We saw fire and we saw rain

July 18-20 fourth of four posts

With the onset of the monsoon, fire restrictions had been lifted in the national forests and we felt comfortable having a fire, which made Gerald very happy. He was, however, mortally wounded when Christy called to ask if she should pick up some fire starter logs for him. "Fire starter logs?" he said in a wounded tone. "I was a Boy Scout, you know. "Fire starter logs," he said shaking his head after he hung up. "The very idea."

Monsoon season also mean there were clouds in the sky, which made for another beautiful sunset.

Friday night was also a full moon. The moon was just cresting the ridge line when we fell asleep, but it was still up when I got up on Saturday morning.

Dawn was lovely.

Sunday morning looked a little different. We woke up to the drum of rain on the canvas pop-outs. It was a gentle rain, though, and still pleasant for my morning walk. It was still raining when I left for church and we had begun to think the ends of the trailer would be too wet to fold up. Fortunately, the rain stopped and everything dried, and we were on the road back home by 2 p.m.

Feeling chipper

July 18-20 third of four posts

When we got back to the land, JC Campbell and his daughter were hard at work. We hired JC to brush some of the scrub oak around the house to create some defensible space and open up the views. They had brought up a commercial grade chipper and set to work mulching up the scrub oak JC brushed during the week. They worked hard all day and finished up about 4:30.

With the scrub oak out of the way, we could better see some of the boulder formations, like this one....

And this one...

JC had also sunk a couple of posts so we could hang a gate on our driveway. Gerald hung a chain until we could figure out what kind of gate we wanted. He also moved a line of boulders across the meadow, which would still permit the cows to have access to the land (as required for our agricultural exemption) but keep out unwanted vehicles.

We also got a better look at the logs that were delivered on Wednesday night.

Treasures and other surprises

July 18-20 second of four posts

On Saturday morning, we headed into Yarnell, as we do every Saturday morning, for donuts at the Cornerstone Bakery. This cute and incredibly popular bakery is famous for its donuts, which are light and fluffy buttermilk gems glazed with chocolate or maple, or dusted in sugar. We get the chocolate. The bakery also sells house-made cinnamon rolls the size of a dinner plate, brownies, brownies, cookies, huge blueberry muffins and chocolate muffins with cream cheese centers. Breakfast sandwiches served on sourdough biscuits or traditional breakfasts are also served on the weekends.

After our donut run, we decided to do a little exploring, and turned off on a little road not far from the ranch entrance. It turned out to be a dry creek bed, and got rocky and narrow enough that we began to doubt the wisdom of our decision. The creek bed was a mile long and connected the ranch road with Sorrel Ranch Road. Our neighbors, the Stowes, said it used to be the only way to get to the ranch. We found this odd cluster of plastic palms at about the half-way mark. 

Once inside the ranch, we explored some roads we hadn't tried before. We were impressed by the sheer size of phase 3, which was much larger and more diverse than we realized. We had bought extra donuts for Sunday's breakfast and I started to think we would need them that day.

We found this wonderful spot, on an 18-acre parcel, with a windmill and a well for sale for about $240,000. A cluster of cattle huddled under a nearby tree staring mournfully at us as we passed.

Our biggest surprise was this amazing pond!

Gerald even discovered some valuable artifacts, but left them for the next explorers.

Growth and destruction

July 18-20 first of four posts

When we got to the land Friday afternoon, the block workers were still there, but not for long. They told Gerald they came from Kingman and made a 2 1/2-hour commute.

The stemwall had grown nicely. The workers said they hoped to have the block work finished by next Thursday. 

My "garden" had grown nicely, too.

Additional sprouts appeared near the door.

They had to be destroyed.

Log jam

Gerald found this listing on Craig's list: "Logs pine all sizes, cheap--$5 (Phoenix area). 

The ad went on to say that logs from 4 to 16 inches wide and 10 to 20 feet long could be had for $5 and up. Delivery was available. Firewood was free if picked up.

Gerald called and found that these logs were from trees on fire damaged property near Prescott. He asked about delivery and the man on the phone said he could have the logs delivered for $10 per 20-foot log. Gerald was delighted. It sounded like a great deal. We could use the logs, he thought, as porch supports. Gerald ordered a number of 20-foot logs and some 10's, then arranged to meet the truck at the land around 5 p.m. on Wednesday night.

We left the house about 2:30, stopping at the bank so Gerald could get the cash to pay for the logs. He figured they would come to about $350, based on what he discussed with the seller, but withdrew $500 to be safe.

We made it to Yarnell about 4:30 and stopped in an antiques store as we were a little early. Gerald had agreed to meet the truck at the turnoff at 5. We wondered if we should get something to eat before the logs were delivered or wait until afterward. Gerald called the driver who said he'd be calling before he started down the hill. We decided to eat and headed to Kirkland Steakhouse. After a quick dinner at the bar, we headed back for the turnoff. We hadn't heard from the driver yet, so Gerald called. It sounded like it would be another hour, so we decided we would head for our property and simply give the driver directions.

This jackrabbit and several cottontails bounded in the road ahead of the truck.

When we arrived at the land, we saw that the stem wall was higher than when we saw it over the weekend, but not as high as we hoped.

