Reading List Update

• Building a Story Brand 2.0 by Donald Miller
• The Old West's First Power Couple: The Fremonts, The Custers and Their Epic Quest for Manifest Destiny by William R. Nester
• Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
• Cry Havoc by A. American
• Max Velocity trilogy

Weekend Activities

• Jeep trip to PNF
• Dug a trench with the help of some great neighbors
• Caught Sir Harrison and full band at The Windsock
• Hiked Williams Peak - awesome views

View from Williams Peak

View from Williams Peak

It is good to have neighbors with stuff like this

PNF Jeep Loop

I got a chance to explore the Prescott National Forest area to the northwest of Prescott.  After packing the car and dog, we headed out to Contreras Road.  I aired down at the junction with Tonto Road while Lily chased jackrabbits. We headed north on Tonto Rd and then Williamson Valley Rd passing wonderful horse and pronghorn territory.  After crossing Walnut Creek, we stopped for a coffee break.  We turned south on Walnut Creek which was a very nice drive.  Then we turned off on Brushy Basin.  This was slow going along rocky roads with very sharp turns.  Also hit the first of many cattle gates to open and close.   One of my goals was to determine which roads were open and which were closed to public traffic.  We hit a closed gate along Wood Camp and made a slight detour along Mud Tank and Jordan Well to get to Telephone Line.  This was pretty smooth to Fair Oaks.  The plan was to keep going south but it looked like there was more private land that would be in the way, so we headed east back to Tonto Rd and back home.  Lily doesn't care for cars so she was glad to be back home.

Stopped for a break

Bridge across Walnut Creek

Where the Antelope Roam

Yet Another Reason to Leave California

 

Illegal in California

Perfectly fine in California

Independence Day Weekend Activities

• Spent much of Friday helping the church clean the parking lot for sealing
• Lots of small projects around the house
• Jeep trip down Thumb Butte Loop to Copper Basin Road.
• We stopped to hike to Warden Cabin as marked on the map.  There wasn't a cabin at the map location but we saw a bunch of other stuff along the way.
• Another happy hour!
• Tried out the Type 24 at the range - it was keyholing badly so might need a trip to the gunsmith

Mining cabin along the hike

Mine shafts

Old windmill still standing

Perfect example of keyholing

Weekend Activities

• Elvis at Founding Fathers
• Hike to the Hot Shots Juniper
• Lovely dinner with friends

Hot Shots Juniper

View from the trail

Jeffrey Elvis

San Diego Trip - June 2025

Yet another trip to SD

• Stayed in OB - I have never spent much time in OB but it was pretty fun; lots of hipsters and hippies with an everlasting odor of pot but it was fun to spend a few days there
• I walked home from work one afternoon and it was very pleasant along Sunset Cliffs
• Met with Jaya and Noah to start planning their wedding
• Dinners at Hofmeister, Et Voila and OB street fair
• Work meeting at Point Loma mini golf and Old Town Tequila Factory
• The Santa Fe was having some wobble on the drive out so we took it OB Tire since I thought it might be a balance issue - they found one of the hubs was worn and replaced it - I highly recommend OB Tire

Rooftop of Jaya's building

OB street fair

Sunset cliffs

Point Loma Nazarene University

Adams St

OB Dog Beach

Father's Day Activities

• Another great happy hour
• Rotated the tires on all the cars - it is very nice to have a large garage with enough room to work
• Range time with a good friend - tried out the newly acquired MAS-36
• Did a short hike along the Noodle trail - quite hot this weekend
• Saw a fun duet at Founding Fathers and got a tour of their member's only speakeasy

MAS-36 ready to go

Cactus flowers along the Noodle trail

Turkey Family

Turkey family crossing the road

More Nukes!

I am glad to see the resurgence of nuclear power in this country.  California made a big mistake shutting down all their plants.

Old School Blogging

This blog has been going for almost 20 years now.  It seems that most of the original blogosphere has migrated to other platforms over the years, Facebook, Medium, YouTube, Substack, etc.  Lately, I have been searching old blogs and new to see how many are still ticking.  I have discovered a few that aren't just news feeds and have a good mix of personal, tech and current events.

House Project Weekend

Lots of work around the house today.  And also happy hour and hike to West Spruce Mt.

• Picked up some firewood from neighbor
• Put some brush piles into the trailer
• Installed an garage overhead storage shelf
• Organized garage
• Installed a new mailbox

At the summit of West Spruce

View from the summit

Jaya Is Engaged!

Jaya's boyfried Noah made a great surprise proposal at Swami's Beach!

Noah is a wonderful man and they will make a great couple.

