We'll get the weather out of the way quickly. Rain has been occurring about every night for the past week (last Saturday, we had about 2.5 inches). Lightening is always a concern with all the tall pines around. One strike did a little damage to the contact station we work in. Temps have cooled down to about 53 degrees at night but the days are very pleasant in the mid to high 70's.
Larry knows first-hand about trees and it's dangers. He was visiting with some of our neighbors outdoors and one of the pine cones fell and conked him on the head. Luckily he had his cap on but he still could feel the hit. Those little suckers pack a wallop when they drop about 150 feet to the ground. Several trees were also uprooted during some of our heavier winds. Their roots are very shallow as they grow tall very quickly. He also knows now not to point out grey squirrels to CoCo as the dog took off literally dragging Larry, who was hanging onto his leash. Larry fell and finally CoCo stopped. A few scrapes, but nothing serious, thank goodness. It could have been a lot worse.
The contact station sustained damage of another kind during Friday night's downpour - one of our late arrivals plowed his motor home into the contact station and moved it about 12" from it's previous location. Two of the Workampers and the area manager, Tom, were inside when the building was hit. No one received any serious injuries, but communication lines and electrical lines had to be repaired. Nothing like a little excitement to keep things going! Our campground was almost full, many of them tenters, so it was a very wet night for them along with the lightening and thunder.
The previous week, one of Arizona's escaped murderers and his female accomplice, were captured in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. They were captured in one of the remote campgrounds. The forest Ranger who spotted them was very, very lucky that neither the man or the woman were anywhere close enough to their tent so they could reach one of their guns or he would have been killed. In fact, the man later boasted that he would have killed the Ranger if he could have reached his gun. Pretty scary. This couple had driven into our campground earlier that day to look at some of our sites. We are all very fortunate that they went on to a more remote area. Everyone is sure glad that they have been apprehended.
We spotted our first elk last week at dusk. The female was about 30 feet behind our unit grazing and didn't even hardly lift her head when I went out to take photos. Unfortunately it was just dark enough that none of the images were very good. Will try to get better photos next time.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Aspen Campground
Welcome to Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. Our campground is 7,700 ft. elevation and is on the Mogollon (pronounced Mo go ee on) Rim. It is one of nine campgrounds managed by Recreation Resource Management of America that we work for. About 30,000 visitors a week are in the area, many of whom camp, fish or hike. Aspen Campground, where we work, has 136 campsites, none of which have electric, water or sewer hookups. Water and restrooms are available throughout the campground and a dump station is up the road about 3/4 of a mile. Employees however have full hookups, thank goodness.
The first image shows one of the roads that winds through the forest - AZ #260 west to Payson and Phoenix. The second photo below shows the view from atop the Rim of the area. It is approximately 3,000 ft. to the canyon floor.
We're scouting out some little groves of Aspen trees to take photos of so we can watch the progression of their colors changing as the weather cools down. CoCo thinks he's died and gone to heaven with all the trees around. Boy is he in for a shock when we get to Mesa and all the asphault and concrete at the RV Resort. The dog park will not suffice for him I'm sure.
A large lake is just a quarter mile from where we are and quite a few trout are caught from the bank every day. Boats are allowed but no big motors on the them. Down at one of the marinas close by, there is a nest of Bald Eagles and their 2 fledglings. We haven't been down to view them yet but plan on doing so soon. Maybe we will even get a photo of them.
It is about 8 miles to the closest post office (Forest Lakes) and about 33 miles to Payson for groceries and laundromat. We can go east past Forest Lakes to Heber-Overgaard, about 28 miles for laundry and groceries also, but is a smaller town and the prices are higher. There is a lakeside store on the Lake here but everything is double in price. At least we get our cubed ice and firewood free.
The first image shows one of the roads that winds through the forest - AZ #260 west to Payson and Phoenix. The second photo below shows the view from atop the Rim of the area. It is approximately 3,000 ft. to the canyon floor.
