March (3)

March 22, 2007




It was very warm in Wikieup last Friday and Saturday. Our thermometer hit 100 degrees both days.













One day we were sitting in the livingroom trying to keep cool and we saw this big lizard come up onto the front step. This is the largest lizard we had seen. Of course, he didn’t hold still long enough for a good picture. His body was about ten inches long and then his tail was as long as his body. He looked like a small Gila Monster. Instead of scurrying off, he stood on his legs and ran off!


On Sunday we went to Church for the last time at the Wikieup Branch. That day there were only fourteen people there. Terry and I gave the prayers in Sacrament Meeting. Terry then blessed the Sacrament and also passed it. We will miss them until we get back in December.

Monday morning we met up with Terry’s sister and husband, Lolita and Bob Wright, and went to Bullhead City. We have enjoyed being with them. We walked along the Water Walk across the River at Laughlin, had steak and shrimp dinner, and listened to a free Karaoke program. Some of the singers were really good, but some were really bad! We went on a boat ride and learned all about the history of Bullhead City, the Colorado River, and the building of the casinos in Laughlin. We have sat in the hot tub, shopped, ate a lot of food, and played a lot of pinochle.

One day we went to Oatman where the burros roam the streets and they have a gun shootout at least once a day. Afterwards they asked for donations—at gunpoint! It was a lot of fun.










Jill and Dan and the kids will be here tomorrow for part of the day before they head to Travis’ in Payson. We will meet up with them on Monday in Wikieup. Grandma and Grandpa are pretty anxious to see those grandkids, and of course Jill and Dan also!

March (2)

March 14

On Friday, March 9, we hung the gate! After two years of “discussion” with BLM and ADOT, we are finally able to use the old road again. The State even let us borrow a drill for the holes. Unless you have driven the two mile road through Sycamore Wash, you wouldn’t know how nice it is.


We are having a war with the bees. In the past, they have built their hives in the old washhouse and in the little trailer and camper that was by it, but have not bothered much at the house. Now they are invading us. We are working at getting rid of them before our grandkids get her in a week and a half. They are big yellow bees and they look like they could take a hunk out of you if they bit you.

On Monday we drove to Alamo Lake. It is about 80 miles from Wikieup, all dirt road. We ended up on the backside of the lake, across from the State Park and the developed area. The road ended there and didn’t go around the lake. Terry fished for the first time with his new pole from the Bus Garage gang and his Arizona fishing license. He got a couple of good bites, but no fish. I went for a walk and met up with some wild burros. It is a good thing I scared them more than they scared me. Terry was sitting there fishing and watching it happen. Of course, I didn’t have my camera with me.

In this picture, I am just holding Terry’s pole while he went to get our picnic lunch (I don’t have a fishing license.)

I have been busy working on my Levi quilt. I hope to finish sewing it together today and then, with Jill’s help the end of the month, maybe I can get it tied and finished.

We are planning on going to Bullhead City and meet up with Terry’s sister and brother-in-law, Bob and Lolita, at one of our campgrounds for a week. Terry had to get the Condo all washed up. I told him that we were going to have to change a little when we get around people again. I am going to have to comb my hair more often, Terry will have to shave more often and quit running outside to the outhouse in his underwear, and we will not be able to wear the same pair of jeans for four days in a row.

March (1)

March 8, 2007

We left Payson on March 2 with mixed feelings. We enjoyed being with our grandsons and will miss them for a while, but we were anxious to get back to Wikieup, especially because ADOT had our road access permit ready. We stopped in Kingman and picked it up. Finally, after two years, they finally gave us permission to open up the old road with a swinging gate. The gate had to be put in to ADOT specs, which was more than we wanted to do. It is only a year permit, to be extended if the new road is not ready to use. They let us unwire the fence on Saturday to get the Condo in and then not use it until the gate is done. Hurrah!!!





My mom’s brother (and my uncle, although we are close to the same age) and his wife, Terry and Nancy Imlay, came to visit us. They got here on Monday, just in time to give us some expertise advice and good help in getting our gate started. We spent all day Tuesday in Kingman getting parts and pieces and then worked them hard on Wednesday morning.

Wednesday afternoon, we cleaned up and headed to Laughlin, Nevada. Both Terry and Nancy had a bit of luck at the slot machines and at the roulette table. At least they didn’t loose anything. I think we gave them good luck looking over their shoulders. We enjoyed some free music and dancing (at least watching the dancing), enjoyed walking along the waterway, and had a good dinner.





