December 12 - 18, 2022
Tombstone, Arizona
This week we've had rain, fog, sunshine, high winds and the big excitement of the week - snow! Having lived in California all my life, I'm one of those people who loves having snow in my yard. Of course it's the melt-in-hours type of snow that makes beautiful scenes and then soaks into the desert floor. Nothing we have to drive in or shovel out of. It makes Christmas feel more like Christmas although neither Bill nor I have ever had snow for the holidays!
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| Monday afternoon flurries. |
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| Tuesday morning we're greeted with a winter wonderland. |
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| A neighbor stops by to nibble on the snow-laden branches. At one point she has a forehead covered in snow :-) |
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| It's heavy enough to stay most of the day. |
We're blessed to be surrounded by several mountain ranges that give us a wonderful variety of views through the seasons. I get out at the end of our snowy day to capture our surrounds.
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| Sheepshead area of the Dragoons to the east. |
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| Sky drama over the Burros to the west. |
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| Snow continues over the Whetstones to the northwest. |
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| A natural fisheye view of the Huachuacas to the south. |
Cowan Road is a dirt route that runs between Gleeson Road and Davis Road nearby. We've collected a lot of our yardscape rocks from the area, and sometimes just take a couple hours to get out in the desert. Although much of it is open range, the cattle must be rounded up. We also see no wildlife on our drive this week - no deer, no steer!
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| Golden hills under mostly sunny skies. |
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| The pens look little-used this season. |
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| Dry branches reach for sky feathers. |
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| Spun gold along the road. |
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| Tessa offers oversight on the gate closing operation. |
Bill gets two of his doctor appointments out of the way, and so far we're happy with the providers in our new medical group. We still have to wait for some of the appointments - some into late February. It's new for us, but I understand it's the new-normal for healthcare everywhere. Alas, nothing critical pending, and we should have everything covered before our travels in the spring.
Speaking of travel, I have our tentative route planned and have two reservations made for late in the season for places I anticipate will fill fast. I can always cancel if things change, but I'm already excited about those stops :-))
Enlarging the RV lot to enable parking at an angle off our narrow alley, replacing our single pane windows, and starting on the landscaping is our project list for this winter. This week we finalized the window job paperwork (installers still have to do final measurements before the install is scheduled), and before Thanksgiving we finished the lot modification. Not sure if the landscaping will get very far (the windows are a bit more expensive than we'd planned, but I'm able to get the two custom frames I want). While I still prefer traveling, I'm loving the home we're making here. It's definitely fun having friends over for dinners, to watch football, to play cribbage.
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| The new layout will make backing in trailers and 5ers so much easier on that left side. Mountain views with 50 amp and water! |
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| Their first Virginia Christmas - Travis, Penelope, Reese and Emily. |
SNOW! Not much chance of that for us, and I like it that way :)
ReplyDeleteYou have a beautiful, inquisitive neighbor! Now that's got to be a special treat.
The kids all look great, but Virginia? That's too far away :) Road Trip ???
We actually like having the kids spread out a bit more - we enjoy having "just them" to visit for a week so we get more time. At least it's not Maine :-))))
DeleteYou have just the kind of snow I love. It comes, looks beautiful, doesn't require shoveling and leaves shortly. Very pretty pictures. Those shots of your skies are magnificent. No wonder you love it there. Love Tessa's oversight and the family pictures of mom,dad and the girls. I'll bet they are and will be fast friends. I always wanted a sister.
ReplyDeleteYes our skies are wonderful, and I miss them when we're traveling in trees for too long! The girls do seem to play well together already so we're hoping they're good friends. They also have three cousins who just moved to the same town so they're extra lucky!
DeleteYour place looks beautiful. I could drive for hours just exploring those mountains.
ReplyDeleteWe're fortunate that not all of it is fenced so there are plenty of beautiful places to explore.
DeleteWe've been amazed at how long the snow is staying on the Dragoons this time! It seems the doctor shortage is a real thing everywhere.
ReplyDeleteWe saw the Chiraquahuas had lots of snow as well so your valley must have been surrounded!! It's been weird that some of the doctors have openings in a week while others are over a month out.
DeleteIt’s Gay…that’s a lot of snow for this neck of the woods! We didn’t get any here. It sure is pretty. But, my faves are the photos of the golden grasses. Merry Christmas to you three!
ReplyDeleteThe grasses are my favorite too and I'm so happy our southern view is plains all the way to the Mules! Merry Christmas to all of you too.
DeleteBeautiful pictures of your everyday views Jodee. The snow looks really lovely and that it doesn't stick around for long, finally watering the desert make it just perfect. I, too, prefer traveling but love my home here. Where are you off to this spring? I've made a few reservations already also!
ReplyDeleteYikes, that was me! Blogger poltergeists or perhaps it's Krampus causing all these anonymous comments!
DeleteBlogger has gotten so weird over the last year, I have to type in my name for every comment and every reply now :-( We're going to head north through Utah, Wyoming, Montana into Banff and Jasper then back to the PNW and down the coast to SoCal. Will probably head out after the April reunion is Laughlin.
DeleteEven though we spent most of our lives in snow country, I still love looking out and seeing it. It is nice to have it melt so quickly. Your photos are so pretty. Cute visitor. Snow capped mountains are the best! Our Spring Mountains have quite a bit of snow. With our much cooler than normal late Nov/early Dec our Lee Canyon ski area was able to start making snow on the ski slops. Then they got almost 20" of fresh. The slops opened Dec 7. Sounds you have lots to keep you busy this winter. You'll love the new windows. We replaced all of ours and it makes a difference in the summer heat. Good to hear you got the medical issues all straightened out. Hope Bill is continuing to improve with his breathing. Beautiful desert photos. Love Penelope's expression. Adorable family:)
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas to you, Bill, and Tessa!!
ReplyDeleteI sure hope we continue to have a good snow year in all the mountains-we sure need it! We're excited they'll be able to install the windows the first week of February.
DeleteMerry Christmas to you and John and best wishes for a great 2023!
Snow, looks so pretty, when it first arrives but by March, we were always ready for it to be gone. Merry Christmas!!
ReplyDeleteWe were always tired of the heat by October and I'm sure the snow would get old too!
DeleteThat's my favorite kind of snow....enough for some pretty photos, and then it disappears without a trace within a day or two. We'll see how we do in North Carolina! 😳The mountain ranges surrounding you are so beautiful. And I love those golden grasses.
ReplyDeleteIt's been nice to have snow on the surrounding mountains for a few weeks - so pretty! With everything close by in your little community you'll likely do great in all seasons :-)
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