9:40PM
Hello again. I Hope you're all doing as well as possible under whatever conditions you exist within.
Had the alarm set for 6:15am (groan) so I could get over to Ozzy's place & get outta town at a decent hour. We left around 8:30am. The sky was mostly cloudy in the direction we were going & it was nice & cool outside. We got to Payson around 10:00am (+/- 20 min), stopped at Circle K for some snacks & things. Then to Safeway for some lunch items. Then....off to the Rim, where we roamed around for a few hours. It was in the mid 50's up there (low 60's in some places), with large fluffy 3 tone clouds slowly drifting by overhead. Near Perfection....
We went up to an area near Diamond Point Ranger Station and dug / searched for crystals. I had expected a little more than what was there, but I did find 1 that was decent sized, so I ain't complaining... Walking around in the woods gave me flashbacks of being lost in a similar environment @ 33 years ago. It's amazing how some memories never seem to go away...I also found a quarter that someone dropped by the side of the road. Lucky me. Following our expedition, we had a lunch break - lounging around in the back of Ozzy's truck. Deli sandwiches, garlic mushrooms (that were mysteriously listed as "black olives"), mushroom soup (someone seems to have a "thing" for mushrooms...) and fizzy beverages. The clouds tried a couple of times to rain on us, but didn't put out much effort. It made the air smell better, though.... From there, it was on to the Tonto Fish Hatchery. The usual residents were there - various forms of Trout from "itty-bitty" to "BIGFISH!!". We got some fish food & caused a feeding frenzy in the pond. Poor things act like they're starving... Got some decent pics in the area. Fall foilage is starting to make an appearance & was just begging to be photographed. Left there and drove up to the top of the rim and stopped at some VERY scenic overlooks. One could see for 50-60 miles across the landscape of mountains. Different shades of green, red, yellow & orange as far as the eye could see...One of the overlooks we got to had a waterfall flowing off of it. The pictures turned out pretty good. There was a soft cool piney scented breeze that spoke to my senses of the season not that far away. Autumn in the mountains is "magic time". The ravens, blue jays & squirrels seemed to be in their own little worlds, as was I, gazing across miles of wonderous nature .I took about 50 pictures by the time we dragged our worn out (yet somehow rejuvinated) carcasses back to Phoenix around 8:00pm. I got my pics back this afternoon (10/17) & they look pretty darn good. We didn't bother stopping at the casino on the way back - too tired & I didn't feel like losing any money today... It was nice day for unwinding & sending one's cares & worries to the 4 winds.
In other news...My brother finally got completely fed up with his job & quit. I was expecting this to happen before now, but the optimist in me was hoping conditions would improve. When the boss is constantly getting on your case for things you have no real control over....and doesn't seem close to changing his ways...you can either stay & continue putting up with it...or leave. I don't like getting into stereotypes, but his boss was a Greek with a nasty temper.
With luck, my bro will find something else soon!!!!!
Not too much else going on & I'm considering slinking off to get some Zzzzz's. It's only around 10Pm right now, but I'm a wee bit sleepy. If things go the way they usually do, I'll be awake again around 2 - 3 am. Usually never fails to happen....
I think I'll go read some more of my book instead....
Until Next Time -
Owl
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