Air Jordan

Another day in the beautiful downtown desert of Critterville.   It's a good thing I have this game camera, because things have been pretty dull around here.  All the activity seems to go on at night when I'm fast asleep, or at least trying to be in spite of the trains lumbering by.  I have to admit I've become very aware of the difference between the new engines and the old.  The old sound like I could reach out and touch them and they rattle the pictures on the wall.  Speaking of which, here comes one now!

They don't seem to bother the critters however, they just wait for the trains to pass before sauntering down the tracks.  It's good the trains go slow here due to sharp corners and uphill terrain.

I'm sad to say my raccoon buddy showed up without her mate ... or maybe this is the male.  It seems the males do most of the food hunting for the family.

I'm surprised the raccoon even stayed for a drink since this beauty showed up two hours before, extremely curious about what had been there before him.  Mostly those pesky rabbits!!

I really did have plans for the day, but I just couldn't get motivated.  I would head to the door, think about the price of fuel and my house repairs, and go sit back down.  I probably did that four times.  Indecision has sadly become the norm.

That brought about the need to manage the pantry sell-by dates.  At least it's easier to make the decision to get rid of the box of cake.  Truly, I only make cake so I can eat frosting.  I even threw in a box of pudding mix just so I didn't throw it away.  My advice .. don't buy that yellow cake mix.  It's awful!!

The cake, or rather the frosting, got me going enough to play the ball game with my kid.  His favorite thing to do is catch the ball mid air.  He places it on the table and pushes it towards me, whereupon it's my job to make it bounce on the table and fly into the air.  He's like Air Jordan ... he catches it every time with all four legs off the ground.  

By the way, he's twelve going on thirteen this year.  Pretty good for an old man!!  Many days if it weren't for him, I probably wouldn't even get up off the couch ... except for cake.

So here's my exciting tip for the day.  You all probably saw this on the internet.  Put your avocados in a pitcher of water in the fridge to keep them from spoiling before you can eat them. Avocados don't really last that long in my house, but I'm going to give it a try and see what happens.  

In spite of all the cold weather and clouds, we haven't had any fabulous sunsets this year.  This is about the best I've seen the last few weeks.

That's it ... a boring day spent trying to get motivated.  Just for kicks, I checked the MiFi.  It now has 12 messages on it.  I put in three more requests for a phone call yesterday, just for laughs.  Still no one has responded to the phone number I left.

Just for entertainment purposes, I'm going to put in three or four call requests every day until someone calls me back.  I'm thinking if you don't have one of their numbers, they won't call.  Anyone want to bet??

Wait ... can you hear it?  The coyote family is meeting up just down the hill.  Love it!!

Bunny Traffic

Speaking of fluffy ..... wouldn't you just love to cuddle one of these guys?  It's hard to tell if there are twenty bunnies or just one or two that saunter back and forth in front of the camera all night long.  I never knew they were so active at night, since that's when the hungry "wolves" are out looking for them.

Rarely do I ever see them during the day, though I have found one of their hiding spots close to the train tracks.  It's not the proverbial rabbit hole, it's just a shelter covered in fallen sticks.  What they eat is a mystery since I've never seen them munch on anything.  Wait for it ... he really doesn't leave.

Literally five minutes later, these guys show up.  I keep thinking I'll catch the chase one day, but so far they only seem interested in the water.  These two hung around longer than normal.

That was the most exciting part of my day.  I was rather slow to get going until I discovered my Verizon bill for the MiFi.  For some reason the bank didn't pay it and I ended up with a bill for $190.00.  I went online and got it paid, only to have the bank pay ANOTHER $90 to them.  Then of course Verizon countered with a $22.86 reconnection fee.  Nope ... not paying it.

I spent the entire day trying to contact they who no longer will talk to you without a minimum 40 minute wait.  Using their app, I made three appointments for a call back, none of which happened.  Even though I put in my callback number, they insisted on calling the MiFi number.  Ummmmm I can't TALK on the MiFi people.  

