Upsy-Downsy

The countdown is on for our minication and we’re discussing where we might go for the last leg of the trip. Our original plan was the Devil’s Highway – a stretch of Highway 191 north. However, beautiful as I’m sure it is, those plans could be nixed if Mother Nature is in a mood. When we were driving back from the Midwest a couple of years ago, it was mid-October, too. We ran into snow in that area. What’s more, where we ran into snow is lower in elevation than the areas we’d be driving. Snow plus a known treacherous roadway is no bueno.

Therefore we have a Plan B, which might ultimately end up swapping out and becoming Plan A instead, regardless of the weather.

If we take Highway 191 south instead of north, we could drive to the Chiricahua National Monument. (The top of the page is an artist’s rendering via AI, but looks reasonably like the photos and videos. The stone formations are called hoodoos.)

There are some potential drawbacks if we go to the National Monument area. From what we could tell, a lot of areas are only accessible by foot. The trails are out of the question for G and me. They involve stone stairs and a few short climbs – not crazy-strenuous for someone in decent shape; but for G and me it’s a hard no.

I have no doubt we’ll find great photo ops without hiking, though. We always do, even in less-spectacular surroundings.

We also talked about going back and taking more photos at the ghost town of Gleeson. Unfortunately that’s another 50-mile detour, one-way, so probably not gonna happen.

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Moving On Up (North)

My younger daughter scraped every penny up she could, took her son with her, and flew to Iowa this week. She’s at her brother’s house tonight, where G and I stayed when we were there in 2021.

Her stepmom and half-sister live in a different part of the state. She spent yesterday with them.

I told her once she got there, she’d never want to come back. She didn’t argue then; and now she’s in the state, she’s madly and deeply in love with it.

Obviously, G and I are planning to move back there soon as we can make it happen. My daughter’s best friend and his (husband? fiance? I don’t know if they ever got married) are moving there soon as they can. That will only leave one of my kids here in Arizona, and I wouldn’t be shocked if she follows eventually, too.

This was just a trip for Laura to check things out and to take a short reprieve from an increasingly precarious home situation with her current boyfriend/ roommate/ whatever. The boyfriend is a lit fuse and we all know it’s a matter of time til he blows.

If she hasn’t already escaped her current domestic mess before I retire, she’s coming with us. As in, we’re looking for a place big enough for us, her, and her kids.

The photo above is one my daughter sent: her son’s in the red, the other two are my son’s boys. This is only one of a series of quick snaps I got from her. Not great in term of photographic technique, but she said the kids are having a ball together, which is the real win.

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Deal-O-Rama

A couple of Ultimate Cheapskate moments before I go…

Y’all know I get discounts everywhere and all the time. We obviously shop at garage sales. We found this vintage 1950s-era stereo camera for $20. We bought it and some of its bastard cousins (different brands) today for our own collection — so these aren’t for resale unless G goes into withdrawals, or unless he decides he wants his snazzy new lens more than he wants to stay married.

Just kidding.

Sort of.

To get back to the narrrative… G couldn’t find this model online anywhere for under $99. So yeah… 20 bucks was a deal.

The vintage Nikon setup we bought, a film body and three vintage-but-high-end lenses, retail about $380, used. We paid $40 for the whole kit and caboodle.

The third camera we got wasn’t worth much more than we paid for it but it was cool and we only wanted it for our own collection, so no big deal.

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Wal-Deals

Now lemme add this, because I love you guys.

I know we all boo and hiss at the name WalMart, which is perfectly understandable. And while it’s not my favorite place, I still do some shopping there because 1) where I live especially, there are things I can’t get anywhere else and 2) my grocery bill at WalMart is at least 25% lower than regular grocery stores. I spend $150 at Walmart for what I’d pay $200+ at the local grocery store. That’s too much difference to pretend it doesn’t matter. However, I don’t go into the store. I order on line and pick up, because I cannot physically fight the crowds just to get in, I can’t reach much past the second shelf from the bottom, etc. You know the drill.

But.

BUT.

BUUUUTTTTTTT….

Y’all are not mobility-challenged and can totally do this.I  watched one of this guy’s videos where the (presumably) clickbait title said he bought a computer at WalMart for $100. At that point I’d seen enough of his videos to believe he actually bought a cheap laptop for $100 on clearance, which was a black-Friday sort of deal and an actual good deal any other time of year.

However… that’s not what he did. He bought a $550 all-in-one computer for a final cost of $100. And he gives you the down and dirty on how it’s done.

Everything’s above-board. You won’t get arrested. He simply tells you, step by step, how to find the deals nobody else even knows are there.

Ignore his annoying speech patterns and listen. He’ll tell you the secret to walking out of the store with a half a dozen video games originally priced around $20 apiece, and a receipt for 63 cents. If I were physically able, I’d go tomorrow just to practice his tips, not gonna lie to you.