We are a small park, but we get some class acts. These guys were really good.
February 28, 2008
Jennifer from Branson
This evening we had a treat for our weekly entertainment. Her name is Jennifer and she entertained for many years in Branson. At first in a small theater, then in her own theater until she sold it a year or so ago. She and her husband (he was dressed as a hick/clown) sang, danced, told jokes, and generally entertained us for just over an hour. 
We are a small park, but we get some class acts. These guys were really good.
We are a small park, but we get some class acts. These guys were really good.
Rock Hounding
Yesterday, the 27th, a whole group of “rock hounders” decided to drive to Maricopa (90 miles one way) to search for some rock called Green Jasper. We had a gem book that told us where many gem stone type rocks are found, so we knew there was a mountain of “green” 19 miles west of Maricopa, and we were determined to find it.
In the book, the writer said we would have to park just off the secondary road and walk about a quarter mile to base of hill (after crossing a rail road track and barbed wire fence). NEVER believe what you read!!! We got to where we were supposed to park, but there was construction going on, so we had to park across the road.
Here are some of the group gathering their tools; pry bars, chisels, hammers, etc…
After loading up our tools, buckets, back packs, etc…, we looked at the notch in the hills where we were supposed hike to…. See the picture below...looks close doesn’t it? Don't let that fool you.....this is a zoomed up shot of where we were heading. Note the railroad track in the foreground. What you don't see is all of the road construction equipment that we had to cross in front of (oops). I can tell you they weren't too happy about 14 people and a dog crossing through their project. We weren't stopped, but they did call the rail road company and get someone out there to make sure we made it "back" across the whole area safely (a few hours later, that is).
The supposedly, easy, quarter mile walk turned into a 1.12 mile hike (one way). It really wasn't bad walking in because most of the terrain is flat, except for all of the washes (gullys) that we had to cross through (that wasn't too fun). It was quite pretty because the yellow Poppies and blue Lupin were in bloom. You can see some of the gold in this picture. Our destination was that little notch between the two hills (long way).
Did I mentin the temperature? Well, during that hike it was in the mid to high 70s? Thank God for a nice breeze because it kept us cool and comfortable. The pictures below are where we came from (near those white buildings back there). Note the train in the second picture.
Here is another rock hounder braving the walk with her beautiful white shepherd. Note all the green grass from the recent rains.
This is some more of the group following behind. Again, you can see the yellow Poppies in bloom.
Some had to take a rest before climbing higher. The terrain is rocky and tough to walk over. We actually found some nice Jasper at this level.
Up there is where we were all headed. Notice Ken and Dave leading the pack. We don’t call Ken “Mountain Goat” for nothing (LOL). Not everyone made it that far up. Some settled for the nice Jasper about half way up. Of course, Ken went to the top and a little further over the other side. I said he was part Mountain Goat!
After three hours of chipping and prying rock out of the vein of jasper, everyone had to LUG their precious find ALL the way back to where we parked (remember that was 1.12 mile away). When we all got back to the vehicles, we were all hot and tired, but so very pleased with what was collected. Ken had a back pack full of rock chunks and worked on a couple small pieces today in the rock shop.
Green jasper is one gorgeous stone when polished. It almost looks like Jade when you get the darker green stuff. Other pieces have a tinge of green with white quartz scattered thoughout (almost like an Agate). I will post a couple pictures of the finished product when he gets some done.
In the book, the writer said we would have to park just off the secondary road and walk about a quarter mile to base of hill (after crossing a rail road track and barbed wire fence). NEVER believe what you read!!! We got to where we were supposed to park, but there was construction going on, so we had to park across the road.
Here are some of the group gathering their tools; pry bars, chisels, hammers, etc…
After loading up our tools, buckets, back packs, etc…, we looked at the notch in the hills where we were supposed hike to…. See the picture below...looks close doesn’t it? Don't let that fool you.....this is a zoomed up shot of where we were heading. Note the railroad track in the foreground. What you don't see is all of the road construction equipment that we had to cross in front of (oops). I can tell you they weren't too happy about 14 people and a dog crossing through their project. We weren't stopped, but they did call the rail road company and get someone out there to make sure we made it "back" across the whole area safely (a few hours later, that is).
