8:01 am - Monday - November 18th - TWW - 32° F, humidity 47%, wind 7 mph out of the south....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 55° F. On this date in 2021 TLE and I were hiking to the top of Mt. Rubidoux in Riverside, CA.....one of our favorite loop walks when we are in SoCal....
....we first hiked this trail back in 2011 just after we began living in our Newell full time. We were working, and living at Rancho Jurupa Regional Park, which sits in the shadow of Mt. Rubidoux, for a year before hitting the road as full time nomads.
The ambitious buying/shopping day we had planned for Saturday, but postponed due to snow, came to fruition Sunday. We were up, once again, at 5 am to get early start, because we had a lot of miles to cover. Originally, we were going to begin our drive to Prescott at 7:15 am, but we decided to leave at 8:15 am instead. We had made appointments with 4 Facebook Marketplace sellers to buy their advertised items ranging from 10:30 am to 11:30 am. I've been wanting to buy a drill press, a bigger air compressor, and a bench grinder for our CONEX workshop here at TWW since we arrived, but until Charles and Phyllis gave us access to their 2004 Ford Expedition, we had no way of hauling some of these items back to TWW from wherever we might buy them.
The drive to Prescott takes us through Chino Valley, where our first buy of the day was located....a skeet launcher (think clay pigeons, or targets). Our appointment was for 10:30 am, but we got there 30 minutes earlier than expected. We owned one back in the 70's when I had a Smith and Wesson 12 gauge pump shotgun, and would go out to the high desert near Lake Isabella in California and shoot clay pigeons with friends several times each winter. Well, now that I have acquired another Smith and Wesson 12 gauge shotgun (semi automatic) we want to do it again. The skeet launcher is spring loaded, and mounted on an old tire rim, just like our original one was, and only cost $20....
Our next appointment was to buy that drill press, and bench grinder I mentioned earlier....we arrived about 30 minutes early for our 11 am appointment. The drill press is from 1978, and built like a tank...weighs about as much, too.....lol. The bench grinder is vintage, also, but in excellent shape. Mac, the seller, lives on the side of a hill, so moving that heavy drill press down to street level where the Expedition was parked was tricky, but together we got it done.....cost for both items....$180....killer deal.....
......the appointment to buy the fourth item, the 26 gallon, 150 PSI air compressor, was scheduled for 11:30 am, but we were about 30 minutes early....thankfully Quincy was home, and after plugging it in to be sure it worked properly, I traded him $100 for the compressor....
....finally, our last stop was to buy Stihl chainsaw chaps and safety hat from the same guy I bought one of the Stihl chainsaws from a couple of weeks ago. So, within 90 minutes of arriving in Chino Valley to buy the skeet launcher, we were done with our Facebook Marketplace buys. We had planned to buy some things at COSTCO, but being a Sunday it was beyond packed, so we just used their restrooms, TLE returned a clothing item she had purchased a few weeks ago, and we were on our way to Flagstaff....
....we used to visit Flagstaff every couple of weeks when we worked at the Grand Canyon back in the winter of 2017-18, and really like its vibe, plus there is a great thrift store there called 'Savers', which is part of a large, Southwest thrift store chain. TLE found a couple of things there (she always does, and for me pretty much the same) without which she could not live, and so did I. I found an ONYX by Brighton leather belt for $8.....virtually brand new. They cost $38 to $50 brand new....and it fits my slim midsection perfectly.....score....
.....by the time we finished shopping at 'Savers' it was around 2 pm, and we were hungry, so we headed to a local Starbucks for sandwiches, and coffee.....perfect for a cold Flagstaff day....
