Somehow the past 12 months have flown past me. My charming son gave me a push when he recently texted me that I was overdue for a blog post. He's right...drat. And then he sent me a second text on the same subject...
Okay, so I will do a recap of the past months with photos.
Shortly after we arrived at Ramblin' Roads RV Resort (RRRR) in October, we visited an off-road dealer in Phoenix to upgrade our rigs. Mike's old Wolverine was beginning to show its age and my Polaris had needed $1,000 in repairs and wasn't even two years old. I no longer trusted it to keep me safe out in the wilderness.
The one above was my choice. (The red truck in the background also belongs to me.)
This is Ray, our neighbor in the park directly behind us. Ray is sitting at the entrance to the Desert Queen Mine (Winchester and the Desert Queen). He was not familiar with off-road so we took him on an excursion in exchange for his helping to remove the spacers on the Polaris.(Spacers set the wheels out about two inches which makes for a more stable ride.) We didn't want to trade in the Polaris with the spacers on it and we had friends who wanted them (see below).
Robin and Steve live down the lane from us in New Mexico and they also spend winters in Arizona visiting friends in various places. This photo was taken on Super Bowl Sunday while we watched the KC Chiefs trounce the SF 49'ers in the last quarter of the game!!!! Steve and Mike installed the spacers mentioned above on their Polaris as it was the same size as my old one.
We took Robin and Steve on a couple of our favorite rides before they moved on to visit other friends. This photo was taken at Picnic Hill, a short distance from the park. In fact, you can see the park by looking out from where Mike is sitting.
Shortly after Robin and Steve left, our other neighbors in New Mexico arrived for a visit. Karen and Bob live directly across the lane from us on Sunrise Ridge. They are experienced side-by-side drivers so we picked some of the more challenging trails for them. (One trail we wanted to run had a major collapse over the summer and is no longer accessible. About a 25 foot section of the trail slid down the hillside. If you go back on the blog posts, I believe I did a post and photos of it year before last. It's the Yuma Mine Overlook trail.)
The photo below was taken at what we call the No Left Turn Mine. It is in a box canyon, and to get to the trail, you turn right at the No Left Turn sign. And why, you are asking, is there a traffic sign in the middle of nowhere? If you turn left, there is a parcel of private land which is not open to the public .
It was quite an interesting winter for us as we kept getting new neighbors who like to ride. One day I walked into the office to buy quarters for the laundry. Standing at the office window was a tall, attractive 40-ish man who was asking about riding opportunities. I asked him where he was from (west of Fort Collins, CO) and where he was parked at RRRR. Oddly enough, he was two spaces down from us. Well, we had a great time with Jason and Michelle for several weeks. His sister and brother-in-law joined them for a few days so we had four rigs on the rides.
Our neighbors from Montana, Colleen and Mike Fenimore, were also at RRRR for the winter. They frequently came over to join the post-ride festivities with Jason and Michelle. Here Mike looks over Jason's firearm.
While Jason and Michelle were with us one day, we came across these beautiful animals Big Horn Sheep . I was leading, came around a curve, and the three rams were at the side of the trail. Instead of bolting, they just slowly ambled across to the other side and stopped to look at us. Jason got out to take photos. (These are his.) I was too gobsmacked to get my phone out.
Jason always has a pistol on rides, as do many others. Since the rams showed no reluctance about staying in the area, Jason fired his pistol to see if they would react. They just looked at him. Clearly, they are not hunted and do not fear humans.
Finally they slowly moved off and climbed a hillside, then disappeared over the top. I asked at the office if people were reporting sightings this year, as we had not seen any Big Horns our previous two winters. Joyce said that there had been a number of people who had seen them. An incredible piece of luck to see them.
Before Jason and Michelle left, they told us they are looking forward to coming back to RRRR for three weeks next year to ride with us.
