This Weekends Adventures

Friday was the end of a short 4 day week at SUBWAY, but that was made longer by our P.O.S. POS-IBM cash register going down Wednesday morning.  Made worse only when the possible 5 people that can repair it neither called us back or were able to help(lame).  Friday we got it back from GEEK SQUAD,last resort, and we were up and running again after 2 and a half days of doing manual transactions.  

Saturday we got together and did a group ride on trail 396/Feldmeyer off of White Spar.  The both of us and Toby, Dan, Milliken, Steve and Micki. Steve and Micki came up from Phoenix once again to ride here in the pines and cooler weather. Micki had called Todd to see if wanted to hitch a ride up to Prescott with them, but he was busy and his "taint" was sore.  We usually do 396, but not the Feldmeyer section, to our suprise, it was rather fun and you can mix it up a little to make each one different.  There's even a technical "log section" (see vid) which is doable---next time.  Towards the end of the ride we got sprinkled on to cool us off.  

        

396 Ride                                                                       Milliken, Andy & Steve

  

Steve Riding the log                                              Micki riding the log

Sunday was the day to do the "Jerome Ride".  Toby, Steven Milliken, Steve and Michelle and the 2 of us met up @ 10am for the ride.(yes, there are a lot of "Steve's" round these parts)   Before we set out, we called everyone to make sure that everyone brought money for some lunch in Jerome, check.  The Jerome ride consists of riding up to Jerome Arizona, an old mining town/tourist attraction on the east side of the Mingus Mountains @ about 8000 ft.  You climb up an old railroad grade bed from the Prescott Valley/Chino Valley side of the Mingus Mtns. (5000 ft.) The west side.

     

                                                                                Brooke,Andy,Toby,Milliken,Steve

Last climb before dropping into Jerome on rail road bed.

 Once up there, you can look out over the Verde Valley and see the west end of Sedona at about 4000 ft.  We actually climb up above Jerome and extra 5-800 ft.(8500 total) and then drop in by the Jerome Fire Station.  As we rolled into town, we were getting plenty of strange looks.  As in.......what the.........they're on mountain bikes.  Where did they come from?  "That's how we roll."  We stopped and had a small bite to eat and realized, that "WE" did not bring money for lunch, nice!!  Millikin was nice enough to let us lick his plate after he was done, which sustained us for the rest of the ride.  No, not really, he paid for our lunch.  

       

Crazy mtn. bikers                                                      Toby,Michelle,Steve,Milliken,Brooke 

After lunch, we hopped back in the saddles and we were off back to our side of the mountain.  The total mileage was 36.37 miles for Brooke and I, and about mid 40's for the rest since they parked a couple miles away and had that detour.  Brooke keeps getting stronger and stronger as we get deeper into the season. Her technical skills are improving with each ride too.  She cleared a couple of "log jams" (ha ha) on 396 without hesitation.  Nice job riding this weekend Brooke, I am VERY proud of you....... "Sweetness."

Memorial Day Weekend!

 Thad trying to make it up the other side of the Rock Bridge at the Dells.
BBQ Night... Milliken, Micki, Steve,Todd, Carol and Andy and some dogs.
Todd, Andy Uncle Tom and Aunt Karen.And Rylee in the chair.  Picture taken in our garage.

This past weekend we did some biking and some relaxing and some visiting with family and friends....   

Friday Todd came up for the long weekend.  He brought his bike, but he didn't know what was in store for him! hehehehe....  Also, on Friday the boys' Aunt and Uncle from Fort Collins Colorado came through town on the way back from the Tucson area.  Todd and Andy's father and Aunt Ruth are located there.  They stopped by Prescott, and ate at our  Subway, then dropped by the house for some visiting.  It was nice to see them.  I think it has been about two years since we last saw them.   

The weather was not really being that cooperative.  It rained most of the day on Friday and Saturday called for more showers.  We were supposed to go to Flagstaff on Saturday to ride but, at the last minute we decided to stay home and ride here.   And ride we did!  Steve, Micki and some others all gathered at Thumb Butte Sat. morning on what we thought was going to be a "three hour tour".  Seriously... "oh it's  couple of hours or so"... well 5 and a half hours later we are back in the car heading home!   We climbed and climbed and climbed to the top of the mountain... and I mean up  to the top. 

 The others that had joined us decided they were done about a third of the way through and went back.  Steve, Micki, Todd, Andy and I decided to continue on.  Steve had said, "we go down a little bit then back up some but they are not hard climbs, then we get to a "considerable" downhill on single track".  We start off and it really wasn't that bad.  The downhill single track was fun, fast and flowing.  Then we hit a dirt road and guess what... a gradual uphill again! Gradual=not really my thing.  I would like to just get the climb over with quick and fast....then the dirt road lead us to Iron Springs Road for another 5 miles of......you got it....uphill.  Just when you thought it was going to crest, you look left, and wouldn't you know it... more up hill.   We get to the trail head and we have some down hill... yeah... down hill... it was so nice!  We then have to make it back over the mountain to Thumb Butte. We have done that trail many times so we knew it wouldn't be that bad. 

We make it sound so bad but really is was fun and after it was all over we enjoyed doing and are talking about doing again! 

 We made it to the bottom of Thumb Butte, well about 2 miles from the camp spot.   I said "I am NOT riding up the road another 2 or 3 miles to the camp site from where we started".  SO, I jumped in front of a rhino rider and said please take my husband to the camp to get the car, because I am not riding up it!!!!    So they did. 