Finally, stubborn as I am, I actually waited 53 minutes on hold until someone answered.  Nothing makes me madder!!!  They took the charge off my bill.  An entire day WASTED!!

I took it out on the dandelions happily growing in my yard.  You might ask why my grass is brown.  I have discovered if you don't water it much, you don't have to mow it much.  

I did do a little landscaping, in a two foot round pot.  One of these days I'll get pictures of the Chance greenhouse that produces more cactus than you can shake a stick at.  The smaller aloe and the tall whatever-it-is came from there.  If these live, I'll plant this entire area in succulents that require little care.

Mid afternoon, Miss Patty and I wandered on down to Montgomery's Grill and Saloon for a late lunch.

It's much smaller than it looks from the outside.  Service was rather slow because they can't seem to get help.  They are hiring if you are looking.  We ordered the HALF plate of Colossal Nachos (not sure that is really the name of them).  Boy was it colossal!!!  By the time we split that order, we were completely stuffed.  It was VERY delicious, washed down with a strawberry lemonade.  Darn, I should have taken a picture!!!  Guess we'll have to go again!

Stuffed to the gills, I came home and plopped on the couch for more hand sewing.  Looking out the window, I spotted Mrs. Dove.  She seemed completely lost.  Her own special Palm Tree home had disappeared.  She looked rather confused for about five minutes.  The palm was where she built her nest every year.  

I was sad to see her fly off, but that tree behind her has MUCH bigger spikes and would be a safer place to build.  I use that word lightly, since doves are terrible nest builders.

And so ended another day in Arizona.  It's a chilly 34 degrees this morning and we won't even make it to 60 today.  Being cold, it's probably a good day to take Mr. Cooper to the nearby dog park.  Cold usually means no rattlesnakes!!

Fat and Fluffy

 No, I'm not describing myself, although sometimes when I look in the mirror, that does come to mind.  I'm talking about my raccoon buddies who graced my humble little house with their presence.  There are two again, reminding me that even the critters can find Prince Charming.  Just my luck!

The bunnies seem to be doing great in that department also ... as bunnies do I guess.  On this day I had another fifteen images of them running back and forth in front of the lens, all night long!!  

Not really trying to become any fluffier while saying to myself ... heck, just enjoy it, you probably won't be around that much longer ... I made more of those blueberry pancakes from muffin batter.  This works really well if you don't turn the heat up too high and burn them like I did the second batch.  They were delicious, even if I did taste them for the next three hours.

While telling myself not to eat those again without an extra dose of Tums, I remembered about this great movie we saw a couple weeks ago.  This is DOG starring Channing Tatum.  The STAR however is Lulu, a Belgian Malinois (actually played by not one but three dogs) who is a Veteran of Afghanistan.  Army Ranger Jackson Briggs is taking her to the funeral of her handler Riley at the request of his family.

It will make you laugh and cry at the same time.  GREAT movie!!

I also discovered quite by accident that the price of fuel in Arizona isn't so bad after all.  Paying $4.50 a gallon (which is ridiculous by the way) wasn't near as bad as what's to come.

This is where my other bedroom lives.  Diesel is now $5.47 a gallon ... more if you use credit.  Just north of this location about 30 miles it is now $7.07 a gallon, at Loves no less.  I'm pretty sure this is a record that no one is happy about, especially when we have our own oil to pump.  It's interesting to note that inflation just doesn't seem to bother anyone in Washington DC.  

So ... instead of worrying about it, I plunked my fluffy self down on the chair in the sewing room and concentrated on finished this quilt.  I had planned on showing you THIS image .........

But instead I get to show you THIS one!!  It's finally done after fussy cutting the borders, meaning it took me two hours to do the border instead of the usual 30 minutes.

In no time at all, I was back to sewing binding, which I'm going to be sick of doing in no time.  Although my thumb has healed up some and doesn't hurt as bad, I've got 85 needle sticks in my other nine fingers.  The hazards of quilting I suppose.

We are back down to 28 degrees this morning before warming up to 83 by the end of the week.  Maybe .. just maybe ... we are heading for a warming spell.  I won't hold my breath!!

