There Were Signs .....

Yes, there were signs all over.  Mostly private property signs, although occasionally we ran into things like this.  Cyndae and I looked at each other and said hmmmmm.

As we slowly maneuvered down the road and were about to cross a water hole (turns out it was Lake Something Or Other), an elderly lady drove up on a four wheeler.  When I rolled down my window and said we were looking for Cascabel, she said "you know the dot on the map?  You're ON it!"  

Okay ... but I thought there was a small restaurant and maybe a building or two.  No she stated, this is it!  I told her we were out looking for ghost towns and were fascinated with history.   Well just come on in to my place she said, only leave your Jeep outside.

There was a very old mobile home with several large white barrels outside full of something unrecognizable.  I was a little hesitant, but in we went.  Two alpacas came to check us out.  I had already spotted two horses off to one side.  Too bad I missed the dog.  "Walk on up to the cabin" as she drove her four wheeler the opposite direction.

As I looked at the ground, I saw huge bones ... like leg bones ... laying all over the yard.  Cyndae almost tripped over one as I whispered to her, "if she comes back with a knife and a gun, you run one way and I'll run the other"!!  She looked at me like I was cray-cray!  I've watched plenty of movies where the strangers  disappear.  At least I can run faster than Cyndae!!

Past the mobile home was her pride and joy.  Turns out Sue is an entrepreneur.  This old cabin set back in the mountain is over 100 years old.  She rents it out as a Vacation Rental By Owner.  She insisted we go inside and take a look since her newest customers would not arrive until the next day.  "I" insisted she go in first!!

Sure enough, inside the screened porch was a very cool old cabin made of river rock, complete with tile sunflower on the floor entry.  I kept thinking the entire time ... who would want to stay here?

This is Sue standing in the kitchen with her hand on the fridge.  There is only one cupboard which is hanging from the rafters.  Sue said she was pretty happy about cancelling all her reservations last year, since she was so booked she never had time to clean the place up for the next group.  Hmmmmmm.

You can see hints of yellow here and there .... that's the bed that lives in the kitchen/bedroom/dining room.  The window wall doubles as a library bookcase.  If you look in Sue's hand, she is holding a "sanitizing" light she whisked over everything we touched, which wasn't much.  I kept a close eye on the door.

That was it.  I think the entire cabin is maybe 18' x 18' and all made of rocks and concrete.  Want to see the outhouse she asked?  Out the screened porch we went to a small wood building next door.  It's a two-holer!!  Even better, it's a composting two-holer!!  I did not ask how that worked.

We thanked her profusely for letting us see her beautiful old cabin.  I can't say I relaxed, especially after the dog who was almost as tall as me came up behind and gave me a push into the outhouse.  At any rate, it turns out Sue was nice as could be and loved showing off her cabin.  She recently had these postcards made up to give out to customers.  

I did check it out and the River Rock Cabin at Cascabel rents for $55 a night.  Just watch out for the dog and the alpacas who like to spit.  

As it turns out, Sue is also a writer.  This second card is about Saving Red, a rescue horse she apparently took care of.  Red no longer lives here, but somewhere in the Benson area.  

Head on up to the Community Center she said.  This time there ARE no signs of any kind, so we drove carefully up this VERY steep hill, slipping and sliding because I should have put it in 4-wheel drive first.  

There's no one there Sue said ... just walk right on in.  And so we did .......

This beautiful building was built by all the residents of the valley.  There was a tiny food bank set up on a table with a little kitchen in one corner along with lots of books at the far end. 

We sat on the back patio and ate snacks while checking out the view behind the barbecue.  As you can see this is the perfect elevation for saguaros, which were all very happy campers and the biggest I have ever seen!!

Time to head back home down the long dirt road.  We were passed several times by people in pickup trucks racing down the gullies.  When I spotted one pulled over, I thought maybe they had a problem. Out they jumped with cameras in hand .... except for the one guy who had a very nice rifle aimed at something off in the distance.

Needless to say, we didn't stop.  It was time for this adventure to come to an end.  

It didn't take long however, since the NEXT adventure to deep in the heart began early the next morning.

Pomerene and Cascabel

Sounds like the names I would give my puppies ... Pomerene and Cascabel.   If you look it up on the web, you will find everything from chilis to rattlesnakes.  Sadly, you won't find much information at all on either little town.  

But first, how about a nice little sunrise!  Unfortunately I was the only one to see it since Cyndae is a VERY late sleeper!  

