Road trip....

 7:51 am - Monday - November 4th - TWW - 33° F, humidity 52%, wind 11 mph out of the north.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 53° F.  On this date in 2015 we were at Silver City RV Park near Carson City, NV....we, apparently, had not been diligent enough in moving south to keep ahead of winter....lol....

I've become a big fan of Facebook Marketplace, and, as you know, found my 1969 Jeep CJ-5 through that medium.  We need a few things here at The Wilson Wilderness, and one of those things is a good, reliable chainsaw.  I'm partial to the STIHL brand of 2 stroke power tools, so I searched on Facebook Marketplace and found two used ones for $200 each.  A new STIHL chainsaw with a 20" bar is around $600 new, so these seemed like a good deal to us, plus they have both been serviced recently.  The problem was, they were located over in the Williams/Prescott, AZ area, Prescott being over 100 miles away.  I also found some hand tools, including an single edged axe, and a pry bar, both of which we need, and some pneumatic tools in the same area, so we decided to head into Prescott Sunday to buy them, as well as get a formal Bill of Sale signed by the former owner of the Jeep, who lives in Prescott Valley.  We knew this was going to be an all day affair, and was it ever.

To top everything off a winter storm was forecast for the area to which we were heading, so we were in the Beetle heading out to US-66 around 8 am, hoping to beat the rain/snow forecast for the area.  We arrived in Prescott, without incident, but in a driving rain/snow around 10 am, and proceeded to the local US Bank to withdraw funds for our planned purchases, then headed across the street to Trader Joe's to buy a few things then over to the local COSTCO to buy some more winter clothing for TLE.  By the time we were done there it was getting close to 11 am.  

We began the drive over to Prescott Valley (Dewey, specifically) to get the Bill of Sale signed and dated in a rain storm....

.....yes we were getting rain, and slush on our windshield as we made the drive to Dewey. We got to John's (former owner) home just as he was returning from an errand, so perfect timing there.  We were in and out in about 10 minutes, and on our way back to Prescott.  Our appointment to pick up the first Chainsaw in Prescott was between 12 and 1 pm, so we stopped off at the local In 'N Out Burger for a bite to eat, and were at Dick's (the guy with the chainsaw) by 12:50 pm.  Within 10 minutes we had started up the STIHL, which ran butter smooth, and were in the car heading to Chino Valley to pick up the hand tools.  We had a 2 pm appointment there, but got there around 1:30 pm...thankfully Joanne was there, and we completed the transaction pretty quickly....

 ....we got a pick axe, single edged axe, post hole digger, pry bar, and a 'T' post hammer, or whatever it is called, for $40....killer deal.

Next up was a drive to Williams, AZ to buy the pneumatic tools (3/8" impact, 1/2" impact, and drill).  The guy was north of town on the highway to the Grand Canyon about 10 miles, which included a badly graded dirt road for about 3 miles.  We arrived there at 3 pm, right on time, paid the man his $40, and were on our way to Ash Fork to pickup the final STIHL chainsaw....

.....we arrived at the Ash Fork destination around 3:45 pm, which was way out in the boonies, about 6.6 miles of dirt road, just slightly better than the road we drive into TWW.  This chainsaw had, also, recently been serviced, and started right up.  By the time we got back to I-40 it was around 4:30 pm, and we knew we had at least an hour drive back to TWW.  The drive was beautiful, and without rain, or snow....

I-40 westbound out of Ash Fork, AZ

US-66 westbound out of Seligman, AZ

Beginning the drive on the dirt road which takes us to TWW

.....we arrived home 10 hours after we left, just as the sun was setting over the western horizon....what a long, long day, but so, so rewarding...

The 2 STIHL chainsaws with cases, plus 5 extra chains, a gallon of chain oil, and a quart of the 2 part oil for the gasoline 2 stroke engines

.....we unloaded our Facebook Marketplace booty, and our groceries, changed clothes, and sat down to relax after a very long driving day in which we we covered just under 300 miles, without incident.

Thanks for stopping by!