Soldiers Hole

 You can see why the native Indians camped out in the Chiricahua Mountains.  This country is absolutely gorgeous.  Yes it's dry, situated next to large areas of desert, and probably hot as a tin roof in the summer, but the scenery is beautiful.  That white stuff on the mountain top is actually snow from a couple days ago.

Sadly, it's now all private property and you are not allowed to go exploring up the mountainside.  

As I came out of the canyon where Johnny Ringo was shot and killed, I turned towards the Mexican border and Sulphur Springs Valley.  Although I've never run into anyone illegally entering the U.S. (maybe once when hiking), you do have to be watchful.  Squash that feeling of being helpful to the lady on the side of the road and just keep driving.

You will soon arrive at Soldiers Hole on Gleeson Road, about 25 miles from the border.  One of the first ranchers in this area was William Sanderson who was camping out with his family near a small water hole he found, while on his way to Tombstone.  

A cowboy passing through the area told him to stay put since there was a smallpox outbreak in Tombstone.  Sanderson told his wife Katherine to let her chickens out ... we're staying here.  As you know, water meant everything!

According to his daughter, raiding parties of Old Geronimo came by many times stealing cattle and anything they thought useful, but they never bothered the family.  Sadly, it brought the calvary out between 1861 and 1863, with troops on maneuvers camping out here by the water.  

This soon became a stop on the Butterfield Stage Route due to the artesian well Sanderson and Ambrose Lyall struck in 1883.  The Federal Government at the time awarded Sanderson $1,000, I assume for allowing them to use the water.  

Soldiers and Indians weren't the only visitors.  Apparently the Clantons, McLaurys, Earps, Sheriff Behan and even Johnny Ringo stopped in here often.  In 1892 a twelve battery stamp mill was built, along with a Post Office given the name of Descanso, meaning a haven of rest.  They also built a school, which was eventually used by the Mormon settlers for their first church.  The Sulphur Springs Valley became quite popular.

In 1909 the railroad came into being and bypassed Soldiers Hole.  Descanso disappeared and sadly, nothing remains.  It is currently private property on which grain is grown.  The only thing left to see is the monument, built with rocks from the stamp mill.  That's it ... all I could find on Soldiers Hole.  

So I continued on my journey towards Tombstone.  See the line of grey trees?  Sorry they don't show up as well as they did in person.  That's the creek bed.  Usually green, they have lost their leaves, but if you see a line of trees like that, you know there's water at least part of the year.

As I drive along, I'm always thinking about riding a horse across the trails between towns.  It must have been nice to see some sort of civilization ahead.  I mean really, did the Earps carry food?  When they camped out, did they eat?  I assume they took a canteen of water with them when searching for Curly Bill Brocius.  Generally you can make 25-35 miles a day on a horse, which is probably why you see these little towns and stagecoach stops about that far apart.

This is coming into Tombstone from the East.  I had visions of a huge Big Nose Kate's sandwich and a little shopping foray.  Boy was I surprised to see SO MANY cars parked in town.  The streets were full of people and the parking lots (usually empty) full to the brim.  I quickly had second thoughts about stopping.

I was truly happy to see them thriving, but waiting an hour for food wouldn't fit into my schedule, not to mention I probably wouldn't find a parking spot.  I've never seen it like that before and it was only Friday!!!

I kept driving.  I'll go back mid week.  In the meantime, I took the back road to Sierra Vista, stopping in at a little local artist art gallery.  Sorry, no pictures allowed.  By then I was on a mission to get home, so off I went, following traffic going 25 mph in a 45 zone.  

I saw the sign too late and no one would let me over.  It's okay, I'll go straight and turn around.  Wasn't I surprised that going straight led me right to the entrance gate of Fort Huachuca.  I wish I had GPS in my truck.  It might have saved me from a frantic turn-around mid-street.

Six hours of driving later, I was back home, greeted by a very happy little puppy having a bad hair day, just like his Mama.  It's true we end up looking just like our pets!

I'm not sure what trip is up next ... I'll have to check my bank account for gas money!!