And the fun and interesting people just kept coming. We met a couple from Maryland who also liked to off-road. Steve and Levere spend winters in AZ, drifting around from park to park. Steve drives and is relatively new to it; Levere doesn't drive. We were careful about our selection of trails and went out with them several times. Levere really wanted to learn to drive but didn't want Steve to teach her so I took her out a couple of times. The photo below is what happens when you open the door and step out without checking where you are.
Levere was driving and wanted me to take over, as she wasn't comfortable with driving the trail ahead. So dummy me, I jumped out and rammed right into a jumping cholla cactus (Jumping Cholla). I had jeans on when this happened so you can imagine what it would do to someone wearing shorts. It takes needlenose pliers and tweezers to pull the spines out, as they have a barb at the end. Go in really easy and come out really hard. If you don't get them out, they create a festering sore.
Going into Phoenix is an exercise in patience. We are about 100 miles west via I-10. The photo below was taken at 2:30 PM on a weekday. Heaven help us if we leave any later than that.
On this trip to Phoenix, Mike diverted to show me the Arizona Biltmore development and golf club Arizona Biltmore. How the other 5% live... He stopped at the club house and purchased the visor below so I could feel rich. The parking lot at the clubhouse was full of BMW's, Porsches, Mercedes, etc.
Shortly after we arrived at Ramblin' Roads RV Resort (RRRR) in October, we visited an off-road dealer in Phoenix to upgrade our rigs. Mike's old Wolverine was beginning to show its age and my Polaris had needed $1,000 in repairs and wasn't even two years old. I no longer trusted it to keep me safe out in the wilderness.
The one above was my choice. (The red truck in the background also belongs to me.)
This is Ray, our neighbor in the park directly behind us. Ray is sitting at the entrance to the Desert Queen Mine (Winchester and the Desert Queen). He was not familiar with off-road so we took him on an excursion in exchange for his helping to remove the spacers on the Polaris.(Spacers set the wheels out about two inches which makes for a more stable ride.) We didn't want to trade in the Polaris with the spacers on it and we had friends who wanted them (see below).
Robin and Steve live down the lane from us in New Mexico and they also spend winters in Arizona visiting friends in various places. This photo was taken on Super Bowl Sunday while we watched the KC Chiefs trounce the SF 49'ers in the last quarter of the game!!!! Steve and Mike installed the spacers mentioned above on their Polaris as it was the same size as my old one.
We took Robin and Steve on a couple of our favorite rides before they moved on to visit other friends. This photo was taken at Picnic Hill, a short distance from the park. In fact, you can see the park by looking out from where Mike is sitting.
Shortly after Robin and Steve left, our other neighbors in New Mexico arrived for a visit. Karen and Bob live directly across the lane from us on Sunrise Ridge. They are experienced side-by-side drivers so we picked some of the more challenging trails for them. (One trail we wanted to run had a major collapse over the summer and is no longer accessible. About a 25 foot section of the trail slid down the hillside. If you go back on the blog posts, I believe I did a post and photos of it year before last. It's the Yuma Mine Overlook trail.)
The photo below was taken at what we call the No Left Turn Mine. It is in a box canyon, and to get to the trail, you turn right at the No Left Turn sign. And why, you are asking, is there a traffic sign in the middle of nowhere? If you turn left, there is a parcel of private land which is not open to the public .
It was quite an interesting winter for us as we kept getting new neighbors who like to ride. One day I walked into the office to buy quarters for the laundry. Standing at the office window was a tall, attractive 40-ish man who was asking about riding opportunities. I asked him where he was from (west of Fort Collins, CO) and where he was parked at RRRR. Oddly enough, he was two spaces down from us. Well, we had a great time with Jason and Michelle for several weeks. His sister and brother-in-law joined them for a few days so we had four rigs on the rides.
Our neighbors from Montana, Colleen and Mike Fenimore, were also at RRRR for the winter. They frequently came over to join the post-ride festivities with Jason and Michelle. Here Mike looks over Jason's firearm.
