Wolf country!

We were in wolf country yesterday and, by the looks of the sign, the residents up here aren't too happy.  This is Mexican wolf release country.  Unfortunately, several of the released wolves have been shot, and I'm not up to date on the status of the recovery program...sigh...

Just a few photos from Monday

Hubby and I went to pick up groceries for a couple days yesterday and it turned into a 2 1/2 hour drive to Show Low.  I didn't take many pics along the way, so these are from Monday.The clouds gathered again and we had another thunderstorm yesterday afternoon.  It blew in, thundered, rained a little, and moved out.  That was fortunate because at 2:30 last night, we toddled outdoors in the dark (with a flashlight) to watch the meteor shower.  We saw quite a few...big ones, little ones, sideways ones.  It was worth it!  And, we saw the Milky Way, which we cannot see at all from our home in the desert.  So, anyway, here are some of the pics I took yesterday morning.

Mogollon Rim

We're up on the Mogollon Rim in eastern Arizona for a couple of days.  Yesterday we could see thunderheads building up over the Rim.  It's like the Grand Canyon..did the rim create the cloud conditions?  It seems that every afternoon thunderstorms develop during the month of August, which is why we enjoy driving over to it.  And, yesterday didn't disappoint.  The clouds gathered and thickened and darkened and BOOM!  The thunder started.  We were, fortunately, checked into our cabin, but I had to drive to Heber to buy groceries for dinner.  It was raining so much that I literally could NOT see the road!  And, I screamed a couple of times after loud claps of thunder!  Man, it was LOUD!!!  We ended up eating grilled cheese sandwiches because the only food store up there was...well...rather disappointing!  It was nice, however, to have a hot sandwich and listen to the thunder.  Oh, and it HAILED while I was driving to the store.  Hubby got some photos on his smart phone.  It rained on and off all night and this morning there are huge puddles everywhere.  In fact, a couple of crows showed up and were drinking out of one of them right out back.  Down the wash a ways is a field (national forest) FULL of beautiful black-eyed Susans or wild sunflowers (I can't determine what they are...)  I'll be spending a lot of time out by the wild flowers because they are so beautiful!  We're rented a cabin up here and it is completely furnished and it has Direct TV, so we can watch our shows at night!  :-)  Here are some pics from yesterday.

Heading up to the Rim this morning

We're heading up to the Mogollon Rim this morning for a couple days.  According to the weather reports, we'll be having thunderstorms every afternoon.  I can't WAIT to see the rim again.  It's been 2 years since our last visit to Arizona and I've missed it!  Yesterday we drove over to Gilbert and had lunch at Joe's Farm Grill:   http://joesfarmgrill.com/   where I had the most delicious chicken sandwich!  It was on a wheat bun, with BBQ sauce and blue cheese dressing!  OMGoodness!  :-)

We were hoping to see the meteor shower, but probably won't due to the cloud cover...oh, well...there's always next year, right?

More later...must run...

Just this & that...

As of last night, the fire was up to 14,000 acres and Snow Creek community was being evacuated.  The smoke from the fire is so bad today that I can hardly breathe outside.  The news stations are advising people with respiratory problems to stay indoors.

Here's a photo gallery, if you are interested~~

http://www.mydesert.com/article/20130808/NEWS0803/308080007/Crews-fight-fire-fire

It's just so depressing I don't want to write any more about it.

Another fire...sigh...

There is another fire up in our local mountains.  This one, the "Silver" fire, is on the western side of the mountains, however.  As of the last update, it is now 6,000 acres and 10 buildings have burned.  Three firefighters have been injured.  This is on the side where Highway 243 goes up to Idyllwild.  Yes...Idyllwild (again).  The fire seems to be moving in an easterly direction because of the winds, which means it is creeping back toward the Palm Springs tram.

I just don't know what else to say.  The smoke here was so bad last night that nobody was outside.  Smoke completely filled the valley's sky and we couldn't see the mountains at all.

Here's a link to the local news station:
http://www.kesq.com/news/growing-wildfire-burning-south-of-banning/-/233092/21375590/-/11g4icq/-/index.html

Me on a horse~riding!!!

This is only the 2nd time I've written Lucille and the 5th time I've been on a horse since my fall back in 2009.  I inherited Lucille, a 1/2 draft, 1/2 Tennessee Walker, after the other boarder at the ranch got 6 months behind in her board.  She rode her all over town, trying to sell her, and this poor mare was out of shape!  She's slowly been reconditioned back into shape, and lunged, and she's PERFECT for me to ride.  She doesn't walk off and she likes to just walk!  She is gaited, however, and I'm sure I'll get to that when I'm a little more comfortable on her.  She's VERY high off the ground and I have to use a mounting block to get on her.  I wore my tennis shoes today (a big "no-no") because my boots were so slippery that my feet kept sliding out of the stirrups last week.  Hmmm...I'm going to need to find some riding boots!  Anyway, she was a good girl even when I got her too close to the railing and hit it with my foot!  She only slighted spooked and then she calmed right back down.  She trusts people and is super willing to do whatever you ask.  I'm so fortunate that I now have a riding horse!  ***Actually, she came trained!  Her former owner used to ride her all over the ranch.  Apparently she doesn't do well out on the road, but she is great in the arena!*** It's nice to finally have a horse I can ride!