Labor Day Activities

• Assocation general meeting with our county supervisor in attendance
• Tried out some new Carcano ammo
• Hike and more hikes
• Lots of stuff around the house

Arizona skies

Along the Little Granite Mt Loop

Weekend Storm

We got our most severe storm since we moved here.  At least an inch (probably more) in less than an hour.  It caused some severe erosion along the the driveway that needs to be addressed.

Grand Canyon got some severe flash flooding and it looks like Phantom Ranch will be shut down for a while.

But in the dry times, I got some hikes in and zeroed some pistol optics.

Misc Updates

• Jaya finished her board exams!
• Had a fun Chipper Day
• My potato crop failed - most likely the buckets got too hot
• Put two storage properties under contract and need to raise money
• Pulling lots of weeds
• Getting some decent rain

Mighty Granite Creek

Another local Jeep trip

We started by stopping by the Forge in Skull Valley for coffee.  Then drove east on Poverty Flat and 9261M.  The latter was very rough and slow going.  We got on Epic Interrupted for a bit then took the shortcut on Deuce Power which was also pretty rough.  We took Smooth Operation back home which had great views.

Great views!

Silted up dam

Wedding Weekend

Jaya and Noah decided to have their wedding in Cabo San Lucas.  They chose the JW Marriot as a place where everyone could gather, hang out and celebrate their marriage.  Everything turned out awesome!

Arch moved to the reception

Setting up the arch

Local beach

Mom and dad

Friday night reception

Rocks on the beach

View from our room

View from our room

Jo at the beach

At the Cabo airport

Bengt escorting Jo

The Couple

Just Married!

Leaving the ceremony

Baltimore Ostens

Father-Daughter dance

Mr. and Mrs. Noah Baker

America 250 Weekend Activities

• Fun time at Sharlot Hall Museum's American Heritage Day - lots of fun living history exhibits, brass band, food and more
• Awesome time at friend's house for burgers, brats, and beers
• Skipped the fireworks
• Added some gravel to help erosion along the driveway

More Coffee Truth

Bhaskar Kolhe RIP

Bhaskar passed peacefully, surrounded by family.

America 250 Local Jeep Trip

As part of America's 250th, Lily and I headed out for a jeep trip in the local national forest.  We started out on Tonto Rd, to Fair Oaks to Telephone Rd to Camp Wood Rd.  These were all easy roads and the going was fast. Jordan Well and Mud Tank trails had some tight spots but still were easy going.  We then turned north onto Walnut Creek.  Our goal was to get near Apache Creek Wilderness so turned east onto FR 95B.  Then the trail got very rough and tight.  It took a while to get to FR 95A and Graver Wash to hook back up to Walnut Creek.  From there, we headed back along Williamson Valley Rd.

Overall the trip was fun but rough.  We got in to some great views.

View to the east

Granite Knob

Lily does not stand still for photos

Jaya's Graduation

Dr. Jaya Osten graduated from Bastyr on Friday as a naturpathic doctor!  After 4 long years she is ready to take on the world.  Next up is moving to Tucson, getting married then taking the board exams.

Dr. Jaya Osten!

Part of the visit included some visits to friends and local sites:

• Hiked the loop around San Elijo lagoon
• Dinner at Ki's
• Took my parents to Cabrillo National Monument where we spotted the San Salvador under way.

Along jogger hike

View from Cabrillo NM

Batch of Books

• Laws of Life by Jack Spirko
• One Second After series by William Forstschen
• Masters of the Air by Donald L. Miller
• Dan Kilmer and Enemies series by Matthew Bracken
• Tools by Theodore Gray
• Bring Me the Head of Joaquin Murrieta by John Boessenecker
• Patriots series by John Wesley Rawles

Hammock

My dad gave me an old hammock he has for some time so I put it up.  Since we don't have a good set of trees, I had to dig a post hole for one of the ends.  Our ground is super rocky and hard so it took a while using mainly a digging bar.

Hammock at sunset

Animal Preppers

I recently started seeing a whole bunch of YT prepping videos that were done with AI animated animals.  There are bears, raccoons, tigers, wolves, squirrels, foxes, tortoises and ducks . They are fairly entertaining and often have some good information.  It is fun to see all the errors in the videos that AI generates (e.g. two tails on a fox).  I wouldn't be surprised if these were all done by the same person since they often have similar topics at nearly the same times.

Memorial Day Activities

Lots going on in Highland Pines...

• Happy Hours started up
• Annual Meeting and Ice Cream Social
• Fire patrol near Porter Mt
• Brush clearing

Giant juniper

Mine entrance

Walking Lily

Coffee Greatness

It seems that coffee is really good for you.  Good thing that Prescott is seeing some great new coffee houses in town now.

Boise Trip

We headed up to Boise, ID for a self storage conference.  The conference was well worth it.  We picked up some great information and met good people.

We got an AirBnB in Eagle which is a large suburb of Boise.  It is a very nice town but traffic can get pretty bad.  There are still plenty of farms but I am sure those will be gone in the next few years.

On Saturday, we drove up to McCall.  The drive followed a river gorge up to the mountains and into some beautiful farm country.  We did some hiking in Ponderose State Park and had lunch in a local saloon.  Weather was cool and there was even some snow flurries.

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