3 More Sleeps

Early Tuesday afternoon we will drive to the nearest airport to bring these folks to our little casa in the desert.  What a fun week we will have!

Their parents are also flying to AZ. Wish their Auntie was joining them!

The Saga of the New Kitchen Curtains

All the valances in the park model looked like this. The drapes were ivory.

They were in the kitchen, the two living room windows, the bedroom ~ three windows. The puffy valances don't have a lot of color. They have been in the kitchen for SIX years. The ones in the bedroom were replaced in year two. The ones in the living room replaced in year two or three. I have always intended to replace the ones in the kitchen, but I didn't know what I wanted and had not seen anything that caught my eye. I haven't been looking too seriously, but I have been thinking about changing them.

Recently, someone reminded me that Kmart has a nice selection of reasonably priced curtains. I KNEW that because I had bought Kmart curtains for the living room back home when the living room was red... well, burgundy. So two weeks ago I stopped at the nearest Kmart and found just what I wanted...in the sale or discontinued bin. There were two valances. I bought both of them and then found a complimentary solid that I thought would work above the kitchen sink. So three valances without measuring the windows, but in a color and pattern I liked, AND on sale. WHAT A DEAL!

When I told Hubby that I bought new curtains for the kitchen, he asked if they were for the kitchen at home, meaning Watertown.  I said, no, for the park model. At that moment, I knew I had found what I wanted for the kitchen window at home, but in a different color. The store had what I wanted as I had seen them in the sale bin. A day or two later, I drove into town and picked up TWO for SD. (You'll have to wait until next year to see them.)

Last Saturday I had some time to work on the project. I took the corner sink valances down, cut the new one in half and found it to be several inches too short for two windows. Checked the computer for the next nearest Kmart. Hopped in the van and off I went. Luckily, that store had 2 more of the ones I really liked. Grabbed those and went back home to finish the project.

This is a sewing machine. Yes, I have one. Yes, I know how to use it. I bought it to hem the living room drapes I purchased in year two or three. 

This is an iron and an ironing board. Yes, I also own them and know how to use them, although not very often.

I took out the top seam to make the top hem wide enough to fit over the wide rod. Then re-hemmed them for the smaller corner windows. One panel per window. 

BEFORE

AFTER

Four valance panels. I used two for the corner windows; two left for the big windows. The plan? One panel per window. Did I measure? NO.

I put one valance on the south window and it looked like crap. I added the second valance and...

WOO HOO! Perfect. Looked as good as I thought it would. But...now I was still two valances short. I had bought all that were hanging on the display in the last Kmart. I called the store to see if they might have more in the back. They did not. But I did learn the style I had chosen was not on the discontinued list. The computer at the store said another store farther west had some in stock. I was given the phone number and made the call. Store manager Mitch assured me the store had 3 valances. Yes, he would hold them for me. I asked the location of the store. He told me Phoenix. It was after 6:00 PM. I was not driving to Phoenix in the dark to an unfamiliar location on a Saturday night.

Curt and I drove over on Monday afternoon. I bought the 3 valances the store had; one more than I needed just in case...

Tuesday morning I had a bit of time and was able to finish the kitchen curtains project.

Maybe some paint next year????

A Couple of Hours in Wickenburg

 We have driven through Wickenburg AZ several times, usually in a hurry and on our way to somewhere else. Other than stopping for a quick bite to eat and maneuvering the two round-abouts that were added in the last road construction project, our assumption was of a small community with very little to offer. We changed our minds last Thursday. Geocaching in old town, uptown, historic town, and out of town showed the best of the old west community.

This was my first experience with a park with exercise equipment.

There were maybe 10 stations with instructions for upright

and wheel chair bound people.

Can you spot the geocache?

(It's a fake rock.)

But more intriguing than the outdoor gym, were the trees.

The trunks and limbs grow horizontally.

I have no idea the name of the tree.

This lady is waiting for the train.

The community has LOTS of statues, many of them horses.

This caboose was one of three train cars at the ATSF station.

Our final stop was south of town at the 

Hassayampa River Preserve.

The river is 100 miles long, but in this area of the 

preserve the river is an oasis in the desert.

Hassayampa is an Native American word meaning

upside down water.

For most of its 100 miles, the river flows underground.

But at this area an underground rock wall forces the water

above ground for about five miles. It then retreats as it continues

its flow southward to the Gila River.

The Brill Ranch was the first owner of the land that is now the preserve.

Frederick Brill built an abode house on the land he purchased

in the mid 1860s. He was quite an enterprising man. 

The ranch had a beef herd of 1000, a dairy farm, an orchard, a market

sized vegetable garden, a fish farm, and was a stage coach stop.

The ranch house is now the visitors' center for the preserve.

The docent graciously let me peak into the rooms of the 

original adobe house. This is the kitchen with the original

cookstove. One of the preserve's volunteers spent many hours 

cleaning the stove. They hope to use it in the future.

These were the only cupboards in the room.

Stage coach travelers ate and played cards with

the ranch hands in this room.

This beautiful large room was added probably during 

the Garden of Allah period.

Wickenburg is worthy of more than a drive through.

We will go back and spend more time in this

interesting community.

Eagle Eye Cemetery

We happened upon another interesting cemetery this week while geocaching along the Eagle Eye Road in Arizona. My first experience with cemeteries in AZ was last March when we visited Florence. Cemeteries here in AZ are a bit different than back in SD or other parts of the midwest, as far as I have noticed anyway. And after geocaching at more than 120 of them, I can honestly say, cemeteries in AZ look different.

Inside the gate on the left

Inside the gate on the right

Yes, pulleys? Why?

Yes, this wheel is chained

Soldier from the Spanish American War

Three wooden crosses etched with names and dates

I thought the fence surrounding the cemetery was as

interesting as the cemetery itself. 

Around Aguila AZ

We left the resort for two days this week for a geocaching adventure. Our goal was the Eagle Eye Road with its 250 geocaches. The bonus was visiting the AZ communities of Aguila and Wickenburg. Come along as I share some of the desert scenery.

A cache was located near this old abandoned mine

This lizard stayed still long enough to get his photo.

We also saw quail, a coyote, a jackrabbit but...

all were too fast for the camera

Another mine photo

A natural bridge in the distance! Getting close to sunset.

Of course there was a cemetery cache.

It was so interesting, it will get its own post.

The birds sitting along the roof peak just begged for a photo.

A Highway Patrol stopped by to see how we were doing.

We chatted a bit about geocaching. 

Then I asked if he would be willing to pose with a travel bug

I picked up the day before. The TB's request was to be photographed with

my favorite law enforcement officer. Don't even know this officer's  name,

but he was a good sport.

A view from one of the caches.

Several days of high air pollution makes for 

breathing problems.

The algae colors on the rock got my attention.

A bridge over a wash. The wash is a favorite 

with quads owners.

I could not figure out why holes would be drilled or bored

into these boulders along another wash.