A quick detour here for those that have not seen the Linear Garden outside of Tombstone, this is where to go.  Skyline Drive is the name and you can go either direction depending on whether you want to park heading DOWN the steep road or UP.  Either way, you cannot miss the garden.

On to the next adventure.  Cyndae has not been to a ghost town and was so excited to hear about Cascabel and Pomerene.  Trouble was, I knew nothing about either one.  Loaded down with extra food and water because you just never know, we headed off North from Benson.

Here is beautiful downtown Pomerene and the post office.  I'm happy to say their school was open and kids were being picked up by parents.  We drove around a little, but found no stores of any kind.  

In no time, the paved road ended and the gravel road began as we wandered around over hill and dale.  Cyndae's phone said something like 17 miles (on the gravel road).  Finally ... EUREKA!!!  We FOUND IT!!  I've thought many times I was in the middle of nowhere, but this time I actually WAS!

Here's where it gets creepy!!  Cyndae says she likes going places with me because she's rather naive and wouldn't know if danger was standing in front of her.  She thinks I will save her .... HAHAHA!!  Anyway, we saw this little park area and thought we would drive in.  There were no NO TRESPASSING signs.

What a cute little decorative fence!  On the right were a couple of tables and chairs.  I drove closer.

YIKES!!  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  WHAT THE HECK????  I stared at this "thing" for 30 seconds trying to decide if it was real or not.  The only part that didn't look real was the hair!!  Ummmm I think this is a SIGN!!  But no ..... we drove a few feet further until I saw a trailer hookup.

No Cyndae, this is private property.  We need to get the heck out of here ... and we did.  Just at the gate however, I thought I needed a picture of the entire fence above.  I started to back up but looked in the mirror just in time.  SOMEONE WAS CHASING US!!

I slammed on the brakes just in time and rolled down my window as a nice looking lady came up to say we were on her property.  I apologized profusely ... we really did think it was a park.  We talked for a bit until she told us where her CEMETERY was. 

Wait .... YOUR cemetery as in you have dead bodies there?  Or Cascabel's cemetery.  She reiterated HER CEMETERY.  Okay then ... thank you so much and we were gone in a flash!!!  We laughed ... about three miles down the road!!

That's when we ran into these two eating a piece of cactus that had been run over.  

A face only a mother could love.  You usually don't see their snouts, but he was smelling to see what we were.

We were passed by two trucks, but other than that, saw no one nor any indication that anyone lived around here.  Weird.

Eventually the canyon walls began to come closer.  From a distance this looked like a castle and we were trying to figure out how to get there.  Turns out it was just a bluff washed by the San Pedro river that parallels the road.

Finally we came upon a sign that said this entire valley was a conservative.  Supposedly every owner here pays $1.00 a year to vote on what the conservative does, except for the guy whose fence sign was crossed off with a big black X.  Apparently there was a dispute about something.

Mostly we saw indications of certified organic cattle, meaning all they eat is grass.  Yucky poo in my book ... grass fed beef just doesn't taste good to me.    

We kept driving down the gravel road.  There were a few houses here and there that have definitely seen better days.  We were looking for the restaurant and store I had read about ... maybe even an Art Festival since that's all the information I could find.  Nothing .... we found nothing.

At last we almost ran into a little old lady on a four wheeler.  I asked her where Cascabel was.  You're parked on it she said.  This is the DOT on the map.  Hmmmm we chatted a bit more and were invited onto her property, sporting an old mobile home, a big dog and lots of bones laying on the ground.  Park outside she said, and walk up to the right, as she drove off to the left.

Hey ... I've seen plenty of movies .... Cyndae I whispered .... if she comes out with a knife and a gun, you run one way and I'll run the other.  Maybe one of us will live!  Cyndae's eyes got real big as she almost tripped over one of the big bones laying on the ground.

To be continued ......... yes there is more!!  The good news is we survived, as evidenced by my being able to tell you about it!!

A Little More Tombstone

As most everyone knows there's not much else I would rather do than spend time in Tombstone.  It could not have been a better day.  The weather was perfect, there were no crowds and lunch was it's usual fabulous self.  

To make it even better, the local quilt guild was having their annual show.  It's a good thing we went on this day or we would have missed it.  So here are just a few crooked pictures showing off their finery.  This is one of my favorite log cabin patterns.

I'm not sure how they get up there to hang these, but many were attached to the ceiling.  We had a great conversation with the ladies who of course were selling lottery tickets.  I've purchased many in the past, but alas, my black thumb good luck has never come forth.  

