Happy Leap Day

February 29, known as a leap day in the Gregorian calendar, is a date that occurs in  most years that are evenly divisible by 4, such as 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016.  Years that are evenly divisible by 100 do not contain a leap day, with the exception of years that are evenly divisible by 400, which do contain a leap day; thus 1900 did not contain a leap day while 2000 did.  Years containing a leap day are called years.  February 29 is the 60th day of the Gregorian calendar in such a year, with 306 day remaining until the end of that year. 

(From Wikipedi)

Check here for leap day traditions.

Today, I am going to visit my nephew and his wife to see their baby, Jude.  He was born a couple of weeks ago and was only 5 lbs 6 oz at birth.

Annie Oakley: Wild West Sharpshooter

She was born Phoebe Ann Moses in a cabin in Ohio on August 13, 1860.  Even though she grew up very poor, she was able to pull herself up and became a famous American sharpshooter in a Wild West show.  Annie spent most of her life east of the Mississippi, was a Quaker, and only stood five-foot tall as an adult.  She was athletic, tough, and had strong opinions about women’s rights.  This petite woman was brassy and often spoke her mind.  Her skills with the gun made her a star attraction of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.   People were just amazed by her gutsy shooting acts which change much of the world's perception of the American west.

  

A few months before her death on November 3, 1926, Will Rogers made this statement about her, “the greatest woman rifle shot the world has ever produced”.

Squatters at the Slaughter House

One of the places we wanted to show our friend Sandy on our last day trip was the place called the "slaughter house".  After getting lots of photos at the farm house, we assured her that she will be taking many more photos at the slaughter house and barn.  What we didn't expect were squatters.

As we drove into the road where the slaughter house stood, we noticed a man working on his truck.  The truck was parked near the barn with his Rottweiler lying nearby.  For a brief moment we planned to park the car behind the house so we could still get pictures.  Even though the man never looked up or turned to check us out, the dog never took its beady eyes off us.  We decided not to mess with the mutt and turned around.  As we got near the road, we decided to turn back and show Sandy another place where a shack used to stand. This place had huge trees and a tin cover.  As we drove by, the man never acknowledged our presence, and the dog keep an evil stare at the car.  We noticed that under a large tree and near the barn was a make-shift tent and another dog keeping a close eye on us too.  We got our butts out of there.

We couldn't get out of the car where the big tin cover was because another family of squatters were there and they had dogs too.  Next time, we visit the slaughter house it will be in the summer like we did last year.  It was too frickin' hot for anyone to want to squat even for a day or two.

The Lonely Farm House

Along the highway in Stanfield, AZ, stands this lonely, abandoned farm house.  The windows are broken, some of the ceilings are gone, and the walls are a mess but we saw the beauty this home now offers.  I wonder what kind of stories this house could tell.

Mobile Lunch

I will take my taco to go...

A Home for Tumbleweeds

Not Ready for Swimming

Whittman: Round Two

Since we found a few abandoned places in Whittman, AZ, on our trip up to Kirkland, we decided to give it a second look before heading home.  We were glad we did.  The last time we stayed on the southwest side of US Route 60 (Grand Avenue), and this time we decided to check out the northeast side.  As we figured, more abandoned homes, businesses, vehicles, and even boats.  Whittman was a fantastic ending to our road trip.

Typical Arizona rivers.

Morristown's Southwest Cemetery

A year ago, Sharon and I checked out this tiny southwest cemetery in Morristown, AZ.  The town is along US Route 60 (Grand Avenue) and could be easily missed if you are not looking for it.  We decided to see how the place looked a year later.  Although the sign for the cemetery has broken with half of it on the ground, the cemetery itself looked very well maintained.  All the graves had various types of stones in and around them which can be found in the southwest desert.  Large stones were put where a headstone was missing.  There were no names on the stones, but it made each grave look complete and wanted.  I was glad we decided to give this cemetery a second look.