Wednesday was a trip back to Flagstaff. I had an appointment with an Audiologist, Kerry Beasley. It has been over three years since I have had my hearing checked. Kerry was very thorough. She relocated to Flagstaff several years ago. Her husband is going to flight school in Prescott at Embry-Riddle.
Wednesday night, I went to an exercise class at my new gym. Lucas is the instructor. He has been affiliated with this gym for eight years.
Thursday, I had an appointment to give blood. The mobile unit was parked in the Safeway parking lot. I was successful in giving blood, but it took 16 minutes to fill the bag. I guess this was a slow draw.
Mark Burson, his daughter Kelly, and their three Australian Shepherds were making the trek from Malibu to their home in Oxford, Mississippi. Mark left LA at around 8:00 pm Thursday night and arrived at our Williams home by 3:00 am. They slept in their truck until 6:00 am, when I woke up to walk my dogs.
Kelly was ready to take a nap in our spare bedroom. Mark enjoyed some flavored hot coffee and shot the breeze with Tom and Jon. Mark told some interesting stories of his seven years as the executive director of the Reagan Library in the 1990s. The dogs enjoyed the back yard and me giving them treats.
I had an appointment to go to the American Legion in Williams to hear from a woman who is running for U.S. Congress. Wendy Rogers is a Trump supporter and a conservative who is trying to win the primary and then topple the Democratic incumbent for the 1st District.
Before Mark and Kelly headed out to visit the Grand Canyon (Kelly has never been!), I was able to capture a photo.
Then, they were heading east, probably spending the night in Albuquerque.
At the Wendy Roger's meeting, I volunteered to deliver an Arizona Sun News reprint and a campaign piece to registered Republicans who have voted in prior primary elections. Another fellow, George Moreno, also volunteered. Between us, there were a little over 400 people on the list. So, we split the list in half.
Tom and Jon helped me deliver some of these publications on Saturday, on our way to hike Red Mountain. One thing I did not consider. Many residents of Williams live outside the city limits, in rural areas. This made the delivery project more complicated.
I had not hiked Red Mountain in over ten years. It was Tom's third time and Jon's first time. It is only a three mile round-trip hike --- into a volcanic cinder cone.
Although the weather was going to be in the low 90's, the cloud cover was good to us. We spent about an hour exploring.
The entrance and exit to the cinder cone is a wooden staircase.
On Sunday, we played pickleball. The monsoon season is here, so afternoon showers are the norm.
Buffalo Fence had a cancellation on Monday and wanted to know if I would like to take this spot --- instead of waiting until September 20. I said yes! There are five posts that need to be replaced. The two workmen arrived promptly at 8:00 am.
I left at about 10:00 am to go to my dental appointment with Dr. Stark in Flagstaff. Tom and Jon stayed at home until they finished at around 1:00 pm. Thank you, Tom and Jon!
On Tuesday, the Highland Meadows ladies went to an early lunch at the Canyonlands Restaurant in Bearizona. Linda Czech and I have season passes, so we split up in two different cars. It was a nice group of nine of us.
After lunch, we went to see the new bear cubs. There were four of them --- all rescued when two separate mother bears died. Bear cubs innately know how to climb trees!
Wednesday was set aside to deliver more of the Wendy Rogers campaign materials. Tom was a trooper. He drove. We delivered 26 in town, but the rest of my list were in remote areas.
We had been instructed to leave the information under door mats. But, this was not realistic in remote, rural areas with long driveways and/or fenced property.
Jon has been looking for several years to buy some property in the west. He has looked in Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, and now Arizona. He likes his privacy and wants some acreage. Tom and Jon spent several afternoons looking at property in Northern Arizona. Jon has also researched properties via the internet. Some of the properties are in Ash Fork, Williams, Valle, and Flagstaff. Most of the properties are unimproved land with ten acres or more.
Earlier Wednesday, when Tom and I were delivering primary campaign literature for Wendy Rogers, we saw an interesting home and location on Tangerine Street. I called the "for sale by owner" phone number and spoke to Carol. She said that the home was 576 square feet, two years old with one bedroom and one bath, and that it has over an acre of land. Her asking price was $110,000.
I told Tom that we need to show this to Jon. The views from this home were spectacular! And, it seemed to be a very private location.