It was fun having Terry and Nancy here. They were our first official visitors. They were good sports about using the outhouse, playing games in the evening with a dim light to save electricity, and putting up with some of my cooking. We made plans with them to come back next year.








The desert is beginning to turn a little green with the bit of rain we have had. Some of Mom’s cacti are beginning to bloom. The Joshua trees have beautiful blooms on them. The peas are doing well. I hope they have real peas on them before we leave in three weeks. I have to keep a screen on them because the little ground squirrels love to eat the tender green plants.

February (4)

February 28, 2007

I really cannot believe it is the end of February. We have spent all week here in Payson babysitting Travis’ four boys (ages 1½ to 11). It snowed most of one day, but nothing stayed on the ground in the valley. It kind of feels like we are back in Idaho after being in Wikieup the last six weeks.

It has been fun with the boys. I think they have taken their turns thinking I am a mean grandma, making them go to bed on time (most of the time), saying no to some of their requests, and not always feeding them their favorite foods. But we have had fun going to ball games and practices, going to kindermusic (with Josh the 1 ½ year old), going to a book fair, taking them to school, picking them up from school, going to Church, eating pizza out, watching movies, playing games, reading books, and just getting to know each other better. It has brought back a lot of memories of raising our four little boys (along with the two tail-end girls.) We can certainly see why we have our children when we are young.

I hope Shannon finds things in order when they get back. The pantry and fridge are empty, the boys’ drawers may have the wrong clothes in them, the towels are probably all folded wrong, and Grandpa has taught Josh a few new words and told the boys a few new tales, but it has been fun staying in their beautiful new home and being Grandma and Grandpa. Travis and Shannon arrive in Phoenix Airport early Friday morning and we will probably leave by noon to get back to Wikieup before dark. We will miss those boys, but we are anxious to see how things are at our little winter home.

February (3)

February 21, 2007

On Wednesday we finished hauling some more rock. We have a little place fixed for a picnic table in the back, so we are anxious to get one.

On Thursday, Dutch still wasn’t feeling well, so Terry took him into Kingman to see the Doctor. They left at 9:30 in the morning and didn’t get home until 6:30 in the evening. This is the first time Terry and I have been apart this many hours since we retired! And also, this is the first time I have been alone at Nettie’s Place. I went around and locked all of the doors, but then I got brave enough to go outside, but only unlocking one door. After a while, I settled down and made some bread. The first time in a long time that I have made bread without my Bosch! While it was rising, I went to town to send Travis’s work, a major accomplishment driving that road! I even went to the log furniture people in Wikieup and bought our picnic table. We had talked about doing it that day, so I just did it. I mentioned that there was one warped board on the top, so he took $50 off of the price. It had been their demo table for quite a while and needed re-stained and he wanted to get a new demo out front. Good deal for us!

When I got back home, I checked all of the rooms, looked under the beds and behind the doors. Everything was okay. I really was glad to see the guys get back.

On Saturday, we worked around the house and put stain and sealant on the swing and our new picnic table. Then we went to the Gemkana in Wikieup. It was the second one they had, but this one had more events. It is mostly events for kids on their horses, but a few adults compete. It was really hot on Saturday, in the mid-high 80’s.









We had a potluck at Church and after we got home it rained the rest of the day. Everyone around here is praying for rain so their range cattle will have something to eat. I guess there has been quite a drought. A half hour after it rains, you can hardly tell that it has evened rained. The water really soaks into the ground fast. If it rains too hard for too long, though, the water starts running everywhere. I guess there can be quite the flash floods during some rainy seasons.

Mom had this old station wagon that she had sold to my Cousin who owns 5 acres of land just down from us. I think it sat out by my Mom’s place for the last ten years. It only had three tires, which were all rotten, no motor, and most of the other parts and pieces were piled inside the car. It was a great place for packrats. On Monday, Terry found an old tire in our junk pile, which actually held air. I had to get in and help steer the car it as he dragged it with the pickup for about a quarter mile to my Cousin’s place. I left the door open and told him I was going to bail out if I saw any critters poke their heads out of the nests inside the car. I think it was quite a site with the tires flopping, the driveline dragging, and someone squealing the whole way!


Here is a picture of a really nice Joshua tree in Mom’s cactus garden. I think we will take a couple of the “babies” around the bottom and replant them in the back yard.

This saguaro cactus is on Dutch’s property just across the road from us. It is the place where everyone gets their picture taken. So if you ever visit us in Wikieup, plan on getting your picture taken there.