The supposedly, easy, quarter mile walk turned into a 1.12 mile hike (one way). It really wasn't bad walking in because most of the terrain is flat, except for all of the washes (gullys) that we had to cross through (that wasn't too fun). It was quite pretty because the yellow Poppies and blue Lupin were in bloom. You can see some of the gold in this picture. Our destination was that little notch between the two hills (long way).
Did I mentin the temperature? Well, during that hike it was in the mid to high 70s? Thank God for a nice breeze because it kept us cool and comfortable. The pictures below are where we came from (near those white buildings back there). Note the train in the second picture.
Here is another rock hounder braving the walk with her beautiful white shepherd. Note all the green grass from the recent rains.
This is some more of the group following behind. Again, you can see the yellow Poppies in bloom.
Some had to take a rest before climbing higher. The terrain is rocky and tough to walk over. We actually found some nice Jasper at this level.
Up there is where we were all headed. Notice Ken and Dave leading the pack. We don’t call Ken “Mountain Goat” for nothing (LOL). Not everyone made it that far up. Some settled for the nice Jasper about half way up. Of course, Ken went to the top and a little further over the other side. I said he was part Mountain Goat!
After three hours of chipping and prying rock out of the vein of jasper, everyone had to LUG their precious find ALL the way back to where we parked (remember that was 1.12 mile away). When we all got back to the vehicles, we were all hot and tired, but so very pleased with what was collected. Ken had a back pack full of rock chunks and worked on a couple small pieces today in the rock shop.
Green jasper is one gorgeous stone when polished. It almost looks like Jade when you get the darker green stuff. Other pieces have a tinge of green with white quartz scattered thoughout (almost like an Agate). I will post a couple pictures of the finished product when he gets some done.
Wire Wrapping
I am not an artistic person and haven’t got much of an imagination for arty style, but I went out on a ledge and took a wire wrapping class.
Wire wrapping is wrapping gold, silver, or copper wire around a pretty gem stone, crystal, or plain rock. Ken has made some really pretty pieces in the lapidary shop and he needed some way of showing the stones off better than just a plain mounting. I picked out a pretty mahogany obsidian stone that he had earlier finished off and used it as my “trial” piece in working with wire. I learned how to bend and manipulate three wires into a pretty setting for the stone. Excuse the flash on the stone, but that was the only way to show the mounting.....
Since the class, I have acquired a few more tools and lots more wire. Now the problem is just finding the quiet time to work with it!! I also hope to do some wraps with copper and silver wire in the near future.
Wire wrapping is wrapping gold, silver, or copper wire around a pretty gem stone, crystal, or plain rock. Ken has made some really pretty pieces in the lapidary shop and he needed some way of showing the stones off better than just a plain mounting. I picked out a pretty mahogany obsidian stone that he had earlier finished off and used it as my “trial” piece in working with wire. I learned how to bend and manipulate three wires into a pretty setting for the stone. Excuse the flash on the stone, but that was the only way to show the mounting.....
Since the class, I have acquired a few more tools and lots more wire. Now the problem is just finding the quiet time to work with it!! I also hope to do some wraps with copper and silver wire in the near future.
February 18, 2008
A New Week
Last time I wrote, we were finishing up a trip to Morenci and I was coming down with a case of the flu. I went to bed when we got home that Friday evening and stayed that whole weekend in bed. Wow, that was the worst I have felt in a long time. It was a beautiful weekend (warm & sunny), but I was way too sick to even enjoy it.
Ken was back in the rock shop on Monday, and I was finally up and around trying to get my strength back. Monday was a beautiful 75 degree day, but I was still not able to really enjoy it. Tuesday was 76 degrees and a gorgeous day. That afternoon we attended a geocoin event where Ken got to show off his geocoin collection, and we got a chance to check out other geocacher’s coin collections. Ken was happy to trade some coins and even sell a few of his extras. It was a marvelous day and we both were feeling much better.