Later that afternoon, Jon, Tom, and I met realtor and broker, Bill Miller. Bill runs the Williams Realty Office where neighbor Connie Leadabrand used to work. Connie recommended Bill. Bill showed us some property acreage north of Williams, south of Valle.
In March, we had been out to this area. It was 90 minutes away from my Williams home. Jon told Bill that it was just too remote for his taste. So, we looked at some other acreage closer to town.
On Thursday, I had a 90 minute facial with Sue Kelly at her Flagstaff home. My truck seems to still have an oil leak. I called James at JJs Automotive and he said to drop off the truck in the morning. On Friday, Jon joined us in delivering more primary campaign literature. We also looked at some other acreage and properties recommended by realtor Bill Miller.
At about 2:00 pm, I asked Tom if Jon had seen the home on Tangerine. No, he had not. We were close to the property, so I called Carol to make an appointment. Thirty minutes later, we were at 1837 E. Tangerine Street. The property was so impressive! Neil Watt, Carol's husband, was a contractor and personally built the home.
The view from the property was south, with Bill Williams Mountain in the distance.
Jon was very interested in the property. Like Tom and me, he could see the potential. It had two other buildings, an utility shed and a one-room storage facility with windows and a wood burning stove.
After the visit, we headed home --- only 15 minutes from my place! Jon decided to call Carol and Neil back that night --- wanting to make a full-price offer. Very exciting!
The next morning, Jon had a 10:00 a.m. appointment at the home. Of course, Tom and I went too. Jon had a list of questions and brought a check for his good faith deposit. It was going to be an all cash offer. Jon asked me to take photos of the home while Jon and Tom chatted with Carol and Neil. I also called James at JJs Automotive. My truck has no new oil leaks. It is just residual from the big leak. He suggested that I take it to the local drive-thru car wash that has an underbelly washing system.
Mr. and Mrs. Watt have a travel trailer in Snowflake, Arizona, that they are going to use and downsize their life. They decided to leave most of the furniture in the home. Lucky Jon! Neil and Jon were going to go to the Title Company on Monday to open escrow.
Saturday afternon, I picked up my truck and Tom drove it through the wash station.
Pickleball was on for Sunday afternoon. This would be the last play for Jon --- as he was heading off to Idaho Monday afternoon. Several of his Tennessee friends were flying into Boise and they were going to do some hiking and camping together for a week.
Monday afternoon, Jon headed out and Tom helped clean up around the house --- washing off the porches and getting rid of cob webs.
Tuesday morning, I left early for Los Angeles. I was going to a reunion of sorts --- Barbara and I were meeting friends Gilly and John Foy in Culver City. We met the Foys on our November 2016, Princess Cruise from Los Angeles to Hawaii and back. It was a beautiful morning to begin the drive.
With no stops, the trip to downtown Los Angeles is only 6 1/2 hours. But, I stopped twice to top off my gas tank and one separate restroom visit at a rest stop. I arrived at the Jonathan Club around 1:00 pm. And, my room was ready! I didn't really take a nap, but I did rest up for the evening. Barbara volunteered to pick me up in front of the Jonathan Club.
Our reservation at the Meet in Paris Restaurant was 6:30 p.m. Barbara and I parked in a Trader Joe's covered parking lot and walked to the restaurant. Gilly and John greeted us. They drove in from San Pedro, where they keep their sail boat for the summer. In the winter, they have a condominium at a coastal village in Mexico.
It was a fun dinner visit. Gilly, John, and I had their Tuesday night special --- all the mussels you can eat for $29.99. I normally pass on this kind of offer, but it was only $3.00 more than just a mussel meal. Barbara had seafood linguini.
The next morning, I headed back to Williams. But, not directly. I had a list of a few things I wanted to purchase at Costco. So, I went back via Prescott. It added an hour to the commute, but mileage wise, it was only 20 miles further. While at Costco, I filled my truck with inexpensive diesel --- $2.89 per gallon --- and bought baseball thick portions of filet mignon.
When I got home to Williams, I showed Tom a rash I had on my stomach for several days. It was really itching, so I went to the North Country Health Center walk-in clinic. I was there for less than 90 minutes. I met with Dr. Tom Myers. He did not know what caused the hives rash, but prescribed some predisone to give me relief from the itching.
This evening, Tom and I had two of the filet mignons and a nice bottle of Justin Isosceles. It was our 14-month anniversary of being a couple!
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