THE DAY WE SPENT 3 PLEASURABLE HOURS AT A REAL ARIZONA DUDE RANCH

ATOP OUR BIRD STATION TODAY A MOURNING DOVE CATCHES A FEW WINKS WHILE ENJOYING THE SUNSHINE

Another nice Spring like day and I was able to get the Jeep vacuumed and some windows cleaned in Kelly's Sunbird.  Coming back from our morning drive I also popped the Jeep into Bayfield's carwash for a squirt.  Hasn't been any action over at the Tim Horton's coffee shop next door for about 3 weeks again.

A TOUCH OF MIST ALONG THIS COUNTRY CREEK

LOOKS LIKE WINTER BUT FEELS LIKE EARLY SPRING

SNOW IS MELTING FAST AND LAST WEEK THIS UNPLOWED ROAD WOULD HAVE BEEN IMPASSABLE

We're off to London's Regional Cancer Center Tuesday where I have an appointment with my Oncologist, Doctor Mendez .  I guess we'll talk about my latest PSA numbers and see what he recommends from there.  So far so good and I haven't experienced any after effects since undergoing radiation treatments last Fall.  I'm still as old as new:))

SO NICE TO SEE BARE FIELDS AGAIN

Thanks to Janna from Restoration Cowboy Style for sending us a note yesterday which in part said, 'I finally met Eve today and she remembers you both very fondly.'  Well you may wonder who Eve is??  Well, we met Eve Searle November 30th 2010.  A most remarkable lady and at the time owned Grapevine Canyon Ranch located near Pearce Arizona on the eastern side of the Dragoon Mountains.  Grapevine Canyon Ranch at that time was a well known high end Dude Ranch catering to many European people who came there to experience a true working Western ranch complete with horses and real cowboys.  Kelly and I were ranch sitting a couple miles southwest of McNeil Arizona at the time and we had been scrambling around a few times in Rucker Canyon over in the Chiricahua Mountains looking for old Camp Rucker and the remains of Mary Kidder Rak's house at the same location.  We found both and I published a few posts about our findings.  It was shortly after this I think we received an email from a lady in Cochise County who wondered if she could use one of my photos on her website.  She also knew more of the story about author Mary Kidder Rak and her husband Charlie.  Mary Kidder Rak wrote A Cowman's Wife and I truly recommend it.  A few emails back and forth and we were soon on our way to meet a lady by the name of Eve at a location called, Grapevine Canyon Ranch.  My post for the day picks up the story here at...…. Today We Visited Grapevine Canyon Ranch. (some of the links in the post no longer apply) Remember to click on the smaller pictures to enlarge them.  My photo album with additional photos for the day is here at.....Grapevine Canyon Ranch.  Click on the first photo to enlarge it then arrow right to go through the photos or arrow left to go back.  Eve sold the ranch a number of years ago and the only website I found describing the ranch was a Realtors ad regarding the  Ranch Sale.  I'm assuming it's a private ranch now.  What a beautiful place it was and by the way, putting this together tonight I found out Eve is still very actively Blogging and you can find her at Latest News From Eve At Cobre Loma.  You will find her writing enlightening and her adventuress stories of life on the ranch over the years entertaining.  She has an archive of posts going back to 2008.  Since I just found Eve again you can now also find her on my sidebar:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((  

Q. When is a retiree's bedtime?

A. Three hours after he falls asleep on the couch.

Q. How many retirees does it take to change a light bulb?

A. Only one, but it might take all day.

Q. What's the biggest gripe of retirees?

A. There is not enough time to get everything done.

Q. Why don't retirees mind being called senior citizens?

A. The term comes with a 10% discount.

Q. Among retirees what is considered formal attire?

A. Tied shoes.

Q. Why do retirees count pennies?

A. They are the only ones who have the time.

Q. What is the common term for someone who enjoys work and refuses to retire?

A. NUTS!

Q. Why are retirees so slow to clean out the basement, attic or garage?

A. They know that as soon as they do, one of their adult kids will want to store stuff there.

Q. What do retirees call a long lunch?

A. Normal

Q. What is the best way to describe retirement?

A. The never-ending Coffee Break.

Q. What's the biggest advantage of going back to school as a retiree?

A. If you cut classes, no one calls your parents.

Q. Why does a retiree often say he doesn't miss work, but misses the people he used to work with?

A. He is too polite to tell the whole truth.

=================

When we began our RV Travels back in the Autumn of 2006 we really didn’t have any plans or firmed up destinations.  Only thing clear was our preference to travel in the American Southwest.  Knowing very little about New Mexico, Arizona, & California I had it in my mind to see the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico & with that thought in mind we set off in that direction.  The rest of course is history as they say & we began our winter wanderings.  Here it is nearly 10 years later & as I look back I see we have spent the majority of our Snow Bird travels in Arizona with California coming in a distant second. 