Talking To A Ghost

I woke up to a weird blue morning sky.  Mornings are what photographers call blue hours and evenings, golden hours.  Although I expected spectacular sunrise colors, they never showed up.  I knew the winds were coming, which is normally enough to keep me home.  For some crazy reason, I had it in mind to do some ghost talking.

But first off, I needed fuel.  This was going to be a long drive.  Yup I really am in Arizona where diesel is now $4.50 a gallon.  That's almost double what it was before you-know-who took over.  It's going to put a big dent in my travels I think since it cost me $67.00 just to make this trip for pictures.

My first stop was Dragoon.  This old grocery/merchandise store that was falling down has been purchased by RV'ers.  Last year I found a crew piping water under the building, then sucking out all the mud and dirt that had accumulated over the years.  It now has a new porch and brand new doors.  Too bad the roof is caving in.  

They tried to cover it with tarps, but with the Arizona wind, they weren't doing much good.  Around back two RV's are parked.  I'm envious that's not me.  LOVE the American flag however!!

On I went for over an hour, finally finding my destination.  I've read six different directions on how to get here, none of which were correct, so I felt lucky when I saw the sign.  THIS is the grave of Johnny Ringo.

Most everything known about Johnny Ringo is either inaccurate or fabricated to sell books.  What we do know is he was born in Indiana in 1850 and was unfortunately at 14 years of age, the witness to his father's demise by shotgun when he got down off their wagon.  Although he supposedly went to college and was well versed in the classics (like Doc Holliday), he actually never finished grade school.

Somewhere along the line he was involved in the Texas Range War where he most likely killed a man or two.  He first turned up in an Arizona bar in Stafford in 1878 where he offered a free whiskey to the man next to him.  Louis Hancock declined, saying he preferred beer, so Ringo hit him over the head with his pistol, then shot him in the neck.  Surprisingly, Louis lived.  I guess Ringo had anger issues.

This is the movie version ... a pretty good match.  Interestingly enough, the above Johnny Ringo is a dead ringer for an old friend of mine named Jan ... a rodeo bull rider who was pretty mean, probably because HE was named Jan.  

Johnny was able to bond himself out of jail, but was scheduled to appear before the Grand Jury in March of 1880.  Not wanting to go back to jail, he wrote the Sheriff a letter.  Weird, right?  He probably could have just disappeared.  He stated his reason for not being able to show up was because he got shot in the foot and could not travel.  

Apparently the problem was resolved, as he ended up a delegate to the Pima County Democratic Convention and served as an election official in San Simon near the Mexican border.  It turns out the election was a complete fraud and was investigated by U.S. Deputy Marshall Wyatt Earp, which is how he got on Wyatt's bad side.

After walking down the chain link surrounded pathway, I arrived at the site of Johnny Ringo's grave.  All this is thanks to the property owner who got tired of people knocking on his door.  If you go there, this is all private property, so please be respectful ... and watch for rattlesnakes.

By early 1881, Johnny was best friends with the Clanton group, mostly because they were hard drinking "cowboys" making a big profit on stolen cattle.  Although it is said he was at the OK Corral shootout, he was actually proven to be in California visiting his sisters, a staunch Methodist family who resoundingly disowned him, leading him to drink even more.

Back in Arizona, now in a small mining town named Galeyville near the Chiricahua Mountains, he got in an argument over a poker game.  He was losing and asked to borrow money from the guy who beat him, so he could continue to play.  The guy said no, so Ringo and his buddy Dave Estes, came back to steal $500 and a horse.  

In November of 1881, Johnny was indicted and brought back to Tombstone by his Deputy Sheriff buddy Bill Breakenridge, no friend of the Earps.  He pled guilty, but since no one showed up to testify against him, he was released on bond.  Although Wyatt insisted Johnny Ringo was in on the Virgil Earp ambush, there really was no proof.  Johnny did get into a shouting match with Wyatt and Doc on January 17, 1882 about the stagecoach robbery Doc had been accused of.  All three were arrested for having weapons in town, but Wyatt being a Marshal, didn't have to pay the $30 fine.  