The workers had also left three large garbage bags full of trash, and an animal had ripped them open, scattering melon rinds, tin cans, plasticware and styrofoam cups.

Sunset, and we still hadn't heard from the driver. Gerald called again. He had trouble with the trailer, he said, and it would be a little longer. He expected to be there by 8 o'clock.

I lamented that I didn't take out the solar lantern while there was better sun so it could recharge. Gerald thought the batteries would still have some charge from the weekend. "I don't know why you want the lantern," he said. The driver will be here at 8, then he's going to drop the logs and we'll be down the road."

"OK," I said. And got the lantern anyway.

At twilight, Gerald and I moved the truck closer to the barn and took a little walk up and down our road. I could smell the pines, and the crickets were chirping. We carried a flashlight. It reminded me of walking around camp as a kid, and that giddy, nervous feeling that something might jump out of the dark at any minute. We stood at the end of our road listened for a truck. Nothing.

About 9 o'clock, we finally heard the rumble of the truck, and watched as a pair of headlights swung onto our road.

It was completely dark by then. Gerald had to position the truck with the headlights on to create some light. The driver lifted the dump bed and the logs tumbled out. He included a few extra logs, he said, for no extra charge. Let's call it even at $600, he finally said. 

It took Gerald a minute to recover before he explained the price he had been quoted. "Well, he needs to get a new calculator," the driver said. "It cost me $75 just in diesel. Then there was the labor of three men for the whole day."

Gerald agreed it was a fair price. The only problem was that he only brought $500. He checked his wallet and counted $520 total. He offered it with his apologies. The driver took it with a shrug. "I'm not going to reload them," he said.

We left about 9:15 and finally got home about 11:15. We joked that at least we didn't have to worry about rush-hour traffic through Phoenix, and at least we had the sense to have dinner.

4th of July

When we arrived on the 4th of July, the stem wall was much taller than the previous week. 

Also a little garden seemed to be sprouting in front of the "casita," A testament to nature's regeneration.

We were invited to the Stowes (the only full time residents in phase 3) for dinner, so we just had time to set up before we needed to clean up and head over.

Tom and Linda, who bought the home that used to house the phase 3 sales office were there, so we got to meet them for the first time. They hadn't been in residence since March. There were also several area residents, many of whom served on the board of the Yarnell Historical Society. What a great group! We had so much fun! Three of the men, including Don Stowe, wore flag shirts, so Kathleen took a picture of them all waving.

The crew from the Historical Society, including the Stowes, had to get up early because they were in the parade in Prescott the next day, so we left early and went back to camp where we watched great forks of lightening rake the sky. It was better than any fireworks.

We went to bed just as it was beginning to rain and fell asleep listening it drum the canvas above our heads.

The next morning, you couldn't tell it had rained. But the clouds made the dawn so beautiful.

With the collapse of our tent, Gerald bought a sturdier screen room and spent Saturday morning putting it up--and cursing the Chinese for not including directions.

Then we waited for 10 a.m. when a local contractor was supposed to meet us to talk about solar. He never showed up.

Disappointed, we ate lunch and headed for Prescott in the afternoon to meet with a potential framer. We were a little worried when the store he told us to meet him was closed. But he showed up on time.

Afterward, we met some friends for dinner. As we were driving back, not far from our place, a herd of javelina burst out of the brush at the side of the road. There were maybe three adults and two babies. I scrambled for my camera, but by the time I got it out, they were long gone.

It had rained again while we were in Prescott. Fortunately, we had put our chair cushions in the pickup. Unfortunately, we had left the flaps on the pop-ups open, so our bedding was a little soggy, but not enough to prevent a good night's sleep.

The sunset was beautiful. Sadly, it was nearly gone by the time I thought to get the camera. All in all, it was a banner holiday weekend.

Building Foundations

When we got to the land the following weekend, the basement slab had been poured and the stem wall started. Unfortunately, our framer had raised his price $10,000 saying the quote was good for only 30 days, so we put the job out to bid again.

During the week, our tent collapsed, and a corner piece had apparently broken in a stiff wind. We were able to jerry-rig it, though, by tying the broken corner to a tree. It wasn't perfect. It didn't sit squarely, so while it did keep some bugs out, it kept others in. Like the bee and the wasp that joined us for dinner.

Gerald mounted his new sign. He had said he wanted a sign that said this, and I happened to see one at an antiques mall.

On the way to the land, we picked up a load of shiplap siding to stain and seal. We decided to go with the shiplap for the north side and gable ends. Under the covered parts of the house, we plan to use wood planks with chinking separating the planks.

Here's what the individual boards looked like.

It took us two days to seal and stain both sides. It was a hot weekend, with temperatures in the high  90s. On Saturday, about mid-day, we ran out of sealer and went to Prescott to get some more. When we got there, Gerald couldn't move his thumb and his arm started to tingle. So we got him some Gatorade and that helped. He was more careful to stay hydrated after that. We began work Sunday around 6 a.m. to beat the heat. I left for church about 10, and Gerald finished up. He didn't get done until about noon.

On Saturday, I got up to go for a hike as I do every morning at the land, and decided to check out the mica mine. The sun was just cresting the ridgeline, giving the rockface a golden glow. It was beautiful in a terrible sort of way. 

But the view from the mine was lovely.