We're scouting out some little groves of Aspen trees to take photos of so we can watch the progression of their colors changing as the weather cools down. CoCo thinks he's died and gone to heaven with all the trees around. Boy is he in for a shock when we get to Mesa and all the asphault and concrete at the RV Resort. The dog park will not suffice for him I'm sure.
A large lake is just a quarter mile from where we are and quite a few trout are caught from the bank every day. Boats are allowed but no big motors on the them. Down at one of the marinas close by, there is a nest of Bald Eagles and their 2 fledglings. We haven't been down to view them yet but plan on doing so soon. Maybe we will even get a photo of them.
It is about 8 miles to the closest post office (Forest Lakes) and about 33 miles to Payson for groceries and laundromat. We can go east past Forest Lakes to Heber-Overgaard, about 28 miles for laundry and groceries also, but is a smaller town and the prices are higher. There is a lakeside store on the Lake here but everything is double in price. At least we get our cubed ice and firewood free.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Arizona Destination
We just received confirmation this morning that we have been accepted as camp hosts at the Aspen Campground at the Mogollon Rim in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in northeastern part of Arizona. The elevation is 7,100 ft. so temps will be in the 70's during the daytime and as low as the 40's at night. Sure beats triple digits of Texas & NM right now. The photo below shows one of the nearby lakes in the area.
Can't wait to see all the aspen trees change colors while we are there. Our location is South of Holbrook, AZ and NE of Payson, AZ close to Heber/Overgaard, AZ area. The campground has 136 campsites and is very, very busy with lots of visitors. Our Recreation/Parks Manager assures us that we will be kept very busy, Dee working in the office and Larry working maintenance outside most of the time. Larry probably will work lots harder than I will because the sites must be maintained at all times.
As we get a chance to check out the area, we'll post more photos. Hope to hear from some of you also.
Can't wait to see all the aspen trees change colors while we are there. Our location is South of Holbrook, AZ and NE of Payson, AZ close to Heber/Overgaard, AZ area. The campground has 136 campsites and is very, very busy with lots of visitors. Our Recreation/Parks Manager assures us that we will be kept very busy, Dee working in the office and Larry working maintenance outside most of the time. Larry probably will work lots harder than I will because the sites must be maintained at all times.
As we get a chance to check out the area, we'll post more photos. Hope to hear from some of you also.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Isleta Lakes Park, NM
The following images were taken at the Isleta Lakes, NM RV Park and Recreation area where we are staying right now. It is really scenic here.
Several fishermen were out here trying to catch that elusive channel catfish. Lake is stocked every 2 weeks with catfish in the summer months and trout in the fall and winter months. Lots of fishermen as the Isleta Pueblo has a fishing promotion going on until the end of the month with tagged fish worth $1,000 and $5,000. One $1,000 fish was caught this week but the $5,000 one has not been caught yet. Yesterday the dollar amount was to be doubled if someone caught it. So you can see why there are a few fishermen here.
Larry could get a license and fish from the shore but hasn't had the itch to do so. Rules are pretty simple, you catch - you must take with you. It's not catch and release like it is a lot of places. No boats or other craft allowed on lake so it's really quiet.
Tomorrow we leave and travel up to Raton. Should be a fun weekend.
Several fishermen were out here trying to catch that elusive channel catfish. Lake is stocked every 2 weeks with catfish in the summer months and trout in the fall and winter months. Lots of fishermen as the Isleta Pueblo has a fishing promotion going on until the end of the month with tagged fish worth $1,000 and $5,000. One $1,000 fish was caught this week but the $5,000 one has not been caught yet. Yesterday the dollar amount was to be doubled if someone caught it. So you can see why there are a few fishermen here.
Larry could get a license and fish from the shore but hasn't had the itch to do so. Rules are pretty simple, you catch - you must take with you. It's not catch and release like it is a lot of places. No boats or other craft allowed on lake so it's really quiet.
