Encounters with Nature

 Arizona is decidedly different than Wisconsin.

Our home is in the Sonoran Desert--literally.  During the past week, we've had encounters with scorpions, packrats and javelinas.  

First, I'll show the "cute" picture of the pack of javelinas that blocked our path during our morning stroll through the nature preserve.  

These javelinas were the second encounter that we had this morning.  They very lazily walked across our path and into the brush.   Didn't really give us even a glance.

Our first encounter about twenty minutes earlier was less fun.  There were two javelinas off the trail about 10 yards.  A male javelina left the female and joined us on the concrete path, staring at us from less than ten yards.  Okay, no problem.  We'll just back away.  Nope, he started trotting towards us.  Apparently they can run over 35 mph if inclined.   We decided to go off trail and circle around both animals.  As soon as we turned our backs, the male began to run faster at us.  I  turned around and started yelling loudly and waving my arm.  The other arm was attached to Callie, and javelinas don't like dogs.  Fortunately, the javelina was puzzled by my behavior and stopped following us.  No pics of that guy; I was a little busy. 

We discovered the packrats when I went to open the built-in gas grill on the back patio.  The packrat was just as surprised as me, given that no one had been living in our house for six months.  That resulted in another trip to Home Depot where I bought a couple of rat traps that were much, much bigger than the mouse traps that I'm used to.  The first night brought success.  The second night--not so much.  This will likely be an ongoing battle.  We covered up the grill openings as much as we could with heavy duty wire fencing, and aluminum plating, where possible.  

The final matter to be addressed was with the scorpions.  I bought a black light and have been venturing around the house after dark, discovering several of the little buggers each night.  Those that I found "went away."  I bought some spray that I will apply around the exterior foundation to discourage entry into our home.  

That's all the news from this corner of the Sonoran Desert.

First Monsoon Storm

 

Late afternoon yesterday, the clouds started to gather in the southwest.

 

 In the middle of the night, we heard thunder, saw flashes of lightning, and then it rained for about 30 minutes.  That wouldn't be any big deal in Wisconsin, but it felt pretty special here in the desert.  

On our morning walk, without breaking stride, Callie lapped from the occasional puddle of water.

 

Settling In

 We unloaded the U-Haul truck last Friday and have been busy unpacking and crossing off to-do lists. None of the major cell carriers have good service in our neighborhood, which is between two mountain ranges. 

The internet (fiber optic) was installed today, and that will make things much easier. Calls (WiFi calling) stopped getting dropped immediately, and I can write a blog post without timing out. 

We live in a beautiful area. I missed mountains so much.

Yeah, it’s hot, but early mornings are pleasant, and that’s my favorite time of day. 

Adventure in Moving

 

End of Day Two.  Currently in Amarillo, Texas.

Going, Gone

They were the perfect couple for our Scamp and ready to take it on their own adventures. 

We are relaxing on the spacious front porch of my brother-in-law’s cabin. It’s pleasantly cool with a view of  the lake. Scott expects to join us next week. 

Things are Fluid

As readers know, we are winding down our time in Wisconsin.  The latest news is that I will probably part ways with the Brew Hut on Saturday morning.  Looking at the state title, I've owned this Scamp for 8 years, and it's treated me well on many trips.  It has made it to eastern California, the Texas Gulf, the Outer Banks, and the Michigan's Upper Peninsula.   No complaints.  I bought it for 9k and will be selling it to a couple from western Wisconsin for 6k.  They are excited to be the next owners, having missed out on three previous attempts to buy a Scamp.

We thought hard about towing the Scamp to Arizona.  I'm going to have to make a separate trip for the truck anyway.  In the end, the long tow and the cost of storing the Scamp in Arizona made that idea less attractive.  I'm not giving up camping/traveling.  We have a plan, and it involves a downsize.  More on that  later after getting settled in Arizona.

The timing could be better.  We had hoped to stay in the Scamp until our house closing, but the Scamp's buyers are still working and have a wedding planned for that next weekend. So...we will be moving up to Julia's brother's cabin in northern Wisconsin for a week before returning to Madison to complete the closing.  

One last beer at Tumbled Rock Brewery

One last free ferry ride (Wisconsin River)

One last sniff of real grass