Horseback Riding

Mom went horseback riding today with her friend Elogene. She said just the smell of the horse and saddle leather brought back nostalgic memories of her childhood. She had many horses as a teenager and loved nothing better than being in the saddle. She said it was like riding a bike and came back to her the minute she mounted up, but she can't remember her knees giving her trouble the last time she was on a horse, which was about 8 years ago. Guess knees get old too! 

The weather was perfect and the scenery was gorgeous. A picture perfect day!

Josh, one of the cowboys handling the horses

Jesse, another of the ranch hands

Mom and her horse Cowboy, and her friend Elogene who was riding Cochise.
Cochise looked just like Mom's first horse, Stormy.

Superstition Mountains

A few days ago the locals were very excited that it had snowed on the Superstition Mountains, which doesn't happen very often. Mom mentioned that according to NH standards that wasn't snow, it was more like frost. That comment didn't seem to go over very well.

Snow (frost) on the Superstitions

--Sammy

Our House is in the Garage

When the RV is unhooked from shore power - aka, an electrical source, the lights, water pump, etc. should run on batteries. We have 2 12-volt batteries that supply that power. For some reason, when unplugging from electric, nothing worked and the batteries weren't charging. So, just like in a normal home when things go wrong, we needed a repairman. We called several RV repair companies to come out to our site and fix things. But the soonest they could get to us was the middle of next month. Since we're headed out on Monday that wouldn't work. And since we'll be boondocking (camping without facilities like electric hookup) for several days on our way to the San Antonio area, we really needed to get this problem fixed. Of course, we could hook up the generator, but who wants to listen to that run 24-7. When we need to power off the batteries we use the generator just to recharge them.

We did find a repair service that could see us quickly but we had to bring the RV to them as they don't have mobile service. So, Thursday morning we unhooked everything, packed up for travel, pulled in the slide and brought our house to their repair shop. 

Our wonderful friends Elogene and Steve

When we talked to them a few days ago they thought they could fix it the same day but said if they had to order any parts, they'd have to keep it overnight. When you live in a traveling house that means you need to find a place to stay for the time it's in the shop. Our new friends, Elogene and Steve, here in the RV park, offered to have us stay with them if we needed. Actually, Elogene is Mom's sister-in-law's cousin who she had met before years and years ago.

Fortunately it turned out to be a couple of bad breakers on the tongue that allow the batteries to take over and run the electrical needs of the RV. Like the ghosts of Christmas past, preset and future in a Scrooge movie, they did it all in one day. It actually took them only a few hours to fix it. So here we are, back in our spot at the park till next Monday when we head out toward our next destination.

We can't say enough about Miller RV in Apache Junction, AZ. They were courteous and efficient, and squeezed us into their busy schedule to get us up and running quickly. Not that many of my readers would have need of an RV repair service, but if you ever do, they come highly recommended.

--Sammy

Butterfly Wonderland

Butterfly Wonderland in Scottsdale, AZ is the largest butterfly conservatory in the country. Chrysalis (butterflies) and cocoons (moths) are shipped in from South America, then attached to the underside of large pieces of glass and allowed to mature in a special case. Visitors can watch while they hatch out. When the butterflies and moths are hatched, they hang from their former home for several hours while their wings unfold and dry. Each day the hatchlings are transferred to the rainforest room to complete their lives. There was a reptile room, and an aquarium room, but the rainforest exhibit with the many varieties of beautiful butterflies and birds was the main attraction. It's amazing the variety of beautiful, colorful animals, insects and fish that God created.

Thought for our times!

--Sammy

Tortilla Flat, AZ

While Apache Junction, AZ, which was named for the junction of the Apache Trail and the Old West Highway, has a population of approximately 42,571, Tortilla Flat, AZ has a population of 6. Yes, people really do live there. But mostly it's a tourist site with historic buildings that have been recreated, the originals having been destroyed several times, by a flood in 1942 and a fire in the 1980s. The town is about a half hour northeast of Apache Junction.

Info from their website, which is said much better than I ever could: "Tortilla Flat is an authentic remnant of an old west town, nestled in the midst of the Tonto National Forest, in the Superstition Mountain Range. Tortilla Flat started out in 1904 as a stagecoach stop and freight camp for the construction of the Theodore Roosevelt Dam.