Wednesday and Thursday it turned cooler (63 & 65 degrees) so we didn’t get out to do much. Ken was in the rock shop all day Thursday trying to get stuff done for a rock show that is coming up in a couple of weeks. He has made a lot of pretty stuff and is in the process of finishing several pieces off for the show. Thursday night it started raining and it rained all that night and all the next day. The temperature dropped to 55 on Friday and it only got up to 60 on Saturday. We had no rain on Saturday, but it still was cloudy with minimal sun breaks.
Yesterday (Sunday the 17th) we woke to marvelous sun and beautiful clear skies. Good thing because we along with our close neighbors hosted our monthly neighborhood pot luck in the afternoon. Ken BBQed up some Alaskan Salmon and everyone brought a hot dish, salad, or dessert to go along with it. Even with the amount of folks getting sick around here, we had a great turnout and all had a fun time. The hit of the afternoon was a “while elephant” exchange. A “while elephant” is something new or used you have around the house you no longer use or need and think someone else would like. We all got to choose a wrapped “white elephant.” Once we unwrapped the gifts, we tossed dice to see who would have a chance to go around and “steal” a different or better gift. Only the ones tossing doubles got to go a “stealing,” and it really became a circus because we had 6 sets of dice being passed around and being tossed by three groups of 16 all at the same time at different tables….but everybody who had a gift was a target. It was a timed event (10 minutes) and it became quite hilarious as everyone was rushing around stealing and re-stealing some great, some not so great, gifts.
Today, things are back to normal (warm & sunny). We started the morning off with our weekly Monday morning coffee social and news updates. Now, while Ken is in the rock shop, I am posting this letter (grin) and in a few minutes, I will be off to an ice cream social at the park's activity hall. It's going to be a busy week with lots of planned activities and tag-a-longs.
Ken was back in the rock shop on Monday, and I was finally up and around trying to get my strength back. Monday was a beautiful 75 degree day, but I was still not able to really enjoy it. Tuesday was 76 degrees and a gorgeous day. That afternoon we attended a geocoin event where Ken got to show off his geocoin collection, and we got a chance to check out other geocacher’s coin collections. Ken was happy to trade some coins and even sell a few of his extras. It was a marvelous day and we both were feeling much better.
Wednesday and Thursday it turned cooler (63 & 65 degrees) so we didn’t get out to do much. Ken was in the rock shop all day Thursday trying to get stuff done for a rock show that is coming up in a couple of weeks. He has made a lot of pretty stuff and is in the process of finishing several pieces off for the show. Thursday night it started raining and it rained all that night and all the next day. The temperature dropped to 55 on Friday and it only got up to 60 on Saturday. We had no rain on Saturday, but it still was cloudy with minimal sun breaks.
Yesterday (Sunday the 17th) we woke to marvelous sun and beautiful clear skies. Good thing because we along with our close neighbors hosted our monthly neighborhood pot luck in the afternoon. Ken BBQed up some Alaskan Salmon and everyone brought a hot dish, salad, or dessert to go along with it. Even with the amount of folks getting sick around here, we had a great turnout and all had a fun time. The hit of the afternoon was a “while elephant” exchange. A “while elephant” is something new or used you have around the house you no longer use or need and think someone else would like. We all got to choose a wrapped “white elephant.” Once we unwrapped the gifts, we tossed dice to see who would have a chance to go around and “steal” a different or better gift. Only the ones tossing doubles got to go a “stealing,” and it really became a circus because we had 6 sets of dice being passed around and being tossed by three groups of 16 all at the same time at different tables….but everybody who had a gift was a target. It was a timed event (10 minutes) and it became quite hilarious as everyone was rushing around stealing and re-stealing some great, some not so great, gifts.
Today, things are back to normal (warm & sunny). We started the morning off with our weekly Monday morning coffee social and news updates. Now, while Ken is in the rock shop, I am posting this letter (grin) and in a few minutes, I will be off to an ice cream social at the park's activity hall. It's going to be a busy week with lots of planned activities and tag-a-longs.