WE BEGIN OUR DESCENT DOWN THE YARNELL HILL WITH A FEW SKIFFS OF ICY SLUSH ON THE ROAD

Think it was in December of 08 another RV couple met us in Yuma & said friends of theirs were looking for someone to do some ranch sitting.  In January we met the Ranch owners in South-east Arizona near a tiny little dusty spot called McNeal.  From that time until January of 2012 we spent several months of each winter season ranch sitting.  A short couple months after rolling out of the McNeal area ranch heading further west we stumbled across & bought our house in Congress Arizona.  So looking back now I would have to call Arizona our second home having spent the majority of our nearly 10 years here.  Starting out back in 06 we had no idea whatsoever what lay ahead of us & that we would end up spending the majority of our time in Arizona.  In fact I’m surprised we have been traveling the South-west for as long as we have.  Who knew.
  

It goes without saying what has attracted us here to the deserts & mountains Arizona, New Mexico, & California but at the repeated concern of repetition here’s a few things.  First & foremost for us was & still is the overall beautiful scenery which I have gone on & on in my posts each & every year.  Next of course is the weather.  Neither Kelly or I like hot & humid weather so that rules out traveling south of the U.S. border.  Not liking bitter cold & snow is what drives us out of Canada each Fall.   Yes it can get overly hot here & overly cold here from mid October to the end of March but in between we are able to enjoy the near perfect weather which we both enjoy.  And just think, no pesky bugs or biting insects, no torrential rains, no tornados, no hurricanes, no prolonged cloudy gray skies, no Alligators & no active poisonous snakes out & about during the winter months.  And here’s a biggy, a whole lot less people & traffic congestions found in many other States. 

Parts of the old wild West are still alive in many areas of Arizona & for me that has always been a main attraction as well.  Cowboys on horses are real & I never tire of seeing them on horseback wherever it may be.  I have mixed feeling about some of the lax laws but one just has to adjust to a lot of the old tumble down houses & properties found in so many smaller towns & outback areas.  I guess you could say that it lends itself to the ways & times of an era almost gone but hardly forgotten.

I’ve often thought if Utah would have had a more favorable winter climate we could have easily ended up there as well.  It’s still my favorite scenic State.  If California wasn’t so expensive we may have spent more time there over the years & again if New Mexico had a warmer winter climate we might have ended up settling in that State for the summer months somewhere.  But Arizona it is & we do like it here despite a few cold spells now & again.  For me I much prefer doing things outside in cooler weather as opposed to hot & humid.  But that’s just me:))

Kelly tried her best with the new Lenova laptop computer but this morning she packed it up back in it’s box to be returned to Amazon.  The straw that broke the Camel’s back was the computers difficulty connecting to the Internet.  My Toshiba sitting right beside the Lenova had no problems connecting while the Lenova kept dropping the connection.  Researching the internet on her older Acer she came to learn that connection problem is inherent with the model she had.  Even with Kelly’s oceans of patience the writing was on the wall & she had had enough.  So disappointing after all the hours she spent first having to re-install a bad Windows 10 install plus setting up her computer account & transferring a bunch of data.  Wasn’t until she had done all that that she discovered the connection problem.  Not often if hardly ever I see Kelly discouraged……but I saw it this morning:((

Pheebs & I did get out for a desert walk today but it wasn’t until almost noon.  Usually we’re just getting home by that time but cooler morning temps we didn’t head off till almost noon.  Nice walk, a few pics & that was about it for today.

GROANER’S CORNER:(( There were two blondes who went deep into the frozen woods searching for a Christmas tree.
After hours of subzero temperatures a few close calls with hungry wolves, one blonde turned to the other and said,
"I'm chopping down the next tree I see. I don't care whether it's decorated or not!"
Q. What did Adam say on the day before Christmas?
A. It's Christmas, Eve.
Q: What is a webmaster's favourite hymn?
A: Oh, dot com all ye faithful!....

WE WILL SOON BE HEADING BACK TO THE ARIZONA RANCH FOR AWHILE:))

SUNSET AT THE RANCH HOUSE....March 09

(All of to-day's photos were taken last winter)

In last night's blog I paired up a wrong link with a correct photo.  I have since changed that & the correct link for our rig with the wheels in the ditch can be found HERE .  Thanks for spotting that Jerry:))

KELLY HEADS OUT FOR A BIKE RIDE AT THE RANCH

In less than a week we will heading back to the ranch in Arizona where we spent 7 weeks last winter looking after a few critters for some friends.    We had never met Jeanie & Ray, owners of the ranch until they stopped into our boondocking site near Tombstone Az one day.  But, the actually story of how that meeting came about begins a couple of months before that & is a good example of......... you never know who's reading your blog:))