We spent yesterday in Bullhead City. Terry is looking for a 410/22 over and under rifle and someone told him there may be one in a gun shop there. There wasn’t any. Besides that, we found out that no licensed gun dealer can sell a gun to anyone from Idaho (what’s with this?). They would have to sell it to a dealer in Idaho and then Terry could buy it from the Idaho dealer. We spent some time walking along the Colorado River and we drove through an RV Park that we are going to in March with Terry’s sister and brother-in-law.

We are still waiting for the permit to come back for ADOT to open our road. If we don’t get it tomorrow, my aunt and uncle will have a little more exciting drive coming to see us by way of the Sycamore Wash Road. The more we drive on it, the rougher it gets. We are busy today getting things ready so we can leave tomorrow for a week at Travis’s in Payson. We are babysitting their four boys while they go to Hawaii!!

February (2)

February 14, 2007
We have been married for 37 years today! What a great time to be in Wikieup! The weather has cooled down a bit the last few days, to the 60’s. After today, it is supposed to start warming up some. The hummingbirds left for a while, but they are back. One is very territorial and chases the other one off. He even came at me when I touched the feeder. So Terry had this great idea to fool him with a plastic bird. He fluttered around him for a minute, but then just ignored him.

Last weekend we went with Dutch to a gun show in Kingman. Terry is looking for a 410/22 over and under (if you know what that is). He found one, but it had a broken stock so he didn’t get it. He is still looking.

We play games several times a week with Dutch, in the evenings. We play Dominoes and Sequence. Terry usually wins. It sure is nice to have time too do things like that—feels like we are on a loooong vacation!

My pansies are really doing good, except for one the packrat pulled up and took it to his nest. They sit right where the water runs off of the roof when it rains, so even when I don’t get them watered enough, they get the rain water (I really do not do well with flowers). The peas are coming up in one pot. A little ground squirrel ate all of the seeds in the other two pots. Terry wanted to shoot him, but he had already done the deed, so why shoot him now? We couldn’t figure out what was getting into them until one day we saw him.
ADOT finally said we could have access to our old road. They are having us fill out the application as the owner of the permit. That way we bypass BLM, but it also puts all of the liability on our shoulders if the gate is left open and cows get out on the State Highway. I sent the application yesterday. They need to sign it and send it back to us and then I think we can put in a gate. We plan on putting a BIG lock on it, so if anyone is planning to drop in and see us, let us know ahead of time so we can come and unlock the gate for you. We can hardly believe that this two-year battle for the access is finally ending.







We found some little pebbles left years ago by the well drillers and have done a little “landscaping” around Mom’s house. If nothing else, it will keep some of the sand and stickers from getting into the house. It will also be a good place for the grandkids to play and throw lots of rocks, so Terry says!

February (1)

February 7, 2006
It rained last Tuesday, for the first time. It rained all night and we could hear the roof leaking into the attic. Nothing ever came through into the house. I guess it is time to climb up and do some patching! It rained off and on the next day, but it didn’t keep us inside much. We are still trying to clean up around the place. We would like to get some RV sites set up for our 5th Wheel and for company to come. There will be water and sewer (or dumping) there, but no electricity. We will have to use generators.




We went to Travis’s in Payson on Friday for the weekend. We go over some high mountains on the way. We were at over 7,000 feet. There was a lot of snow. Travis and family are doing good. Travis performed a minor surgery on his dad and took a “knot” (really it was a small cyst) off of his head close to the left temple. Terry said Dr. Howard smiled the whole time he was cutting on him! The fours boys are lots of fun. Payson is a pretty town.


We got back to Wikieup to find all well, except Dutch has come down with a case of Shingles. He has been pretty sick but is on the mend.


We are still going back and forth with BLM and ADOT about the access to the old road. I’m not sure it will happen this year, but we haven’t given up yet. It has been cloudy yesterday and today, but still around 70 degrees.





We rode the motorcycle to town yesterday for the first time. It is pretty scary out there on the divided highway going 35 mph with these big trucks passing us at 65 mph. We do have out nifty new helmets, but I think we would need more than that to help us! I think we will stick to the desert roads!

Maybe we will ride up to Turtle Mountain sometime.

January (1)

Well, January 5, 2007, was the last work day for me, although I was still the elected Clerk until January 7 when the new clerk was sworn in. I took my staff to breakfast and they gave me lots of retirement cards and gifts. I really enjoyed my years as the Gem County clerk.

