Hike, Rich People and New to Us Real Estate

Well, I think we're officially not answering Jim's phone anymore.  We used to be warned with the screen that says "Potential Spam", but now we're getting calls that start with a +1.  They're all spam, mainly Indian boiler rooms claiming to be affiliated with Medicare.  The worst part is some of them have Jim's date of birth and then want me to verify his Medicare account number.  I don't know it off the top of my head, but I do know Medicare and IRS don't call, so they're lying.  It's just aggravating.  We'll never have another land line, too much spam.

After it rained all day Wednesday, Thursday was better.  We went up to Dove Mountain and did the right side of the Lower Javelina trail.  It was a lovely, albeit windy, day.  Here are photos.

I took this outside the front gate at the condo.

The spring flowers are out.

The trail.

Lichen on the rocks.

Penstemon growing in the wild. 

I think the is the lilac version of the other Globe Mallow I had a photo of the other day.

On the way home, we detoured to go look at a neighborhood.  There's a sign up that exhorts one to "drive through the tunnel."  So we did.  This is crazy.

Here is the tunnel.  Originally there was a restaurant, McClintocks, on the other side of the tunnel.  I can only guess at how much it cost to build the tunnel, and how long the restaurant owners thought it would take to recoup their costs.

Inside the tunnel.  Note the lights on the sides in the walls.

This is what you see on the other side of the tunnel.  It's the Saguaro Ranch in Moonlight Canyon.  It really is beautiful out there.  Building of a neighborhood has started.  Fifty lots are available, each starting at $1M.  The restaurant has been closed and repurposed as a hang out for the gazillionairs who are building out there.  There are not that many houses built yet.  I urge you to click on this link and wonder to yourself, how much will it cost each homeowner to staff and maintain this exclusive building, with its spas, yoga stuff and etc.  Don't forget the attendants who will help with snack selection!  Their HOA dues must be astronomical.  There's also a staffed guard gate at the entrance.

Here is a photo lifted from the internet.

So, it's nice to be rich.  You, too, can have a house nestled in the Tortolitas, untroubled by the great unwashed masses, with your own personal restaurant.  There is more on the subject, which you can read here and here.

I scraped this off twitter, it's from last night, I think.  The photographer captured the crescent moon behind the Space Needle in Seattle.  It's an attractive shot.

The orange ectoplasm is holding a rally in Waco, Tx.  He's more batshit crazy than usual.  His "truths" on Truth Social are more unhinged than usual, as are his nightly videos that look like he filmed them in the dark.  He posted a picture of him with a bat, and Alvin Bragg, the New York County D.A. on twitter.  There has been speculation that one of the lawyers told him to delete it, but it was kind of late.  The internet is eternal.

Yesterday we closed on a park model.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term, it's a teeny tiny manufactured home, located in a park that also has RVs.  Most people are seasonal, for the winter.  Even though I think this is the worst winter ever, it was nice getting out and riding and hiking, and not looking at snow all winter in Spokane.  They're small (11 by 35 feet), and very close to your neighbors.  Any arguements we have will be conducted using flash cards.  It's interesting, it started out as a single wide, and then a full length addition was added to it, so that when you're in the addition you're looking at the original siding on the interior wall.  It has massive amounts of storage for a park model, which was very attractive to us.  Plus there is a huge shed which can be locked which is where the bikes will live, and there is a washer/dryer in the addition (which is called an Arizona room).  We had gone to the office to get a list of units for sale, and Kris was standing there waiting to make copies of her for sale flyer, heard us talking, showed us her flyer, we walked over to her house, and bought it.  So there you go.  They left everything, furniture, dishes, all of it.  It's good to done with AirBnB.

We stayed in this RV park for eleven consecutive years when we had RVs, and now we're back.