When will the wind stop and spring start?

29 April

Winds are hitting in the low 30 mph today.  The whole Hitchhiker rocks and I have to latch the screen doors on the decks twice to keep them from banging.  Coupled with colder than normal temps, the weather is, in a word, miserable.  A hard winter and so far, no spring.  

We are headed north to Bernardo to visit our friends Steve and Nancy for a few days.  It's a good shakedown run for the RPOD and we need it.  There were many repairs after last year's travels and we need to be sure they are all solid before we take off for three months.  Our new friends Paul and Jill are going to stop in Bernardo for a few days with us before going on into Colorado.

Just to keep things interesting, I have had two flat tires on the Jeep in less than a month.  After the second one, I took the Jeep to a local tire shop and got all new ones.  I can't really complain, as the old tires are probably original equipment and had 73,000 miles on them.

Several days ago, we took Jill and Paul out to some of the local sites, including the Homestead Mine, Homestead, Pony Hills, and a couple of other stops.  When Jill and Paul were in the mouth of the cave, they stirred up a flock (?) of bats, who blasted out past them.

Jill and Paul at Homestead Mine.

Jill and Paul and their new friends, the bats.

The spring-blooming stuff is going full blast now.  One of the more interesting is Ocotillo, commonly known around here as Spanish Spear.  The plant blooms before it leafs out, as you can see in the photos.  

Decent Weather At Last

April 13

We have beautiful weather today and took a long ride to the foot of The Frog.  I think I have mentioned in an earlier post that there is a section of the mountains to the north that is known as The Frog.  If the shadows are right and you have had enough wine, you can see the head of a frog.  Sometimes it takes quite a bit of wine, actually.

This is a trail Mike will not run and only took me today as I had not been there.  After driving it, I won't do it again, either.  It is so rocky and steep and difficult, it's not really much fun.  I mistakenly continued across a wash and found out the trail ended.  Mike was right behind me and there wasn't much room to turn both rigs around.  Must have taken us 30 minutes of back and forth to get headed back the other way.  

Here are a few photos of this trail.  You will see why it's difficult.

16 April

Two days ago, we did an all-day ride with a couple from the Carolinas.  They are full-time RV'ers and will be here in Hidden Valley Ranch for another couple of weeks.  Lots of fun to talk with them about where they have been and where they might go next.  They spend most of the summer in the high country in Colorado to escape the heat.  Good riding where they are, I understand.  

Paul and Jill descend the bottom of Suicide.

Paul, Mike and Jill at Indian Bathtub.

April 23

Went up to Silver City today (50 miles away) for a horse rescue fund raiser.  Wyatt's mother-in-law Pat volunteers there.  Two other women from the park who have/had horses rode along and a good time was had by all.   

A horse came in yesterday who is in terrible shape.  She was tethered in a yard, thin, broken down, with a big sore on her withers.  The livestock inspector who seized her says she is 17 and I can believe that.  Her legs show evidence of her having been worked very hard for a long time.  The good news is she is now safe and will be fed and cared for the rest of her life.

Several months ago they got a band of wild mustangs and they are working to gentle them and get them the care they need.  A big job and at times a dangerous one.  These horses are not used to humans at all.  The people who own the ranch fund most of the rescues out of their own pocket.  The event today was to try to compete for an ASPCA grant.  See below.

Help A Horse Day @ End of the Road Ranch Spread the word and save this date & Time APRIL 23, 2016  10-2 End of the Road Ranch is Celebrating the ASPCA's Help A Horse Day    Community support is needed for chance to win up to a $25,000 ASPCA grant to help save more horses!   We will be taking part in the national celebration of ASPCA®'s Help A Horse Day on April 23 and competing for a chance to win up to $25,000 in grant prizes to assist with our efforts to protect horses.  Stopping in and signing our roster and/or making a donation this month helps us qualify for a grant from the ASPCA. Please stop by and/or donate to show your support of the horses.   To celebrate the day, End of the Road Ranch will hold an open house in honor of the ASPCA's 150th Anniversary celebration this year, the contest has been expanded to include a total of $100,000 in grant prizes, including a grand prize of $25,000.  This nationwide competition is for equine rescues and sanctuaries to raise awareness about the lifesaving work we do year-round to care for at-risk horses in our community who have often been abused or neglected.        End of the Road Ranch 4092 Mountain View Rd. Silver City, New Mexico 88061 Turn onto Mountain View from 180 W (Between the Comfort Inn and the Econo-Lodge) Drive approx. 3mi. to End of the Rd. Food-Games-Raffle Bring a friend, spread the word and come celebrate with EOTRR. Can't make that date, you can still help. Donate in honor of Help A Horse Day

Is It Spring Yet?

Today is Easter Sunday.  We are still having high winds (30-45 MPH) and days are mostly chilly.  Today has been warm but weather will deteriorate over the next day or two.

Michelle and Wyatt were here weekend before last. They came down to attend Columbus NM's 100th anniversary of the Pancho Villa raid.  (Hey, it's New Mexico...you have to stretch to find festive occasions.)  

No photos because my new-in-November Fuji camera had to return to Fuji.  They have, however, sent me a new one but it took several weeks.  And...I have to set it up again.  There must be 300 different settings or options.  

The next day they stopped to see us and to bring me the firearm I had asked Wyatt to find for me.  I have felt positively under-dressed during the warm-weather months, as everyone else is packing a sidearm loaded with snake shot.  I need a lot of practice or I better plan to throw the pistol at the snake and run like hell.

Later...

It's April 5 today.  FINALLY, WE HAVE WARM WEATHER.  Going to have 23 mph winds today so still not that great.

We went to an area (new to me) today where there are old mines.  It's a fair trip to get there and the road ends at the mines so you just turn around and go back.  There is one large open pit type mine and since we don't know what the area is called, we named it "3 Dog Mine" in honor of Indie, Muppet and Lola who were with us.  You can get an idea of the size as Mike is at the top in the first photo.  It's quite deep.  Don't have any idea what they were mining but it's been abandoned for a long, long time.

It reminded me of David Shrum who died as a result of a mine collapse in the California gold fields in 1861.  Dangerous business.  And there are idiots out here who like to go into these old mines.   

Life out here on the open range can be tough on the old, the young, the stupid or the sick/injured.  This unfortunate beastie didn't make it through the winter.