Here's one I can tell you without a doubt I will never make.  WAY too many tiny pieces for me.  Most are actually for sale at reasonable amounts if you are looking for something for yourself.

This was a very cute wall hanging with tiny sparkley threads sewn on by hand to make the spines and needles of the cactus.  

Having eaten our fill and checked out all the store and quilts, I took Cyndae up the hill to the linear garden.  You know why this is here, right?  His wife said he could not put all that JUNK in her front yard. Thus it is all stashed across the street in the Linear Garden.

I can't remember if this is new or not, but it's a BIG addition.  Take a book, leave a book.  It even contains a box of bookmarks if you need one to keep your place.

He has them categorized .. history, western, "different".  I'm not sure what that means, but I did get a kick out of the description.  Surprisingly it was quite full!!

He has also added a little trail, along with an invitation to sit a spell at three benches next to the wine bottle tree.  There are lots of new creations to check out, including about ten bottles, each painted a different bright rainbow color.  Maybe your husband would like to have a few feet of space to do the same!

Difficult to see at first, this is the latest addition to the garden.  It's at the bottom of the hill and is his FLOWER GARDEN.  I rather imagine it's just been planted and tiered for your viewing pleasure.  There's a temporary fence around it, I'm sure to keep people from walking on the seeds.  

I mean really, you have to hand it to the gentleman for trying to make it a nicer place to live, using nothing but junk he finds at the dump.  I rather imagine his wife may be just a tad bit mortified!!

Here is the view of Tombstone from the Linear Garden.  I never get tired of looking at this little town.

I told Cyndae about the donkeys, but we did not see them at first.  On the way down the hill, they appeared out of nowhere.  Cyndae is now indoctrinated about all things Tombstone.  She will be back, I'm sure of it.

In the meantime, here's my latest purchase.  This is the Navajo version of the Hopi Kachinas I like so much.  Meet Morning Singer.  Each one represents a Spirit.  This one said he wanted to come home with me, since one of my favorite things is to sit on the patio in the very early morning hours and listen to the desert birds sing.  

By the way, the really nice versions of these can cost your first born kid and more.  This is not one of those, but I like him nonetheless and he's perfect on my mantle.

And so the day in Tombstone came to an end with us eating most of the apple pie and ice cream.  No dinner, just the apple pie!!  

Next up a little ghost town hunting.  Where the heck is this place, anyway!!  We get chased off private property .... more than once ....  meet a VERY scary critter and run for our lives.  It's an adventure, right??

And Just Like THAT!!!

I know these images are instantly recognizable to many.  You're thinking "this is NOT Cascabel" and you would be right.  Our plan to visit that little ghost town was waylaid when Patty missed my text message saying YES we are going. 

And just like THAT, our plans came screeching to a halt.  Cyndae and I were all ready to hit the desert, even including our lunch packed on ice.  Instead, we threw all that BACK in the fridge and headed off to ... well, you all know this is Tombstone!  I could live here!!

The streets were pretty bare, as in there were more Earps and Cowboys than anyone else.  Everything is open however, with signs to wear a mask, although I completely missed seeing them.  I don't think we got within 30 feet of anyone!!

It being 11:30 by then, I made a beeline for you guessed it ... Big Nose Kate's.  There was no way I was going to miss out on their Reuben sandwich, the pride of the West!

There are fewer tables, but the same great atmosphere that brings crowds from all over the world.  THIS is the best sandwich on the planet I think, and now it comes with onion rings!!  Woohoo!!  I made a big piggy of myself and ate every single bite!!

Completely stuffed to the brim, it was time to walk the streets.  We left a generous tip since they have been closed on and off, and wandered out into the streets.

As we sauntered on down the road, we met up with Wyatt, Morgan and Doc, just itching for a fight.  Golly gee these guys are HANDSOME!!  Here's a little tidbit ... several of the guys who play these great Wild West characters here, also play parts in movies and productions like Yellowstone.

Here's the latest addition to town, the Oriental Saloon.  They were just about to open when the virus madness hit, so have just joined the melee of Tombstone.  They ALSO have a crew that roams Allen Street, trying to get you inside to pay for the show.  So now there are TWO gunfights at the OK Corral.

The Oriental was opened originally in 1880 by Milton Joyce.  It was the most elegantly furnished saloon this side of the Golden Gate.  Wyatt Earp bought into the gaming tables and soon it became the most notorious saloons due to so many gunfights on the front steps.  This was also the sight of the Milt Joyce - Doc Holiday shooting.

