WINTER COMES TO CONGRESS, AZ

The stormy weather predicted to blow in from California arrived right on schedule.  Rain pounded on our roof last night, the temperature plummeted, and I wasn’t surprised to see snow on the nearby mountains when I peeped out the window this morning.  As I write at noon, a blustery wind is blowing, rain drops blur the windshield from time to time, and the temperature is around 40 degrees cooler than yesterday at this time.  Very wintery!

Snow on the nearby mountains	Coming our way

What a complete change from the weather we’ve enjoyed during the past few days!  We’ve spent much of our time outdoors, hiking, reading, and socializing.  Walking around North Ranch, we often run into people we know, or end up in conversations with friendly residents of the park.  Yesterday, as we stood outdoors talking with Jackie Hada – a Boomer friend who had organized a happy hour at her place soon after we arrived – we were surprised to see a woman approach pushing a stroller holding her cat!  As she got near, she asked “Are you Odel and Laurie?”  Thus we met Pat McFall, familiar to us through Mike McFall’s blog, Mike and Pat’s Travels.  We’ve had several such serendipitous encounters since we arrived.

Here are some photos of our recent desert explorations (hover your cursor over a photo to read the caption); quite a change in the weather!

	These two cacti are blooming here at North Ranch.  Many of the lots have beautiful desert landscaping with cacti in bloom.

Odel (engrossed in watching golf and basketball) just leapt up from the couch and yelled “it’s snowing!”  Yep, I see some flakes mixed in with the rain.  I hope you all are warm and dry, wherever you are.  Think I’ll go make some cookies.

A CHANGE OF PLANS: WE EXTEND OUR STAY AT NORTH RANCH – CONGRESS, AZ

A few weeks ago, we reserved a site at Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood, Arizona – elevation around 3,500 feet.  We plan to use the state park as a base camp to explore Jerome and Sedona, two of northern Arizona’s top scenic spots, which we’ve barely brushed on prior travels (though we have taken the Pink Jeep tour in the red rocks of Sedona).  With a bit of good luck, we figured we might even squeeze in a trip to the south rim of the Grand Canyon after we left Cottonwood, heading west.

Those plans changed as we watched the weather forecast for our upcoming reservation in Cottonwood.  Chance of SNOW???

Congress, our current location (and about 1,000 ft. lower) looked slightly better, but also wet and cold… but here we have full hookups, a huge, indoor, activity center with scheduled activities, and a clubhouse with a comfortable library – and friends.  Odel called Dead Horse Ranch State Park and pushed our reservation out another five days, when the weather returns to warm sunshine.  Smart move, my man!

Meanwhile, here at North Ranch (click here to read our review and see photos), the weather has been fine, fine, fine.  Sunshine every day, warm temperatures moderated by a slight afternoon breeze, and very cool nights.  Residents and other travelers are ultra-friendly; we’ve made new friends (mostly when Odel is recognized by a blog reader) and hooked up with old friends.  It is easy to see why traveling Escapees fall in love with the place.

Unlike many of the Escapee parks we visit, North Ranch is not a co-op with jointly-owned lots.  Instead, developed lots at North Ranch are deeded and privately owned.  RV’s are allowed on ALL deeded lots, as are mobile homes, park models, site-built homes and everything in between.  It reminds me greatly of the Foothills area of Yuma, though this is a much smaller (MUCH smaller) neighborhood.  Here are some examples - click on any photo for a larger view.

Transient spaces in the campground.	A plain, clean, undeveloped deeded lot.	Covered single wide with RV parking.
Large RV shelter with attached casita and detached garage.	Southwestern style casita with plenty of RV parking.	Large, site-built home.

When we aren’t off getting our exercise elsewhere, it’s great fun to wander the streets of North Ranch examining the deeded lots (many of which are for sale).  Most are very well maintained; pride of ownership is evident here.  All lot owners have access to the common areas of the park, the activity center, the clubhouse, and what appears to be a maintenance building (we haven’t checked that out yet, other than a quick peek at the pickle ball game going on inside).

Rosemary in bloom in the native plant garden.	Out the back gate into BLM land.

On the north side of North Ranch, a beautifully designed desert garden features native plants and a giant, ancient, saguaro.  At the back of the property, an gate provides access to desert walking out on the BLM managed property surrounding North Ranch.

All in all, a good place to sit out three or four days of winter’s return.  :)

THE POSOLE, COMPLETE

Odel proclaimed it the best pot of posole EVER!

Freshly cooked dried corn (hominy), went into…	… Posole, a stew of meat, hominy, chiles and spices.

Al and Kelly (The Bayfield Bunch) were invited for dinner, so I kept the heat on the mild side. We served the traditional accompaniments: shredded cabbage (put it in the bowl first, then ladle the steaming stew on top), chopped green onions, chopped radishes, and chopped cilantro.

Though it is an extra step, rehydrating and cooking the dried corn was worth the effort (though I would still use canned hominy in posole when I don’t have dried – which is just about always).  Thanks to the home-cooked hominy, the broth of the completed stew had that wonderful toasted corn flavor I associate with fresh corn tortillas – yummy. 

If you are interested in making a batch of posole, my recipe for posole in the Crockpot is in the recipe archive on the left side of the blog, easily adapted to a pot on the stove.  It is very mildly seasoned, so increase the seasoning if you like it hotter.   Use the best canned hominy your can find (I like Juanita’s, available in the Mexican section of major supermarkets); ditto for the green chiles.  When I used canned – which is most of the time – I use Hatch brand, and if you’ve ever been to Hatch, New Mexico, you know why!   I took the photo above in mid-September several years ago, as we drove down the main street of tiny Hatch.  It seemed as though every roof in town was used to dry the local product.