Winter Hike

It has been pretty balmy here but there was still some snow on the ground from a recent dusting.

Old mining camp

Dry Jerry tank

Car wreck in the middle of nowhere

Belize Vacation

Jyoti and I took a week to visit Belize and attend a small but very effective storage mastermind group.

Some highlights of the trip:

• Belize Zoo - saw many native animals
• Wild Orchid hotel - rustic rooms but great beach
• Mariposa Beach Resort - great boutique hotel; good food but service a bit slow; our mastermind host is a partner
• Flying Pig bar - great food and very nice folks
• Maya Beach Bistro - 
• Barefoot Beach Bar - typicall tropical beach restaurant
• The Shak - awesome smoothies
• Belize Mexican taco shack - good but slow
• Captain Jak's snorkeling at Silk Caye and Moho Caye
• Chillpoint coffee and smoothies - some of the best coffee anywhere

Belize is kind of like a Central American version of Hawaii.  Everyone speak English, or some variation of it.  People are friendly than Hawaiians and very much appreciate tourists.  Travel is a bit easier than Hawaii since it is on central time.  Weather and bugs are better in Hawaii though.

Heading out for snorkeling

Map of Placencia

Belize beach

Lunch at the Shak

Treehouse at Mariposa Beach Resort

Muddy streets due to construction

Mariposa beach

Mariposa Beach pool

Downtown Placencia

Placencia Beach

Welcome to Belize!

First Prescott Boot Drop

It was pretty crowded on the square (but not as crowded as the lighting) and the band was good.  The bars all had lines to get in.

The boot has dropped

Boot drop crownd

Jeep Ducks

Someone left me my first Jeep ducks.

Jeep ducks

First Prescott Christmas

• Lots of restaurants
• Walking tour
• Lots of stuff on the square
• Hassayampa Inn bar and lobby
• Point of Rocks model railroad
• Thrifting

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