Places We Have Called Home In 2019

Home Is Where We Park It:   UMOM New Day Centers, Phoenix 

Nov 18, 2109

Temperature 85 Degrees

Ramada Reconstruction

Mystery Castle of Phoenix Part Two

Hi Ho, Hi Ho I Volunteered So It Is Off To Work I Go!

Today we’re back at it with the team.  Last week they began Ramada Reconstruction and that is what is on the docket for this week.  Hopefully, we can finish this outdoor project before the rain set’s in on Wednesday.

This is one that is almost ready for painting

A second one that needs the concrete backer-board installed then painted.

The tool wagon has arrived.

Barbara is loaded for bear!  A real two handed power tool user.

Smile Steve, it’s not all that bad just another 6 hours to go!

Many hands make light work.

What’s that you say, That is Called A Board?  Now I know!

Measure Twice and Cut Once!

Denise is a real cut up.

 

We made good progress today.  With any luck we’ll be ready to paint the three that we’ve already built by tomorrow.

So much for our day here at UMOM.  Let’s go back and conclude our tour of the Mystery Castle of Phoenix.

We’ll begin with the Mother In Law room.  Actually, you can’t go into this room for the following reason.  Look at the stairs leading to it.  Yes, the staff still goes up on occasion.

That spire up there, it’s a lightening rod.  They said it was connected to the metal bed frame in the room!  We all know of course they were only kidding.

Let’s head to the kitchen.  This is the original stove and oven.  The castle had no electricity until the mid 60’s and no running water until the mid 70’s.  Remember, Mary Lou and her mother were living here full time.  Water originally came from a river over a mile away.  When they first moved in there was a water truck on site.  But then someone stole it.  They adapted we were told and found other ways to gather water.

Table setting at the kitchen table.

Lamp over the table.  Look at the detail.  It’s just amazing what you find and where you find it in this wonderful home.

Speaking of which, how about this plant.

I found this tea pot and platter set so beautiful and colorful.  Mary Lou they told us always kept at least one cat in the castle.  Why?  To keep snakes, mice and other native wild life in check.

This by the way is the kitchen after electricity was installed.

To the guest room.  Look at the stones in the floor, the walls, look at the windows, the wooden figures, there is something different in every direction that you turn.

Now how about this for ingenuity – the bed tucks in under a shelf and when needed slides out on wheels attached to rails embedded in the floor.

I know this is not the best picture, but believe it or not this window is actually a rim from a Stuz Bearcat.

Another fireplace.  Note the copper work above it.  The art work around it.  So many, many items to look at and appreciate.

More furnishings in the Guest Room.

And this pillow done we were told by Leonard De Copy Cat!

Time for another room.  On our way there we are going to pass The Fountain of Youth.  Want to take a guess as to what it once was?  He definitely used everything that he found!

This was the kennel for the Castle Dog.

We’ve come now to the chapel.  Mystery Castle used to be a popular place to hold weddings, but in the mid-2000s Mary Lou Gulley decided that no more weddings would be held here. This wedding altar is located in the chapel room.

What do you think?  Maybe, maybe not?

Moving out of the chapel we are headed to the bar.  But before we get there, remember I said he used everything he got his hands on?  This is an actual railroad rail set in the ceiling of this room.  Branching out from it are railroad ties.

Yes, there was also a bar built in the castle.

Notice what our friend is drinking?

You might even say they thought of everything.  Too much to drink?  Here’s a place where you can sleep it off.

 

One more place to visit.  This one is outside, it is the barbecue that was built.

If you look close you will see that a good part of the barbecue is built of what our guide told us was originally known as klin rejects.  You could pick them up for free.  Today, they are considered extremely rare and quite costly.  Imagine that!

There is so, so much to see here.  While guests are free to roam through the castle and get an up-close look at their surroundings, one room remains inaccessible to visitors: the private bedroom of Mary Lou. She wanted to keep her personal sleeping quarters behind closed doors, and only a privileged few have seen it. These are the stairs leading to it.

