Ghost Town Memories -- Oct 14, 2015

Being just outside Wickenburg, AZ, at my BLM boondocking site, brings back memories of my visit to Vulture City where the Vulture Mine is located.  The Vulture Mine was a gold and silver mine and settlement.  The mine began in 1863 and became the most productive gold mine in Arizona history. From 1863 to 1942, the mine produced 340,000 ounces of gold ($6,439,600 or an average of $81,514/year -- $395,896,000 / $5M per year at today's price!) and 260,000 ounces of silver. The mine attracted more than 5,000 people to the area, and is credited with founding the town of Wickenburg.

The Vulture Mine began when a prospector from California's gold rush, Henry Wickenburg discovered a quartz deposit containing gold and began mining the outcrop himself. In 1863, after Henry Wickenburg discovered the Vulture Mine, Vulture City, a small mining town, was established in the area.  After the mine closed in 1942, the city was abandoned and became a "ghost town".  Vulture Mine was shut down by a regulatory agency for processing gold. This was a violation at the time because all resources were to be focused on the war effort. The mine appealed the shut-down order and reopened, but with less vigor. A few years later, the mine closed permanently.  It is said there are still gold veins running throughout the property.  

When I visited the mine for an "artistic" photo shoot, it was privately owned. I've just learned that a Canadian group bought the mine and had hired 100 people to renovate and rejuvenate Vulture City and it did reopen to tourists for a short while. However, due to a lack of funds and/or other problematic situations, they have not moved forward and it has closed yet again. I'm glad I got these photos when I did!  Interestingly, the mine was featured on Ghost Adventures on the Travel Channel .You can watch a recap video here!  Travel Channel: Ghost Adventures: Vulture Mine Video Recap 

I won't comment much on these photos...there are a lot...they are fairly self-explanatory.... what was left of Vulture City when I was there a few years or so ago.  It was, in my opinion, a rather dangerous trek around the property with rotten floor boards, falling roofs, and building and mining debris all over the ground, but it was a fun and interesting walkabout, nonetheless. Back when I took these photos, I wasn't planning on giving a "tour"....but I hope you will get a good take on the property and its history. And if you like rust and old stuff like I do, you would love this place!  Let's prospect for some gold....if the ghosts haven't hoarded it all somewhere!

First, some outbuildings....

This is the old Assay Office.  

Seeing current photos online, unfortunately the corner at the forefront of the
 photo has now totally crumbled

Mining families raised their children in Vulture City...this is the schoolhouse....

Several vehicles were abandoned when the mine closed...

Let's move indoors to some of the living and public quarters....

Even clothing was left behind....

I particularly liked seeing the cooking/kitchen items....

This was the forging area and "laboratory"....

Still explorable, was the "factory"...

I know I showed you a lot of photos here and I hope you enjoyed them, but please take another four minutes and watch this wonderful video about Vulture City/Mine...it shows some areas that I could not access at the time......if nothing else, the music is great! 

Vulture Mine Video

Thank you for exploring Vulture City with me!  I hope the current owners can get back on track with their plans to revitalize this property.  It is a piece of very significant Arizona history!

Have a great rest of the week!  So long for now....

(Sorry about the weird black/white lettering format....can't get rid of it for some reason!)

On The Road Again! -- Oct 9. 2015

Hello from the desert!  Nikko and I wrapped up our "friend-help" visit in Scottsdale, AZ yesterday morning.  My friend's parents are adjusting to their new environment and it seems they are settling in well.  That was the objective!  There is still some organizing left to do outside the main living areas, but I feel I left them content in their new home.  

One errand trip around Scottsdale included stopping at a shop that restores the mechanics of vintage vehicles.  We saw some very cool old cars, including a couple Rolls Royces...

This is a Golden Hawk Studebaker - 1957-1958.  The one at the shop was under a car cover, but we could see one side of it.  In its entirety, it looks just like this one.  The owner put $100,000 into this car!

One last photo from Scottsdale....it's the end of the the monsoon season, so there was a little rain here and there.  One rain/sun combo resulted in a beautiful rainbow...

Now to the current events.  Yesterday morning we left Scottsdale and headed to the Box Wash BLM land a few miles south of Wickenburg, AZ. You may recall we drove through Wickenburg this past spring when we were headed north from Yuma.  It was only about 70 miles (NW) from Scottsdale, but took awhile because I had to drive straight across Phoenix on normal streets... stop/start... stop/start...

We found the boondocking area with no problem....headed down the dirt/sand road....saw a couple of campers and thought, "let's just drive a little further and see if there are other sites..."  BIG MISTAKE!!!!  The RV's passenger side rear tire got caught up in deep sand.  UGH.  There was no going forward or backward.  We were STUCK!  Not good!  

I walked over to the other campers and they didn't have a tow chain....but that probably wouldn't have worked anyway.  So, I called my RV roadside assistance company - Coach-Net - and after assessing the situation from my description of the dilemma, they sent a BIG tow truck up from Phoenix.  Nikko and I visited with the other campers for the 1.5 hours it took for the tow truck to arrive.  

