New Year's Eve Cyber Masquerade Ball

Happy New Year

Welcome to the 2011-12 Cyber Masquerade Ball

(Use this url http://geogypsy.blogspot.com/2011/12/new-years-eve-cyber-masquerade-ball.html to link the above image.)

Going to a Masquerade Ball

I’m not even sure how the invitation found me living as I do.

The masquerade ball would be at the castle only a few townships away from my current encampment so I hitched up the horses to spy the place out.

I arrived early in the day to find a suitable place to park my wagon home out of sight of the castle yet near enough to walk to the ball.

Then I went for a stroll to familiarize myself with the area. Wow, what a view.

Grabbing a stack of linens I easily blended in with the staff preparing for the evening.   I explored the castle only to discover many empty rooms. It seems King Ludwig II died in 1886, before his castle retreat was completed.

Helped myself to lunch…

…quickly carried off to a nearby knoll to enjoy along with the sunset changing colors to backdrop the castle.

The scene changed radically upon my later return with the castle glowing as bright as the moon.

A doorman greeted met me with a suspicious look as if I didn’t belong here, but upon seeing my invitation escorted me inside and loudly announced my arrival.

Only a few of the costumed crowd paused their conversation long enough to note my arrival. Yet did I care, nay. They knew not who I really was any more than I could tell who hid behind their elaborate masks.

I slid in and out of conversations nibbling at the delectable delicacies and occasionally indulging with a glass of champagne, or two…

The music began and a whirl of bodies filled the room. My feet barely touched the floor as I swirled and twirled from one exotic face after another. Drinking and dancing, the first in moderation the second not so much. Time held no meaning.

Until….. Horns blared and every body froze. A voice from beyond my vision counted…5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Voices rose as one, “Happy New Year”

Again the voice rang out, 4, 3, 2, 1, remove your masks….

To attend more parties, or share your own, go to the Cyber Masquerade Ball by clicking here.

[Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany]

SWF-Watching sky changes

These late fall skies

change so rapidly

and give me joy.

View more skies, visit Sky Watch Friday by clicking here.

Hassayampa River Bridge

While out driving the Wagner Road (previous post) we came to this single-lane gem.

In 1922 the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors received a citizen’s petition for a permanent wagon bridge over the Hassayampa River.

Two years later the supervisors agreed to build a steel truss bridge. The contract was awarded to El Paso Bridge and Iron Company for $7,880.00. 

Downstream from bridge

The Hassayampa River runs mostly underground. The headwaters are just south of Prescott and it flows south towards Wickenburg entering the Gila River near Hassayampa, Arizona.

Upstream from bridge

This streamside habitat is home to some of the desert’s  wildlife. Yet many of them have become dangerously imperiled as riparian areas have disappeared from the Arizona landscape.

A local legend purports that anyone who drinks from the river can never again tell the truth. As an anonymous poet wrote:

Those who drink its waters bright-

Red man, white man, boor or knight,

Girls or women, boys or men-

Never tell the truth again^.

In 1979 the bridge was listed on the National Registry of Historic Places and is considered a significant remnant of early Arizona bridge construction.

Wagner Road Ranches

Big ranches encompass probably millions of acres between Yarnell and Prescott, Arizona, many of them owned by Rex Maughan.

A couple weeks ago Mike and I took a ride out Wagner Road…

…which cuts through the TK Bar Ranch.

The TK started off as a mining claim in the early 1900s…

…became a guest ranch in 1947…

…and today is a working cattle ranch.

The road also curves through the Z-Triangle Ranch…

…where Appaloosa horses are trained for pleasure riding.

Just before we turned around after a 15-mile slow and scenic ride we encountered the Gold Bar Ranch, seemingly not part of the Maughan empire. Located on the Hassayampa River this working cattle ranch doubles as a Bed & Breakfast offering opportunities to view wildlife and birds, learn to rope a cow, and take guided ATV or horseback rides to nearby Indian ruins, ghost towns and abandoned gold mines.

We enjoyed a semi-sunny day with only a few sprinkles which brought a faint rainbow.

Before we returned to the main highway home.

Our World-Starting a new tradition

We may have started a new tradition, Christmas dinner at The Old Post Office Cafe. Mike’s brothers, Max and Bob, put together a ham dinner with mashed potatoes, green beans with bacon and corn. Mike’s Mom brought her famous fruit salad and I made fried apples. WE ATE. And so did the customers who didn’t know when they arrived they’d be eating a Free Christmas dinner. That’s right. Max said, “everyone should eat free for Christmas.” And Mom said we should do this every year.

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas. Did you start any new holiday traditions?

And now, time to prepare for the Cyber Masquerade Ball for New Years Eve.

To tour more of the world go to Our World Tuesday by clicking here.

Sorry there’s no photo of all the good eats, it just disappeared so quickly.