And the view of the room from the outside.  It is the largest room in the castle.

Mary Lou and her mother began giving tours of the castle in 1948, and after her mother passed, Mary Lou continued to reside in the home until her own passing in 2010.

Mary Lou Gulley, resident princess and proprietress of the Mystery Castle, passed away November 3, 2010, her obituary reads. To ensure the Castle and the spirits of her father, mother, grandmother, uncle, and all other keepers of the castle would live on, Mary Lou formed The Mystery Castle Historical Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, to preserve and care for the castle when she was no longer able to do so.

Today, the castle remains intact, just as it was left when Mary Lou passed. Visitors can tour the site and hear it’s story firsthand.

If you have or are putting together a bucket list of must see places in the USA this one deserves to be on that list.  There is so much more to see in addition to the pictures in the last two blogs.  The tour itself and the knowledge imparted by the guides is priceless.

A word of caution:   the parking lot is unpaved, rocky and uneven. The house and the surrounding walkways are worse, with steep, uneven steps and walking surfaces that are not level. But given all that it is well worth making the effort to get here and to take a tour.  You will not regret it.  We sure didn’t!

Another day on The Road of Retirement has come to a close.  Time to get some shut eye since tomorrow is another work day.  It’s been another great day spent with friends and working on projects that hopefully will in the end benefit others.  You can’t ask for more than that.

Thanks for coming along again today.  We also appreciate your company and your comments.  Catch you tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before

See you on down the road!

 

 

Places We Have Called Home In 2019

Home Is Where We Park It:   UMOM New Day Centers, Phoenix 

Nov 17, 2109

Temperature 81 Degrees

Mystery Castle of Phoenix

This being Sunday we had a choice, worship in the chapel or pull up the worship service from our home church and join in with them.  We went with the later and were not disappointed.  Pastor Ron always delivers a great message and this one as always did not disappoint.

Next on the morning agenda was breakfast.  It did not disappointed either.  We had waffles with chocolate chips and nuts, juice and a couple of cups of coffee.  Another yummy and tummy filling breakfast.

Our next decision was a big one, go to the wishy washy or go sight-seeing.  Since my T-shirts weren’t running away from me yet, sight-seeing won out.

What a place we found to visit.  It’s called the Mystery Castle of Phoenix.  It’s at the end of a rough dirt road but well worth the trip.

At first sight, the hideaway on the hill looks decrepit and doesn’t impress.  But first impressions can sometimes be deceiving.

As I move up the steps toward it, the curiosities of the creation come into view.  I notice the walls made of all kinds of rocks,

towers with owls on watch

dogs on guard

unusual gates

 windows of all sorts

all kinds of embedded titles

a sun dial with a rather unusual figure on it and next to it a petroglyph etched on rock,

a most unusual jar

a knight in rusted armor,

a wagon wheel embedded in one wall

and this garden.

all this before you even really get to the castle proper.

So how did this unusual place come to be?  How did it get it’s name?

In the late 1920s, Boyce Luther Gulley spent many of his days on the beach with his young daughter Mary Lou, building sandcastles on the shores of Seattle. One day, Mary Lou—troubled by the tide washing away their castle creations—turned to her father and said, Please, daddy, build me a big and strong castle someday that I can live in.

Boyce Luther Gulley, after learning in 1927 that he had tuberculosis abandoned his wife and daughter in Seattle. He traveled to Phoenix and started building a castle that he had promised to his little girl once while building sand castles on a beach.  Boyce Gulley lived longer than he thought he would, and he spent 15 years building his daughter’s castle.

Ok, that explains the castle part.  As for the mystery.  Hold on for a moment.  Believe it or not Gulley’s family back in Seattle never knew where he disappeared to nor what he was building.

In 1945—15 years after the building began—the stately structure was finally complete. That year, Gulley wrote home, revealing his illness, and told his family to come visit him in Phoenix. Unfortunately, Gulley passed away before his family arrived for their long-awaited reunion. He had not revealed any details of the structure in his letters, hoping to surprise his daughter upon arrival. Knowing only that he had left them a home on the hill, Gulley’s wife and daughter moved to Phoenix, seeing the castle for the first time once they arrived.

