Day 9 & 10 - On the Loose

I am behind in my blog because not much happened on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. I basically spent the most of Tuesday just getting things done that I had neglected like washing, got the truck trailer light socket fixed, lube, oil and filter for the truck, getting the trailer hitch fixed and a couple of errands at Wally-Mart.

Wednesday I went to Bob King's to hang out and spent a big part of the day riding and roping with Bob and another cowboy from Colorado by the name of Dan Moyer. Dan is a neat person who is also a rawhide and leather braider which is quite a skill. Dan buys his own cows, skins them out, prepares the hide and then makes a number of cowboy and horse items from the leather.

For example, a reata (leather rope) sells for about $20 per foot (minimum of 60 feet) and takes about 50 man hours to complete.

Here is Dan saddling one of the 3 horses he brought with him. After the Brannaman clinic he will be heading for California to sell a couple of horses.

Temperature = 78

Day 8 - On the Loose

As I didn't have a lot to do today, I got up about 6:30 AM, had breakfast, drank some coffee and did my e-mails. I then headed to Tucson which is about 45 minutes away to return the trailer hitch I bought to fix the over-all tow height of the trailer. I also bought the part to fix the trailer light socket on my truck. At $75 labor to install an $8 part it seems to me that I can do this myself... at least I hope so!

This afternoon I went to Bob King's place to see what was going on. He has sold 2 horses and the people were there to pick them up. They spend the winter in Mexico and then go to Wyoming for the summer where Dick he owns 80 acres and looks after the cattle for a ranch. Dick started roping about a year ago and has worked at it very hard to become very good at it.

Bob's new saddle is awesome. It is so light yet strong enough to be able to use roping. If anyone who is a trail rider wants to use a western saddle that is very well made, then this is for you. If you want additional information, contact Bob King at http://www.ranch-roper.com/.

Tonight's dinner was great... fried chicken and brown rice (prepared by Arda for me) plus Garbanzo Chick Peas and a cookie from a local Mormon deli. Arda is really something as she has prepared meals for me AND undertaken her bike 4 cancer quest... I am a lucky man!

Temperature = 82

Day 6 & 7 - On the Loose

A couple of slow days as Wrangler Dave is having withdrawal symptoms because he has not been on a horse for over a week now.

Yesterday I went to Sierra Vista (the largest town in these parts) to a Best Buy for a new TV. When I removed the old one from the shelf, all I heard was rattle/rattle so I guess it really didn't make the journey back from Silver City. I took a side trip to Tombstone which was very busy with tourists. I came back to the trailer to hook-up the Dish TV but I guess I will have to have the installer come out...

Today I went to Our Lady of Lourdes Church. It is an older church and was pretty busy. It is really strange to drive around and see all the stores (except Safeway and Wal-Mart) closed. Even the restaurants are closed on Sundays, including the DQ. I spent the day cleaning the trailer and just generally taking it easy.

For those of you in the know, you can see from the picture that I am wearing my "ranch t-shirt"...

Temperature = 78

Day 5 - On the Loose

Well Arda and I parted ways again this morning. She was heading east to conquer Emory Pass at 8828 ft. and I headed west to the city of Benson where I will attend a horse clinic next week. We are going to give it another try - when we meet up again in Kerrville TX on April 3rd.

Here are the ladies getting ready to hit the road... do they look ready to conquer the mountain?

I too had an exciting day… 3 new tires plus the new spare we bought last fall are now on the trailer. I used one of the old tires as a spare. The side-walls on the old tires had started to crack from the sun and their age so it was time to replace them.

TV is not working after the trip back to Benson… looks like I may have to buy another one. The one we had is a really old one so not too much of a loss except we didn't want to do it just now.

I have an appointment next Wed AM to get the trailer plug on the truck fixed. I broke the small plastic part that holds the trailer socket in and of course you can't just buy the broken piece, you have to buy the whole unit. The part is $13 and the labor is $80... go figure.

I took the hitch in to be fixed as it did not have a deep enough drop so the trailer did not ride level… it should be ready next Wed. I bought a $100 part that I will now return as Jake at the machine shop came up with an old hitch he will cut down. Thank goodness there are still some people skilled at fixing vs replacing things.

The SKP park in Benson is nice but sterile (meaning lined up in rows with no trees) if you know what I mean.

All in all… a pretty good day.

Temperature = 83

Day 4 - On the Loose

This was the day I met Arda in Silver City, NM for her day off. We stayed at the Royal Wal-Mart (best price and rooms in town!) and we always wind up spending money there.

We did not do too much other than enjoy each other’s company, visit the “old Silver City” center and enjoy a great Mexican Dinner at Jalisco Café… if you are ever in Silver City and enjoy Mexican Food, this is the place.

I think the trip is finally getting to some of the women as you can see in the photo on the left… not sure about them! What will they be like by the time they reach Florida… frightening thought!










