A big to-do moved to "done!" today!

One of the tasks that has been on our to-do list was to sort and inventory everything in the shed which is located on the Venture Out lot. We decided that Saturday was going to be a good day to get that accomplished!

I forgot to take a picture of the inside of the shed before we started, but this is a picture after we had taken almost everything out of the shed. There were already 3 sets of shelves in the shed, in addition to a cabinet and a couple of shelves on one wall. Carl had gotten one additional set of shelves that he had put together on Friday in preparation for our sort and inventory day on Saturday.

After we got everything out, we numbered all the shelving units and shelves and Carl started bringing items back in. I had my laptop in the shed and inventoried everything as he brought it in, recording where it was stored in the shed. We tried to put "like" things together, and plan that things we need more frequent access to (e.g. weed killer to take care of weeds in the rocks/yard) was in an accessible spot (we already had weed killer in the shed, but could not find it and so had purchased some more when we were here in December).

This is a view into the finished shed. The bikes are only in the shed when we're here on the lot (they travel with us). The large green container has some items that need to be sorted through -- in fact, there are a number of containers that still need to be sorted through, but we got everything back into the shed and it is a LOT more organized.

The shelves to the right are attached to the wall with a cabinet underneath. The previous owner of the lot evidently had a washer and drying in the shed at some point, but we think it probably was not recent because it does not appear that power works in the shed.

We still have a few containers that are empty on shelves, in addition to some shelves that have available space. It is nice to not have it completely full. We also made some notes on the inventory about things that we would like to work on if we have time and energy... but at least some of the tasks could be accomplished in another year if needed.

We are really glad to have this task on our to-do list moved to the "done" category!

A couple of interesting things seen on Tuesday

On Tuesday, when we met Nancy and Wayne at Lou Malnati's, there were a couple of things that we found interesting...

Just across the street from the strip mall where Lou's was located -- a bank indicating it is still open during construction... not all that odd, but...

... this is a picture showing the whole building... I would have thought that was a new building being built -- but I think it must have been reconstruction on a building that has been there for a while.

I decided to do a little research - it seems that the building is being changed from an office building (which it has been for 30 years) to luxury apartments: https://cem-az.com/stellar-residential-hosts-glass-raising-event-at-iconic-one-camelback-building-in-uptown-phoenix/

As we were heading east on Camelback (which the Garmin pronounced as ca-MEL-back), we saw a Chevrolet dealership that has an old (or throwback) sign:

Can you see it coming up on the right?

It seems that this arrow has been pointing the way to the Chevy dealership since the 50s (https://greenlivingmag.com/courtesy-chevrolet-since-1955/)

We enjoy noticing "interesting" things while we are out-and-about!

Hiking in Tonto National Forest

It was chilly and windy this morning (Thursday), so we wimped out on water aerobics, but Carl suggested that we go for a hike instead. He did not find exactly the trail that he was wanting to take, but we enjoyed what we found instead!

We stopped at Bulldog Canyon...

There was part of the Maricopa Trail accessible from here...

... part of a large trail system in this area.

But we decided to ask another couple of hikers who had just come back into the parking area for their recommendation, and they recommended a trail up EJ Peak (I've also found it listed as Lone Mountain, I think)...

"We're going up there?"

"Are you sure?!?!?" (It doesn't look all that high, does it?)

There were some beautiful ocotillos along the way, all leafed out.

Initially the path was pretty broad -- in fact, it started as OHV road, then down to a hiking and horseback riding trail (this part), and then it narrowed to a very narrow hiking trail.

The views were beautiful.

Another leafed-out ocotillo -- there were many along this trail.

The sky was so blue!

Does that look pretty vertical to you? It did to us too!

The Jeep is down there where the wash from the mountain on the other side comes to the road.

A view toward the west -- I think that mountain in the middle is known as Red Mountain.

It was a gorgeous day!

At the top

Taking pictures toward the east

East of the peak

Carl at the peak

I think this is looking south

Looking west

A marked up version of the previous picture -- the Jeep is where the arrow is pointing!

Beautiful views in all directions

I'm not sure what Carl was laughing about, but... we almost always have fun!

