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Tales From the Trypt, And Assorted Short Sorties

whazoo
Explorer
Explorer
Did you like how I did that, Tales From the Trypt? No? I thought it was clever...for my eighth grade mind. It's Halloween and a great time of year here in Phoenix. We're down to about 90ยบ and close to sweater weather.



This is a first for me and I don't feel good about it. There's no real story line this time, and then there's the difficulty in saying "Assorted Short Sorties" with a bit of a lisp. That's right, these darn partial dentures are a real pain in the ass-orted shorts. Something a guy has to deal with as age settles in I guess.

We first went to a place out of the imagination that had rock formations straight from H.P. Lovecraft. It was just one night but those rocks still haunt me to this day. I can't wait to go back for a night hike.

Driving in sand was...sandy. And soft. Yet there was a fine line between airing down just enough and too much. Airing down means you lose ground clearance and suddenly your dragging your pumpkin, your third member. But what's the diff? (It was a rhetorical question, thank you)


Passing an old water trough I felt a kinship, as wee both can no longer hold our water.


Somewhere over yonder is a place of phantasmagorical rock shapes. Phantasmagorical, now there's a word a guy could use to score big in Scrabble.


Dropping down to a camp spot was easy, yet more air was let out to make the climb the next day, phew.


The scenery was good enough...


Though it was hard to find the right spot to level without levelers. They would have been ruined on the hard rock don't ya know.




Those rocks spooked me right away. Looking like something from the Cthulhu Mythos of H.P. Lovecraft fame.




I thought this was ol Cthulhu himself...


Then I found the hell blasted skulls of the Necromongers.






They call this "brain rock" though I don't know why. I can tell you there's no brains under that hat. Wait, what?












The skeletal horses of the Hellocalypse. (Say what?)


I was thinking of Anasazi Santa's reindeers...


You can see them in the dark spot on the side of the cliff.






Look close, it's Frogenstein.




Assorted short sorties continues after this message from Mutual Of Omaha:

Dang roads, the city needs to fix this one up a little...


So I don't drag my third member, again. Another facet of old age.


Mud backwards is dum, and I hate dum mud.


Well let's see, I love charades. Um, I'm a chicken to, naw that doesn't work. How about, I'm a rusty spring chicken? Well it was spring at the time. I'll be honest, I really don't remember what it was supposed to be. Can we let this one slide? I feel like I just laid an egg.


Destination cliffside.




Lake Roosevelt is in the distance.


Evening on the Red Bluffs.


A view of the last century...

plant.







The next day was the air show. It was plane annoying I can tell you, all their noise as the larger plane led the smaller plane practicing some kind of air drops. I kept looking for small packages coming down with a parachute.


They circled right over our heads for hours.


Props to them for finally leaving.






It looks like two centuries have passed, and are waiting to fall.


How to wear out your dog...whoa I'm gettin dizzy here.

(I'll say this is a bitter sweet trip report in that we no longer have Odie the Shih Tzu Kid. My wife and I have never had a dog we couldn't handle, I've had 11 dogs in my life. He was a force of nature and had more energy than we could deal with. There was no "easy" button, no "relax" in him. We "re-homed" him to a fabulous family with kids, Odie needed kids more than any dog I've known and they adore him tremendously. I have never given a dog away but I have to say it was best for us all.)





A Cactus Patch Kid bid us adieu.


On down that dusty road we went. And I have to wonder, why are those levelers so bloody bright orange? Might we lose them?


Spring green was happening.








Little bird, wren are you coming home?




The trip report is almost over, can you hang on a little longer?


Poppies were...poppin like Mary.












It looked like the Saguaro Family was out for a hike in the hills.


Looking for that elusive grand camping spot, first we had to wash up.




But this little bitty wussy hill stopped me cold. It was off camber two different ways at the same time, and the sound of a truck frame racking is not a sound I like to hear. At least when it's my truck.


Can I tell you how much fun it wasn't to back down through that narrow wash?




There she is, the Roosevelt Lake Bridge and the end. I'll hope this will bridge the trip report gap until next time as we move from Arizona to Boise Idaho. Anybody got some taters?