On January 20, 1882, he was rearrested for his still outstanding bond in Galeyville.  That's when he learned Wyatt's group was heading to Charleston to arrest the Clantons.  Good old Sheriff Behan let Johnny out of jail before his actual new bond had been posted so he could head straight to Charleston to warn the Clantons.

By now, Morgan Earp had been shot and killed, prompting Wyatt and his posse to take after them, whereupon he killed Frank Stillwell at the train station in Tucson.  That sent Sheriff John Behan out with a posse, which included Johnny Ringo, chasing after the Earps.  Wyatt and HIS posse caught up with Curly Bill Brocius, Johnny Ringo's good friend, in the Whetstone mountains, killing him.  After that, the Earps headed to New Mexico and Colorado where they had friends in high places.

In May of 1882, Ringo was back in Tombstone for his Galeyville robbery arraignment, whereupon he was released with no charges.  After a big day of heavy drinking in Antelope Springs, he headed off to Sulphur Springs for more whiskey.  He was not seen again until July 14, 1882, when he was found sitting under this tree above with a gunshot to his temple.  After an official coroner's report, he was buried just a few feet from the tree on Turkey Creek.  So here he lies.  Talk to me Johnny!

His death was ruled a suicide since the gun was in his hand and his rifle propped up against the tree.  He had pieces of his torn shirt over his feet.  It would appear he took his boots off for some reason and tied them to his saddle, whereupon the horse got spooked and took off.  

 No one really believes the Earps or Doc would have made it look like a suicide.  They would have just shot him and rode away.  His horse was found several days later about two miles away with his boots still tied to the saddle.  

It's a mystery for sure ... did he kill himself or did someone do it for him, or maybe it was just a drunken accident.  He was 32 years old.  This nice pond sits right behind the grave site as Turkey Creek trickles down the hill.  I talked to Johnny for awhile, but he was not in the mood for conversation.  Hey, might as well give it a shot!

This would have been his last view, minus the fence of course.  And there you have it, the life and times of Johnny Ringo, intricately entwined with the Earps clan for eternity.  Probably not something he really wanted.

I said goodby and headed back down the 4.4 miles of good dirt road at 30 mph before hitting pavement.  I made a few detours on the way back home, the wind thrashing me the entire way.  Since this turned out so long and drawn out, I'll post the rest of the story tomorrow.  

No, Johnny never said a word to me.

Here Kitty Kitty ... Purrrrrrr

The weather in Arizona just can't decide what it's going to do.  Mother Nature is spinning her wand again, providing us with winds 25 to 35 mph today, possible gusts up to 45.  It was my plan to head to Tombstone, but I'm not a fan of Mother Nature's fan.  

It should make for some exciting times this afternoon to see if my latest whirligig survives.  Yup, I found it underneath the bed in the rig.  Sadly, she already lost one petal on the far side.  That actually helps it go around better with a little centrifugal force.  I love the colors!!

Lately I've been catching these guys in the early morning hours partaking of some sweet nectar.  They are a little big to be playing hummingbirds, but the cactus wren beak seems to fit right in the hole.  The hummers don't seem to mind, they just park on the opposite side.

Here's a couple of my favorite videos from the past week.  Mom bobcat came for a nice long drink.  So long in fact, there were not one, but SEVEN videos of her.  

She would stand up, look around, then sit back down.  She would hear something, look around, move off, then come back for another drink.  I swear I could hear her purring!!  She stayed crouched down for quite awhile, then finally wandered off down the hill.  These videos made my day!!

More backyard work, I drilled holes in the oleander stumps from one side to the other and poured in some nice tree killer.  I'm not expecting this to work at all, but maybe it will get sick enough to let go it's hold on the earth and I can dig it out.  Having had to plug in drills most of my life, I'm so excited to have a battery operated one!!!  I'll be doing this for the next week, but it's okay, I love playing with tools.

I spent the rest of the afternoon working on the binding of this quilt (the edging that is).  It only took three bandaids over my thumb.  Gee .... only eight more to go!!

