Two weekends after Sonoma I wore my very first official NFL jersey, Ravens number 27 (the one and only fellow Rutgers grad, Ray Rice), while I yelled, cheered, and occasionally pouted my way through the Superbowl. Yeah it was pricey, but the cost was well worth the Raven's victory!!
As of late, our lovely desert state has been a bit wet and chilly, so unfortunately our shed progress has been a bit lacking. This cold weather has also left us crossing our fingers in vein for the well being of our plants which have taken quite a beating during the recent freezes. A few cactus have bit the bucket and one of our backyard trees is far from looking its finest.
With Jackson buckled in and comfortably settled we started our trip north to Peeples valley. Silly me, upon hearing it for the first time I thought "Peoples", and it wasn't until I took a closer look at my photos that I realized it was quite the Hippie altruism I had been expecting. We passed through Wickenberg managing not to stop for another Tiki, and continued along past Congress before we started switch-backing up the mountainside. Now I've seen many a documentary that includes the vile nature of feed lots, but its not often that you see one in person. The feed lot, seen to the left, is far from the road, but its still quite a sight. I think it looked worse the first time I saw it, under full sun, coming down the mountain last spring, because it doesn't look quite so offensive on the way up. I'll admit, I find them quite disgusting, and it makes me think for a moment if eating beef is really worth it... but its only a moment because I know I'm a happy little carnivore.
Eventually we made it to Peeples valley and and turned off the paved road to begin a short off road adventure. It didn't take too long before we crested a few hills past the tiny town to find spacious lots and open land. Yet, despite its rugged beauty, the farther we traveled from the paved road the more I started realizing I just might have more standards for this property than I'd expected. Not that I got a bad feeling from the area, but it just didn't feel right. I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted from this eventual retreat of ours, but I knew I likely wasn't going to find it where we were.
Back on the main road we decided to continue on to Prescott for some lunch. Having recently learned of a new nano-brewery in town we made our way to Granite Mountain Brewing. I enjoyed a beer cocktail, a Shandy, made with their blond ale and some sort of locally created sweet-lemony reduction/simple syrup, while Jonathan tried their darker brews. Their small bites menu contained many items and/or accouterments made from either the beer itself, such as a unique mustard for pretzel dipping, or the beer cheese sauce on the nachos, or from the spent grains from the brewing process which were used to make the bread for my sandwich. Tasty brews and tasty bites had us wishing we could continue to support them more frequently, and may have aided in my quest to keep our eventual land purchase semi near a town with a little life and culture.
Before we headed back to the valley we walked Jackson about, but only for a limited time seeing that the snow falling all around him was making him prance a bit. He couldn't seem to figure out why cold little rocks (corn snow) were falling on and around him, and didn't much care for the chill in the air. As we got closer to Central Phoenix the clouds dissipated, leaving us with a partly cloudy, mostly sunny late afternoon. Not quite the eureka trip Jonathan may have been hoping for, but another good weekend none the less.
Eventually we made it to Peeples valley and and turned off the paved road to begin a short off road adventure. It didn't take too long before we crested a few hills past the tiny town to find spacious lots and open land. Yet, despite its rugged beauty, the farther we traveled from the paved road the more I started realizing I just might have more standards for this property than I'd expected. Not that I got a bad feeling from the area, but it just didn't feel right. I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted from this eventual retreat of ours, but I knew I likely wasn't going to find it where we were.
Before we headed back to the valley we walked Jackson about, but only for a limited time seeing that the snow falling all around him was making him prance a bit. He couldn't seem to figure out why cold little rocks (corn snow) were falling on and around him, and didn't much care for the chill in the air. As we got closer to Central Phoenix the clouds dissipated, leaving us with a partly cloudy, mostly sunny late afternoon. Not quite the eureka trip Jonathan may have been hoping for, but another good weekend none the less.
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