February 11, 2008
A Tour Of Morenci Copper Mine
The best news of this last week is the Power Steering Pump and Pulley assembly is on the Jeep and it is working and not leaking (yea!).
The bad news from the last week is after playing a game with neighbors on Wednesday night, Ken started having chills and a fever. He went to bed at 8 pm on Wednesday, and I never heard another peep out of him until 7 am on Thursday. He was due to monitor in the rock shop, so he got up and went over to open up, then as soon as another monitor showed up, he came back home and immediately went back to bed and stayed there until 4:30 am Friday.
Reason we had to get up early Friday morning is we were scheduled to drive east 175 miles to the company owned town of Morenci and take a tour of the huge Phelps Dodge Morenci Copper Mine. A group of 38 left at 6 am, but we left 20 minutes earlier in order to grab breakfast and fuel. The group leader had planned several potty stops along the way and we planned to do some caching while they were stopping. Ken was weak and shaky, but said he was feeling much better after having something to eat. As we drove east, we saw this incredible sunrise.
These snowy mountains were a great view from Safford. Aren’t they gorgeous!!
During that 3 ½ hour drive (and while finding 10 caches) I started coughing and feeling kinda like Ken did on Wednesday. No chills, just having the awful feeling that I was coming down with a cold. When we arrived in Clifton, we met up with the rest of the group taking pictures of a historic train. This is most of the 40 in our group.
We got to Morenci a couple hours before our tour was to begin, so we all settled down in the Motel’s restaurant/bar for lunch. By this time, I wasn’t feeling like eating much, but decided to have some soup. Well that was a mistake because the soup was way too salty and it just made me feel worse.
After lunch and before the tour began, we had to be briefed about the tour itinerary and given an overview of copper and the high-tech mining processes used at Morenci. This orientation also covered safety while on the tour. We all had to wear hard hats and safety goggles (those with glasses were exempt) along with long sleeves and closed toed shoes. Many areas we were to visit were dealing with different acids and other dangerous chemicals.
After the briefing, we boarded two buses (20 per bus) and set out for the 3 hour tour.
The guides on the tour are retired workers from the copper mine and very knowledgeable. They kept us entertained along with providing us with tons of fascinating history of copper mining…… much of which I will never remember because as the time went on, I was feeling much worse. In fact the last two stops on the tour, I never even got off the bus.
We stopped at this spectacular lookout point where we could see the enormity of the operation. This is one of the world’s largest open pit mines.
During the tour, we found out the raw ore is placed in huge “leaching” fields and the copper is “leached” out of the rock ore in a style similar to how we brew coffee. I won’t/can’t go into more detail because I have forgotten most of it, but it is quite a process.
This is leached copper going through the process. Note how blue it is! And boy does it ever stink...lots of sulpheric acid!
On the last stop of our tour, everyone got to see the finalization of the process (by this time, I wasn’t even moving from the bus). The following shots show the stainless steel plates that the copper adheres to. Once the copper is fully attracted to the steel (one plate on each side of the stainless steel) the plate is shaken and the copper slides off in sheets. Once the sheets are piled to a weight of approx 6,000 pounds, they bundle them up.
Copper is worth about $3.29 a pound, and there are approximately 6,000 pounds in each of these bundles. There is a lot of money in this shot.
These interesting facts are taken from their brochure.
1. The Phelps Dodge Morenci Mine is North America’s leading producer of copper.
2. Arizona produces more copper than any other state in the nation.
3. Morenci is one of the technological marvels of the Western Hemisphere.
4. Morenci moves more than 700,000 tons of rock each day.
5. Their equipment in mammoth.
One $2 million haul truck can carry 270 tons of ore on tires almost 12 feet in diameter.
6. More than 2000 employees work around the clock producing about 840 million pounds of copper each year.
7. The town of Morenci is one of the last “company towns” in the United States.
8. The average single-family home contains about 440 pounds of copper.
9. Morenci is a “zero-discharge” operation. Virtually all of the water used at Morenci is recycled, some of it many times over.