As for the mystery Boyce Gullet left instructions for his wife and daughter that there was a trap door in the house that should not be opened until two years after his death. His wife and daughter complied with his request. The trap door is located in a room that was called purgatory (between the chapel and the bar!) under a metal statue of an alligator.  When opened they found two $500 bills, letters from Gulley, and other trinkets.

Mary Lou and her mother lived on the property for many years, discovering many other hidden treasures in the nooks and crannies of the castle as the years passed.   This is another small hidden treasure box located in a rafter of the chapel.

Time now to take a tour.  Barbara is already waiting for us.

The castle is located on the north side of South Mountain, near the site of what was then the town dump. Gulley used salvaged materials, auto parts, junk, and other artifacts he found in the Southwest and in Mexico in the building of his home.  It is a two story building, it has a total of 8.000 square feet, 18 rooms and has 13 fireplaces.  He built it on the fly adding here and there as he went.  He never had a plan, not even a drawing to work from.

This is the where he started in what today is known as the living room.  This is the entrance to it

This is the first fireplace that he built.

A picture of the man himself.

A portrait of Mary Lou over the fireplace.

The living room is  a feast for the eyes, filled with folk art, kitschy cat decor, and eclectic antique collectibles.  You will also notice a lot of stuff in the house, pet rocks, dolls, cat statues, paintings, antiques, and more. Much of it was collected by Mary Lou during her years living at the house. Some of the items are (or were) quite valuable, some not so much. All of the items are exposed, and many tours have come through the house over the years, and so the decor has a tendency to look worn.

 

The next room that was built was the master bedroom.  The master bedroom combines a wood-carved bed and dresser set, which once belonged to the first governor of Arizona,

with red velvet love seats that were scavenged from the red light district in Jerome, NY. On the love seat sits two large doll figures—a bride and a groom—just two pieces of the puzzling decor found throughout the home.

More from the master bedroom

A picture and information about Mary Lou herself.

 

Then I found this and my heart melted.

We’re going to stop here tonight.  More to come tomorrow which will be just as interesting as the two rooms we’ve already been in.  Indeed, this is one of the most fascinating private homes we have visited during our travels.

That was our really neat day on The Road of Retirement.  It’s just amazing to us the fascinating places we continue to find as we travel around the country.  There have been so many that occasionally I have to go back to past blogs to remember them all.  Hey, time to go tomorrow is a work day.

Thanks for joining us today.  We always appreciate your company and your comments.  Like those about our future recliner, yup, we need one that will be comfortable to take a nap in!  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before

See you on down the road!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Places We Have Called Home In 2019

Home Is Where We Park It:   UMOM New Day Centers, Phoenix 

Nov 16, 2109

Temperature 78 Degrees

Anyone Want a Couch?

Almost Locked Ourselves Out

We awoke to another beautiful warm day with a few clouds in the sky but not a care in the world.  Well, almost.  We’ll get to that later.

Breakfast was right up there on the all time simply great breakfast meter.  I had an omelette with everything I could think of in it.  Add to that a piece of toast, a glass of juice and a couple cups of coffee.  Lip, smacking good!

As to that part of getting locked out.  When we came home the other day I noticed the key didn’t want to work in the lock.  I played with it a bit and we did get in but something had to be done sooner then better.

Today I pulled the lock assembly out of the door.  Easy as could be.  Fixing the issue that’s another story.  It appears that the lock cylinder for both the regular lock and the dead bolt are partially jammed.  The bad part of it is, they can’t be fixed they need to be replaced.  Moreover, you can’t replace just the locks you need to replace the whole assembly.  I’ll order the new part on Monday and should have it within the week.

About that couch.  The best place to get rid of it would be here.  They have a huge dumpster that they throw everything in from the kitchen sink to the living room couch.  You get the picture.  So, I believe I have a project over the next month to take care of.

