ArizonaRanch

  What’s in Seligman?? by admin on Mar.31, 2004, under Area Westside Lilo’s This little cafe on the West side of town will really fill you up. They specialize in German food, but their other stuff is good too. We’ve had their Country Fried Steaks and enjoyed them. Her desserts are huge and delicious.   West Side Lilos Roadkill Cafe You Kill It, We Grill It… Despite the name, this cafe has pretty good food, too. We’ve had their steak, which tasted fine to us.  We generally try to go early to avoid crowds.   Road Kill Cafe Copper Cart This place has really good breakfast. And the help is friendly here, too.  It closed down in 2007, but we hope someday it will reopen.   Copper Cart Cafe Tourist Trap Here is one of the local tourist trap trinket stores.  The tour buses always stop here.   Tourist Trap Snow Cap Here is a rather famous place in town. The Sno Cap is run by the Delgadado family, who do everything they can to keep the Route-66 mystic going in town. T

Dirt Road Maintenance Manual by admin on Mar.31, 2004, under Ranch Maintenance At times, the ranch receives a whole bunch of rain in a little bit of time. This has washed out many roads, including culverts. Here is a link to the State of Maine’s Camp Road Maintenance Manual, in pdf format. It shows proper methods of maintaining dirt roads in primitive settings. It’s a big file (about 4mb). camproad   First Gate                   https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NOXEX2PuSn2wh6qFS9d0G0dVpR1yjNiY/view?usp=sharing

  Installing the Septic System Chambers by admin on Mar.29, 2004, under Septic System Septic System Installation 27 – 28 March, 2004 ——————————————————————————– The process continues with the installation of the leech field. The eliminator chambers are installed in a level ditch, about 3 feet wide, and covered with at least 18 inches of soil. Because we have about a 3% slope in the meadow, we had to dig about 4-1/2 feet on the upper end, and about 2 feet on the lower end. Installing the leech field. The process is something like this: Dig 6 feet of trench. Level the floor of the trench. Place the chamber in the trench. Level the chamber. Screw the chamber to the previous one. Partially cover with dirt to prevent movement. Repeat as necessary.   Placing the Chambers Connecting the chamber to the previous one with screws. When leveling the chambers, you can scoop some fine dirt along the sides. Then pick up and kind of shake the loose end of the chamber to work t

  Septic System Permits by admin on Mar.27, 2004, under Septic System Permit Application Here is the first page of the Application for the septic system installation. It has generic information about the parcel and owners. Personal data has been obliterated here…   Page 1 of Septic Application Page 2 Here is the second page of the Application for the septic system installation. It has the plot plan of the septic system   Page 2 of the Septic Application Flood Control Hold Here is the document that put us on hold for the floodplain.   Flood Control Hold Pre-Issue Card This is the card you post to tell the inspectors they are at the right place. After they do the initial inspection, you get a green permit.   Pre-Issue Card Receipt for Fees Cost of the permit was $162.50   Receipt for Septic Permit   Issued Septic Permit Card

  Septic Groundbreaking by admin on Mar.27, 2004, under Septic System On March 10th, Kevin called to let us know they could do the perk test on the following Monday. To prepare for them, we went up that weekend to mark the foundation lines for the proposed house(s).   Little House Plot Kevin & Doug showed up with the backhoe on Monday, March 15th 2004 as planned (nice to have a contractor show up when they say they will!). They dug 4 test holes and ran perc test. Turns out we have pretty good soil for the septic there . Easy digging, and perc’d at 8 (I guess that’s minutes per inch of water absorption?). We are sizing for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath installation, assuming a perc of 10 (for some leeway). We will be using the Eliminator chambers, so we need 2 ditches, 3 feet wide, 63 feet long each. Turns out to be about 20 chambers.   Perc – Test Kevin turned in the permit paperwork later that week. The next week (March 23rd), Doug called to ask if we wanted to star

  More March Ranch Maddness by admin on Mar.20, 2004, under Seasons Limestone Bluff March 13th, 2004. Afternoon. This limestone bluff is above the wash on the north side of the property. It is a good place to hike and watch for wildlife.   Limestone Bluff Up the North Hill March 14th, 2004. Morning. This is on the hill which is on the north side of the Ranch, across the wash from our little house site. You can see the prickly pear cactus prefer the south-facing slope of this hill.   Little House View North in March Hiking the North Hill March 14th, 2004. Morning. Here, Tara is hiking the north hill, heading west.   Tara Hiking North Hill Markham Gate March 14th, 2004. Afternoon. This is the gate to exit the Ranch and head under the interstate. Someone put a glove on the gate. We thought it looked fitting, so we had to get a picture of it.   Tara at Markham Pass Gate

  More March Ranch Life by admin on Mar.20, 2004, under Seasons “Little House” March 13th, 2004. Late Afternoon/Early Evening. This is the “little_house” site on a cool spring day.   Little House Site in March   Well #5 March 14th, 2004. Morning. Well #5 is on the road (recently named Markham Valley Road) about 1/2 mile from our Ranch, in the basin. You can see that Tara was a little chilly in the morning here.   Tara at Well No. 5 in March North Hill March 13th, 2004. Afternoon. This is on the hill which is on the north side of the Ranch, across the wash from our little house site. You can see the prickly pear cactus prefer the south-facing slope of this hill.   Tara Hiking in March Limestone March 13th, 2004. Afternoon. The Hills on the north and south side of the property consists mostly of limestone. Randy always enjoys a nice, shady spot, and here is one on the north hill.   Randy sitting on Limestone in March North Hill March 13th, 2004. Afterno

  March Ranch Life by admin on Mar.20, 2004, under Seasons March Chilly nights and mild days Yes, the wind blows in March. It’s not too bad though, and is actually very comfortable for working outside during the day. It calms down at night. Daytime temperatures are very pleasant, while nighttime temperatures are a little chilly. Double sleeping bags are appropriate, if you are camping. Western Skies March 13th, 2004. Late Afternoon/Early Evening. The view is from our “big house” site, looking to the west. This site is sheltered on the west, north and east by trees and hills, and is open to the south. This is what the view to the west will be from our front porch.   March Lane Hedgehog Cactus March 13th, 2004. Afternoon. This cactus is pretty common on the south-facing slope of the hills on our property. It’s a little too early for blooms, but it appears to be a variety of the Clarett’s Cup cactus.   Hedgehog Cactus Southeast View March 13th, 2004. Late