I finished off the day with what else ..... ice cream.  But not just ANY ice cream, this was FREE!!  Another container of ice cream from Safeway.  It sure makes it taste better!!!  Of course it's the 1.5 quart size, but free is free!!

I think some blueberry pancakes may be in order this morning.  That might motivate me enough to get outside in spite of Mother Nature.

Coyote Watch

 Boy do I love watching these critters, and it's even better if I'm able to catch them on camera.  It was a beautiful warm day, much more like an Arizona winter.  It began with some hard work when Dan said he was coming over to move all those oleander and palm tree branches out to the roadside.  

Apparently the Homeowners Association (very small with a negligible cost) is hiring a big Waste Management Truck to come around and pick up anything and everything we want to get rid of.  For FREE!  It wasn't all that bad since we only had to load the backhoe which he then drove to the road.

Once done, that gave me time to work on these images.  I think this is Big Momma, but I'm not sure.  the markings on her back are the giveaway, although a couple of her kids have the same markings.

I snapped away as fast as I could, this one being a little blurry since it was shot through the window.  Opening the slider usually makes them take off.

She drank for quite some time, giving me the evil eye now and then to be sure I wasn't moving.

The family was out and about last night.  They woke me up with all their howling and greetings at about 2:00 and they are back again this morning at 5:00.  Cooper can hear them and is barking in return.  Makes you wonder what they are saying!!

With visions of coyotes in my head, I took off to the fabric store for what else, more fabric.  Sometimes it doesn't pay to do anything when you are tired.  I cut the fabric entirely the wrong way, ending up with 14 pieces instead of seven.  I was able to get 12 yards of black and white at close to half price.  I'll use it up in no time.

Being tired at the end of the day lead to the little accident with a knife while cutting up the meat for my stir fry.  I'm pretty bad about using up leftover veggies, so figured I'd give this a try.  I learned two things.  One, a thumb tends to bleed a LOT.  It's okay, that chunk will grow back eventually.

Two, there's nothing that hurts more than a cut thumb when you need it to sew the binding on a quilt.  Those thumbs that hold things together work really well until you are missing part of it.  As you can tell I have LOTS of binding to do.

Dessert made me feel a little better ... no-bake lime cheesecake I made a couple of days ago.  I ran out of little pie shells so I used mason jars.

The best part of the day was actually putting on a pair of shorts before eating the pie!!!  It's finally warming up in southern Arizona!!

Lost In My Living Room

 The tale of the lost RV wouldn't be complete without a report of the work done, or not done.  I forgot to mention that I now have three new plugs ... YAY, not that they will last long ... and one that didn't get touched.  I suppose I'll have to fix that one myself.  On the other hand, I now have a bright blue light to illuminate the steps at night.  I'm sure my neighbors will love that!!  

As for raising the back jacks, he told me they could not do that because it would require welding on the frame.  No it won't.  Oh yes, you cannot move them because the frame is in the way.  Obviously he has never worked with ME before.  I've been under the back of that thing three times and there is no welding required.  Nothing is in the way of removing five bolts, moving the jack stand up and replacing the bolts.  No worries I told him, I'll do it myself.  

You would be proud that I didn't read him the riot act as he spouted off a bunch of crap.  Really, you shouldn't be such a pompous A$$ when dealing with motorhome people.  Most of them know everything about their rigs ... and you just showed how dumb you really are.  He was seriously like that used car salesman we all hate.

Anyhoo .... yesterday morning Cooper and I watched a special on the Yellowstone wolves.  He has never cared less about dogs or anything on TV.  When he heard them howling however, he went all protective on me.  I laughed out loud!!

He even ran up to the TV to chase them off.  Too funny!!  Totally out of character for him.

I spent the next couple of hours finishing up this quilt with a new bear claw pattern.  LOVE it!!  I was particularly thankful that it went like clockwork.  Not one single problem.

Of course in between quilting, I had to spend most of the time on the floor entertaining this guy.  This is my view from the cheap seats.

