Gadget’s Airstream Chronicles

Well, this morning was anything but remote. An early a.m. meeting at work….on my day off. Go figure!

Fortunately I was freed up by 9:30. What to do with the available time? How about a big round of laundry??? Yeah, things sure are exciting here around the Airstream lately!

Finally, at noon I was totally free to do something other than chores. With laundry finished, the truck re-organized, and a few things rearranged in the Airstream it was time to head out along another Arizona back road. Sadira popped up to ride along as well. A day of rest and photo ops!

We headed out to Tonto Rd. I’d already ridden along it once, but I wanted to look at a house I like out there once again. Too bad I missed the road completely and ended up in Skull Valley. Ah well, we caught the road on our return trip! While in Skull Valley we stopped to snap a few interesting photos, and that made missing Tonto Rd. the first time acceptable.

I must say, I had one big surprise in the parking lot of the Skull Valley market. As I rounded the building I found a “Moose Parking” sign. Here, in AZ? Moose parking? I’ve got to return and see who it belongs to and what the story is behind it.

Oh, if you didn’t know, I miss moose! Always loved watching them back in New Hampshire. There’s just something about them that’s interested me since the first time I saw one live and in person!

After watching for a moose or two for the appropriate amount of time we headed off back toward Tonto Rd. Driving through Skull Valley is interesting. Very desolate. Few homes, the dirt double track here and there, and little going on. I like it!

On our way back we did find Tonto Road, and we headed up and along the dirt road for the latest adventure. I can’t say the road is remote like the path to Sycamore Canyon I took the other week. But it was good enough for a guy who was too busy this morning to go anywhere fun early!

Along the way we ran across a herd of free range cattle. They were road side doing their thing (chewing, mooing, and generally standing around), so we pulled in for a few photos. Several watched me as close as I watched them. Ah, cows…..

The cow watching wrapped up quickly after a pickup blasted by us at 40 - 50 mph. Wow, cruising right along for a washboard road. Maybe as I adjust to the roads I’ll fly along them too……and then again, maybe not.

The truck did well once more along the back roads of Airzona. And with my new HAM antenna perched on the roof I was able to hit several local repeaters, even way out along a dirt road near Skull Valley. That makes me feel a lot better about exploring way off the beaten path. Glad I went to HRO yesterday. A new antenna, the odd bakery truck, and a stop into the Mac store. Totally worthwhile!

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 20th, 2008 at 6:37 pm and is filed under Arizona, Notes from Gadget, off road adventures.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.