Interior Work

Most of the work on the house has now moved inside.  The plumbers, electricians, HVAC, cabinet makers, counter top fabricators and tilers are all busy at work.

Prescott Courthouse Lighting

We joined hundreds of people for our first Courthouse lighting.  We missed the parade but listened to the band, heard the Christmas story and the childrens' songs.  We also walked the square and got some gifts at some local vendors.

Courthouse lights

Big crowds

Thanksgiving in Tucson

• Met our daughter's boyfried at a wonderful dinner at Charro Steak
• Spent the day at Pima Air Museum
• Played lots of games
• Range time
• Did some small hikes

White Dog Overland Bloody Basin Overnighter

White Dog Overland had an informal trail run along Bloody Basin Road.  Due to other plans, we could only make it for Friday night and a few hours on Saturday.  We rolled into camp a mile or so inland from I17 in the late afternoon.  Plenty of time to set up our tent and start meeting the large crowd of ~30 people.  There was a great campfire as the temperature dropped.  In the morning, Lily was shivering and we had to bundle her up.  We then headed out a couple of hours before the lineup left.  

We headed east a few miles and hit an old homestead.  Then we headed back out Blood Basin and took a side trip to a nice hike to a Indian cultural site.  Then back home.  It was a great time meeting Cody and all his supporters.

Silver Creek Canyon with fall colors

Exploring Indian ruins

Puebla la Plata trailhead

Copper Creek homestead

Lily and White Dog

Lily is cold

Campfire

Our camp

Drywall Done

The drywall is pretty much done! After they clean up, the next step is painting.

Garage drywall

Great room drywall

Big Sandy Shoot 2024

My first time at the Big Sandy Shoot was the 20th annivesary.  I had a fun time checking out all the machine guns and got to shoot an M2 and M16. 

This is a bargain for me!

Lots of firepower on this line

Board of fun

Bulgarian Wine

I don't think I have ever seen anything produced in Bulgaria, but this wine is pretty decent.

Bulgarian wine

First Snow in Prescott

We woke up this morning to our first snow in Prescott!  It was a fairly light dusting but covered much of the cars and roof.  We drove up to the house to see a bit more snow on the trees.

Insulation

The exterior insulation has been sprayed on.

Framing Getting Close To Done

Lots going on the past couple weeks.  The columns were put up and the roof extended out.  The plumbers and electricians are still hard at work.  The low voltage guy also started the networking.

Yavapai County Fair 2024

I never cared for the county fair in San Diego.  It was too crowded and expensive and was more like Disneyland than a fair.  But the Yavapai County fair is more like a traditional fair.  We went to see the animals.  Unfortunately, a big storm rolled in and we weren't able to see the rodeo.

Sleepy pig

Flagstaff Day Trip

For Labor Day, we headed up to Flagstaff for a planned overnight jeep camping trip.

• First stop was the visitor center at the train station.  We picked up a list of local hikes.
• We tried hiking Buffalo Park but there was an event going on and we couldn't get close enough to park.  We then tried getting lunch but downtown was very crowded so headed out.
• Hiked Fatman's Loop which is a very nice loop.
• Checked out Cinder Hills OHV.  It was very crowded and the road was super bumpy so we turned back.
• Drove the scenic loop through Sunset Crater NM - it was raining on and off but we did the short walk at Lava Flow.
• Took the loop to Wapatki NM.  We made a couple of stops along the road but the rain and wind kept us moving along.
• Head down 89 to Whitehorse Rd (FS 418).  The plan was to look for a campsite but it was too rainy so we made the drive through.  It was very scenic and we saw lots of hunters driving around.
• We took Hart Praire Rd (FS 151) and then headed home.

Sunset Crater

Getting caught in the rain

Flagstaff Visitor Center

Jeep Tire Upgrade

In preparation for my recent Sedona trip, I upgrade the tires on the Jeep.  To get some additiona clearance, I went with 35" AO2's on the stock rims.  There is some question on wether you can fit 35's on the rims but it has worked well so far.

To support the larger tires, I also had to get a new spare tire mount.  I went witht the Rugged Ridge Spartacus mount.  This gives the tire more room and also strengthens the tailgate so I can safely mount gas cans on the tire.

Summit 4x4 did great work on the installation.  They even made a custom mount for the stupid pedestrian warning speaker.

Newly installed tire mount

Sedona Vacation

My brother and his wife were in town before their big move and we headed up to Sedona for a few days.  We headed out through Jerome and had a great lunch and coffee.

Once in Sedona, we did a quick hike at Moon Ranch along Oak Creek.  I took a quick swim in the creek right before it dumped rain on us.  After cleaning up, we had a great dinner at Hudson.

We started the next day with coffee at Viewpoint Coffee then hit Soldier's Pass.  This is a cool short trail with plenty of obstacles.  We made stops at Seven Sacred Pools, the sinkhole and the end of the trail.  Lunch was at the airport which is very nice.  Afternoon we headed up Dry Creek Road and made stops at Devil's Bridge and Van Deren cabin.  On the way back, we gave a ride to some folks that were having a hard time hiking back in the heat.  A wonderful dinner was had at Mariposa.

The next morning, we met up at FreeForm coffee and parted ways.  Jyoti and I did Broken Arrow with stops at Submarine Rock and Chicken Point.  One final stop at the closed ranger station and a nice short drive back home.

Chicken Point - Broken Arrow Trail

Broken Arrow Trail

Clouds along the trail

Devil's Bridge

Seven Sacred Pools - Soldiers Pass Trail

Hiking to Buddha Beach

Downtown Jerome

Animals!

We caught some wildlife on our property.

Doe and fawn

Rabbit

Skunk

Turkeys

Bird in Flight

Framing and HVAC

The framing is getting close to finishing.  I think they are waiting for the last of the columns to be delivered.  Hopefully this week.

In the meantime, the HVAC folks installed the duct work and cassettes.  They will finish up when most of the interior is done.