More Arizona Apples

Greetings from Willcox, AZ. We are way down in the southeastern part of the state. See that red dot on the map? That's our current location.

This is the third time we've come to Willcox. Looking around, one would expect to be loading dirt or sand or something of that nature.

This is sun baked country. Even in winter it looks dry and worn. But its amazing what goes on down here in the desert! It looks like a landscape suitable for little other than goats...

...and perhaps a flock of cranes stopping in for a rest before continuing on their journey back north.

But this land is capable of so much more. Looks can be deceiving. Hard to see in the winter, when harvest is over, but the evidence of agricultural development is there if you look hard enough. Things like sprinklers...

...and grain bins dot the land.

But the undeniable clue that this place is about to explode with growing things...

is crop dusters hard at work.


Hay is a big crop here. In summer the baled hay is stacked as high as a multi-level building as it waits to be trucked to other areas of the country. Also, amazingly, grain is grown here, lots of lettuce (seriously...lettuce), and the list goes on. We come here for the organic apples.

This is our third time loading apples in Willcox. We get a truckload of the spotted and slightly mushy ones that go to a place in CA that makes organic vinegar and cider.

These orchards were much prettier last fall, but I bet in spring, when they are covered in leaves and blossoms they are a sight to behold.

We waited all morning for our turn to load. There were two other trucks here first, and each truck is taking a couple hours to get done. While we waited, I took the girls out to enjoy the warmth, sunshine and fresh air.

And there were no complaints about the lack of clothing either. My girls love to run around naked! Its 80 degrees and sunny here!

Ella was somewhat subdued. Maybe she doesn't trust the weather and doesn't want to get her hopes up. But she still enjoyed snooping around.

But Carlie Jean was ready to run!

She spent her time racing back and forth past Ella, trying to entice her to chase, or rather be chased. Carlie likes to be the chaser.

Paris enjoyed the sunshine, the warmth, and the lack of grass. Paris doesn't like grass. She's very much a fan of concrete and hard packed dirt. Grass is prickly on the princess's toes.

And I don't know why, because she's the biggest sun worshiper in the family, but after a short time outside, she requested to retire to her thrown in the truck.

Request Denied! Me and the other two girls weren't ready to quite soaking in the sunshine.

But after a while I noticed that Ella's white feet were starting to have a  reddish tinge to them from the dust, and Carlie was slowing down. So we all cleaned up and moved back into the sleeper for a nap in the sun.

We're almost loaded now. We'll be on the road all night, traveling right at 1000 miles, to deliver tomorrow afternoon in Sebastopol, CA.



that orange flag up in the top left is our destination

 From there we don't know where we're going, but the broker says he has a plan. We like it when he has a plan! Usually his "plans" are really good!