The bus garage had a really nice dinner for Terry. They presented him with lots of “gag” gifts and some really nice things. They assured him that he will be missed a lot. The fun things kept happening for several days until he finished his last workday on January 12.
B & W Fuels, about two blocks from our home and owned by the School Bus Shop Superintendent, left fun signs for us and the whole community to read.
They were a great bunch of people to work with.
We can’t believe it; we are finally on our way at about 9:00 a.m. on January 13. We started out really good. About three hours later we were parked in at Les Schwab in Twin Falls putting two new tires in the pickup. We stopped at a rest stop outside of Twin Falls and Terry spotted a tire that was separating. It is a good thing he spotted it because it could have blown really easily. What a way to start our retirement!!

January (2)

My Uncle Bud Imlay had passed away, so our first stop was in Ogden, UT, to park our trailer (the Condo) at my Aunt and Uncle’s Place, Terry & Nancy Imlay. We left it there on Saturday and spend the next two nights with our Daughter Sarah and her family at Dugway Proving Grounds where they live on Base. As for most of the West, this was record breaking cold. It was at least -10 every night and didn’t get up past 20 in the daytime. This was not our idea of warm-climate retirement! Sarah and the kids came back with us and spent the night in the Condo parked in Terry & Nancy’s driveway. Surprisingly, we all kept cozy and warm and went through two bottles of propane (the four days we were parked there)! The next day we attended Uncle Bud’s funeral. It was sad, but we did get to see a lot of relatives.











On January 17, we left Ogden and headed to St. George. The cold weather followed us, but warmed up a little. I actually used my internet air card and downloaded Travis’s medical dictation that I transcribe for him (my part-time job), and worked on it all the way to the RV park in St. George.
The St. George RV Park had most of the water frozen, but we squeezed in next to an RV that had water and shared their spicket. They said it was the coldest weather St. George had seen in 91 years.







We met a school chum of mine, Ruth Wynn Lunt, and her husband. They took us through Zions Park. It was beautiful, even with the unaccustomed snow and icicles. They took us on a drive around St. George. The Temple is beautiful. We were going to go through a session, but it was closed that week for cleaning.
We also got to see one of my Mom’s cousins, Joe and Ilyn Pitts. We took some old photos of our family and Joe scanned some of them. He is really into genealogy.
The last day at the park, we had to listen to a presentation from Western Horizons camping program. It is similar to the one we belong to. They were nice when we told them “no thank you” and they gave us the three nights free camping and a coupon for homemade cinnamon rolls the next morning. We are looking forward to warmer weather!











Saturday, January 20, 2007
We made to Wikieup! We did stop on the Way in Beaver Dam to see Uncle Dan and Joyce Fisher. Used to have a winter home (trailer) on our property in Wikieup, but since my Mom died in November, 2004, they would rather be closer to their grandson in Mesquite, NV, they bought a winter home there. It is really nice. We were anxious to get going, so we only stayed for a little while and went on.
Hoover Dam made us nervous, not knowing if they allowed large RV’s over it, so we took the long way around through Laughlin and Bullhead City. What a hill coming out of Bullhead City--we thought we would never reach the top! We got to Wikieup, with a balmy temperature of 45 degrees and warming. We parked the first two nights at Dazzo’s Restaurant & RV Park. The best thing about it was it has wireless internet and we only had to pay $10/night because it was a Passport America park.


That evening, we got settled and then went out to “Nettie’s Place.” It was so good to see it, especially knowing that it would be our home for the winter (and hopefully many winters to come.) We opened up the house and everything looked fine, only a few signs of mice and, of course, the usual packrat in the outhouse. Dutch Odekirk, our friend and neighbor, has been here since the last of November. We visited with him and then went back to the Condo. The next day, Sunday, we went to Church at the Wikieup Branch. It happened to be their Branch Conference. They thought we were just some of the Stake visitors until they realized who we were. They seemed excited that we will be here until the end of March. They had a potluck at the church after the conference was over. They talked us into staying, even though we hadn’t brought any food.






After church we went back out to the place and got everything turned on. Everything was fine, except, of course, no water. We even cooked a spaghetti dinner before we left to go to Terry and Monte Burches to see if we could park the Condo at their house. They said it would be fine. The road getting into the place is very rough and has to cross Sycamore Wash, which has so much sand in it this year that the Condo would probably get stuck. Our place is pretty much land-locked when it rains and water comes down Sycamore Wash. So, now our big job is to try to get water and to get the old road opened back up. Good luck! Oh, we saw two havalina (sp) pigs on the way out—the first we have ever seen.

January (3)

Today, Monday, we move the Condo to Terry and Monte’s and moved into Mom’s house. We found a 55-gal barrel, filled it from one of the wells, and borrowed a spicket for the barrel from Dutch.

