Fun around Queen Valley

It's been three weeks since our return to Queen Valley after spending Christmas at home in Salem.

We were only gone for a little over three weeks, but during that time, the weather here went crazy. There were huge dust storms then heavy winds and rain that struck the area. Since there was so much dust in the air, the rain became what we call “mudding.” We were shocked to see how much mud and dust had accumulated all over the coach….we’ve never seen this coach sooooo dirty. The roof had a layer of dust and mud, and I could even look up through the shower dome at a huge layer of mud all around the base of the dome. Yes, the slides were in so the awning covers weren’t affected. Needless-to-say, after Ken recuperated from the long drive, he spent several days working on the coach to get it back in decent shape.

I wasn’t much help to Ken in cleaning the coach because after we got back to Queen Valley, I came down with a sore throat, cough, and sinus infection. I am still hoarse and coughing a lot, but I do feel better (three weeks now). Even though I didn’t have much stamina, I could get out and enjoy riding in the Wrangler, so after Ken was done with the coach, we drove out in the desert several times and even found 35 new geocaches.

We even went on a drive with the Axle Twisters to an area north of Roosevelt Lake called Thompson Mesa and around Dutch Woman Butte on the edge of Boyer Wilderness. We saw some pretty areas and found a deserted cabin on the edge of the wilderness area.  

This cabin is called John Boyer Cabin and I really don't know the history or anything about it.  We kinda stumbled on it and were surprised to see what great condition it was in.  It does look like hunters kinda use it as a camp base during hunting season.

It was a fun day with great folks, but Ken started complaining of a sore throat during that ride. That was on Friday the 8th, and by Saturday evening, he was down with the cough, stuffy nose, and sore throat. Since Ken needed to establish a doctor in this area, he made an appointment to be checked out. We went in on Thursday the 14th and we found out that “Yes” he has a cold (well, duh). Anyhow, the doctor gave Ken prescriptions for cough syrup and an antibiotic. It seems to be working because he is feeling better.

We took the Wrangler out on Friday the 15th with the Axle Twisters for a drive to an area near Tucson called SASCO and the Silver Bell Mine.  SASCO is just a few buildings now, but was once a thriving mining community with a huge smelter for the mines to process their ore.  We were surprised to see a cache in the area and had to go for it.  This area is where we found the cache and really don't know what the structure was used for.

This looked like a shaft, but wasn't very deep.

This is the old SASCO Rockland Hotel.  Not much of it left anymore.

I really don't know what these pilings were used for, but we think they were supports for the track that the train ran on to bring Silver Ore to the smelter.

This is a view from the air of the Silver Bell Mine area.  It was an open pit mine.  We couldn't get close to it because it is all on private property and it has no trespassing signs all around it.  we couldn't even get to the old town of Silver Bell because the road was fenced off.

It was a long day & drive, but thankfully Ken was feeling better.  We do enjoy Jeeping with the Axle Twisters and plan on going out with them as often as we can.

Sunday, Jan 17 was our day to host our eastside neighborhood pot luck party. We have a lot of fun planning the party, and Ken BBQes Salmon that we caught during our September fishing trip in Alaska.  The Salmon is a huge hit and Ken did an excellent job BBQing it.  Of course everyone brought much more great foods to go along with the Salmon and we were all stuffed after dinner!

This next week is going to be a quiet week for us because there are three storms heading our way.  This morning (Monday) we had some drizzle, but the onslaught of rain (snow in the high country) will be coming later this evening and everyday for the rest of the week.  It will be a great time to get caught up on a lot of needed reading and house work.  Ken, of course, will be spending at least three days of this week in the rock shop.  We have some craft shows coming up and are hoping he does well in showing and selling his jewelry.