Tortilla Flat has an indoor restaurant that has dollar bills from visitors around the world as it's wallpaper, real saddles as bar stools, and great food. The ribs at the outdoor eatery are some of the best ever! There's also a country store where they make their own ice cream, including world famous Prickly Pear Gelato. The Mercantile/Gift Shop has souvenirs, Indian pottery, jewelry and Tortilla Flat apparel. Tortilla Flat is presumed to be America's smallest community having a U.S. Post Office and a voter's precinct.

Dollar bills from all over the world cover the walls.

Saddles as bar stools.

Telegraph wires.

--Sammy

Goldfield Ghost Town

What is the fascination with ghost towns? Perhaps it's the eerie sound of the name itself. Or maybe just a way to look into times long past. What was life like when it was a thriving town. How did people live back then? What drew people to settle an area and what circumstances led to the town being abandoned?

As the name suggests, Goldfield was originally settled because of a gold mine. Back in the 1890's, Goldfield boasted 3 saloons, a boarding house, general store, blacksmith shop, brewery, meat market, school house, and a bordello. Just when it looked like the town would outgrow Mesa, the vein faulted, the grade of ore dropped and the town died a slow, painful death.

After several unsuccessful attempts to reopen the mines, the town did come to life again, off and on from 1920 until 1926. After more than 115 years, travelers from all over the world still visit this gold mining town located on the historic Apache Trail and enjoy the excitement and grandeur of Arizona's wild west in this popular tourist attraction.

The tour of the town was a lot of fun and we even got to see a gunfight!

The Bordello was particularly interesting. Women didn't have many options to support themselves back in the 1800s. One of the only ways to earn a living was "servicing" the male population of the area. A woman could earn a minimum of $1.00 per client, and see 40 to 50 men a night. She had to pay the bordello 1/2 of her earnings, which still was excellent money in those times. It was reported that one madam amassed over $7M during her career, between servicing her own clients and her 50% take on the girls that worked for her. Most madams took very good care of their employees, making sure they were educated on a variety of subjects and learned how to read and write. Since women were considered property of their husbands, sometimes men would even prostitute their wives to earn extra money. Sure glad times have changed!

Bathtub in the madam's quarters.

Women who were quite busty with small waists were quite popular at the bordello.
Smaller feet were also preferred.

Typical room at the bordello. Not very big but I guess they didn't need much floor space.

The "working" girls were also known for their kindness in taking care of sick town's people, bringing much needed food to poor families, and generally being good Samaritans to all in need. Even with all their good deeds they were still scorned by the townsfolk because of their profession. It was also interesting to note that big dogs were a sign of respectability and small dogs were often kept by the bordello women. Taking their small dogs for a walk was one way they advertised their profession without being too obvious.

Mom rockin' the cowboy hat at Cantankerous Carl's Hat Store.

--Sammy

4 Wheelin'

Mom and Dad were invited to go 4 wheeling out in the desert by a group here in the RV park where we're staying. There were 14 machines, most of which had at least 2, if not 4 people, so it was quite a large group of folks. They went over a pretty rough, approximately 35 mile trail around Montana Mountain. Mom said later that she was glad this wasn't her first time out because some of the trip was quite hairy - like when the machine she was riding in started skidding sideways in loose gravel and the back wheels almost went over the banking. The driver was able to pull it out of the skid just as a wheel was leaving the road!

When they got past the miles and miles of rocks, ledges and cliffs, the vista opened up to a gorgeous valley view which was so vast it left you feeling incredibly small and insignificant. But the knowledge that, no matter where you are or what you're doing, you're never insignificant to God, was actually a spiritual experience. 

3 things Mom learned from this trip: 1) It was extremely dusty and everyone had face masks or bandanas on, and not because of Covid. You see western movies where the cowboy walks into the saloon, slaps his hat against his leg, and there's a cloud of dust everywhere. Well, that's not an exaggeration. 2) after seeing all the varieties of cactus Mom commented how tough it would be to round up cattle on horseback. She said she knows cowboys wear leather chaps but didn't realize the importance of it until seeing what the terrain actually looks like. Without chaps their legs would have looked like raw meat from brushing against all the cactus. 3) When sliding off a cliff in a 4 wheeler, there is no OMG handle to hang on to. Just pray!

All in all, it was a super fun day in the Arizona desert - warm, sunny, lots of good people. And the shower they took as soon as they got home was equally good.

--Sammy

Lions, Tigers, and Bears! Oh My!

