Here is a comparison of the appearance of our retirement home one year ago versus today. It is very gratifying to look back at where we were one year ago and compare it to Damsel’s dream retirement home of today. Click on each image to enlarge.

We took a little ride today up to Yarnell, a little mountain mining town on State Route 89 north of Wickenburg. There is a steep, winding section of the road between Congress and Yarnell. On the downhill side, there is a scenic pull-out with this view of the valley south of the Weaver Mountains.

I composed this panoramic view of the valley from three exposures which I later stitched into this panoramic image. On the horizon, you can see Vulture Peak towards the left of the image; moving right, you can see the Harcuhala and Harcuvar mountain ranges toward the right of the image. In the valley below, you can see a large stockyard in the left center and the town of Congress toward the right. Click on the panorama for the full-size view.

We have a favorite place along the route between the towns of Harcuvar and Hope, AZ along US 60. It is a little mountain pass with ocotillo, saguaro and teddy bear cholla cactus. The Arizona and California railway has a track that runs through the pass and there are some Native American petroglyphs directly behind the line of sight in the panoramic image below. Click on the image to enlarge.

I hiked up the hill behind our house to approximately the middle of the north property line. I took a couple of images back toward the south and composed the panoramic image using Canon’s Photo Stitch utility.

There is another half-acre lot just behind where I stood to capture this view - the property and the house on it are owned by the parents-in-law of the contractor that built our house. I was checking out just how private our spa and patio area might be as seen from their back patio. It looks like our patio and spa are relatively private, especially if we turn on the floods over the RV drive and keep the patio dark. (Skinny dipping? Naaaah!)

Click on the image to enlarge.

We’re getting some light rain this evening and hearing thunder and seeing lightning flashes. This morning, we were on errands and I caught this panoramic image of the build-ups over the mountains to the north. Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized panorama.

Damsel got out the wide-angle lens for her Canon EOS camera today and walked across the road to capture this panoramic image of (most) of the front property line. You can see the RV drive-thru on the left and the concrete driveway on the right. Most of the landscaping is already in place but we expect to acquire an ocotillo to be placed near the courtyard gate. Next summer, the little plum tree by the gate should be a lot larger and fuller. Click on the image to enlarge.

I walked out across the road today and snapped a series of images that I merged into a single panoramic image of the Arizona house and yard. We received some of the office furniture this week and are working on acquiring the rest of the home furnishings in a week or two. We’re getting closer to our completion of the interior and are just a few steps closer to the completion of the landscaping. Click on the panoramic image to see full-sized.

Damsel took this photo from the hilltop a couple of blocks up the road. It’s a view of the Hassayampa Valley to the northeast and the mountains beyond. The Hassayampa River originates in the mountains and flows underground for miles before flowing on the surface through this area.

I cropped Damsel’s photo down to create this panoramic image. Click on the image to view the full-sized panorama.

This afternoon, I walked across the road from the house and snapped this panoramic image of the new house. On the left edge of the image, you can see the RV drive-through exit. The contractor graded and compacted the drive all the way from the concrete apron (right side) through the RV parking space (with full hookups) in the rear and back down to the main road. Click on the image too see the full panorama.

We had to run a couple of errands this morning, so we stopped at our new house while we were out. I climbed the little hill behind the house to have a look around. While I was up there, I took a series of images of the neighborhood, panoramic style to stitch into the panoramic image below. The new house is just to the right of center. Click on the image to view the full-sized panorama.