In 1881, not even a year old, it burned to the ground.  The building, actually owned by Vizina and Cook, was rebuilt.  In 1882 it was again threatened with fire, but the fire brigade sat in front keeping a steady stream of water rolling and it was saved.  

When Prohibition came about, it was turned into a drug store.  Finally, the Oriental Saloon is back in business.

In the last few months there have been many changes.  Several stores have gone out of business, some were having 50% off sales, closing their doors.  On the other hand, Doc Holidays, a relatively new establishment (bar actually) is again open for business, along with the bakery/deli to the right.  Oh, and don't forget the wine tasting establishment.

Who could resist wandering through the new "antique" stores.  It's terribly sad that the 1960's are now considered ANTIQUES.  Several second-hand establishments are trading in mostly used clothing.  I suppose that's appropriate since that's why you see so many pictures of miners wearing suits.

They bought whatever they could at the local second hand store, that being mostly suits and vests dropped off by the big businesses owners ... just like a Thrift Shop.  

We skipped the Harley store, but hit up the Bird Cage Theatre to listen to the spiel out front.  Too bad we couldn't understand a thing she said with her mask on.  Naturally we also stopped at my favorite boot store, but (luckily) this time they had nothing that struck my fancy.

I did find a special little chatchky that I know will be appreciated by two people from Casa Grande.  Not the real thing of course, but it may just become my newest passion.

More tomorrow on several new additions we discovered.

Company Is Coming!!

Morning was a frenzy of movement in the Arizona desert and I ran from room to room hiding all the junk.  Luckily there wasn't TOO much to put away.  Most of it involved Cooper's toys spread from one end of the house to the other.  

Then that "time" thing got in the way.  Cyndae sent a text at noon saying she just got on the plane and would land in 45 minutes.  They are NEVER on time, but I headed out anyway.  In no time I was ushered into the cell phone waiting lot.

DING ... I'm at the airport, just let me know when you are at baggage.  Come to find out she was still in the air, so I took a drive down a long highway to find the emission center I could take my RV to.  When I saw it, I was pretty sure Dan and I were not on the same page.  It looked like there was a sharp U turn at the end of the driveway.  Me thinks more investigation will be required.

At long last Cyndae and her luggage arrived.  Although her daughter was not the Captain of this flight, she does fly for Southwest, all over the entire West Coast including Hawaii.  How cool is that??

We caught up on everything construction.  Cyndae is also single and has a couple of rentals she is taking care of.  Lucky for me, she has some good contacts that give her good service.  She passes all those names along to me, including a fence contractor!

By the way, I did receive a call from the adjuster in Texas who said he would meet me to take a look at my downed fence in about two hours.  He mentioned something about it being rainy and going up on the roof and all.  WHAT?  It's my fence that fell down, not my house.

He explained that they always check the roof to be sure no shingles went flying in the breeze, just in case it causes a leak.  Gosh ... service ... that's refreshing!  He said he would call me later in the day.

About 8:00 that night I received another text message.  "The adjuster will come check your fence on February 6th".  Ummmmmm okay.  I haven't heard from anyone since, not the office OR the adjuster.

In the meantime, I warned Cyndae about the trains, although weirdly, not a single one passed by during the rest of the day.  I'm not sure what they have done to their engines, but one finally went by this morning that was whisper quiet.  At least she got one good night's sleep!!

When dinnertime rolled around, we coordinated our efforts on some kind of Tuscan herbed chicken and pasta from Every Plate.  You know what?  THIS was fabulous!!  So much flavor out of that tiny packet of dry powder.  I threw in the asparagus just because.  This actually made enough for FOUR people, so guess what's for breakfast?  Well, it's that or APPLE PIE!

After running through some of my critter videos for her, we finally settled in to watch Resident Alien.  Not as funny as the first episode, but we laughed out loud several times.  It's one of those shows I now have to watch just to see what happens.

Out of yesterday's 32 videos ... the rabbits and dove were having fun cavorting ... there was only one coyote image.  In other videos he tracked one of the rabbits for a bit, but could not locate it.  I'm so curious about where they go to hide.

Today we are off to the ghost town of Cascabel, although some people apparently still live there, followed up with Tombstone on Friday.  Two single women in Tombstone ... this should be interesting!