While Jason and Michelle were with us one day, we came across these beautiful animals Big Horn Sheep . I was leading, came around a curve, and the three rams were at the side of the trail. Instead of bolting, they just slowly ambled across to the other side and stopped to look at us. Jason got out to take photos. (These are his.) I was too gobsmacked to get my phone out. Jason always has a pistol on rides, as do many others. Since the rams showed no reluctance about staying in the area, Jason fired his pistol to see if they would react. They just looked at him. Clearly, they are not hunted and do not fear humans.
Finally they slowly moved off and climbed a hillside, then disappeared over the top. I asked at the office if people were reporting sightings this year, as we had not seen any Big Horns our previous two winters. Joyce said that there had been a number of people who had seen them. An incredible piece of luck to see them.
Before Jason and Michelle left, they told us they are looking forward to coming back to RRRR for three weeks next year to ride with us.
And the fun and interesting people just kept coming. We met a couple from Maryland who also liked to off-road. Steve and Levere spend winters in AZ, drifting around from park to park. Steve drives and is relatively new to it; Levere doesn't drive. We were careful about our selection of trails and went out with them several times. Levere really wanted to learn to drive but didn't want Steve to teach her so I took her out a couple of times. The photo below is what happens when you open the door and step out without checking where you are.
Levere was driving and wanted me to take over, as she wasn't comfortable with driving the trail ahead. So dummy me, I jumped out and rammed right into a jumping cholla cactus (Jumping Cholla). I had jeans on when this happened so you can imagine what it would do to someone wearing shorts. It takes needlenose pliers and tweezers to pull the spines out, as they have a barb at the end. Go in really easy and come out really hard. If you don't get them out, they create a festering sore.
Going into Phoenix is an exercise in patience. We are about 100 miles west via I-10. The photo below was taken at 2:30 PM on a weekday. Heaven help us if we leave any later than that.
On this trip to Phoenix, Mike diverted to show me the Arizona Biltmore development and golf club Arizona Biltmore. How the other 5% live... He stopped at the club house and purchased the visor below so I could feel rich. The parking lot at the clubhouse was full of BMW's, Porsches, Mercedes, etc.
One more lucky encounter: John and Wanda Kintzer. They farm 30 miles east of Minott, ND and were in AZ for the winter. Their son farms adjacent to them so he keeps everything going over the winter.
John had an older four-wheeler and wasn't familiar with the side-by-sides. Since we have two machines, we took them out for several rides and then we had the usual post-ride festivities at our place. Both of them play guitars and participate in the jam sessions the park holds. So one night, they brought over a guitar and we had our own little jam session and sing-along. It was really fun.
We got a text message and a photo from them not long ago . They stayed at RRRR weeks after we left as the weather in ND was cold, wet, snowy, etc. and the COVID-19 virus was making it dicey to travel. As soon as they got back to ND, John went out and bought a Wolverine like Mike's! They are planning to come back to RRRR next year and ride with us.
So now we are back at Burro Mountain. Lots of sunshine, wind, 50's at night, 70's during the day. All park events (Cinco de Mayo, Memorial Day festivities, etc.) have been cancelled. There will be no group events until further notice which may be all season. Oh, well, since we are not social, it makes no difference.
Hope you all are doing the appropriate things to protect yourselves and families from the virus.
Glad to hear you have been doing things you love. My surgery went very well and I've had no back or leg pain since. I can walk 3 miles without incident. We've been spending time together in the trailer at our friends farm, we have all the advantages of an RV park without the fees. We've started the search for land or a home who knows what we'll find. We are buying a different trailer, this one is just too small to live in for any period of time. We've found one in GRants Pass Oregon and will be headed over to pick it up. Hoping to get to Minnesota some time this summer to see my sis and her daughters. We'll take the trailer so we reduce contact.What a strange time we live in. Love you Sis, Kathy
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