We have running (?) water? Dutch drinks the artesian water, but we can’t handle drinking it. It is quite warm, probably about 95 degrees.
I talked to Larry Turner, a partner in AZ Big Sandy, who owns the land with the wells. I have been corresponding with him for the last several months. I asked him if they had considered whether they would let us hook back up to their well. They had disconnected the water that Mom had when she was alive, because the property had changes hands and they didn’t want there to be any type of water rights with the sale. He said they had discussed it and decided it would be no problem if we would sign a letter stating that it is not permanent and could be disconnected at any time. HURRAY!

Tuesday—we have water to the house and a hose going to Dutch’s. But, for some reason, we can’t get water into the house. Hope we can figure it out, but if we can’t, at least we have it this far. Terry has been working on getting the “RV spaces” cleaned up. He moved Uncle Dan’s little trailer over to my cousin’s 5-acres. Now he is working on getting the old camper and car over there.

It has warmed up to 70 degrees and the lizards are out!

Wednesday we spent all day digging up water lines, unhooking them, and blowing them out. But it paid off and we now have running water in the house.

There is a little roadrunner that hangs out around the place and is getting pretty friendly. This is the first time we have seen a roadrunner. I hope he stays all winter.










It is great to have running water. It is warm, but still a little chilly for a shower, as I found out Thursday morning. Afterwards, Terry lit the propane hot water heater for his shower! I have been going into Wikieup to download Travis’s dictation at Dazzo’s using their wireless internet and then take it home to transcribe. Today it took me about an hour to get the finished dictation into his files and sent to him. During that time, Terry learned how to do laundry at a Laundromat (also at Dazzo’s). I think he will become quite proficient, in time.
We spent all day Friday in Kingman. We got groceries, a new toilet seat for the outhouse, pipe to repair the water line, and a toilet plunger to wash clothes. (I learned from an RV magazine how you can use a 5-gal bucket and a toilet plunger to wash clothes. I remember Mom washing diapers that way many yeas ago.)

We also met with the BLM and ADOT about letting us put a gate in where they fenced off the road we had used to get into the place for fifteen years. They fenced off the road several years ago when they said the gate had been left open too many times and cattle might get out on the State highway. Since then, they have made the highway a two-lane/divided highway and are now saying that the access is unsafe. We have discussed this problem with them for the past two years, and they still say “no.” Finally, BLM said we could use the road if ADOT would give their permission to put a gate in, which they doubted they would do. We went to ADOT and they said they would set up a meeting with all parties and let us know when the meeting will be. We will keep our fingers crossed, but aren’t counting on it happening.

Terry had put up a feeder and a hummingbird came today.

January (4)

We helped Burches move into their new modular home on Saturday. Afterwards they took us to the local Gem Cannon (sp) and bought us a hamburger. This is kind of a rodeo only they only to barrels and bend poles and a couple of other events. It was fun. We got to watch Chelsie Burch do the barrels on her horse.
Sunday we went to Church (no potluck today). That afternoon, we were cleaning up the porch. When we moved the wood box, a mouse or rat ran out from under it. The front porch is looking really nice.

Monday, January29, 2007
We worked outside all day today. We finished cleaning the porch and found a big rat under a cupboard! I had cleaned under it the day before, but hadn’t lifted it up all the way. The rat almost ran in the open door into the house! Then Terry said there is also a rat living in the outhouse. I told him if it popped its head out while I was sitting in there, it would NOT be a petty site! I planted peas today. We should be eating peas by the end of March.
The man we have been talking to at ADOT called today and said he had talked to his boss and they see no reason we have a temporary access to the old road!!! I can’t believe it! He at first said we would have to put in a cattle guard (very expensive), but when I told him there were only three parties that would access the road (he thought there were more people living up here), he said we may only have to put in a swinging gate, but we would be responsible if the gate were left open and then the permit would be taken away. He said to call him back on Wednesday to find out for sure what will be required. We are trying not to get too excited until then, but it would be so nice to be able to pull our Condo in and have a good road for our friends and family to use when they come to visit.
We had a big bonfire on Tuesday to burn all of the weeds, trees, and other things we have gathered to get rid of. We planted a Joshua tree at the front step and I planted pansies. We pulled all of the dead flowers out and pruned the rose bushes.
Larry Turner from AZ Big Sandy came by with a paper for me to sign stating that the water hook-up is not a permanent situation and could be turned off at any time. He said it was just a formality and is looking forward to working with us. We hope it stays that way because it is sure nice to have running water! He also said that he is going to develop his property next us and that within the next four months he will have a roughed-in road where the new County road will be. (We will wait and see!) We told him that we may be getting a temporary permit to open the old road and he offered his help wherever needed.