Almost

Sunday the 26th

We are just waiting on a couple of final things and we are out of Dogpound South, Brenda is getting the inside all shiny and clean, I am tinkering in the shed and around the yard to make sure everything is ready for our departure. I have drawn a diagram of the irrigation system and tried to give DPS's new owner a good idea of how things work. For the most part, the manuals are all here so he will be able to figure it out himself. We aren't taking a lot of things with us so about 3 or 4 rubbermaid containers thrown on the little ATV trailer should suffice. We will leave that and our Buick at a friends place and come down late next spring, Mayish, and repatriate it all to Canada.

Well, today we checked the last box of things to do, passed our septic inspection, pumped the tank and with that completed there is only the money to change hands and the papers to be signed. We sign ours on Wednesday morning so it is looking like Thursday is the day we hit the road. For the most part, we are packed and tomorrow will move those few things out onto our trailer, tarp them over and move our gear into Dogpound Anywhere (DPA).

Sunset tonight

I am taking the Buick into the big city to get a trailer hitch, in the morning, and make one last Costco run before we head for the wide open spaces. We have a kind of a plan on where to go to start with but I will save that for a later update. Hate to give too much warning to folks, this way they don't have a long time to plan their escape.

Max likes a good sunset as well.

Packing our Tent

Not much exciting going on here at Dogpound South. We have been getting DPS ship-shape for its new owner. The deal hasn't closed yet but we have dealt with the conditions and I guess until the money actually changes hands that is as close as it gets to being done. We had to fix a couple of minor issues but all in all the place was in good shape.

This week as well as finishing up those outstanding issues we have been trekking over to Gold Canyon in the East Valley to Superstition Chiropractic for Brenda's Calmare or Scrambler Therapy. It is one of the only things she has found that relieves her nerve pain caused by the Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS).

Sunrise this Morning

 Today we had an early afternoon appointment and we took the opportunity to slip down the road a couple of hundred yards from the clinic for a visit with Renè and Jeanette, who are staying nearby for a couple of weeks. They fed us a great lunch and we caught up with our visiting. I was so busy visiting I didn't get any pictures so all I have for today is a couple of shots from DPS.

Sunset Tonight

I started this blog a week or so ago and never got it finished. Everything at DPS is ready to go now, except for one more inspection that needs to be completed. We expect that things will all be in order by mid-next week and we are hoping to close on November 30.

Monday afternoon we got visitors here at DPS, Mike and Shaunna Lewis, and their travelling menagerie. They had a couple of horses, a mule, and three of the best-behaved dogs you have ever imagined. Guess that is what happens when the owners are both RCMP K-9 handlers and trainers. Max and Maya just sat back and observed for the most part but I don't really think any of that training is going to rub off on them, they are free spirits and their owners are not too good as dog trainers.

The Lewis's were in transit to their place down near Pearce, Arizona and used their visit with us to stock their pantry. We sure enjoyed having them and sharing stories around the campfire.

Wednesday we put some new tires on the Buick and it is ready for its journey back north of the Medicine Line next spring/summer, so just a few more things to get done and Dogpound South (DPS) will be in our rearview mirror. What is next, we are not sure, but it probably includes a trip to Why, and maybe into SE Arizona, one part we have never visited much. After that we will have to see where the wind blows us, but for this winter I guess Arizona and Southern California are on the horizon.

Companies Coming

January has been a pretty laid back month for me, but Brenda has been out and about. She made a trip back to Canada to see her dentist and doctor. She picked a week that the temps were down around -30C so she was glad to get back to DPS. And she brought her sister, sister-in-law, and best friend since she was 10 back with her. Cheryl has been a huge help to her when she has to make her periodic trips back to the North Country and we are glad she took the opportunity to come on down to DPS for a visit. The weather here has been typical for mid-January but a whole lot warmer than back on the Northern Ranges.

Enjoying a fire at DPS

Me, I've been doing a little swimming and some riding in the desert with Blue II and taking a few photos along the way.

Got lazy for this one, it is taken from the patio at DPS

Sunset at Lookout Point

Sunset Lookout Point

And yet again

And one final sunset from what I am calling Lookout Point

I found this Road Runner running in the Wash

It is a quick run from DPS to Lookout Point in Blue II, and running back after dark is pretty quick also. It wouldn't be near as fast on Ol' Blue himself. I did get out a day or two for a ride in the desert with Josie Staden, my friend Phil is laid up with a strained back, but is getting back in the saddle this weekend for a ride at Picket Post. A few team ropers here have asked me to lead them around the mountain, and Phil is letting me use one of his ponies for that gig.

