Mother's Day Weekend Activities

• Took NWS weather spotter training at ERAU
• Visited the Chino Valley Cooper Ag Museum
• Attended the MMRG picnic
• Picked up a few items at the Mountain Artists Guild Mother's Day festival

Art Festival

Ham antenna farm

Cooper Ag Museum

Maps!

I love maps!  I have a good collection of topo maps from Tom Harrison, National Geographic, various government agencies and smaller map makers.  The Harrison ones are my favorite but they don't have any outside of California.  I also have many guidebooks loaded with maps.

Over the past decade, I have used various online maps as well.  My go to app for foot travel is CalTopo.  For Jeeping, I use Trailsoffroad and OnX.  As good as the apps are, I always have paper maps when I go on a longer hike.  It is comforting to be able to pull out a map without having to worry about batteries, coverage, etc.

Lonely Gambel Oak

We currently doing alot of clearing on our property.  Jo is concentrating on the hoarhound and I am working mainly on the scrub oak and other brush.  During our efforts, we discovered a lone Gambel oak.  Since it was crowded by alot of scrub oak and mountain mahogany, we clear all that out to give it some space.

Our lone Gambel oak

Sedona Day Trip

Following a chapter in Boots and Burgers, we headed out to Sedona for a day of hiking and burgers.  We drove out through Jerome and Cottonwood  with great desert views.  Our first stop was the Aerie trailhead.  From there we did the Ground Control and Outer Limits trails.  Lily got quite dirty with the famous Sedona red dirt.  On the way into town, many of the other trailheads were very crowded; we got lucky that our hike was almost empty.  In town, we ate at Nick's which had very good burgers and the people were super nice.  After eating we dropped Lily off at Kim's Puppy Palace since dogs are not allowed at our next stop: Red Rock State Park.  At the park, we toured the visitor center which had some nice displays and movies.  We then hiked up to the old Apache Fires house and around the park to Eagles Nest.  The hiking was very nice.  We then got smoothies in town, picked up Lily and headed home.

BACN RIP

The Air Force is looking to retire its BACN fleet.  Hopefully the payload will live on in other platforms.

Holy Stone Drones Suck

I bought a few Holy Stone drones used on Ebay as a cheap way to get into drones.  However, they are very tempermental and basically suck.  They lose GPS, trim and the app is very hard to use.  Not recommended.

Lily checking out the drone

Bridal Show Tucson Trip

Jaya had her bridal shower in Tucson so we made a long weekend of it.  Jyoti attended the shower while I hung out with my dad.  We both spent time with them on Sunday and walked the golf course.

Trailer Gate Rebuild

By brush hauling trailer came with a flimsy dual gate.  It's major problem was that the doors did not have a way to easily keep them open.  So when loading or unloading, they would flop around in the breeze.  They were also much shorter than the sides so it took extra care to cover.

So I rebuilt it in a stake gate style.  This style is removable so there is no problem with keeping it open.  It is also much studier and has better hardware. I am also putting in more tie-downs and using adjustable bungees for the cover.

Just in time for Chipper Day!

New trailer gate