It may look barren, but there is a lot of vegetation around... not like the forests of other parts of the country, but, beautiful nonetheless.

This bench was at the top, with "EJ Peak 2787" on it... we think the elevation.

A few more pictures before heading down... northeast

Looking to the east.

I think this was almost a 180 degree panoramic picture

Red Mountain...

... and Red Mountain zoomed in.

I think this is toward Fountain Hills.

Though it did not take as much energy as the climb up, the trek down was actually more challenging -- the path had a lot of loose gravel and we had to be very careful not to slip.

Carl was wearing his new hiking boots. I had decided to go in my walking shoes as I didn't want my feet to get "broken in" by the boots! I think I would have had better traction with the boots, but my feet are happy that I didn't wear them... especially since we made it down safely anyway.

We stopped for Gyro Salads on our way home - yum!

A little too cool and windy to enjoy pool exercises, but about perfect for hiking!

Getting stuff done - new chase

When Mike installed the wiring from the roof to the solar controller, he covered the wires inside of Gracie, but the cover was not working well for us (it was hard to adjust when we needed to get to the wires) and we didn't like it being white. I didn't specifically get any "before" pictures, but these two were taken as the work was being done and show the white chase covering:

We decided we'd rather have a darker color, and hoped to run it in such a way that it would be easier to uncover if we needed to change the wiring...

Carl getting the new chase in place.

The brown looks a *lot* nicer!

It blends in well with the existing colors of the coach.

A relatively small task to get accomplished, but required getting the materials and getting it done! This was not a task that we had on our to-do list, but we added it and then checked it off to give us a feeling of accomplishment! Are we the only people who do that?

Lunch at Lou's

On Tuesday, we met friends Wayne and Nancy at Lou Malnati's for salad and pizza.

Oh wow!

In progress...

Yum!

Each couple ordered a large so we each took home about half... so we'll get to have pizza for leftovers in the next couple of days.

Wacky vehicles

The RV Travel online magazine that we get had an article with a video of wacky vehicles. I haven't been able to find the video in another source (like YouTube), so I'm including a link to the RV Travel magazine. I don't know for sure that you'll be able to access it... but if you do... don't miss the car carrying the longhorn, or the massive package haulers (probably from Asia)!

https://www.rvtravel.com/wackyvehicles987/ 

Happy Heavenly Birthday, Dwayne!

Two years ago today, Dwayne celebrated his 73rd birthday on earth and also started living in his eternal home in heaven. One of my friends recently wrote as she shared about her husband's death that I have lifted and customized: 

On February 14, 2019, Dwayne peacefully passed from the land of the dying to the land of the living...

What a blessing to know that even as we miss him being with us physically, that his life has not ended.

On today's service from our church in Irving, TX, the song "Christ our Hope in Life and Death" spoke to me:

Christ Our Hope In Life And Death

What is our hope in life and death?

Christ alone, Christ alone.

What is our only confidence?

That our souls to Him belong.

Who holds our days within His hand?

What comes, apart from His command?

And what will keep us to the end?

The love of Christ, in which we stand.

O sing hallelujah!

Our hope springs eternal;

O sing hallelujah!

Now and ever we confess

Christ our hope in life and death.

What truth can calm the troubled soul?

God is good, God is good.

Where is His grace and goodness known?

In our great Redeemer’s blood.

Who holds our faith when fears arise?

Who stands above the stormy trial?

Who sends the waves that bring us nigh

Unto the shore, the rock of Christ? 

Unto the grave, what shall we sing?

“Christ, He lives; Christ, He lives!”

And what reward will heaven bring?

Everlasting life with Him.

There we will rise to meet the Lord,

Then sin and death will be destroyed,

And we will feast in endless joy,

When Christ is ours forevermore.

 

Words and Music by Keith Getty, Matt Boswell, Jordan Kauflin, Matt Merker, Matt Papa

Listen on YouTube here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvwlwL1FUEg&feature=youtu.be&mc_cid=988419e59d&mc_eid=6dbb4cfd80 

Only in Christ do we have hope!