WTWTs (Whazoo's Thoroughly Worthless Thoughts)
Yes. this aging process can get a guy down at times. Dentures, new body parts, meds and that ever expanding waistline. I've refused to go up another size in pantaloons and have paid the price in back aches from britches that are too tight. That thing called stuffing a ten pound sausage into a five pound wrapper. Recently during a trip to COSTCO my wife saw something that has saved my life. I'll whisper it to you because it's a secret known only to women...STRETCH JEANS! Cheese and rice my closet is now full of my new discovery and back pain gone! If there's a sudden rush to COSTCO and the mens clothes section, you heard it here.

If you want to see this trip report with a grey background. go here


Happy Halloween...

on edit: for old friends, twin grandbabies are doing well and we love them more than life! Are you and I any different, I think not.


50 REPLIES 50

realter
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Explorer
Good thing you didn't enter those in TCM Calender contest. You would have won every month.

Maybe you should put out your own calender.

The_Mad_Norsky
Explorer
Explorer
Great report Whazoo!

LOL, your Mutual of Omaha comment sure brought memories. If I recall correctly, old Marlin Perkins never got the worst of a situation cause his side-kick, Jim I believe, always seemed to get the worst of it.
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fuelhauler
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I haven't been on here for some time. It has to do with this crazy hard collar I'm having to wear for 6 weeks. But what a treat it was to find a trip report from the great Whazoo. As always Dave your photography is out of this world.
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CptnBG
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Explorer
Really enjoyed the report! Looking forward to future Idaho reports...
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exhaustipated
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What an awesome trip report, Dave. Those photos you took on your trip were magnificent. Thanks for sharing. I really enjoyed the puns in the narratives. I'm glad to see that you are back in business again with your trip reports as it has been awhile. It is also refreshing to know that your grandbabies are doing fine but I for one am going to miss Odie, the Shih Tzu Kid in your trip reports.
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rottidawg
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Beautiful pics of a beautiful area. Another in a long line of 5 star trip reports. Thank you.

Sorry to hear about the doggie mismatch. I seem to have come to the conclusion that the bigger the dog the more mellow the hound....no substitute for cubic inches as the hot rodders used to say. Will never forget your tribute to Bear....tough shoes to fill!

Hey, no problem with a twisting frame on mine....it's a 12.
Loves to tee-totter:

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bigfootford
Nomad II
Nomad II
Wow, this is one of your bests!

A beautiful presentation and inspiration!

Jim
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sabconsulting
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Explorer
Thanks for putting this together Dave. Another tour de force. Wow some of that rock is amazing (and I don't just mean the rock with eyes).

Your neck of the desert is still too hot for me to live in, but fantastic having that scenery on your doorstep.

Glad the twins are doing great.

Steve.
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cewillis
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Dave, those pictures qualify as 'phantasmagorical' -- they might even be a little better than even you can do.

What's a little bent frame? (truck frame)
Cal

pcoplin
Explorer II
Explorer II
Excellent pics! Love the offroad adventure.


I will say, I don;t think you have any need for the differential guard underneath. Unless you have it for pinion yoke protection.

I rockcrawl and have rubbed the bottom of a dana axle all the way to the bolts. The cast iron of the center chunk will take whatever you throw at it in a street/mild offroad truck for sure. ๐Ÿ™‚
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mrquacker
Explorer
Explorer
Beautiful pictures and a great story.

Grand post-work, too.

Happy Howl-o-ween.

Deb_and_Ed_M
Explorer II
Explorer II
LOVED this!!! Such beautiful photos!
Ed, Deb, and 2 dogs
Looking for a small Class C!

bka0721
Explorer II
Explorer II
What an outstanding report and captivating narrative. Granted, you certainly gave my brain a twisting with your "puns" all in a good way. I wouldn't want it any differently. Now your locations were fabulous only equaly framed in beautiful photography.

Hope you find Boise as wonderful a location as you remembered.

"Time to live, time to lie, time to laugh, and time to die. Take it easy baby. Take it as it comes.โ€ ? Jim Morrison

Safe Travels, my Friend.

b
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GpnAZ
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Very fun Dave, excellent photos and story! I hope this wasn't one trip with all the different places you captured. Glad to see you found White Pockets, it's a magical place!
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DutchmenSport
Explorer
Explorer
Enjoyed the animations. I was expecting those deer or elk or whatever they were, carved on the side of the rock to start jumping off the page! Very nice. Impressive photos!