Tomorrow we leave and travel up to Raton. Should be a fun weekend.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Time Flies By
Tomorrow we leave Childress and head for Albuquerque, NM so we can pick up our daughter at the airport. She is flying in to spend a few days in Raton, NM to attend her 30th high school reunion. First time she has been back to Raton for a reunion. She also has a work-related seminar to attend in Albuq. on Thursday.
We'll drive up to Raton on Friday and stay through Sunday and then return to Abuq. so she can catch her flight out on Tuesday back to Portland. Hope to see some of our friends in Raton that we've known over the years while we are there.
We've had a great time in Childress staying at our friend's "campground" (rv accommodations in their backyard with full hookups). Played some bridge with former bridge groups and got a lot of visiting done. Larry got 1 new RV tire installed for motor home. Pretty soon all of them will be new tires. Seems like they wear out more being parked not being used than wearing out traveling. Hard to figure out how that happens but it does.
That's all for now.
We'll drive up to Raton on Friday and stay through Sunday and then return to Abuq. so she can catch her flight out on Tuesday back to Portland. Hope to see some of our friends in Raton that we've known over the years while we are there.
We've had a great time in Childress staying at our friend's "campground" (rv accommodations in their backyard with full hookups). Played some bridge with former bridge groups and got a lot of visiting done. Larry got 1 new RV tire installed for motor home. Pretty soon all of them will be new tires. Seems like they wear out more being parked not being used than wearing out traveling. Hard to figure out how that happens but it does.
That's all for now.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Rainy Texas Days
We left Alpine, Tx July 1st and headed north towards Childress. Larry drove in rain from Ft. Stockton all the way to Midland, TX. Our campground was located midway between Odessa and Midland, TX. Larry's niece and her husband Chuck drove out to the campground and picked us up and took us to dinner at a neighborhood Italian restaurant. LeeAnn's friend in Midland had painted the interior of the restaurant a few years back - quite lovely with faux windows with shutters, trailing flowers on vines and some landscape views. Dinner was awesome. Of course, I predicted to LeeAnn that Larry would order spaghetti & meatballs and he didn't disappoint us because that's what he ordered!
We had planned on leaving on the 2nd but we were talked into staying one more night. On Friday, July 2nd Lee Ann came to get us and we spent the day "shopping". I think everyone was worn out by the time we finished. Chuck grilled salmon steaks for dinner that evening. He's a great cook by the way. It rained all day and most of the evening again. Streets were flooding in Midland.
On Saturday morning we got on the road to head for Childress, still driving in the rain. We arrived at our destination early Saturday evening and got parked at our friends home the morning of July 4th. We went to the "rainy" 4th of July celebration at the Summers home early in the evening and stayed to watch the fireworks after dark. Beautiful show, always love to see the explosions of color light up the sky. The rain subsided for a couple of hours so the show was spectacular.
This month is medical, dental and vision checkups so schedule is eating up our time here some. Of course, playing bridge is a must with all of Dee's former bridge groups. As a side note, the 100-year old lady in Alpine Dee played bridge with passed away last week from pnuemonia complications. She was a terrific lady and such a delight to be around.
Our friends, where we are staying, went shopping yesterday and purchased a Chevy Trail Blazer. The car is a 2008 but is in great condition. Really a pretty car. Not much else going on. Larry is clearing out our storage building completely and getting rid of most of contents. Also had to move our safety deposit box contents as our bank is moving to their new facility Monday. Interesting thing is only 1 access key now! The new security system scans the palm of your hand to identify who you are before you have access to your safety box. Quite a deal I think.
It rained yesterday and again last night but today it's just muggy and overcast. Maybe one of these days soon it will clear up and the humidity drops down where it should be. We do like these lower temperatures though.