We've been told by people familiar with the Southwest that everything here bites, stings, or pricks. The prick part is definitely true of the tree that scratched up Jim last week. (If you missed that post you can access it here.) We went back this week to take pictures of it in hopes of finding out what kind of tree it is. Turns out it's a Cat's Claw tree, Senegalia or Acacia Greggii, which is technically a large bush that can grow 6 to 25' tall, depending on the water source it taps in to. Take a look at the thorns of this thing. No wonder Jim's arms and face looked like that!

The points of the thorns break off easily and imbed in the skin which causes profuse bleeding, as evidenced by Jim's picture in the last post. They will come out when the scab pulls off. We've been told to watch for infection since everything in the desert is covered with dust that contains bacteria. So far he seems to be fine.

To survive in the desert the roots of the Cat's Claw can be as much as 18', (yes, that's 18 feet), deep and the tree can live up to 120 years. Bees and butterflies are attracted to its sweet nectar when it's in bloom and birds love its seeds. This makes it a popular plant in urban gardens, but you wouldn't want to plant it too close to walkways for obvious reasons. Native Americans used to make flour by grinding the seed pods. The wood is extremely hard and tight-grained, making it useful for cabinets and fencing. 

Cat's Claw is only one of quite a few varieties of trees, shrubs and vines native to the southwestern US that have thorns. Add that to the numerous variety of things that sting (scorpions come to mind), bite (tarantulas and rattle snakes for instance), and prick (cactus, cholla or jumping cactus sounds particularly nasty, and thorny trees/shrubs), the desert doesn't seem like a very friendly place. Kind of makes lions, tigers, and bears sound tame by comparison. Oh my!

--Sammy

Welcome to 2021?

No doubt about it, 2020 was an interesting year. That's probably the best that can be said about it, is that it was interesting. Between a pandemic, riots, political unrest, lockdowns, and social distancing, just to name a few, everyone's lives were affected in one way or another, sometimes multiple ways. It's no wonder we all looked forward to giving 2020 a boot out the door and welcoming a new year in hopes it would be better.

The new year started as expected for us. We left Hurricane, UT, on January 1 and arrived in Apache Junction, AZ. It was a long 8 hour trip which included a few stops for potty breaks and lunch. By the time we got here we were all exhausted and ready for a hot meal, some relax time, and bed.

It didn't take long for Mom to start checking out the numerous hiking and biking trails in the area. She got a new app for her phone that gives information about their location, difficulty, length of trail, where to park, etc. So one day soon after we arrived Mom and Dad went to Prospector Park and took off down a trail called "Sheep Drive". It turned out to be very loose gravel and sand in some places which were difficult to navigate through for Mom's bike. She has only 3" tires as opposed to 4" on Dad's bike. In one place her back tire slid out from under her and she went for a dirt ride, ending up kind of upside down with the bike on top of her. She wasn't hurt, just really dirty, and had a few bruises in various places. And what was her comment? Well, if you know Mom you can guess. She threw her hands in the air and hollered "Woo-hoo! What a ride!" Yup, that's my mom!

Dad's experience was a little worse. At one point the trail was very narrow so Mom got off to walk her bike through. Dad decided to try going around her and ran into the brother of the Whomping Willow. (Harry Potter fans will understand.) The score was tree 1, Dad zip. Don't worry, they're just scratches, although they look much worse. And just to let you know, the bike is OK.

Then the very next day we were heading back from an excursion to Mesa, AZ, traveling along the highway, just minding our own business, when a truck that was passing us took out the driver's side rear view mirror with his passenger's side rear view mirror. We followed the driver of the other truck to the nearest exit, where he and Dad both insisted it was the other driver's fault. The other driver said he wanted to call the police, so we did. Actually, he probably took one look at Dad's face and thought better of getting him riled up. Dad looks like he's already been in a bar fight!

So we sat on the shoulder of the exit until an Arizona state police showed up. It was a woman who Mom commented was really short. She was very pleasant and took statements and info from Dad and the other driver. Now it's up to the insurance companies to duke it out. Meanwhile, it's tricky driving with no outside rear view mirror. There's a recall on our truck for something to do with the backup camera so we already have an appointment to have that fixed next Tuesday. Dad called the garage and told them we also need the mirror replaced so they'll fix that at the same time. Hopefully the insurance deals with it by then.

So goodbye 2020, hello 2021. That was fun! Already looking forward to booting that out the door and welcoming 2022! How's this year going for you so far?

--Sammy