Fossil Creek Hike

Cooper is checking out the gorgeous color of the Fossil Creek bed. We were amazed at the beauty in this area......about a 35 minute drive from Payson, near the little town of Strawberry.

This 11,550 acre wilderness boasts what has been described as the most diverse riparian area in Arizona. Over thirty species of trees and shrubs and over a hundred species of birds have been observed in this unique habitat.

The stream seems to appear out of nowhere, gushing 20,000 gallons a minute out of a series of springs at the bottom of a 1,600 foot canyon.

Over the years these calcium laden waters have laid down huge deposits of travertine. Cooper loved wading in the pools and taking a good long drink of water.

The travertine encases whatever happens to fall into the streambed—forming the fossils for which the area is named.

We met some young 20 year-olds at the last waterfall. He did a dive into the water for me.....you have to jump out so you land in the area that is about 25 ft. deep. The guy in the water was spear fishing.

The lushness of the riparian area strikes a sharp contrast to the brittle desert that surrounds it.

The only bummer is having to drive a bumpy 8 mile dirt road to get to the creek......we averaged about 4 miles per hour.

Love this travertine formation that has fossilized over time.....

This is an area we will definitely go back to.....again and again.

Verde Canyon Railroad

Randy's mom is visiting from Asheville, North Carolina. She is 94 years old and quite remarkable. We all took a ride on the Verde Canyon railroad yesterday. The train runs from Clarkdale to Perkinsville and back.....into Arizona's other "Grand Canyon."

We were in one of the first class cars with comfortable couches and great viewing windows. We were greeted with a glass of champagne. There was a full-service bar and lots of appetizers.

All the cars have access to open-air cars for 360 degree views. There were knowledgable folks in the cars to point out the sights. Randy took lots of photos.

Two FP7 locomotives are the muscle that pulls the renovated passenger cars.

The historic route—between two national forests and adjacent to a national wilderness area—follows the upper Verde River, a lush riparian habitat blessed with astonishing beauty.

The train passes towering crimson pinnacles, ancient Indian ruins, a monocline fault and moves through a manmade 680 ft. tunnel.

35 eagles make this area their home. Best viewing time for them is in February and March. I am going to investigate hiking in this area!

A Week in Maine

My younger son, Jake, and I spent a week with my older son and his wife. Ryan and Stephanie live in China, Maine.

Jake and Ryan.....together again. It was so wonderful to be with them both.

We spent a day in Belfast, a coastal town about 30 minutes from Ryan's. We had a fish lunch overlooking the harbor.

I thought the fall color was amazing. The "leaf peepers" said it wasn't a great year for color but I was impressed.

We hiked in Acadia National Park.......gorgeous.

At the top of the trail........what a view!

In Bar Harbor we sailed on a 151 ft. schooner....the oldest boat on the eastern coast.

We found an old lighthouse to explore.

We spent a day in Camden. They are getting ready to shrink wrap and pull all of the boats out of the harbor. This crew was painting the masts.

Love the old buildings....

This is Ryan's cute house. He has a beautiful backyard....lots of birch trees. He has bird and squirrel feeders around the perimeter......the raccoons visit the feeders too.

It was a wonderful week.....only two days of rain. Jake has better photos and I am sure he will post them soon.

Cooper update: While I was gone Cooper got bit by a coyote. Cooper was laying in front of the house at about ten o'clock in the morning and a coyote came up to him and bit him in the behind. Cooper chased the coyote...not good. Randy heard the commotion and got Cooper to come back to the house. Randy took him to the vet and got some antibiotics and a rabies booster shot. We can't let him out by himself now. This coyote is getting pretty bold so we are going to call Animal Control and see what they recommend.

Well Update and Solar Panel Info

We drilled 300 ft. deep and we will get about 4 gallons a minute. Every gallon a minute is 1440 gallons per day. We will probably pump into a storage tank and use a booster pump to provide pressurized water to the house. We are investigating whether to use 12 volt solar or AC power. We have been told that the water quality will be much improved from the city water.

We can monitor the output of the solar panels 24/7 via a web site. This graphic shows the output over a 24 hr. period.

This graphic shows that we have generated enough electricity to power 12 houses for one day. And we have offset the equivalent of 7 trees. Our system has been up and running for one week. So I guess you could say that we have saved a tree a day.

This last graphic shows a picture of the panels and how much electricity they are generating at that particular moment.

We are getting a taste of winter today....high of 55 degrees and cloudy. Last night was very windy and rainy. It's a good day to test our solar hot water.....do we have enough or do we have to turn on the electricity??

Drilling for Water

We want our own well for house use and irrigation. There are a number of wells around us so we are hoping we will strike water!

Chris arrived with his rig this morning.

The drill portion is about 35 ft. tall.

Each pipe section is 20 ft. long. He used water to limit the amount of granite dust that he produced with the drill.

He worked until about 2:00 and hopefully will be back tomorrow......or the next day.

Muddy granite dust.....

He drilled to about 140 ft. We are hoping to hit water by 240 ft. You just never know.

He said that water might come up out of the hole which I would think would be a good sign. We will just have to wait and see.