that Phil and Connie were visiting.  They even stayed over an extra day to help.

We enjoyed sunset and several very 'happy hours'  on our first evening at home.  Our neighborhood is very quiet, peaceful and beautiful!

Here's the setting sun across the street.  There's a view of the mountains a little to the west.

There's a pretty old Mesquite tree in the back corner of our lot.  When I was digging out it's base that had been covered in the lot leveling, 2 neighbors came out to help. Together we made quick work on a back breaker  job for me alone.  It's so nice to have such a close neighborhood!




Each year the community celebrates it's history with a Fiesta, Parade and Craft Show in March.  My Line Dance group was in the Parade.  I enjoyed watching it all.

On Tuesday morning Terry will have surgery to repair the torn ligaments and tendons in his ankle.  We have great confidence in his surgeon in Peoria near Phoenix.  If all goes well he should be getting back to a new normal in 3 months or so.  We are hopeful we can return to Silver Falls, OR in August.

Getting Closer

It's been a 'hurry up' and 'wait' month plus.  The trenches were finally dug for our sewer, electric and water lines on Feb. 13.  The lines are in place and the 'rough-in inspection' will be on Monday.  Here's Terry on site.

We ordered our crushed rock to cover the lot yesterday and it will be ready to deliver when the trenches are covered and the inspections are done this coming week --- we hope!  Then at last we can 'hook-up' on our own 1/4 acre of Arizona.  It will be a delight to leave the gravel parking lot crammed with RV's that has been home base for the last 3 months.

I did have a fun morning at the annual Wickenberg historic celebration-Gold Rush Days Parade the weekend before our trenching.  The parade featured the 'Mountain Men' actors, the Wells Fargo Stage Coach, (a true original) and the women long distance trail riders group among many others.

While we were waiting for our last Yavapai County Permit to clear the Land Use Review Team an unusually big snow storm came this far south.  It was lovely on the mountains and in the park on the cacti.  Prescott, where the County offices are located got about 18 inches of snow.  All the offices there were closed for a few days while they dug out and we waited a bit longer.

It has been a long slow process getting this far on our lot plan to have 3 RV hookups and a shed eventually.  Someday we might add a house or a small manufactured home.  But for now it is a delight to be a part of this very active community a few months of the year when we are not traveling or volunteering.  We are so close now to our dream of having a 'home site' while living in our little travel trailer.

In Slow Motion

Our life here at North Ranch is moving slowly forward, not unlike ourselves.  Our ankles are healing slowly.  My shuffle is almost gone and Terry is sporting a compression boot and needing lots of rest still.  But we are making progress on getting our lot ready for the RV and guests.

The back retaining wall is built and it is leveled for correct drainage.

The front loader added the extra soil we needed. ( Wish you had been there to watch, Emrys!)

Our long time friends and new neighbors, Bud and Elaine hosted a beautiful Christmas meal for the neighborhood.  It was great to share the holiday with them and meet our other neighbors. We had great food, lots of laughs and Bingo with prizes!!!  Then the weather took a dive and we had snow on Dec.31.

Just a dusting that was gone in a few hours.  It didn't stop the New Year's Eve Dance that included lots of line dancing, waltzes and polkas.  We even did a line dance (Alabama) to the polkas!  Fun!  I ignored my ankle and shuffled through a few dances I admit.

I mentioned my church, Yarnell Presbyterian,  in the last blog and here are some pictures of it and the view across town to the hills behind it.

The town of Yarnell has become an antique, shopping and diner destination with a very active community center too.  Only 3 miles downhill on the Prescott highway is gorgeous, Peeples Valley.
Here are some photos of that area yesterday after it snowed overnight.

On Saturday Bud and Elaine braved a cold wind to help me get the permit post up for the electric hookups.  Terry's Info Box from Amazon, and Bud's saw, drill and sledge made quick work of the job.  Elaine patiently threaded the tie downs, mounted the Velcro lid tabs and took the photo of  'the finest permit post North Ranch ever saw'.  What a team!

Our progress is slower than we had hoped, but the days fly by and before we know it the sun is setting!