Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Retirement

The RV Drive – Then and Now


I rummaged through some of the old photos in the archives this afternoon. One image from March of last year shows the RV drive as it appeared at that time; it was taken from the hill to the east. I walked to approximately the same spot on the hill and took another image of the RV drive as it appears today.

Click on the image above to alternate between the THEN and NOW views of the RV drive. Notice the growth of the rosemary planted on the slope, the addition of the screen porch enclosure and, of course, the presence of an RV in the drive.

10 Jun 2012 by Arizona Home & Garden Retirement

New Set of Tires for the Truck

new-tires.jpgI got up early this morning to take the truck to the tire dealer in town. I wound up getting four new Firestone Destination LE tires mounted and installed. Doing some on-line price comparisons, I think I got about the average price, but I’m satisfied with the local dealer and spending the money here in town.

We probably could have gone another few months on the old tires, but Damsel pointed out that summer is almost here (it is 108° here today) and with some near future I-10 desert crossings, it would be appropriate to get them now. We can just picture ourselves on the side of the Interstate halfway between Blythe and Chiriaco Summit waiting for help when it’s 117° outside. Aargh!

One of the four new tires is pictured at the right. Well, it looked brand new at the dealer this morning, but it’s showing the dust and gravel collected along the 500 feet or so of “unimproved road” between the paved road and our concrete driveway. 🙂

Click on the image to enlarge.

01 Jun 2012 by Retirement

Total Solar Eclipse of August 21, 2017

eclipse-2017.jpgWe started planning on viewing the total eclipse even before experiencing the annular eclipse last week. We think that we will observe the total eclipse from Casper, WY, although that could change.

The eclipse is still more than five years in the future and since it will occur on a coast to coast path across the United States, there are a lot of places to view the phenomenon. The greatest eclipse will occur in Western Kentucky – that is when the duration of totality is the longest – two minutes and 40 seconds of totality in this case.

Image: Path of totality across the states. Click to go to the official NASA eclipse site.

Wherever we decide to view the eclipse, I’m sure it will be spectacular. In Wyoming, totality will last about 2 minutes and 24 seconds. That’s plenty of time to see the stars and planets come out and for the surface temperature to drop noticeably.

This is a long time away, but we wanted to make this note about it on the blog. Maybe over the next five years we can organize an expedition of family and friends to enjoy the event. We’ll see . . .

28 May 2012 by Astronomy Environment Retirement

Grand Canyon Railway

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On our way out of Williams, AZ, this morning, Damsel got this shot of a vintage steam locomotive and caboose in the yard of the Grand Canyon Railroad The locomotive is still used for occasional trips to Grand Canyon Village. The railroad also uses more modern diesel electric locomotives on most of the runs to the rim. Click on the image to enlarge.

We were going to stay one more night on the road, but decided before pulling into the campground that we had plenty of vacation for the time being. We reset the GPS to take us the last 50 miles or so to our little home in Wickenburg, where we are enjoying recuperation and relaxation.

23 May 2012 by Arizona Photography Retirement Travel Wanderlust

The Colorado River and Grand Canyon

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We never get tired of seeing the scenery of the Grand Canyon. Although we didn’t spend a lot of time in the park today, I did manage to get a lot of nice photos. The one above is from a scenic view site about six miles west of the east entrance to the park on State Route 64. Click on the image to enlarge.

22 May 2012 by Arizona Photography Retirement Travel

Colors of the Desert

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This is a view of the lower Colorado River basin taken from US 89 west of Page, Arizona. The trees and terrain in the foreground are on the top of the mesa where the highway descends down into the basin. The ridge with the three peaks at the left and the cliffs beyond lie above the Colorado River on its journey toward Grand Canyon and beyond. Click on the image to enlarge.

21 May 2012 by Arizona Photography Retirement Travel

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