Early afternoon on Monday, I took Preston for a walk to nearby Cataract Lake.
Friends Sue and Scott Svejcar have reservations to stay in Williams for four nights. They live in Green Valley --- south of Tucson. Tom and I met them for drinks
Sue was not feeling well. So after our adult beverages, Tom and I went to Rustic 66 Sushi & Grill. We both had their Tuna Poke Bowl and some hot sake.
Tuesday morning, I worked on the BBQ project. We called Kenmore and asked if the grill could run off a 30 pound propane tank. We were told that the grill was only rated for 5-20 pound tanks. So, off to True Value I went. I purchased a 20 pound propane tank and had it filled at Superior Propane.
Now was the time to see if the grill worked. And yes, the grill works! 😍😍😍
That afternoon, Preston and I went up Perkinsville Road to snatch a cache called Elk Meadow. This cache was on the other side of dry Coleman Lake.
Unfortunately, I was not able to quickly find the cache. Sue and Scott were waiting to hear from us about dinner plans. So, I had to abort the search and head back home. Preston liked the area and we will return another day.
That evening, we had dinner at El Comedor Cardenas. This Mexican Restaurant has excellent margaritas!
Wednesday, I took Sue and Scott to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Last year, our visit was to Grand Canyon Village, Hermit's Rest, and all of the sites from Bright Angel Lodge to Mather Point. This time, we drove to the east entrance via Cameron. Our primary stop was the Watchtower at Desert View.
The weather changed rapidly and we had some rain showers. But, There is no better time for photo opportunities.
We stopped at Lipan Point and Moran Point before heading back to Williams.
That evening, the four of us went to Grand Canyon Brewing Company for dinner. Sue and Scott are celebrating their ninth wedding anniversary tomorrow, September 24.
My longtime friends Connie and Ed Clancy just returned from a trip to Egypt. I hope one day to get there.
On Thursday, I realized that I broke my 32 ounce glass water container. I think that I put some ice cubes in the unit before the water. Too fragile.
On Friday, I had a hair appointment in Flagstaff. My truck has muddy tires from one of my geocaching adventures of Devil Dog Road. I decided to go to a car wash before heading home. I found a coupon for the car wash --- $20 value! So, the wash didn't cost me anything. Hooray!
On Saturday, Kelly Fogerlie rounded up pickleball players for 9:00 a.m. There were six of us: Kelly, Cole, Joanie, me, Jordana, and Sivert. It was so much fun!
My sister Carrie and her daughter Lauren posted some more photos of their visit to Bend. Below is a photo of Devon, Carrie, and Brent.
Lauren, Cody, and their two children extended their visit by a week as both Colter and Callie had bad colds.
Fall is in the air. The aspens are starting to change at the Snow Bowl Ski area.
On Sunday, I saw that CanyonDen had two more hidden caches. Both were up Perkinsville Road. I decided to go find them and get two more "First to Find" trophies. I took Preston with me. The first cache was "On This Hill."
The second found cache was "Running Up That Hill." This cache was .3 mile hike up a hill.
Tom and I have been meaning to sweep out the garage. We took an hour or so in the afternoon to do that very thing!
There was a full moon at night. It is the Harvest Moon --- a full moon closest to the Equinox.
On Monday, Tom and I went to Flagstaff. Tom had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Bills. We were not happy with the pressure in Tom's left eye. It was seriously WAY up! Dr. Bills referred Tom back to Dr. Felsted. We were fortunate to get an appointment the next day.
My new Motorola Android phone arrived from Amazon. I was anxious to use it, but I needed to transfer all the apps and information from my old Motorola Android phone. So, we left home around 11:30 a.m. and went to Just Wireless in Flagstaff. We then had lunch at In-and-Out Burger. This was Tom's first time to ever eat an In-and-Out Burger diner.
Tom's afternoon appointment with Dr. Felsted was a 2:40 p.m. The GREAT news was that Tom's eye pressure was back to normal (?!?!?!) Dr. Felsted was pleased but puzzled. He will monitor it again next week. On our way home, we picked up my new cellphone and my old cellphone from Just Wireless. The $50 charge was well worth it.
Wednesday, I went to the Highland Meadows Ladies lunch at the Red Raven Restaurant. It was a large group of ladies.
This was my first visit to Red Raven in a long time. I had the Wedge Salad with a skewer of grilled shrimp.
Jeff D'Arpa, one of my friends from Xanterra, posted a nice photo of the patriotic BNSF train and the patriotic Grand Canyon Railway train --- both in the same frame!
My friend Nora had a birthday on September 30. I sent an email wishes her the best and she returned the birthday wishes with a photo of her and her husband Paul in Sienna, Italy.
Friends Suzanne and Gary Preston from Williams are on an RV vacation trip. They shared with me a photo of the two of them at Zion.
On October 1st, Preston and I went back to Coleman Lake to find a cache that I didn't find several weeks ago. I ran out of time and I didn't read some of the earlier log posts. I was prepared and I found the cache named "Elk Meadow."
To reach this cache location, I parked closer --- by another entrance to the Coleman Lake area.
I also went to my own cache near Santa Fe dam. A geocache individual sent me a text. My cache container was allowing in water and I needed to check it out. The log sheet was a little damp, so I put it in a small zip-lock plastic bag. I also placed another seal at the top of the container. Preston enjoyed the fall season by the reservoir.