We finished the tour at 4 pm and both Ken and I were ready to head straight back to the coach. The 3 plus hour trip back was agonizing because all I wanted to do was lay down and go to sleep. Once we did get home, I just threw all my stuff on the couch and headed straight for bed and didn’t wake up until 9:30 Saturday morning. I did get up long enough to wash my face and brush my teeth, then promptly went right back to bed. I didn’t get up again until 6 am on Sunday morning.
While we both felt better on Sunday, we decided to check out a grand opening of a spectacular new wine store in Glendale. It is called total wine and is huge. After running around that shop for the better part of an hour, I was totally wiped out and didn’t want to do anything else. Ken had some errands to do, but I sat in the Jeep while he did his business. Once home, I crashed for the rest of the evening.
Today, I feel better and think I will live, but I still have an awful cough and am pretty weak. I didn’t go to this morning's coffee social because I think I might still be contagious, but Ken went and even went to the rock shop this afternoon.
The bad news from the last week is after playing a game with neighbors on Wednesday night, Ken started having chills and a fever. He went to bed at 8 pm on Wednesday, and I never heard another peep out of him until 7 am on Thursday. He was due to monitor in the rock shop, so he got up and went over to open up, then as soon as another monitor showed up, he came back home and immediately went back to bed and stayed there until 4:30 am Friday.
Reason we had to get up early Friday morning is we were scheduled to drive east 175 miles to the company owned town of Morenci and take a tour of the huge Phelps Dodge Morenci Copper Mine. A group of 38 left at 6 am, but we left 20 minutes earlier in order to grab breakfast and fuel. The group leader had planned several potty stops along the way and we planned to do some caching while they were stopping. Ken was weak and shaky, but said he was feeling much better after having something to eat. As we drove east, we saw this incredible sunrise.
These snowy mountains were a great view from Safford. Aren’t they gorgeous!!
During that 3 ½ hour drive (and while finding 10 caches) I started coughing and feeling kinda like Ken did on Wednesday. No chills, just having the awful feeling that I was coming down with a cold. When we arrived in Clifton, we met up with the rest of the group taking pictures of a historic train. This is most of the 40 in our group.
We got to Morenci a couple hours before our tour was to begin, so we all settled down in the Motel’s restaurant/bar for lunch. By this time, I wasn’t feeling like eating much, but decided to have some soup. Well that was a mistake because the soup was way too salty and it just made me feel worse.
After lunch and before the tour began, we had to be briefed about the tour itinerary and given an overview of copper and the high-tech mining processes used at Morenci. This orientation also covered safety while on the tour. We all had to wear hard hats and safety goggles (those with glasses were exempt) along with long sleeves and closed toed shoes. Many areas we were to visit were dealing with different acids and other dangerous chemicals.
After the briefing, we boarded two buses (20 per bus) and set out for the 3 hour tour.
The guides on the tour are retired workers from the copper mine and very knowledgeable. They kept us entertained along with providing us with tons of fascinating history of copper mining…… much of which I will never remember because as the time went on, I was feeling much worse. In fact the last two stops on the tour, I never even got off the bus.
We stopped at this spectacular lookout point where we could see the enormity of the operation. This is one of the world’s largest open pit mines.
During the tour, we found out the raw ore is placed in huge “leaching” fields and the copper is “leached” out of the rock ore in a style similar to how we brew coffee. I won’t/can’t go into more detail because I have forgotten most of it, but it is quite a process.
This is leached copper going through the process. Note how blue it is! And boy does it ever stink...lots of sulpheric acid!
On the last stop of our tour, everyone got to see the finalization of the process (by this time, I wasn’t even moving from the bus). The following shots show the stainless steel plates that the copper adheres to. Once the copper is fully attracted to the steel (one plate on each side of the stainless steel) the plate is shaken and the copper slides off in sheets. Once the sheets are piled to a weight of approx 6,000 pounds, they bundle them up.
Copper is worth about $3.29 a pound, and there are approximately 6,000 pounds in each of these bundles. There is a lot of money in this shot.
These interesting facts are taken from their brochure.
