Queen Creek Olive Mill

On Sunday we visited the Queen Creek Olive Mill.

We started with having lunch there and then took the tour on how they produce their extra virgin olive oil.  To qualify as extra virgin there must be no heat or chemicals used in the processing.  The groves are totally organic as the only pest is the olive fruit fly and that dies at 100 degrees, so the summertime here takes care of that little devil.

The olives are hand picked and they never use any that have fallen to the ground as those would be overripe.

The olives are pressed within the first 24 hours of harvest.

We learned that the best way to keep the oil is out of the daylight but not in the fridge.  The shelf life is about one year.

We got to sample some of the different kinds and I went home with a blended blend as well as a roasted garlic variety for dipping our bread in.

They have a place for lunch and we enjoyed sampling the offerings on the menu.

They also had some gelatto, so we had to sample some of that as well.

Long Live the Oily Queen

How hot does it get here?

I had seen a photo of this mural located in downtown Mesa in the Escapee's magazine and just had to go see it for myself.

When we first pulled up all I could see was the front of the building and I was a bit disappointed.  Somehow it just didn't match up with what I had expected.  I mean, it was amazing, but I thought it might be a tad more.

But then I walked around the side of the building and almost fell over.  The entire building is covered in this mural of a melting building.  It literally looks as if the building is melting.

The details are amazing, lifelike and surreal at the same time.

As I approached the rear of the building I wasn't sure if I should proceed or not as there was a rather large dog peeking out from the doorway.

But then I took a closer look at the doorway....

And the dog.



























After I finished laughing at my foolish fears, I proceeded to walk around to the back of the building.  Due to the wire fence, the effect was not as stunning, but to know the entire building was covered was amazing.

Long Live the Queen of Murals

Our Longest Reigning Houseguest

Left Brain's golf buddy, Larry, came to visit and escape the cold and snow in Wisconsin.  He is an extraordinary house-guest,  I realized that when I saw he brought his own bath towel.  They say after three days both fish and house guests begin to smell, but we made it a full week with no problems.

He and Left Brain got some golfing in as well as a lot of bike riding, both enjoying the warm weather. Fortunately for us (unfortunately for him) he was here when our converter quit and there they had to find the sucker, and then replace it.

He's a handy man, much like Left Brain and they make a great team for working on things like this.  I did my part by disappearing from the area.

George tends to be very afraid of other people, especially men and I was concerned that he would spend the entire visit hiding behind the bed.  But, he gradually got to see that Larry was not threatening to him and by the end of the week was going up to him for a scratch and a sniff.  

Having Larry here for a week was really good for George's socialization, but I think Gracie fell in love with him.

As you can see here, they spent a lot of time gazing into each others eyes.

She snuggled up every chance she got and slept with him most nights.  I do believe she's gone into a bit of mourning since he left.

I have to keep reassuring her that Uncle Larry still loves her, he just had some commitments back home and had to leave.   We may have to schedule a Skype call for the two of them.

Long Live the Queen of the Mobile B&B

Rubbish Tuesday

I may have used this before, can't recall.  At one of the campgrounds we stayed in they had repurposed an old fridge into the "post office box"

There were a series of PVC pipes for the mail boxes and outgoing mail was put into the freezer compartment.

I thought this was a very fun idea.


Long Live the Queen

http://rubbishbyroan.blogspot.com/

Loss of Internet

Having to deal with substandard internet is one of the frequent challenges of living in an RV.  At our current location I signed up and paid for one month and it had been working pretty good...until the other day.

We couldn't get signed on and so I decided to call the number provided for assistance.  I was waiting for the message to direct me to which extension I wanted as it said to ask for extension two.

Instead I got a message that said the owner had not yet set up a voice mail box....sorry...goodbye.

The other alternative was to contact them by email.  So, I sent a message via my phone since I couldn't get logged on to contact my provider.

Never did hear from them, but the internet was fine the next day, so I guess it's not too bad.

Friday it rained....all day.  We finally went for a drive up the mountains to visit the little restaurant at Tortilla Flats for lunch.

The coloration of the hills was actually prettier with the rain and there was a definite greening up.

The afternoon was spent working on a jigsaw puzzle with Larry while Left Brain snatched a catnap with Gracie on his lap.

George has finally decided that Larry is okay and has been coming nearer to him each day.  Gracie got over that a long time ago and has been sleeping with him each night.  No wonder we've been getting such an improved sleep.

Larry is a "dog" person and Gracie has been trying to tap into his latent "cat" tendencies and convince him that the feline race is far superior.  I don't think he's completely swayed, but they seem to have developed a definite bond.

Hopefully the rain will subside soon and we can all get outside again to run and play.

Long Live the Queen of Rainy Days