are small town craziness

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My insanity on display! http://www.pioneeringaz.blogspot.com

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My insanity on display! http://www.pioneeringaz.blogspot.com

And now it begins...

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My insanity on display! http://www.pioneeringaz.blogspot.com

It stated out hot...

It reached 93° today by noon, now it's a cool 78° and trying to rain. All in a matter of two hrs.

Come Monday, I think we are going to make a trade.

We are going to trade our Dodge pickup, for a Jeep. It will be in our best interest, this way, we won't have to worry about the rain and snow! The Dodge as many know is only 2wd, the Jeep is a bit older, but has 4wd. Value wise, they are the same, so no concern there, but I will miss the highway drive. Goodbye are the days of 80 and hello 65! (fyi speed limit is 75 in AZ) And with that it should get the same if not better gas mileage. At least the CJ7 did.

Another lazy Friday

Just cleaning some stuff up, moving my crap from point A to B

Just a little excitement

Had a small scare tonight. While the generator was on, we smelled, what appeared to be an electrical fire. After some investigating it turned out to be an auxilary battery charger we had set up. Just one more thing to be aware of out here in the wilderness....

Other than that, we did get some bad news from a neighbor, after almost a year battle after a stroke, our neighbors husband died this morning. He was a good neighbor, although I never met him, the wife worked with him on several purchases at Home Depot. I'm sure she will need some help and neighborly socializing. It is different living out here when it is two or more people, then when you're by yourself. I realize also that this is not cut out for everyone. Some people need constant interaction with others, I personally don't need that, and those who know me can contest to that also!

Fall is quickly approaching...

There has been a noticable change in the weather over the past few days. The tempature at night is dropping, and it is taking longer for the day to warm up. Shadows are groing longer, and the days are getting shorter, fall is rapidly comming.
Fall is my favorite season, but that means, winter is just around the corner. And our little experiment gets a whole new challenge. For the past few months we have lived outside. When the tempature doesn't get above forty, I don't think we will be spending that much time outside.

What a nice day it is....

The sun is out, it is around mid 70, and skies are a deep blue, with one little cloud. The question is, will this cloud turn into a T-Storm? We've seen it a few times now. Within about two hrs a small cloud like this turns into a monster storm. It's kinda cool, being able to watch it happen.... Untill you go floating down the river that is!

Hope everyone is enjoying your Thursday. Say a prayer for my little one, tonight is her public dancing debut!

A new view

Over the years we have used DCR for family get togethers and vacations, here is a collection of past moments, set to some great music... ok i had a bit too much time on my hands. Enjoy.

Living out there is full of new adventures...

Had to throw some trash away this norning on my way to work at 4 am. Everything went smooth, not a problem, untill I reached for the last box, and a damn rat goes running up my arm! Not fun that early in the morning... Who needs coffee!

Living life by lamp light...

Just installed three more oil lamps around the double grill kitchen... Sounds so upper class, they're two BBQ's next to one another.

Critter watch.

Just shot my first mohave green!

And now, for the rest of the story...

In my line of work I do get a chance to talk to some rather different people, but the ones I really like to give a whammy to are the normal folks. I was talking to this couple the other day, that was complaining on the drive into Home Depot. When I informed them of my drive, we started talking about living of the grid.

Now I'm no expert on the subject but I do have an intimate knowledge on the basic workings. For starters, it's expensive, very expensive. Not only does it cost a lot more in gas to live outside of a town; but add to that the extra cost of gasoline to run the generators, propane for the refrigerator, hot water heater, stove, BBQ, heater, and backup generator and there is a significant investment. Don't forget the water you need to haul in, and trash you haul out. I always forget that stuff!

So that takes care of the immediate concerns, now keep in mind the need for batteries (12v and others), wood, and anything you may need right away. First aid, personal hygiene products, pet food, Etc. point is, out this far from town (not that many miles, but time, wear and tear on the cars can become an issue!) you need to be self sufficient; and I think we can agree that, that is not one of our societies strong suits!

Second, living off the grid is not carefree! Don't listen to those granola eating, sandal wearing, tree huggers! Life out here has a lot of concerns. Road conditions, weather, battery life, water supply, and the rest of the supplies you need to have to survive are a constant worry. The minute you let your guard down, you'll find yourself in the shower running out of water! (not saying that has happened to me! Yet.)

So why do it?

Simple, it is a beautiful place to live. There are less distractions on a day to day basis. I don't deal with noisy neighbors, dogs barking (unless they're mine) cars driving fast down the street, or kids tearing things up. I guess for me it is nice to know there is life away from the TV.

And when all is said and done, life should be an adventure worth living, and damn it, we're living an adventure!

After that storm...

So much for all the work done to the road.... No 2WD is getting through that! It was too dark for a picture, but the other way is close to 18" deep sand!

Some random thoughts on a rain soaked Friday...

In my line of work I do get a chance to talk to some rather different people, but the ones I really like to give a whammy to are the normal folks. I was talking to this couple the other day, that was complaining on the drive into Home Depot. when I informed

The season is changing.

The official end of summer is just around the corner. This morning looks as though the change is already here. A cool, overcast morning, with a slight breeze from the North. The only noise I hear is that of the Blue Jays and the dogs making their daily run.

I think we can upgrade that to a 100% chance of rain.

We watched that little cloud all morning.

Rain in the forcast...

We were hit by a big storm in town yesterday. I haven't seen that much water come down in a long time, say a week or so....

There is a 30% chance of thunderstorms today. And with the big fluffy clouds building in the valleys I say that chance may go up!

Hope everyone is haveing a great, what day is it? That's right Thursday. Friday is just around the corner!