Our home 20 Oct - 20 Dec 2024
We’re in Congress Arizona at North Ranch RV Park, an Escapee owned Park. We are here for two months (20 Oct -20 Dec) and then we’ll be moving to Apache Junction, AZ. It’s been nice not moving every few days and we’ve sort of settled into a “routine”. We’ve gotten into the Pickle Ball group and we walk around the park most days. There is also a trail into the desert right out a gate at the back of the park. We did that once before the temps got cooler and it was hot enough to have us wondering about getting E-bikes that could take us through the endless trails out there. We will likely walk out there again now that it’s much cooler. We did a hike in Yarnell AZ. It’s the Granite Hotshot State Park commemorating the 19 firefighters who died fighting a wildfire in 2013. The hike is 2.5 miles one way up to the overlook. We hiked up to the overlook, but not one mile down to the site where they died. We were out of gas by the time we reached the overlook. It looked like there is a trail to the site down at the road level, but it not accessible. The commemoration is well done with pictures and a little background about each of the firefighters who died. We averaged one mile per hour! Some sections had a 15% grade. We started at 9am and were off the trail at 2pm. It felt good to complete such a challenging hike. There’s actually a movie about that fire and those who died. It’s called “Only the Brave”. We haven’t seen it, but hope to watch it when it’s available to us.
One morning we went out on a birding excursion with a park ranger at Hassayampa River Preserve. The birding was a little disappointing, with no sightings close enough to get pictures. We still enjoyed being outside and we saw interesting palm trees and learned a little about the area we’re living in for the winter. It’s a desert area with a few “creeks” here and there that are dry. Rains come in monsoons during the summer and they get a year’s worth of rain in a day or sometimes in an hour producing major flash floods. The creeks fill up fast during those times.
The park where we’re staying has an ice cream social every Sunday at 4pm. We’ve been a couple of times and met some nice people. We met a couple playing pickle ball, Jim and Rose, but they’ve already moved to another town in Arizona. We did go to dinner with them the night before they left.
Sunsets are amazing...
Campground sort of empty as of 21 Oct 2024
We attended this and it was very nice...
Roadrunner passing by one morning during breakfast
Sunset...
Hassayampa River Preserve 1 Nov 2024
Palm trees over 100 yrs old
The Catholic Church in Congress is Good Shepherd of the Desert and we can attend mass there at 4pm on Saturdays. The Catholic Church in Wickenburg is St. Anthony of Padua and we can attend mass there at 8am or 10am on Sundays. Wickenburg is about 10 miles from Congress and it’s a nice size little town with more amenities that we need like a Dodge RAM dealer for maintenance for our truck and a big tire place for the wheels of our fifth wheel. Anita also got a hair appointment in Wickenburg. Steve walked around downtown Wickenburg while Anita was getting her hair done and he took a few pictures. Wickenburg is proud of their wild west history and has a few statues and exhibits of old west living.
At mass in Congress on our first weekend we met Mark and Kathy. It turns out they live in North Ranch in the residential area. They invited us over for coffee the next Sunday morning and in talking we learned that Mark and Anita are from towns in Louisiana about 25 miles apart! Mark is from Church Point and Anita is from Lafayette. We enjoy spending time with Mark and Kathy and they’ve become fast friends.
Congress AZ 26 Oct 2024
Congress AZ 26 Oct 2024
Mark brought over a 5 inch Dutch Oven to show us. They're not made that small anymore.
Wickenburg Arizona 5 November 2024
Wickenburg Arizona 5 November 2024
Wickenburg Arizona 5 November 2024
Wickenburg Arizona 5 November 2024
Wickenburg Arizona 5 November 2024
Wickenburg Arizona 5 November 2024
Wickenburg Arizona 5 November 2024
Wickenburg Arizona 5 November 2024
Hike outside the back gate of the park 6 November 2024
Granite mountain sunset
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
We saw burnt spots along the hike
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Pinacate Beetle - We had also seen some of these on the Hassayampa Preserve hike
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Town of Yarnell in background
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Overlook
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Overlook
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Overlook
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Overlook
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Overlook
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Overlook
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Overlook
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Overlook
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Overlook - Circle is where they died and they were trying to get to the building (toward the top)
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
Overlook
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Hike 2 November 2024
We made it back down!
Shrine to St. Joseph - Yarnell Arizona 2 November 2024
Shrine to St. Joseph - Yarnell Arizona 2 November 2024
Another sunset...
One of the things we love most about our lifestyle is how we never know what a day will bring. We went to mass in Wickenburg on 3 November and learned they had a blood drive going on that morning in the church hall. Our plan was to go to the early mass (8am) and then go to breakfast at the Horseshoe Café. We did that and then donated blood. We were regular blood donors when we lived in Easton, but we hadn’t donated since we’ve been traveling. It felt good to give back especially with the holidays coming up.
Another thing we love is the people we meet and hearing their stories. Our neighbors behind us are Rich and Monda, from New York and Massachusetts respectively. They’re both widowed and met each other online. Rich has been RVing for over 50 years and even work-camped managing the park we’re in (North Ranch) for a few years. He’s been wintering here for many years. They’ve been coming together for about 5 years. It’s nice that they found each other even later in life. They seem very happy.
St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church - Wickenburg Arizona
St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church - Wickenburg Arizona
Rich and Monda
With us being in a primarily desert area, Steve hasn't gotten to fish much at all. We did go for an exploratory trip to see if there might be fishing at Lake Pleasant, about 40 miles from the campground. We'll likely go back for fishing as Steve found a couple of spots he'd like to try. We saw a sign indicating there are burros ahead and on our way out of the park, we saw a few in the road! We had also seen a few near the water while Steve was checking out the fishing spots.
Lake Pleasant, Arizona is known for being home to a population of wild burros, which are a type of donkey. These burros are believed to be descendants of animals that were brought to the area by Spanish explorers in the 1500's. The Spanish, led by explorers including Conquistador Cortez, were in search of gold and at that time this area was all Mexico territory. The wild burros are known for their distinctive braying calls, as well as their hardy and adaptable nature. We actually got to hear them braying they are strikingly handsome animals.
Lake Pleasant Regional Park 4 November 2024
Lake Pleasant Regional Park 4 November 2024
Lake Pleasant Regional Park 4 November 2024
Lake Pleasant Regional Park 4 November 2024
Since we arrived, Steve has washed the camper and our truck. They both needed it badly. We took our truck in for it's 100,000 mile maintenance and it's ready to site see. We'll be taking our fifth-wheel in to get the wheel bearings re-packed at the end of this month. We'll need new tires on the truck before we drive to Alaska, so we'll be doing that when we're in Texas in the Spring.
We plan to go out with the North Ranch Outdoor Group while we're here to see more of the desert around us. Many members of the Outdoor Group own side-by-side vehicles. They graciously offer anyone to show up where they meet and hop in with someone, so we're planning to do that one morning.
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