WHISKER RUB FOR BANSHI

We were boondocking for awhile in the California desert on Ogilbe Road about 10 miles west of Yuma in December of 08.  One day an email came in from another RV couple who said they had been following our blog, were presently camped east of Yuma, & would we like to get to-gether for a visit.  Those people turned out to be Doug, Joanne, & their standard poodle  Fillmore from LIVING OUR DREAM.    We met on a Saturday morning at McDonald's in one of Yuma's Wal-Marts.  About half way through our conversation Joanne asked if we might be interested in a ranch sitting job for some friends of theirs.  Well, that immediately conjured up herds of charging cattle, cowboys on wild bucking broncos, buffalo from horizon to horizon, blazing saddles, city slickers, & legends of Curly's gold.  Very scary stuff to say the least so over a Big Mac & fries we said we would definitely think it over.JOANNE, DOUG, KELLY, & AL , OUTSIDE McDONALDS IN THE WAL-MART STORE...YUMA

HORSES IN THE CORRAL & SNOW COVERED MULE MOUNTAINS

BANSHI & SPORTY GALLOPING IN FOR SUPPER

PONCHO, NELLY, & SARAH....(but maybe not in that same order:))  THE HEE HAW GANG

Took us a couple days to weigh the possibilities of roller skating in a buffalo herd, being attacked by roving band of wild chickens, & spending the cold desert nights out on the lone prairie under the endless stars with rattlesnakes in our sleeping bags & coyotes snapping at our heels.  Well, afterall, we were northern folk & not being from these parts we weren't sure just what to expect.  Guess we had just seen too many totally rootin tootin dust em up cowboy movies.  Luckily, common sense prevailed & quickly dispelled most of the fears.  Yes, the nights were cold with endless stars but it was hibernation time for all the snakes anyway & besides, we didn't have any sleeping bags or blazing saddles anyway.   Yep, we said........."we'll do it."

THE RANCH HOUSE

SAND HILL CRANES HEADING INTO THE SUNRISE

Joanne had given us Jeanie & Ray's email address so we first met Jeannie on-line.  Emails went back forth, questions were asked & answered from both sides as we all got to know each other.  We agreed on a time to head on down to the ranch in southeastern Arizona & the rest as they say is history. 

THESE GUYS SURE LIKE TO EAT

And what about those endless buffalo herds, bucking broncos, wild chicken attacks, charging cattle, & blazing saddles??  Well, we never did see a buffalo so never had a chance to strap on the roller skates .(Roger Miller song;))  The bucking broncos turned out to be a couple very friendly expectant mares named, Banshi & Sporty & the closest we got to a charging herd of cattle were 3 schmoozy burrows, Pancho, Nelly, & Sarah.  The attacking chicken gang turned out to be 9 lovely ladies residing in a coop near our motorhome complete with their very own in house rooster named Rodney.  We have since heard that Rodney & one of the ladies have moved on to poultry heaven:((  And those heel snapping coyotes turned out to be a couple of big slurpy doggy guys named, Pearce & Gleeson who quickly became our most  bestest pals.  We did feed a cat or two every night but never did really see them.   Probably those big fierce mountain lion types from the movies I'm sure.

WOKE UP TO SNOW ON THE SWISS HELM MOUNTAINS ONE MORNING

FRIENDS INGRID & TOM DROP IN SO IT'S SNACK TIME FOR THE DOGGY GUYS

It is this same ranch we are heading back to next week while Jeanie & Ray take another long extended vacation this winter.  For many years they worked that ranch & couldn't go anywhere because of the cattle they raised & fed.  We're just happy to fill in for them again plus it gives us a nice place to stay for awhile in an area rich with old west history.  If anyone is interested they can slip over to our archives & check the dates from February 6th to March 23rd of 2009 for our antics on the ranch plus many day trips.  Same dates for our photo albums.  Lots of photos from the ranch including sunrises over the Swiss Helm mountains to the east & sunsets over the Mule Mountains to the west.  And lots of frolicking critter pics, and........snow!!

SAND HILL CRANES IN FLIGHT PAST A CRESCENT MOON

SUNSET OVER THE MULE MOUNTAINS

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Did you know a toothache is the pain that drives you to extraction!!

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS  http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.