The tow truck arrived within the ETA and Cliff, the driver, looked over the situation.  He was quite concerned as it was a precarious situation.  But, after an intense analyzation, he decided it was a "go" with his truck vs. a 4WD off-road type tow truck.  With hesitation I signed the waiver that said they would not be responsible for any damage done to the RV.  Didn't have much choice in the matter.  We took the totes off the back cargo rack and he started working under the RV with the chains and large pieces of wood.

After very slowly inching the winch, we got back up to level land with less sand and the ability to drive normally,  YAY!  SAVED! NO DAMAGE!  Cliff was an expert tow-guy!  He worked with precision every moment of the ordeal.  After a little chit-chat, with Cliff and the other campers, Glenn (aka "Buck") and Mark helped me strap the totes back on the cargo rack and showed me some parking spots in their area, but distant enough from them that I have a lot of privacy.  And off we went to our current boondocking site!  By this time, it was about 5:30pm and Nikko and I were exhausted.  We hardly took note of our spot....we just ate something and konked out early.  It cooled off nicely with a soothing breeze after a day in the 90's. Great for sleeping out in the "wild"!

Up this morning at sunrise to check out our surroundings....there's a very pleasant breeze today!

There's not a lot of "scenery" here, but it is quiet and I do have low-height trees on the other side (door/awning side) of the RV, which is nice.  A lot of this area has no trees at all, so this is a  nice spot!  In the distance, there is an interesting rock formation that I can see when sitting under the awning.

In the opposite direction there are some distant mountains....

Perhaps the best "view" is the brand new Verizon cell tower that was just recently installed!  This couples very well with the new, unadvertised UNLIMITED, limited-time-only, data plan I scooped up!

Someone left a little "housewarming" angel for future campers at our site....apparently she was looking the other way when I got stuck in the sand!  LOL!

We will stay here until I can see that the temps are lowering a bit towards the Yuma winter area.  It's low 90's here, but still high 90's-100* down there.  Should start leveling off soon, tho'.  I'm expecting a couple of online RV friends to come by here over the weekend on their way to Tucson.  That will be fun!

As always, I so much appreciate the Amazon orders you all have placed via my link.  It really helps me keep the blog going!  (I just noticed I still had the "Father's Day" link at the top!  ACK!  It's gone now!)    

                                             Shop Amazon for Deals of the Day!

From Nikko and I, enjoy a great autumn weekend, wherever you are!

Still At It! -- Oct 1, 2015

Hello! Can you believe it's October 1st already?? Time sure flies!

Well, we're still in Scottsdale, AZ helping my friend get his place together for his elderly parents to move in --- last night was their first night in their new digs!  Not everything got finished as I might have liked, but it was a daunting endeavor to get to the point we are today, so I'm pretty satisfied with what has gotten done in two weeks.  I'm sure they will be comfortable here.  There's no reason why they wouldn't be, but change is change and everyone will be adjusting for a little while.  

I've mention this before, but it is worth mentioning again.........if you plan to RV and live "for free" -- not going to RV parks -- check in with friends and family in other areas of the country to see if they need help with a project or two.  It's a win-win situation for everyone!  

I'm not sure what our exact plan is when we leave Scottsdale - maybe in about a week -- but it is still plenty warm towards Yuma, our winter spot.  We may motor back up to Payson for a bit....it is autumn-type weather up there.  It's been 102-108* here the past several days, a bit of a **hot** spell! I don't know....we'll see.  That's the flexibility you have when you full time RV!  

I took some photos of the drive down from Payson to Scottsdale, but didn't have room for them in the last post, so I'll show them to you now.  The migration from forest to more desert-like conditions only takes about an hour.  It's all about the elevation change.

 After the pine trees stop, you start to see the reddish rocks...

Then, my favorite cactus - the saguaros - start popping up everywhere...

The mountains you see are the McDowell Mountains, made up of some of the oldest rocks in existence.  At this point, we are just about to Fountain Hills, AZ, which lies on the eastern slope of the mountains.  Fountain Hills is about 500' above Scottsdale.  The McDowell Mountains make a natural division between Fountain Hills and Scottsdale/Phoenix metro.

At the point where the outer most limits of Fountains Hills begins, the large hilltop homes start to appear.   Many are adobe-style like this one.  It would be pretty cool to live up there, I think!

Now you can see the city of Fountain Hills...nestled in at the foot of the mountains.  

It's a pretty drive from Payson to Scottsdale....then it becomes less serene and more hustle-bustle as you get into the city.

As I'm sure you know - no matter where you live in the world, the Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse was the other night.  I am right in town, so no beautiful mountain shots of the eclipse....and I was walking Nikko, so no tripod....but I did manage to get a couple of shots.  Not the best for such a spectacular event, but it was the best I could do under the circumstances!

That's about all from here for now.  We'll see what tomorrow brings!  

Our current, quiet hang out!

As always, THANK YOU for shopping my Amazon Link!

I used to enjoy decorating my sticks & bricks house according to the seasons and I always looked forward to fall.

Amazon has a lot of reds and oranges!

Autumn Decorations

Until next time.....Happy Trails!