We had planned on leaving on the 2nd but we were talked into staying one more night. On Friday, July 2nd Lee Ann came to get us and we spent the day "shopping". I think everyone was worn out by the time we finished. Chuck grilled salmon steaks for dinner that evening. He's a great cook by the way. It rained all day and most of the evening again. Streets were flooding in Midland.
On Saturday morning we got on the road to head for Childress, still driving in the rain. We arrived at our destination early Saturday evening and got parked at our friends home the morning of July 4th. We went to the "rainy" 4th of July celebration at the Summers home early in the evening and stayed to watch the fireworks after dark. Beautiful show, always love to see the explosions of color light up the sky. The rain subsided for a couple of hours so the show was spectacular.
This month is medical, dental and vision checkups so schedule is eating up our time here some. Of course, playing bridge is a must with all of Dee's former bridge groups. As a side note, the 100-year old lady in Alpine Dee played bridge with passed away last week from pnuemonia complications. She was a terrific lady and such a delight to be around.
Our friends, where we are staying, went shopping yesterday and purchased a Chevy Trail Blazer. The car is a 2008 but is in great condition. Really a pretty car. Not much else going on. Larry is clearing out our storage building completely and getting rid of most of contents. Also had to move our safety deposit box contents as our bank is moving to their new facility Monday. Interesting thing is only 1 access key now! The new security system scans the palm of your hand to identify who you are before you have access to your safety box. Quite a deal I think.
It rained yesterday and again last night but today it's just muggy and overcast. Maybe one of these days soon it will clear up and the humidity drops down where it should be. We do like these lower temperatures though.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Summer is Definitely Here!
Both of us are finally well. Followup appointment with the doctor verified both of our lungs were clear and no more heavy duty drugs to take. We're both glad to be up and on the go again.
Now if the weather would just cool down some. We are at about 4,600 elevation here and it is supposed to be cooler in the mountains, but we can attest that it's not working. Temps have been from 100 - 104 degrees for over a week now. We did get a brief sprinkle of rain this evening and it did cool down some. Now I know why the snowbirds travel back north every spring.
Sunday we ventured over to Ft. Davis and Larry took me out for brunch to celebrate my birthday at the Indian Lodge in the Davis Mountains. The adobe structure was built in the early 30's by the CCC, government work program. Walls are about 17" thick. Very pleasant dining in a small venue. At least my birthday wasn't one of those zero years - I really hate those when they come up!
We are at work again here at the Lost Alaskan. Just 6 more work days and we are through with our commitment here. We will leave around the 1st of July and travel on up to Childress, TX for 2-3 weeks to take care of annual eye, dentist and medical exams. The end of July we drive to Albuquerque to pick up our daughter Suzy at the airport. From there we drive to Raton, NM so Suzy can attend her 30th class reunion (first one she has attended). We will have time to visit with many of our friends that live there. We are looking forward to being there.
Now if the weather would just cool down some. We are at about 4,600 elevation here and it is supposed to be cooler in the mountains, but we can attest that it's not working. Temps have been from 100 - 104 degrees for over a week now. We did get a brief sprinkle of rain this evening and it did cool down some. Now I know why the snowbirds travel back north every spring.
Sunday we ventured over to Ft. Davis and Larry took me out for brunch to celebrate my birthday at the Indian Lodge in the Davis Mountains. The adobe structure was built in the early 30's by the CCC, government work program. Walls are about 17" thick. Very pleasant dining in a small venue. At least my birthday wasn't one of those zero years - I really hate those when they come up!
We are at work again here at the Lost Alaskan. Just 6 more work days and we are through with our commitment here. We will leave around the 1st of July and travel on up to Childress, TX for 2-3 weeks to take care of annual eye, dentist and medical exams. The end of July we drive to Albuquerque to pick up our daughter Suzy at the airport. From there we drive to Raton, NM so Suzy can attend her 30th class reunion (first one she has attended). We will have time to visit with many of our friends that live there. We are looking forward to being there.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)