We still don’t know what we are going to put in its place.  We have some ideas.  Maybe something like this

or maybe something like this.

We’ll also probably put in a small computer desk.

Time will tell what we will get.  Again, we’re in no rush since we want to make sure we get the right one at the right time.

Today I decided to put our rope lights out.  We’ve been hauling them around the country for the last several months.  I dug them out, put them out around the rig, plugged them in – and tripped the 15 amp circuit breaker.  Bummer.  These are LED lights so I’m thinking one of two things – either the outside box on the rig is bad or the lights are bad.  No way a string of LED lights should draw more than 15 amps.  Not to my way of thinking.  So I have another mystery to solve.

That was our super slow-mo, don’t do too much all at once day on The Road of Retirement.  We’re getting back into it slow but sure.  Come Monday we’ll be ready for work.

Thanks for checking in with us.  We always appreciate your company and your comments – including your thought on a new chair.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before

See you on down the road!

 

 

 

Places We Have Called Home In 2019

Home Is Where We Park It:   UMOM New Day Centers, Phoenix 

Nov 15, 2109

Temperature 82 Degrees

National Sweetheart Day

Home Sweet Warm Home

In Search of the Perfect Chair

I decided to designate today as National Sweetheart Day.  Somehow it sounded much better than what it really is which is National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day.  My sweetie has been so good to me these past several days (actually she is absolutely the greatest every day) I decided to honor her with some flowers today.

Through the years we’ve been together we’ve encountered some rough patches from time to time, yet hand in hand we always make it through whatever comes our way.  So too now we’ll continue to journey along, hand in hand, singing our song.

We’re finally home sweet warm home.  I’ll be honest, I’m just no good in cold weather.  I just can’t stand the cold, don’t want to live where it is cold.  I may visit somewhere where it is cold for a day or two but I’ll never want to stay there.

While we were in Wellsboro the temperatures went down into the teens.  In my book that is too darn cold for the likes of this warm weather lover.  Yet, I understand we are in for some winter weather here in Phoenix beginning and continuing by the middle of next week.  We’re looking at day time temperatures in the 60’s and night time lows in the 40’s.  Still much better than 10 degrees!  I can live with what is coming with no problem.

On the trip home we encountered this gentleman in the airport terminal.  It was nice to just stand and listen to him for a few minutes.  He was great and played a wide variety of music.

Another familiar face that allowed us to grab a quick meal before the flight home from Detroit.

This is the sign we were looking for.  It meant we were finally back to shorts and t-shirt weather.

Before we move on, a big thanks to my sister and her husband for their gracious hospitality while we were at their house.  An equally big shout out to our team members who provided transportation to and from the Sky Harbor airport.

Once home we decided that we were going to eventually pull the couch out of Graybeard and replace it with a recliner and a small computer desk.  One of the places we thought might have what we want was

Goodness  gracious were we ever wrong!  This is what they had to offer

We’re in no real rush, we’re going to be really picky, so we’ll just keep looking as we move about the country.

This place also has a lot of other odds and ends.  Take a look.  Anyone need a wheel or tire?  Maybe a steering wheel?

Need a dash?

A satellite dish?

Maybe an engine change is necessary.

Missing a front cap?

Hey, maybe you are in the market for a fixer upper that you can flip?  Honestly, just looking at this it is scary what fire can do to an RV.

This is one trailer that I’ve not seen the likes of before.  Looking at it I kept thinking it looked like a fruit juicer.  Can you imagine what would happen if you missed that warning about that low bridge up ahead?

That concluded our sight-seeing visit to the salvage yard.  We came home empty handed but that’s OK.  We’re not about to jump until and unless we find exactly what we want.

That was our nice, warm day on The Road of Retirement.  We’re absolutely exhausted and so we’re just taking it easy.  We visited the salvage yard and also did some grocery shopping.  The refrigerator and cabinets were completely empty and needed a refill.  Enough for one day.

Thanks for checking in with us.  We always enjoy your company and your comments.  Catch you tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before

See you on down the road!