Prescott Circle Trail 2/3 Thru Hike

The Prescott Circle Trail is a ~56 mile loop that encircles the city.  The trail traverses the mountains and hills and provides great views and hiking.  My plan was to do it over Memorial Day weekend with two 20 mile days then a 16 mile day.  I got through the first 2 days but bailed on the third.  It was going to be a bit hotter and there wasn't much shade on the last day; also my feet were killing me.

I did the trail in reverse order from the "official" mileage map.  So day 1 was from the Peavine TH and went clockwise.  The first section was through some nice rolling grassland.  Then, the trail went under the 69 and started climbing up to Badger Mt.  This part was pretty close to housing and roads but still was very pleasant.  From Badge, the trail went along the high ridge, mainly on the west side so you got views of the city and beyond.  It then dropped down to Senator Hwy and Goldwater Lake.  There, I took a bit a detour to use the bathroom and fill up on water.  It was then about 4 more miles to camp at White Spar CG.  I had reserved a site, but someone was already there.  They had mistakenly thought they had it for two nights.  But there was plenty of room for both of us so it worked out.  After dinner it was early to bed.

Day 2 started with a long steady climb westward to Wolverton Mt.  Then it turned north at Copper Basin Rd.  This part was my favorite and is the most alpine of the trail.  The trail then crossed Thumb Butte Rd.  I had cached water here and stopped for lunch.  The next few miles were a bit of a slog as it started heating up.  I eventually made it to my planned camp at Yavapai CG in the Granite Basin area.  Jyoti and friends joined me for a campfire but we ended up not camping and headed home for a shower and a soft bed.

Overall, the hike was great and I will finish the last section soon enough.  It will be cool to try in the opposite direction sometime.  All my gear worked great as well except for a cell phone battery that zonked out and did not charge my phone.

My tarp set up at White Spar

Rare surface water along the trail

Views!

Wooded path

A sign along the trail

Another great western view

Trail flowers

Rolling grasslands

Start of the trail

Amazon Orders Through the Ages

I placed my first Amazon order in 2000 and it is interesting to go back and see how my orders have reflected the changes in my my life.  Early on, the books were mostly geared for the kids.  There were also some from my hobbies then: cars and fishing.  Then there was a spurt of business books when we started the ill-fated restaurant.  Then came a bunch of exercise items.  After that, there was a long list of outdoor stuff as I got into scouting.  Another shift came with gun and prepping stuff when the pandemic hit.  Lately, my orders have tailed off as I get stuff from other places and are mainly electronic stuff for radio.

Weekend Activities

• Short jeep trip down Thumb Butte Rd to Copper Basin Road to Skull Valley.  Nice little trip and found some future hiking spots.
• Another great class as Compass Training Center
• Started building a trail down the hill from the house to the road

Atlanta Trip

We had a great time visiting family again.

Our brick in Centennial Park

Bengt's New House

I made my first trip to Augusta to see Bengt and check out his new house.  It is a big place with lots of projects to keep him busy!  We also spent some time in downtown Augusta which was really fun.  With a bit of street and sidewalk maintenence it could really be great.

Bengt's new house

Augusta river walk

Pedal Pub

2025 Arizona Self Storage Conference

We attended our first storage conference at the AZSA show in Phoenix.  We met alot of great folks, learned alot and had a great time.

AZSA 2025

Weekend Activities

• Our priest came back from sabbatical
• Put in some drainage pipe
• Lily got groomed
• Granite Mt Hike - we ran out of time and didn't summit but will be back

The way up Grante Mt

Granite Mt view

Another view

Winter 2025 Books

• Tactical Wisdom series by Joe Dolio

• Be Your Future Self by Dr. Benjamin Hardy

• Neighborhood Watch and 1000 Miles of Bad Road series by E. E. Isherwood

• Dragon Days by H. John Poole

• Awesome Arizona by Roger Naylor

• Trackers series by Nicholas Sansbury Smith

• various Matthew Bracken books

• My Wars by Richard Bushong

• Helno-Gal by Walter Ram

• Dogs of War by Frederick Forsyth

Weekend Activities

• Couple of short hikes close to the house
• Starting clearing some brush and trees along the driveway, up the ridge and next to the meadow
• Caught Sir Harrison at Back Alley Wine Bar
• Played a few scenarios of Carrier Battle Group Solitaire

Looking towards Highlands Pines

Deer in the meadow

Hiking Clown Town trail

Prescott Snow

We are getting a small snow here at Juniper Ridge!

Snow

Moved In!

We finally moved in a couple weeks ago.  After unpacking constantly we are just now getting unburied from the boxes.  We also don't have much furniture yet but will work on that next.

Live edge standing desk

Lily investigating the area

Boxes, boxes, boxes