Cousin ADOT

 There's not much worse in the entire world than going to a California Department of Motor Vehicles.  It seems they hire people who hate their job and I can totally see why.  It's rather like sitting down in a homeless camp for 40 hours a week.

My numerous trips to the Arizona Department of Transportation have fared a little better.  ADOT seems to be the cousin "IT" of CaDMV.

I was up to two trips by the time I made the THIRD to get my rig and Jeep registered.  I had a stack of papers like I was back in college.  When I arrived at the appointed time, the parking lot was full to the brim.  I got in the first line, then was ushered off to the second line to wait in front of six counters.  Only three were occupied by personnel.  

Let me just say that the first phone call I made said NO SMOG.  The next said smog on the Jeep only.  Wasn't I surprised when THIS trip found me lacking a smog on the RIG!!  Struck down again!  At least they went ahead and registered the Jeep.  

It is interesting to note that they TAKE your vehicle title and do NOT give you one in return.  That's scary.  It's all online now.  I have nothing in hand to prove I own the Jeep.

The good news is California wanted to charge me $214 for this year.  Arizona charged me $225.03 (what's the 3 cents for?) for TWO years.  Half price works for me.  Cousin It came through!  Now however, I have to drive the rig about an hour to a facility to get it smogged and return one again to ADOT to get it registered.  It's never simple.

LET'S GO CELEBRATE!!  Patty, Dan and I went to Divine Bovine, a nice little restaurant deep in the heart of Tucson.  They have the best burgers on the planet.  Even Cousin It would love them!  They cook every one to order!!

Apparently I thought I was VERY hungry.  Bacon cheeseburger please with some of their new homemade tater tots.  I could have eaten TWO servings of those tots they were so good.  While we ate, Dan explained to me where to take the rig for a smog certificate, since part of his temporary job at La Mesa was to drive rigs.

Full to the brim and miserable ... yes I ate WAY too much ... we headed back home where I had planned on making a Dutch apple pie.  I have one of those peeler, corer, slicer-dicer thingies that makes peeling apples FUN!  It also makes a really big mess on your "office" table when the thing won't fit on the edge of the counter.

Somehow I ended up with apple peels and juice everywhere.  No matter, look at the magnificent slices it makes with just the turn of a handle.  I smothered them in sugar and cinnamon, placing them in a frozen pie shell.  No use getting frustrated trying to MAKE a pie shell.

TA-DA!!  Apple pie.  I have to say it tasted pretty good for dinner.  That's it ... just the pie.  My timing was right since now I'm having company for a few days.  

Friend Cyndae will arrive by plane today.  It's pretty awesome when your daughter, former Air Force Pilot and then Pilot Trainer, is now a pilot for Southwest Airlines. Cyndae gets to fly for free!!  And so my journey to Tombstone has been put off for a couple days.  

This morning I'll be scrambling around trying to hide all the mess in the house.  Maybe I'll even run the vacuum cleaner one or twice.  

Aliens Have Landed!!

 I'm relatively sure there is some little alien living inside this puppy body.  Cooper is weird I tell you.  Early yesterday morning as I sat playing games on my phone, he walked around gathering up all his toys and parking them on the couch.  He's sleeping on two of them.  He just wants to make extra sure NO ONE touches his things.

It was again very ugly outside with the wind.  I went to the Jeep twice, actually backing out of the garage once.  It was just SO windy I could barely breathe.  Since getting smashed in the face with tether balls, basketballs and baseballs as a kid, my nose doesn't seem to work any more.

You know how that happens, right?  I was always looking the wrong direction.  In those days they took you to the office and plopped a box of Kleenex on your lap.  There was no doctor involved unless you weren't breathing any more.

One quick trip to the grocery store was all I could manage.  The good news is it involved Tillamook ice cream.  That DEFINITELY made the day better.

Just to show you how bad it was, this video is from my protected back yard patio.  That is a very heavy feeder with an obviously TOO heavy chain.  Apparently Gila woodpeckers are not bothered much by the wind.  He swung back and forth, drinking his fill for about 15 minutes before flying off.  He came back three times, so obviously I'm good at cooking SOMETHING!

Next up ... you HAVE to watch this show if you didn't catch the first one.  Aliens have landed on "Resident Alien".  It will be on Wednesday night on the SyFy channel.  Check the time slot because I'm not sure when it will start.  This is one of the weirdest, scariest, funniest shows I've seen.  I laughed out loud, then had to close my eyes a couple of times. 