WARBLING SOME COWBOY TUNES & CLEANING CORRALS:))

THIS WATERING SYSTEM MOVES FORWARD A FEW FEET ABOUT EVERY 30 SECONDS

THIS IS THE GOOGLE EARTH IMAGE OF THE SAME CROP CIRCLES I PHOTOGRAPHED THIS WEEK.  RANCH IS AT LOWER LEFT

It was nearly a year ago when an email landed on our desktop while we were boondocked just west of Yuma in California.  That email from DOUG & JOANN, people we had never met, led directly to our ranch sitting job here in southeastern Arizona.  (we later did meet D&J)  They put us in email contact with a couple in Arizona who were hoping to spend a little time catching up on some RVing themselves.....if they could find someone to look after their ranch while they were away.  Well, one thing led to another & we began emailing back & forth with Jeanie & Ray the ranch owners near Douglas, Az.  They gave us the location of their ranch so I fired up our Google Earth to see if I could find the location from the air.  First thing I saw in the approximate ranch area were 6 very round & very large circles on the ground.  I had no idea what they were & the only time I had ever seen anything remotely similar were pictures of mysterious crop circles.  It wasn't until we finally arrived at the ranch about 6 weeks later that I found out what those very larger round circles really were.

Irrigation!! In southern Ontario we have lots of rain so there is no need for irrigation.  Fields are typically square or rectangle like a patchwork quilt.  In the Sulphur Springs Valley here the land is very arid & dry making it  difficult for crops to grow.  And, especially this past 7 years since the annual summer Monsoon rains have not been dropping their usual heavy rainfalls.  The water table in the valley is low & it was one of the factors here at the ranch that persuaded the owners Jeanie &  Ray to sell their 40+ head of cattle a few years back.  Not enough rainfall to sustain their crops for cattle feed.  There is an extensive irrigation system here on the ranch but if the water table isn't up to where it should be, the system becomes less effective.

The way some ranchers have dealt with this problem is to plant their crops in large circles.  A single water pipe, well, & pump system brings the water up & out of the ground from the center of the circle & into a long piping system that travels in a slow circle around the field on sets of wheels.  To-day's photos show a new system being installed last week & another one in operation.  I was lucky enough to come across the watering process on my way home from our photo group yesterday.

 

(click on photos to enlarge)

While Kelly was at her Yoga class this morning I was able to get some shrubs trimmed around the ranch & spent some time cleaning up the corral area.  ‘With no-body around I was really able to belt out some cowboy tunes too:))  To-morrow morning a Ferrier is coming to trim the donkey's hooves.  I wanted the corrals all spiffed up before she got here.  This afternoon we brought the donkeys into the corral from an adjoining field & first thing to-morrow morning we'll put them into a smaller stall for their manicure.  And how do we move these donkeys around so easily??  Yummy hay bales, that's how.  Just place a bale of hay on the ground and they will be there:))

 

HAULING OUT SOME HAY FOR THE DONKEY GUYS.  ONE BALE FOR SUPPER, ONE FOR BREAKFAST……HEEEEE-HAWWWWW!!

To-morrow afternoon we're heading over to the New Tribes Mission where Jeff the head pilot will give us a tour of the facilities.  And Thursday afternoon I will be slipping over to Belle Starr's to give her a hand at re-vitalizing her blogsite.  Yesterday we only had 2 people out for our photo group but that was OK because I was able to help fellow photo grouper MARYBETH set up her own blogsite.  Both Kelly & wish we knew how to do full blown websites but without some kind of instruction course it's not too probable.  If we could land a website course some time, Kelly would take it because she has the most good brains in the family:))  Much easier for her to attend the course then teach me rather than the other way around because the only thing I would probably remember at the end of the day would be what we had for lunch!!

OLD RUSTY FARM MACHINERY

Kelly brought a book home from the Elfrida library the other day called, The Day After Roswell.  To-day I started reading my first ever book about that UFO incident.  I have a very open mind about that sort of thing but have not done a lot of reading about it because there has been no way to separate fact from fiction regarding that incident.  And I have absolutely no interest whatsoever in fiction!!  If this book I started reading to-day is indeed fact, & so far I have no reason to believe it isn't, then the crash of an alien craft northwest of Roswell..........is true!!

WEEKLY SATURDAY NIGHT DONKEY DUST BATH

And one year ago to-day we were boondocked at Pilot Knob just west of Yuma for the night & that is where I took the photo you see at the top of our blog:)) 

SUPER PALS

GROANER'S CORNER:((  If David Letterman were to define the term "Top 10 reasons for Owning a Recreational Vehicle"-
1) A hobby that doesn't make you money, isn't relaxing, and leaves you broke!
2) A lifestyle choice that can kill you...or at least try to!
3) An obsession that will land you in the Funny Farm...or a Campground in Yeehaw Junction, Florida!
4) An amusing distraction...but you don't smile that much!
5) A great way to spend your kids inheritance!
6) A potentially deadly disease for which there is no cure!
7) A terrific way to see the very best and worse in humanity, from your living room.
8) There are easier ways to squander a lot of money! Live and pay Taxes in California for example!
9) The only cheap way to take a vacation that leaves you broke!
10) A way of life that is guaranteed NOT to make a 'homeless guy pushing a shopping cart with all of his worldly belongings in it' jealous!

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS  http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now....AL.