1. The Phelps Dodge Morenci Mine is North America’s leading producer of copper.
2. Arizona produces more copper than any other state in the nation.
3. Morenci is one of the technological marvels of the Western Hemisphere.
4. Morenci moves more than 700,000 tons of rock each day.
5. Their equipment in mammoth.
One $2 million haul truck can carry 270 tons of ore on tires almost 12 feet in diameter.
6. More than 2000 employees work around the clock producing about 840 million pounds of copper each year.
7. The town of Morenci is one of the last “company towns” in the United States.
8. The average single-family home contains about 440 pounds of copper.
9. Morenci is a “zero-discharge” operation. Virtually all of the water used at Morenci is recycled, some of it many times over.
We finished the tour at 4 pm and both Ken and I were ready to head straight back to the coach. The 3 plus hour trip back was agonizing because all I wanted to do was lay down and go to sleep. Once we did get home, I just threw all my stuff on the couch and headed straight for bed and didn’t wake up until 9:30 Saturday morning. I did get up long enough to wash my face and brush my teeth, then promptly went right back to bed. I didn’t get up again until 6 am on Sunday morning.
While we both felt better on Sunday, we decided to check out a grand opening of a spectacular new wine store in Glendale. It is called total wine and is huge. After running around that shop for the better part of an hour, I was totally wiped out and didn’t want to do anything else. Ken had some errands to do, but I sat in the Jeep while he did his business. Once home, I crashed for the rest of the evening.
Today, I feel better and think I will live, but I still have an awful cough and am pretty weak. I didn’t go to this morning's coffee social because I think I might still be contagious, but Ken went and even went to the rock shop this afternoon.
February 6, 2008
Calm AFTER the STORM
We are warming up! It was 57 yesterday and should be 61 today with mid 70s this weekend (about time).
This picture was on the front page of our paper today. Incredible to view the snow in the mountains around here. We had dusting in the Superstitions, but as you look north east to 4 Peaks (in pic) and other mountains to the NE, there is still lots of snow.
If anyone has trouble viewing the pictures in these postings, all you have to do is slide your cursor over the picture until you see the pointer change to a hand, then left click the picture and it will open to full size. To get back to the posting, just click on the backup or previous page arrow.
NO, we still don't have the power steering pump and pulley assembly back in Jeep. Hopefully, later this afternoon.
Now, I am going outside to enjoy the sun!! Wish you all could join us! (LOL)
This picture was on the front page of our paper today. Incredible to view the snow in the mountains around here. We had dusting in the Superstitions, but as you look north east to 4 Peaks (in pic) and other mountains to the NE, there is still lots of snow.
If anyone has trouble viewing the pictures in these postings, all you have to do is slide your cursor over the picture until you see the pointer change to a hand, then left click the picture and it will open to full size. To get back to the posting, just click on the backup or previous page arrow.
NO, we still don't have the power steering pump and pulley assembly back in Jeep. Hopefully, later this afternoon.
Now, I am going outside to enjoy the sun!! Wish you all could join us! (LOL)
February 5, 2008
Pulley Problems
Yea, the rain is gone and now have a forecast of sun and clear skies. In fact after the rain quit last night, the temps dropped and things were frozen this morning. After the sun came out and temps started rising, everything thawed out and dried up (all except the washes…they will run full for a few more days). Our temperature topped out around 60 today, so it still was a bit cool to sit outside and enjoy the sun.
Because it turned out to be such a nice day today, Ken decided to replace the faulty power steering pump on the Jeep. He had no problems removing the pump & pulley from the car, but couldn’t get the pulley off the old pump. The auto supply store had loaned him a pulley puller, but it didn’t work, so after talking with the dealer about the problem, they said bring it in and they would work on it. Well there he was with everything apart and 20 miles from their store. Thank goodness for fantastic neighbors because Pat & Dave said we could use their car to go into town (thanks so much to Pat & Dave for the loan).
Once we got to the store, the guy quickly went to work on the pulley and ended up breaking it. Well since he broke it, he said he would replace it, but we would have to wait an hour before he could get another from a different location. We didn’t want to drive our neighbor’s car around too much, so went next door to Dairy Queen (always a great place) to kill and hour and have lunch.