In the first show he killed a Doctor, then got drunk.  I'm really not one to get hooked on TV shows, but now I HAVE to see what happens.

I just spent 30 minutes trying to upload the javelina video.  It just doesn't want to go, saying I need to select just ONE movie.  SO FRUSTRATING!  So while I figure it out, here's my coyote buddy again.

So weird how the blog is okay with a 25 second coyote video, but doesn't like the 25 second javelina.  At long last, here it is ..... BECAUSE ... if you look closely, you can see part of that white tusk at the back of his/her mouth.  I'm thinking this is a female who came in late from a night out on the town.  

She usually comes through around midnight, not 7:30 in the morning.  I think she's going to get yelled at!!

Today I actually AM going to get out of the house to register both the rig and my Jeep in Arizona.  Won't THAT be fun!!  Maybe I'll run into Prince Charming.  You know my motto, never say die!!  

On Wednesday I'm determined to hang out in Tombstone all day.  Maybe I'll run into Wyatt!

Mother Nature Must Be Having Hot Flashes

 You know how when you get overheated, you turn on the fan to high and stand right in front of it, hoping to cool off just a tad?  You don't care what your hair looks like flailing in the wind, you just want some COOL.  Well Tucson seems to be having hot flashes, because she has the fan turned on high EVERY morning.  

There's one thing in nature I'm not fond of and that's WIND.  The harder it blows, the less I can breathe.  Something about all that dust and pollen I suppose.  The evenings are fabulous when she finally cools down enough to turn the fan off.

This morning, she turned it back on!!

In spite of my plans to get "out", I didn't get far.  Here's my story and I'm sticking to it.  Patty's electric blanket took a long dive off a short platform.  Mine is a perfect blanket, lightweight, not made of that crummy material that sticks to your hands and it works.

Since it was finally wash day for the sheets and everything had to come off the bed, I took it over to her house so she could see ... and later order ... the same one.

I've never been shocked so bad in my life!!  These sheets may never get washed again.  I was SO careful about removing everything, then happened to walk through the bathroom door.  YIKES!!!  Apparently there is a metal corner under that plaster and paint that zapped me in the arm.  I wasn't even within SIX INCHES OF THE WALL!!!  

Anyway .... so here is the driveway, all done and gorgeous.  You really have to applaud this kind of workmanship.  I told Dan there were lots of footprints up at the top ... must be javelinas.  Not really.

So once Patty approved the blanket, I headed out.  Sadly, I didn't get far.  Yes, there is a Dairy Queen about a mile away.  I decided to stop in since I REALLY needed to use up that last bit of whipped cream.  The good news is I only ate half and put the rest in the freezer.

By then it was so windy I didn't want to go anywhere, so I went through the night's videos.  My coyote buddy came back by himself, looking a little worse for wear.  It's mating time in the desert and they have been pretty fierce, even attacking several dogs in the area.  Never let your puppies out of your sight, no matter what time of day it is.  This however is one of the two bunnies who take 10-12 videos every night.  I'm sure I saw them thumbing their nose at me.

I spent an hour watching television ... How It's Made ... and what a surprise, they had cowboy boots on the show.  It was pretty fascinating to see how they make my most favorite footwear.  Whoever designs and makes the machinery they use is a genius!!  

When it came time for dinner, the wind had calmed down a bit.  Mother Nature must have turned the fan on medium.  It was a distraction.  Again with the tacos ... and the last of them I will ever order.  I dropped a big glop of sour cream on my used-to-be-clean tennis shoes.  

Ten minutes later, I knocked the whole bowl over making a nice mess.  While cleaning that up, I burned the bell peppers and onions frying on the stove.  Who puts bell peppers on tacos anyway????

I had left the chicken out on the counter all day to thaw.  I throw that stuff in the freezer since I don't know when it will actually get cooked.  Wasn't I surprised when I dumped it into the frying pan to discover it was still hard as a rock!!  How could that be?

At long last most of it was cooked, some of it VERY well done, and I was ready to assemble.  I threw in the cheese because it didn't look all that appetizing.  What can I say, it was food and kept me from starving.

I did finally make a trip to the grocery store.  Surely late on a Sunday there will be no one there.  I was wrong.  It's a good thing I didn't have to drive far.  The entire parking lot was completely full of people trying to get out of the house.  I drove around the lot and went right back out the exit.  

In spite Mother Nature's morning hot flash, only to get worse as the hours go by, I'm determined to go for a drive ... after I hit the grocery store at 8:00 this morning when no one is there.