And then this happened!!  Everything that could go wrong, did!!  I don't know why, but the machine got completely lost in my living room.  I placed it exactly where it needed to start, but it insisted it was way over at the very edge.  Kind of like your husband when you're telling him you are HERE and he insists you are WAY OVER THERE on the other side of town!!  No amount of explanation will work.

I called for backup.  Instead of just saying GO HERE, the gal went through all kinds of explanations that made no sense.  Just tell me what buttons to push!!  At last I hit GO and I was about half an inch off.  Thirty minutes of ripping out thread and I was back to square one and still lost.

In the end I threw up my arms (like you in the passenger seat) and just went with it.  It was off, but I suppose not far enough that anyone could really tell.  But wait ..... just like following that GPS to the wrong road, there was another dead end.  I apparently didn't measure when I cut the backing because it was two inches short.  

I threw up my arms and gave it the silent treatment!!  It just won't listen!!!

I certainly did listen however when Patty called to ask if I wanted to go to Red Lobster again.  Heck yeah!!!  Come to find out it's their 42nd wedding anniversary!  She even showed me pictures.  I just can't believe we were ever that skinny!!!  Dinner was delicious and they got a free desert ... but no singing.  Probably a good thing!

That means I didn't get to the coyote pictures, so they are first on my schedule today!!

You Lost My Rig??

 It's another beautiful day here in southern Arizona with the sun shining brightly!  The wind?  That's just to keep the dust off the trees.  

It was time to brave the dealership.  I don't think I have ever come away feeling really good about them.  I called at 8:00 and had to leave a message.  I called again at 9:00 and was told call-backs usually take over two hours.  I know you are busy, but really?  I got the extension number that time.

By three hours I wasn't feeling it at all, and I called yet again.  I was told he would call me back in 15 minutes, or if it would make me feel better, he would just leave me on hold for 15 minutes.  Uh huh ... that's how you win friends and influence enemies.

It was 11:30 by the time he said it was ready.  I drove over, signed the papers, grabbed my keys and was out the door to hook up.  EXCEPT .... I couldn't find it!!  It was nowhere to be seen on the pick up lot.

Back in the office, he didn't believe me so we took another stroll around the block before he disappeared.  He finally returned with a radio, calling to bring the rig up front (which he forgot to do), but they couldn't seem to find it.  Fifteen minutes later as I stared at the six Imagines in the lot, they brought her around and hookup began.

I have to say it's much easier to hook up now.  All those horse trailers were good practice and it's coming back, kind of like riding a bike.  There was a small snafu ... the leveling system including the jacks is all automatic, which of course went south because of them moving it around.  It took me some time to remember I can reset it from my phone.  In a flash I was out the gate as the service guy said I would receive an email about his service and he hoped I would give him a great rating!!  Yeah, right!!!

Surprise ... I was actually even able to park around the dog leg and into the shed in one try.  I'm not saying it was pretty, but I did it!!!  Baby is glad to be back home.

Here's my best tip for everyone who stays in Arizona.  Pack rats are a big problem ... BIG.  They can eat the wires from under your rig in a flash!  You can combat that with another strobe-like flash ... the Rid-A-Rat.  Unfortunately they have become rather expensive ... like $54.00 each.  

Two double A batteries gets you a flashing light that works for over a year keeping those critters at bay.  Since using this, I've never had a problem.  Held on by magnets, I've never lost one either.  Mr. Chance has them on his backhoe.  I'm even thinking I should buy two more for under the house!!

I spent the afternoon totally messing up my latest quilting job.  Everything that could go wrong, did.  So instead of a beautiful quilt, here's some of my favorite critters to watch.  

The babies are growing BIG!!

Later, I went over to the Chance Ranch to watch a couple more episodes of 1883 and partake of a yummy stir fry dinner.  That Patty ... she can cook!!!

Today's number one priority is batteries for the critter cam and processing all those pictures I got yesterday afternoon of that young coyote that returned to say hello.  Boy is he/she a beauty!!!  We talked eye to eye for few minutes before it wandered on off down the gully.  Pictures tomorrow.