Monday, June 17 to Sunday, June 30, 2024: Alaska Bound, Geocaching, Appointments in Flagstaff,

Donna and David and their dog Doug are on their way to Alaska. They started the trek on the Alaska Highway in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada.

On Monday, I took the truck on the other side of Signal Hill. I was determined to find the "Travel to Signal Hill" cache. Last autumn, the forest was cleared of a number of Ponderosa pine trees. Since big trucks are required to haul the lumber out of the forest, the road to Signal Hill was good. I parked the truck at Forest Road 130 and walked one-half mile up to the cache location.

Near the top of Signal Hill was a hut with connecting telephone wires.

It was nice having a dirt road to walk on. Yesterday's failure to find the Signal Hill cache was walking through the forest. I found the cache container. Yes! It was hidden in a pile of rocks.

The cache container was a ammunition box. Inside the box was a trackable "Arizona Saguaro Travel Bug."

I took this trackable and I left a trackable "Cache Crate Adventures Tag US Traveler."

The views from Signal Hill were wonderful! There was Bill Williams Mountain.

And, there was Mt Humphreys in the distance.

On this very day, I received an email that Azamara was cancelling the cruise from Athens to Dubai in November. Barbara Coad and I were hoping that this would happen. Azamara cancelled the cruise because of all the unrest between Israel and Palestine. They were looking out for the safety of the passengers. So, we get 100% of our deposit back.

My brother Peter and his wife Terry celebrated 42 years of marriage on June 19. Peter texted me this cute photo of the two of them in 1982.

The Highland Meadows Ladies had lunch at the Grand Canyon Brewery. Afterwards, I drove Jamie to Flagstaff for his weekly physical therapy session at Canyon Pet Hospital.

Tom's son, Jon, is back in Williams. He drove up from Casa Grande on Wednesday, Juneteenth. Thursday morning, Jon and I went to the pickleball courts and drilled. Jon also brought his new ball machine. It is a lot smaller in size than his old ball machine. It also weighs less. The nice feature is the machine is tied to an app on Jon's phone.

Later, I drove back to Flagstaff to get a massage from Mike Hippard. Mike has magic fingers for my body!

My Italian son Francesco has a first cousin named Gulia. I have known her for many years. Her mother is the sister of Francesco's mother. Gulia is engaged to be married. Her fiance is named Francesco.

Saturday morning was a full moon. It is called the Strawberry Moon.

This time of  year is our Monsoon season. Early Saturday afternoon, I went to an area off of Highway 64 to look for several caches. The first cache I found was The Tree Cabin. The cache was hidden under some rocks.

Across from this hidden cache was an old abandoned cabin.

 

Down a dirt road from this cabin was another cache. It was the "You've Got Mail" cache.

I left a geocaching bottle cap "Size Matters." It started to rain as I walked back to my truck.

Tom and I went geocaching Sunday morning. We drove to Devil Dog Road. There is a reservoir off of this road that had a cache named "Devil Dog Dam."

 

 

I saw that there was another cache about 1 1/2 miles away. So, off we went. The cache we found was called "The Arch." It was a large container with the Gumby Pokey horse inside.

 

 

The arch was not what I expected. Instead of being a natural arch, it was an arch made for the Supai Tank where cattle graze and drink. Unfortunately, as I was putting back the cache container, my cell phone hit a large rock and the screen shattered. Darn!

When we returned to our house, I walked to Cataract Lake. The clouds were getting dark.Just after 5:00 p.m., the Monsoon weather arrived. Rain, thunder, and lightning.

Monday, I went walking in the neighborhood. When I returned, Kelsey and Jamie were waiting for me at the door.. 

 

Monday night, our neighbor Emiko Johnston died. She had multiple sclerosis and cancer, but it was a blood clot that killed her. She suffocated with blood throughout her lungs. Emiko was a beautiful woman with a charming smile. She was only 51 years old.

Tuesday morning, we had a nice group of pickleball players.

Jamie was supposed to have physical therapy in the afternoon. However, I was called by Canyon Pet Hospital. The water treadmill is not working --- so we cancelled the appointment.

On Wednesday, Kelsey and Jamie had a 10:30 a.m. appointment at Williams Veterinary Wellness for their monthly librella shot. De Ann is on the right. The technician who administered the shots, Krystol, is on the left.

That afternoon, there were lovely clouds over Bill Williams Mountain.

Donna and David made it to Alaska. They posted this video on Instagram.

That afternoon, Brandon --- from Atomic Pest Control --- came to spray inside and outside the house. 

He also set two poison traps to kill mice. The mice think that the bait is a delicious buffet. So, they eat the blue powder and proceed to die.

This one trap is on the side of the garage. A rock was placed on top of the container to prevent it from blowing away.

 

On Friday, Tom installed a new water filter under the kitchen sink.

Saturday afternoon, seven of us went to the Manley Racquet Courts to do some drilling. I took a photo of the six other players --- plus Tom.

At 3:00 p.m., Tom and I conducted a lesson for three individuals who have never played pickleball. The three beginners are Steve Berger, his wife Karen, and Lush stylist, Gina.

My sister Carrie texted me. She wanted to know if I had the address of a home in Maine where we spent a month in August, 1965. I looked in Richard's blog for the home on the shores of Lake Sebago. I found the date of the post and then went to my back-up photos. I found the home and a picture!

Carrie is not in Maine, but she wanted the address for follow-up if and when she travels there. Carrie's husband, Brent, retired last week. Carrie and Brent are now full-time Bend, Oregon, residents.