The recent rain brought some snow to Mt. Humphreys.
My sister Carrie and her husband Brent are enjoying the retirement life in Bend, Oregon. They are so happy that they moved there on a full-time basis.
CanyonDen recently placed two new geocaches south of Parks on Garland Prairie Road. In the afternoon, I took my truck and sought them out. I had not been to this area for a number of years. The first cache was "The Old Dead Tree."
The second cache was "Old Dirt Roads."
There was a neat old dirt road that I took to find this cache.
The sunsets this time of year are spectacular. I never get tired of them.
On Saturday, I took Preston to the Bill Williams Trailhead. A month or so ago, I placed an unpublished cache there. I wanted to check on it. One day, I need to submit it for review.
Several hours later, Tom joined me on a drive up Perkinsville Road. There is a road that goes to the "Elk Ridge" ski area. Since I have lived here in Williams, this ski area has never been open. The road is closed, but it seemed like a good place to leave a cache. I put a camouflaged bison tube at the base of a sign.
Mateo Rico turned two years old on October 3. Mateo is the middle child of Allie Rico who cuts Tom's hair and who does my pedicures.
Fall colors are in my neighborhood. I love this time of year!
The Safeway florist manager recommended new flowers for my home. It is called a Starburst Lily. Quite fragrant!
In the late morning, I went to town and stopped at Mountain Man Mercantile. There, I bought some new Merrill hiking boots.
Tom and I went to Parks to find a cache hidden by unicorn4cher. We found "A 'spin' in the woods" cache.
Monday, I was in Flagstaff. Before my appointment, I went to JustWireless. Many of my contacts were not transferred over to my new phone. They took the two phones and made some changes.
On Tuesday morning, Preston and I went to downtown Williams. We parked at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel. Nearby, there were some decorations for the Pumpkin Patch Train events. There was a haystack maze as well.
On Route 66, our Williams businessman and friend, Buck Williams, invited me and Preston in for a doggy treat.
In the afternoon, Tom and I drove to Flagstaff for his appointment with Dr. David Felsted at Barnet-Delaney-Perkins Eye Center. Tom's pressure in his left eye is WAY TOO HIGH. Somehow, his most recent procedure is not working. Dr. Felsted referred Tom to surgeon Dr. Christine Funke as an emergency. This will require another trip to Mesa.
Tom's surgery procedure was scheduled for Thursday, October 8. The procedure time is 9:30 a.m. This will require a one night stay in Mesa. So, Preston will need to be boarded at Grand Canyon Railway Kennel for two nights. I dropped him off Wednesday afternoon.
The drive to Mesa was uneventful. We arrived at the hotel around 6:30 p.m. In walking distance from the hotel was P.F. Chang's. We had a great dinner there.
Tom was out of the Surgery Center before noon. We got back to Williams by 5:00 p.m. I called Grand Canyon Brewing Company and ordered a cauliflower pizza. It was ready for pick-up in twenty minutes.
Dr. Funke put a shunt in Tom's left eye to provide eye pressure release. The next day, Tom had a follow-up appointment for his eye surgery. Dr. Matthew Bills --- in Flagstaff --- will be monitoring Tom's healing situation until his four-week follow-up with Dr. Funke in Sun City.
I have rejoined a program called Committed Coaches. My eating habits have deteriorated over the past six months. I have gained ten pounds of unnecessary weight and I have not been able to deal with it on my own. So, I have a coach named Katie Williams. She is helping me create better meal planning. My first call with Katie was earlier in the month. She lives in Georgia and has a husband and two children.
Tom's youngest son, Jon, has been vacationing in Wyoming and Montana. As he is heading back to Casa Grande, Jon stopped by Williams to spend several nights.
Tom and I really enjoyed his visit. We also put him to work --- making sure our snow blower works.
Another task for Jon --- tying the sagging fence to the Ponderosa Pine tree.
Monday night, I saw that Geocache CanyonDen hid a new cache in the woods near our home. I decided to get up early Tuesday morning and find the cache. I was successful --- logging another "First to Find."
The only casualty was the muddy ground. My boots were caked with mud!
Wednesday morning, Jerry, from Flagstaff's Appliance Service Today, came to our home. Our oven has not been heating up for five days. Something like this happened in May.
Sure enough, it was another faulty igniter. Fortunately, Jerry was able to replace it. And, as it was under warranty, there was no charge. Yeah!
At noon, six of us played pickleball for several hours. This will be Kelly and Sivert's final play of the year here in Williams.
The other two players were Jeana Stevenson and Greg Matthews. Jeana was camera shy.
This was only the second time this year that I was able to play pickleball with Jon.
That evening, Jon, Tom, and I went to Rod's Steakhouse for dinner. Tom and I shared a very rare prime rib. Jon had a chicken and mushroom pasta dish. Jon was leaving later for Casa Grande. He wanted to beat any possible Phoenix traffic.
Thursday, Tom and I drove to Flagstaff. I picked up my newly upholstered dining room chair from Steve at Flagstaff Upholstery.
We also had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Bills.
The San Francisco Peaks are in their glory: a dusting of snow and fall foliage.