Cheryl is heading back north on Monday so she and Brenda have a busy weekend of shopping, casino visits, etc. planned for the next few days.

Stay tuned for some upcoming travels, if the weather holds and Brenda is feeling up to it we are heading back into the past for a little boondocking at one of our favourite spots ever. Click on this link for a peek into the past. We might even catch up with few of the bloggers on our sidebar over at Bloggerfest.

Fireworks? Cacti?

Desert Rain

Yesterday I headed into town to Fletchers Tire for a 12:00 appointment to get my summer tires balanced and installed. I headed next door to Dave's BBQ for lunch. Great rack of ribs, and big enough to bring some home for todays lunch. It was pretty slow getting the tires done, took three hours. Once that was done I headed home. Donally's invited me to dinner with them Connie and Les Volk and Rene' from the Pinal Country Cowboy Church. The dinner was excellent and the company great.

Today Century Link was coming to work on our internet, it has been a little slow so they figured it needed a tune-up so I was home for the morning till they got done.

After lunch I thought Blue II and I should head for the desert for a look see at what was happening out there.

There's a roadrunner with a rider in that tree somewhere.

There was a storm rolling in from the south but it looked like I had time to make a loop out the wash then back in on the road. I dawdled along checking out some side trails and I guess I should have saved them for another trip because once I got around to the road that storm was moving fast in our direction. We jumped up into High range for the road ride back and Blue II is a lot faster for a lot longer than the original, but we still got caught in a downpour the last few miles home. Needless to say with rain and thunder the dogs were glad to see me home. It is still raining lightly an hour later but it is clear and sunny off to the south so I expect we will start drying out soon.

DPS

Last Friday morning, early, I hit the trail south. We had spent the couple of days before that making sure we had everything loaded so Max, Maya, and I just had to jump in the truck and we were off. It was a quick leisurely drive south. Without the ponies we saved a couple of hours at the border so the first day we made it to Lehi, Utah where we pulled off at the Cabela's to spend the night. A walk with the dogs, a bite to eat and it was an early night.

That made for an early morning so we were up and gone long before the sun, in fact we were coming down the hill into St. George, Utah when that lazy old sun made an appearance. We have done this trip a few times so have figured out where to fuel and where the dogs can get out for run. We were pulling into Dogpound South (DPS) about mid-afternoon. Everything looked good here, so we got a bunch of stuff unloaded and then kicked back and enjoyed the sunset.

Sunset at DPS

Sunday morning early, I was up and enjoying Ol Sol's return to DPS.

And then it was time to get the deck and house pressure washed to get rid of the dust, and spider webs that accumulate over the summer. Shorty does a great job of the yard so there is not much to do there, it is just a matter of getting the deck spiffed up so I can haul all the patio furniture out of the house. It was good to get an early start because it was heating up pretty good by noon. Getting the outside stuff done early meant once it got hot I could move inside to start doing a clean-up inside. Long time readers will remember we had some work done to repair some storm and robbery damage last year. That meant we got a new door, complete with new frame. The old door had a gap underneath it that the bugs and dust availed themselves of to find a nice summer home, this new door appears to have been a better barrier so there were a lot less bugs and dust to vacuum up. 

Monday it was time to put some provisions in the fridge as well as head into Costco to get some steaks and a few other things like dog food. Then a stop at Home Depot to pick up a new post for our mailbox and some hardware for that job. I got the post for the mailbox set in the ground so we'll let it set up overnight.

Today I got the mailbox mounted and let the Post Office know we were ready for mail again, as well as making an appointment to get the snow tires off the Buick. When I brought it down here a couple of years back it had a pretty decent set of winter tires on it and as I figured it might never see snow again I decided to just run them off. It also has a set of good summer tires so we will get those out of our shed and on the car tomorrow.

After our break-in last year where the perps shut off the power I locked up our power box but I guess the power company doesn't like us to use our own locks so I stopped by and picked up one of their locks on my way home.

I also hit the pool for a quick swim. It has been a few months since I was in the tank and my body sure felt it. I wasn't sure I was going to make it to ten lengths, sad since in the spring I was doing 160 with a break. But I did get forty in and tomorrow is another day.