On the way down the mountain in the car, Andy got a flat tire.  He changed it quite quickly with Todd's help and came to my rescue!   We then headed into town to get the tire fixed.  We know people at Discount Tire so we were taken right in and out within 20 minutes!  It pays to know people!.   We finally make it home and tonight is supposed to be the BBQ for Andy's b-day.  So we hurry to prep the food and the house for people.  We get our showers in and just in time... here come the guests.  

The BBQ was fun... it was relaxing. We had more dogs than people though.  We had our 3, Todd has 2, their mom brought 2 of hers over, Steve and Micki brought Mousse, and Milliken brought Marley.  But all was good.  They all got a long well.   Andy is an excellent BBQ'er so the food was done just right.   

We were all exhausted from the ride earlier.  We talked about going out in the morning again, like crazy people do.  When morning came we, Todd, Andy and I were very tired.  Plus Carol was wanting to spend some time with the b-day boy and the brother so we opted not to go on the morning ride.  We went to breakfast instead.  Later we all took naps!   Andy and I however went to the Dells to ride some "technical"with Steve and Micki,Thad and Sarah. ( Peeps up from Phx)  We tooled around there for a bit.  There was a rock that has a nice drop so in some of the video you can see Steve and Micki going off it. 

Monday came and Todd was leaving early.  So he and his mom went to breakfast and Andy and I rode with Micki and Dan at Granite Basin.  It was fun... not too hard, lots of down hill in the beginning which is nice.  Some technical sections, some up hill but short bouts.  All in all a fun weekend. 

Andy and I added it up that we rode about 43 miles over the weekend, but Steve and Micki rode about 70+ miles.  WOW!!!! CRAZY!!!!! 

It was fun and we are a little sore today but it was worth it!   

Micki doing the drop                                     Micki's on your A$$ 

Andy "saving" the bike                                Steve in the crack at the Dells

Andy making it to the top

It's done... 98%

Dirt... Dirt... Dirt... Dirt!!!! 

Fire pit waiting for Stucco  Finished the rock above Fire pit

mulch down  4 truck loads of mulch 

I know you all have been waiting to see the end result and .... tah... dah...  

We had the sod delivered on Sat. and after work we laid it.   We had 2400 sqft and we were a little short so we will finish that sometime this week.  The stucco guy will be here this week to do the fire pit and we will be completely done!  I can't believe it, after 4 years we finally have not dirt in the back yard.   

The weather has been really nice.  Over cast and cool temps, perfect for the sod to root.  The dogs love it.  Emma and Rylee roll around in it and when the sprinklers come on they go out and play in them.  Jessi doesn't know what to think.  She is mildly allergic to the grass and she really hates getting wet.  She did however get a drink from them the other day so she is making progress. 

Today, 5/18 was Andy's 34th B-day!  I got him some socks and t-shirt.  This weekend Todd will be up, so we will be having a b-day BBQ.  We are also planning on riding in Flagstaff one of the days maybe two if we like it.  Our friends Steve and Micki will be up as well.   

Stay tuned for fun pics! 

A Day at the Lake

Today we decided to take the girls to the lake to play.  They love the water, well Rylee and Emma love the water, Jessi not so much.   We invited Tobey and Oreo(his dog) and Milliken and Kristin and Marley(his dog).  Lots of splashing and barking going on.   Rylee loves her frisbee and will go all out until she can barely stand.  Emma and her ball....... you show her the ball and you see an obsessed dog.    Jessi could care less about the water.   She did get in, but not for long, just a couple of times.  The rest of the time she just searched for lizards with Oreo.   

We were out there for about two hours.  That was long enough, all they have done since we've come home is sleep.  It is so quite here! Oh, those orange vests they are wearing are life vests for dogs. It keeps them from getting tired too quickly, and when they are tired, it helps keep their butts up while swimming in. 

 

Rylee and her Frisbee  Milliken, Jessi, Marley, Emma, Rylee & Andy

Hummingbird Nest

Have you ever seen a hummingbirds' nest?  We have one on the hanging porch light outside our front door.  The momma bird is very protective.  She will leave the nest and buzz you until you go away.   We will be watching to see when the babies hatch!  

More Progress

Well the fire pit is really coming along now.  This past week we were able to get the block up and back filled with concrete, so it will be able to hold the dirt and the rock behind it.  Andy put in the styrofoam for bench seating for when we stucco. Yesterday we backfilled behind the new wall with dirt.  We were able to get the tree planted above.  We have a guy coming over for the stucco next week, paint and faux rock the pillars and it is done!   Once it is all completed,  we can move on to the sod.  We are looking forward grass.  No more dirty dogs, no more dust, no more heat from the back yard.  It will be wonderful!   

So here is a funny story... yesterday while pounding in the rebar for the block on the tree well, I was holding the rebar while Andy pounded. And you guessed it BAM... he hit my hand with the sledge.  OH MY GOSH it hurt so bad!  It didn't break anything but my hand is swollen and bruised.  Once it turns colors we will take a picture for all to see.   Andy felt really really bad!  

Landscaping Progress

Well Andy has been busy with the fire pit.  We rented a back hoe to dig out the hole a bit more.  We moved dirt from one pile to another.  We also had some gravel delivered to finish off the side of the house by the rv gate.   Andy had to use the pick axe to dig out the front part of the pit, he did a great job.  Once we had the block here he wasted no time in getting started.  He had to do the couple of rows of the wall by himself but I helped with the rest.  It is really taking shape and we feel it is going to really add to the back yard.  We are hoping to get the wall part done and back filled, so we can put the rip rap on top.  We also got another tree for the top part.  Once the top is done then we can get mulch and sod!!!  We are hoping to have it done by the end of the month... no more dust!    Just so you know.... I do help a lot... Andy just never takes a picture of me!