Life at the Ranch

My new ride.

I have been considering buying a pickup for some time, as trailers follow a pickup better than they do a Jeep Grand Cherokee (wheelbase is 24 inches longer).  As it is the end of the year, dealers are willing to be flexible.  Unfortunately, this truck was at a dealer in Tucson, AZ, 220 miles from Deming.  All day run to go over to pick it up and return.  And then two days later,  we made another all day run (500 miles RT this time) to take the Jeep Grand Cherokee to Wyatt in Albuquerque and pick up a new flatbed trailer to haul the two side-by-sides at the same time.  I am tired of driving/riding.  

No more traveling now until mid-January.  We are planning a festive outing to the local truck stop for Thanksgiving dinner.  

Those of you who follow Facebook will see I have dropped out. The election year vitriol was getting me down.  At some point in the future, I may open another account.  The people I care about most all have the blog account link.  

Back in Business

A dear friend from my NCR days saw my post about the laptop and shot me an email.  His new laptop did the same thing and he told me to trying holding down the on/off key for 60 seconds.  Shazam! Laptop restored.  Now down to business.

We returned to Deming over Labor Day weekend to pick up the title to the RPOD so we could get it traded for the new rig.  Of course, I couldn't find it.  No problem, right?  Just go down to the NM DMV Tuesday morning and get a duplicate title and off to Phoenix.  Over that weekend I saw a news report that stated the DMV was converting to new software over the weekend.  Uh oh.

Bright and early Tuesday morning I was sitting on a bench outside the DMV office with other hardy souls, waiting for the office to open.  When it did, I was the first person called for titles.  I stood at the counter for over an HOUR while the poor clerk tried to figure out why he couldn't just print the title.  Mike said I was positively incandescent but I waited patiently.  Finally got it and off we went.

Arrived two hours late to Phoenix so we were pushed to unload everything from the RPOD to the Lance and take off before Phoenix rush hour traffic became insane.  Got lost trying to find the right highway and asked directions (imagine that...).  Finally headed north out of Phoenix to Star Valley where we had reservations.  Needless to say, we were both exhausted.

The new trailer is a vast improvement over the little RPOD.

The next night we decided to walk the dogs around the park.  Since Mike was in the market for a new side-by-side Yamaha Wolverine, he noticed a brand-new one in a driveway.  The owners were sitting outside and we stopped to chat with them.  We had also noticed Kansas license plates.  I asked where in Kansas and Jim (the Wolverine guy) said El Dorado.  Lela, his wife, said she had gone to first grade in Dearing, Kansas.  It is a very small world.


They told us that they spend the summers in Star Valley at the park but their home is in Tonto Basin, about an hour south.  According to Jim, there were really good off-road trails.  He sent us an email with the name and address of the park and invited us to come on down for a week or two.

The next morning, we hitched up and were at the entrance to the park waiting for the traffic to clear so we could pull out.  A car pulled up next to us and honked and honked.  We thought we had forgotten to close a bin or raise a stabilizer jack.  And then I looked over and it was Jim!  He had not given us the phone number of the park so he wanted to catch us before we left.

On home to Deming for some down time and to pick up Mike's new Wolverine. And then we went back into Arizona.  Since it was still hot in the desert, we picked a park in the high country near Clay Springs, north of Show Low, adjacent to a national forest and its trails.  Mike's bright shiny new Wolverine got initiated into the off-road world.

The trails here we could have run in the pickup truck.  Pretty country but not very interesting riding.  After a week we loaded up and headed for Tonto Basin.  

We found the park easily and got parked next to Jim and Lela.  There was a group going out the next day to the top of a mountain overlooking Roosevelt Lake and then down a trail to a picnic area.  (No photos because I accidentally deleted them.)  Five or six rigs and very nice people from the park.  There were several other dogs so Lola, Muppet, and Indy were not out of place.  

A day or two later, another ride organized by Jim, to the Blue Bird Mine the long way.  EEEEKKKKKKKKK!!!!!

And this wasn't even the steep part.

The next day we went out alone and wandered around (no maps). Jim had given us directions for finding the site of Fort Reno, although he said there's nothing there but a sign.  

Another in the string of forts all over Arizona and New Mexico built after the Civil War to attempt to subdue the Native American tribes.

On another trail, from a distance, we thought we saw buildings which might be an old mine so we headed that direction.  Turns out, it is a big outcrop of quartz.

These signs are posted at the entrance to most trails.  It means you are on your own if you get into trouble.

Another day, Jim took us to the trail up Reno Pass.  To get on the trail, you have to thread the needle between a boulder and a concrete post set up by the National Forest folks.  Opening is 68 inches wide, the Wolverine is 63 inches wide.  Doesn't sound too bad, huh?  Well, the trail tilts at a steep angle.  If you don't get it right, the tilt will throw you into  the boulder.  If Jim hadn't been with us and showed us how to negotiate it, we wouldn't have tried it.  (And yes, I was driving.)

View from Reno Pass.

Headed up Reno Pass.

Forest Service blockades the trail.

Jim told us the Forest Service blockaded the trail after a Boy Scout troop (!) did some sort of environmental damage and the trail was closed to let the area recover.  That was twelve years ago.  It's too bad because this trail goes over the pass and back down to the highway.  It would be a good loop but Jim said he's never seen the Forest Service re-open a trail once they close it.

Two additional rides with the park folks:

There was a long ride (60 miles) up Picture Mountain.  White-knuckle in spots but the Wolverine had no problem (Mike was driving).  

This forest fire was in 2005.  Takes a LONG time for the area to recover.

Old cabin in Picture Mountain.

One of the hazards of running the trails - downed trees.

Can you see a horse and rider?  That's supposed to be the picture.

The last full day we were there we were invited on another ride called Big Taco.  It's named for a deep cut made when the highway was built and the trail is close to it.

Another white-knuckle ride and again Mike was driving.

This part was easy.  The scary part came later.

Well, that catches up the blog with the travels.  Life at the ranch is pretty low-key so I probably won't be posting again for a while.