Temperature = 77

Day 3 - On the Loose

This is late because I did not have an internet connection and Arda and I had other things to do…

Today was a travel day. I left Goldminers RV Park early in the AM and drove about 2 hours to the ghost town of Steins, NM where I met up with our friend Tom. This ghost town was a mining town built on the railroad line (not sure which came first – the town or the RR?) and was purchased about 5 years ago for $120,000 with the intent of restoring it and then opening it to tourists. Unfortunately the mine produced a lot of mercury so this had to be cleaned up before anything else… this is still in progress so who knows when it will be opened. The picture on the left is one of an original building that is still standing.

Next it was off to meet Arda. I actually met her several times as I passed her and then would wait for her if there was something of interest. As you can see, we both made it to the Continental divide… boy that was a hard climb! We met again in Silver City where everyone sat around in the parking lot telling stories and imbibing in a few refreshments before a delicious dinner that Linda cooked. Once again I learned a couple of things.

First I stand corrected. Mary Kay set me straight about the reference in a previous day about “relieving oneself by the guardrail”. It is actually called “Mary Kay’s Guardrail Tinkle Technique” (no pics folks - HA!). So now all Wrangler Dave readers know the rest of the story.

The second thing I learned was how to sing and dance the “beaver” (NO I was not a party to this shall we say activity). Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures (shame on me) and the women are really happy about that. If you are really interested in learning more, I am sure Sue Elliot will be more than happy to provide all the info you want and more.
That is all I am writing about in today’s log…

Temperature = 77

Day 2 - On the Loose

Today was a very relaxing day as I got ready to travel tomorrow. I am going to Silver City, NM to meet up with Arda... yes again! Arda has Thursday off so I guess we will do some sight seeing with Jan and Jeannie if they want.

Anyone want to dance the Watusi, well pick your partner and have at it but you better sit down before the music stops though.






 

I spent today cleaning the trailer (takes about 5 minutes ) doing laundry, flushing tanks and filling the fresh water tank. That about killed the morning as I did not get up very early and did not move very fast... I prefer to call it moseying around...

After lunch I went to Bob's to watch for a while and take some pictures. Here is Bob's new saddle. This is a further refinement of the saddle I bought. This saddle weighs about ~20 pounds vs mine at ~30 vs a standard saddle at ~50. It is stout enough to withstand the rigors of roping so it should be a very popular saddle. As Bob's new one squeaks I offered to trade him even as all the squeaks are gone from mine but he said he would put up with it... why am I not surprised!

Well I am all "hooked up" and ready to hit the road in the morning. I don't know about completing my blog once I meet up with Arda as I am sure she has plans for us... if she doesn't, I do.

Temperature = 77

Day 1 - On the Loose

I know this is a little late but I was really tired last night when I got home so I did not do a blog. Yesterday was one of running around as Tom (as in Hone) and I drove to Benson to a machine shop to see if I could get my hitch changed. I will drop the hitch off when I return this Friday.

Next it was off to Tucson where we went to Camper's World. Tom was able to finally order a part for his truck. He has been waiting for this for about a month. I was also able to spend some money - surprise! surprise!

After driving back to Benson where we had lunch I dropped Tom off at Bob King's Cowboy School.

I decided to drive to Safford where Arda was staying that night... it is about 1.25 hours from here. The scenery was very nice but the drive was terrible as I ran into snow, hail and rain... sometimes it seemed as if I had all 3 at the same time. I took a couple of pictures of the mountains with snow on them. Amazing because the day before there was no snow.


As I wanted surprise Arda with my visit (which I did) I did not tell anyone what I was doing. She arrived at the hotel before me but only long enough to get her wash going... this is like a fire drill with everyone vying for a place in line. I stayed for dinner and enjoyed a fun evening with all the women... I surprised Jeannie and Jan too so it was a triple surprise for me - HA! I did learn one thing from the evening, how to use the guardrail to help relieve yourself... Sure am glad I don't have to worry about these things!

Temperature = 45

Back Again - that was quick!

Well I seem to be in a groove writing about my days so I thought I would just keep going... at least one more day. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

I went to church this AM and when it came time to introduce visitors, up popped a person who was sitting behind me. He said he was from Grand Rapids and his name was Jim Jakos. Well it just so happens I worked the one and the same Jim Jakos at S/C. He "winters" in Sierre Cascade and was visiting a friend in Sunsites so decided to go to church. Small world! We had coffee and home-made cinamon rolls as we caught on our activities. It was good to see an old friend.

Next I went to Double Adobe to meet my new friend Tom Hone (from Minnesota). He is a very nice person whom I met at Bob King's place. Tom took his 2 horses down to his campground where we were going to ride some trails today. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate. It was/is very windy (the trailer is shaking with the wind blowing at 25 - 35 mph with gusts to 45). The temperature also dropped from 62 to 45 so Tom and I went to Tombstone ("the city to tough to die" according to the side of the Marshall's car) for lunch and to see a person who does leather work. We ate hamburgers at Six Gun City where Arda first took me... the burgers are excellent! As I took Tom back to his place, we ran into some snow and light hail which fortunately did not last too long.

On the way back to my trailer there was some weather moving in so I took the following pictures which I thought were kinda neat.

What is amazing is that nothing came of these storms except wind... no moisture. I guess that is why this is desert - duh!

Temperature = 45 and very windy!