After an hour, we picked up the new pulley and headed back to the coach. Ken worked and worked on trying to get the pulley on the pump, but ended up breaking it instead (oh joy and a few bad words). Once again he called the auto parts store to see if they could get another pulley, and found out they wouldn’t be able to have one in hand until tomorrow afternoon. Oh great, so here we are with the Jeep’s power steering pump out and a broken pulley until sometime tomorrow afternoon. The pulley is plastic and very difficult to get back on the pump, so there is no guarantee the next one will work any better. I guess we will see what happens tomorrow!
Because it turned out to be such a nice day today, Ken decided to replace the faulty power steering pump on the Jeep. He had no problems removing the pump & pulley from the car, but couldn’t get the pulley off the old pump. The auto supply store had loaned him a pulley puller, but it didn’t work, so after talking with the dealer about the problem, they said bring it in and they would work on it. Well there he was with everything apart and 20 miles from their store. Thank goodness for fantastic neighbors because Pat & Dave said we could use their car to go into town (thanks so much to Pat & Dave for the loan).
Once we got to the store, the guy quickly went to work on the pulley and ended up breaking it. Well since he broke it, he said he would replace it, but we would have to wait an hour before he could get another from a different location. We didn’t want to drive our neighbor’s car around too much, so went next door to Dairy Queen (always a great place) to kill and hour and have lunch.
After an hour, we picked up the new pulley and headed back to the coach. Ken worked and worked on trying to get the pulley on the pump, but ended up breaking it instead (oh joy and a few bad words). Once again he called the auto parts store to see if they could get another pulley, and found out they wouldn’t be able to have one in hand until tomorrow afternoon. Oh great, so here we are with the Jeep’s power steering pump out and a broken pulley until sometime tomorrow afternoon. The pulley is plastic and very difficult to get back on the pump, so there is no guarantee the next one will work any better. I guess we will see what happens tomorrow!
February 4, 2008
SNOW
Can you believe it, SNOW in northern Phoenix.
Snow fell in Scottsdale, Cave Creek, the Superstition Mountains, and many points north today during a heavy rain storm that passed through here. There is heavy snow on highways going north out of Mesa and Globe through the towns of Heber, Payson, Show Low/Pinetop all the way to I-40. Of course Flagstaff’s ski resort (Snow Bowl) has more snow than ever (they have really been enjoying the waist-deep powder snow).
NO, I don’t have pictures because it was way too overcast today to get good pictures, and now that the rain has slowed down, it is too dark. From here in the coach, we could look out our side windows and see snow on the top of the superstitions; amazing sight, even though it was getting dark. We have seen this happen several times in the past, but had no idea it would happen today.
Actually, in years past, snow has happened around here as late as Easter. Ken spent today after this morning’s coffee social in the rock shop and about froze (I think the high was around 50...brr). They usually have the shop open until 4, but they closed it early today because it was so cold. I was quite lucky to be able to stay in the coach where it is nice and warm (big grin).
The really good news is by this weekend, we will be up in the 70s....YEA, sun and warmth!!
Snow fell in Scottsdale, Cave Creek, the Superstition Mountains, and many points north today during a heavy rain storm that passed through here. There is heavy snow on highways going north out of Mesa and Globe through the towns of Heber, Payson, Show Low/Pinetop all the way to I-40. Of course Flagstaff’s ski resort (Snow Bowl) has more snow than ever (they have really been enjoying the waist-deep powder snow).
NO, I don’t have pictures because it was way too overcast today to get good pictures, and now that the rain has slowed down, it is too dark. From here in the coach, we could look out our side windows and see snow on the top of the superstitions; amazing sight, even though it was getting dark. We have seen this happen several times in the past, but had no idea it would happen today.
Actually, in years past, snow has happened around here as late as Easter. Ken spent today after this morning’s coffee social in the rock shop and about froze (I think the high was around 50...brr). They usually have the shop open until 4, but they closed it early today because it was so cold. I was quite lucky to be able to stay in the coach where it is nice and warm (big grin).
The really good news is by this weekend, we will be up in the 70s....YEA, sun and warmth!!
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